Like A Phoenix From The Ashes
Chapter 14
By Kinsfire
Author Notes:
The Weasleys learn something that they'd rather not, and the Board of Governors meets.
"So the Daily Prophet has decided again that I'm worth knowing," Harry mused a few mornings later at breakfast, "and they're calling for the Board of Governors to rethink their policies, despite being the ones who were pushing for having me expelled in mid-December." Dobby and Winky bustled about in their usual manner, refilling glasses of milk and juice, and just generally ensuring that the only way anyone left the table hungry was because they wanted to.
"That's about it," Remus replied. "Business as usual for them."
Harry scowled for a moment. "I wonder if Pansy's father might be interested in forming a partnership to buy the Prophet and do something unusual with it, such as making it report fairly."
"Wouldn't reporting fairly violate their charter or something?" Pansy asked, her tone leaving no room for discussion about her opinion.
"After I own it, who cares?" Harry asked. He looked to Amelia. "So what's the Board doing now that the Prophet has decided to switch sides?"
"They are currently trying to find a way to get rid of your punishment at their hands without making themselves look bad. Of course, since they censured me for supporting you, they are discovering that it is an uphill battle." She smiled nastily. "It will continue to remain so, until they find themselves willing to accept and admit that they bowed to pressure to oust you."
"I'm not worried," he said. "I'm returning to the castle on the same day as everyone else."
"We're not taking classes either," Pansy added. "We girls talked it over, and we're supporting Harry. Until he's reinstated, we work as a team."
"Besides, it gives us all extra time to study for the N.E.W.T.s," Luna said. "I'm taking mine this year."
Albus spoke up at this point. "I am not surprised to hear either announcement from you, dear ladies. I understand your reasoning for not taking classes, and I will explain the reason for your absence to each of the teachers. Do not be surprised if what was studied 'accidentally' makes it into your grasp during those two weeks. As for Harry's return to the castle, I will fight whom I need to in order to make it happen. If necessary, I will remind people of your marital status and the fact that an attempt was made on all you ladies' lives on the last day of this past term."
"Don't worry about that, sir. The enforced vacation that the Governors gave me allowed me to do a little checking on finances and other bits of information related to me. I discovered that you were far more correct than you thought when you said that only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that sword from the Sorting Hat. It doesn't give me any unusual powers, except maybe to get things from the school a little easier than the average person, like an escape route if I'm out too late, not that I ever would be," he added with a cheeky grin. "I learned that I'm the descendant of both Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff. The most important thing that it allows me is the right to override the Board of Governors if I want to." He grinned at his wives. "Having discovered that, I decided that I am not going to stop taking classes. I am returning to Hogwarts with the rest of the students. The Governors will not like it if they force my hand."
"The mere fact of you returning to classes before their punishment is officially over will force them to respond, as much as they would wish to ignore it," Albus said. "You will be flouting their decision, and I guarantee that they will not appreciate that."
"I have fifty percent of the votes necessary to make final decisions about the disposition of the Governors, and one of the remaining voters has no real chance of making his voice heard. —Riddle is the last of the Gaunt family, who is also last of the Slytherin line. So basically it all comes down to the fact that I can outvote the other Heir if they arise to cause trouble." He grinned and turned to Susan. "But you wouldn't do that to me, would you, Susan?"
"Huh?" she asked, alarmed.
"I traced the family lines of each of my delightful wives and discovered that you happen to be the final Ravenclaw heir."
"Surely you jest!" Susan said breathlessly.
"Nope. Traces through your mother's side, which is why Amelia doesn't qualify as an Heir. Any children of ours will be Heirs to three of the Founders of Hogwarts. Again, it doesn't do anything for them, really."
"So you're declaring war on the Board of Governors?" Susan asked.
"Not exactly. More like I'm hoping to give them incentive to do things my way. The only real war I'm waging is against that freak who's been trying to kill me the past few years."
"No war against the Weasleys?" Pansy asked, enough sugar in her voice to let them know what she was really thinking.
"No," he replied firmly. "I have the feeling that discovering that they followed Bill and Charlie as blindly as Crabbe and Goyle follow Draco has them more than a little disturbed, and that they are torturing themselves more than anything I could do. After all, if they'd been faithful, I wouldn't be a married man right now. I'd be waiting to marry Ginny. Now they know that I'll never trust them the way I once did. Friendship is possible, but never the feeling of family that was once there."
"What has been happening with them, Mada … Amelia?" Hermione asked, blushing at the end as she remembered the request from the Head of the DMLE.
"It's perfectly fine to have friends and family in high places, Hermione," the woman said with a smile. "In answer to your question: since word has gotten out about what actually happened, public opinion about them has plummeted. They're looking at sacking Arthur from his job, and I know that Dumbledore was forced to put up some very strong wards at the Burrow to keep it in one piece. There have been some very nasty Howlers and packages sent their way."
"Answer me honestly, Aunt Amelia," Harry said. "Do they have real cause to fire him, or is this an attempt to curry favour with me?"
She smiled at the ease with which Harry had taken to calling her his aunt. "You know the answer to that. It may be a low paying job, but he does it well, and he's faithful to it."
"Please see to it, if you can, that his superiors are made aware that such an attempt on Arthur Weasley is likely to have exactly the opposite reaction from me. I will not take kindly to vendettas against people from those not involved."
"But …" Pansy said, scowling.
"No buts. If they're firing him for cause, then let them fire him for cause. If they're firing him to make me happy, then I guarantee that it will do just the opposite. I don't particularly like the Weasleys right now, but I will be damned if a man who works hard for his real family to keep them fed and clothed will be fired by the same hypocrites that agreed with him just a month ago. Especially if it's done as a way to assuage their guilt and hide it at the same time."
"Harry, they hurt you!" she shouted. "I saw the pain you were in because of them. They should pay for hurting you!"
"Love, they will. You've already learned what I do with my money when I'm in the mood to spend it. Imagine their reactions when they see the four of you in gowns and robes of highest quality, knowing that I would have likely spread a little of that their way. Remember, I should have been in Slytherin - I can be sneaky enough to get around their stubborn pride. What you want to do would be good for instant gratification - you want to see them publicly humiliated and hurt. I'm not that willing to let it go. I want them to hurt for a long time. They were my family from first year all the way through sixth year. Even when they did things that hurt, like keeping information from me, it was for the best of reasons. At least in their minds. But when Bill and Charlie lied to them, they instantly made a decision as to whether or not I was really family to them." He shrugged, but there were tears threatening to slip free. "I loved them and would have been willing to do anything for them."
"I think the best revenge is that Ginny now knows that she's lost him permanently," Susan said, offering her opinion to the unconvinced Slytherin. "She could have had her heart's desire - marrying The-Boy-Who-Lived. But by not keeping faith in him, she lost everything." Her eyes sparkling with only a little maliciousness. "And I gained everything." She leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek, pausing long enough for him to be able to get a peek down her shirt.
"Minx," he laughed. "The Weasleys will have their problems. I've washed my hands of them." He thought for a moment. "You know something? I've just had an idea on how to deal with Tom. Right now I'm pretty disgusted with the wizarding world. What if I rant in such a way as to make sure it hits the newspapers, expressing publicly my disgust with the sheeple out there? He's likely to try to talk with me. He might be stupid enough to pull off some of the plans he has, but I'm still alive, despite his best efforts. I'll bet he'll try to convert me. That means we can talk, and I can work on setting up a meeting place. We then mine the hell out of it and set it off when the Death Eaters appear. We could get really lucky and get Tom too, but I'm doubting that."
The pureblood witches and wizards in the room looked confused at the reference so Hermione gave them a short explanation of land mines.
Nodding at the explanation, Amelia looked at him and addressed a concern of hers. "Ranting at the wizarding public like you'd have to could really backfire on you, Harry. You'd quickly go back to everyone hating you, for a real reason this time."
"Honestly? I have been giving some serious thought to disappearing to America for a decade or so after I defeat Riddle. I'm sick of the various factions trying to point me this way or that, using me for their own ends. Even the Headmaster does it occasionally, although he's curtailed that impulse almost completely." He snorted. "More of a knee-jerk thing for him now." Shrugging, he motioned toward the four. "It's their decision, but if they agree, I think I will leave."
Hermione was looking at him with wide eyes, tears in her eyes and oddly, with a smile on her face. "This is the first time I can remember that you've referred to your upcoming battle with Riddle as a foregone conclusion, Harry. At least you winning being a foregone conclusion."
"Hey, I just married four beautiful and sexy women. I intend on living. Besides, I have great-great-grandchildren to watch as they enter Hogwarts for the first time." He grinned at Susan, upping her ante from the previous night. "But hey, that was just a preliminary idea. We need to get the Order together and have a brainstorming session to come up with ideas. I really want to go into this and come out with a minimum of fuss for our side. Then I can get on with the business of spending the rest of my life with my wives."
"Well, I'll get to looking for spells he might not have contemplated once the meeting is done," Hermione said. "I'll need to get together with Professor Snape to get a feel for Riddle's mindset."
Pansy scowled. "I can think of one other to ask, but you might not like the idea. Honestly, I don't want her anywhere near you if at all possible, Harry."
He thought for a moment before responding. "Honestly, I don't see Ginny trying anything to hurt me again, given what was reported to me about the truth-telling session. As for me falling prey to her charms again? I may remember what's under her robes fondly, but this school year has seen too much water pass under the bridge for me to be willing to accept her romantically." He walked over and kissed Pansy gently. "Besides, if I was stupid enough to try for her again, I'd lose the four that make my life worthwhile."
"The first Order meeting of the calendar year 1998 is hereby called to order," Albus said to the people before him that evening. "Our purpose tonight is to act as a sounding board, or as the Muggles seem to call it, a 'think tank'."
"About what?" a deeply subdued Molly Weasley asked.
Harry walked into the room. "We are here to talk about ideas for how to draw Riddle to his final end, nothing more. I will not listen to anything not related to the subject," he stressed as Bill and Charlie opened their mouths. He walked around and sat down at the head spot of the table as Albus stood and moved down the table slightly. "Sorry for being late, but I was finishing up some paperwork."
His wives walked in the room next, all dressed crisply and very businesslike, and took the chairs on either side of Harry as he glanced quickly around the table, judging the Order members' reactions. The Weasleys weren't the only people startled by his taking the head seat; almost half of the other Order members were surprised as well. Apparently they hadn't realised that his taking control of the prior meeting meant it would become the regular state of affairs. Albus had quietly informed him that the masterful way in which he had taken over the meeting had rather clearly shown that he had it within him to run the organisation. Harry had winced, drawing soft laughter from the Headmaster.
"I've an idea," Harry picked up again, "but it's not a very good one, as far as I'm concerned, and I need more input." He looked over to Severus Snape and then at Ginny. "Our two most valuable resources in this endeavour may well be Professor Snape and Miss Weasley. The first is in fairly constant contact with Riddle, and the other was once his unfortunate slave." Ginny blinked in surprise. "We may have problems that will not be covered in this meeting, since they have no bearing on it, but I'd be a fool not to listen to input from someone who potentially has knowledge of the way the mind of our enemy works." She smiled sadly for only a moment and then sat straighter in her chair, adopting a similar demeanour to his wives.
"I'd really rather that Ginny not be forced to relive that time," Molly said, a little of her usual fire coming through.
"Honestly, madam, I would normally agree with you," Harry said. "Were the possible benefits not so great, I wouldn’t even consider dragging her through the cesspit that passes for Riddle's psyche, no matter our personal situation. But if we can come up with a good plan, we should be able to save untold lives. I'm afraid that we must ask a bit of your daughter to get that accomplished."
"What's your plan that you don't like?" Tonks asked.
"Piss off the wizarding world by chewing them out in print over the love they have of scapegoating. I was the bad guy for so long, but now that the truth about a number of things is out, they suddenly love me again. The plan I don't like is taking advantage of their flip-flopping and getting them really angry at me. This might make Tom decide to contact me, but since he hasn't so far this school year …" He trailed off, letting them make the obvious conclusion.
"This is unacceptable for many reasons," Susan said in a quiet voice, "not the least of which is that it's about time that the public stop dragging Harry through the mud while he fights to save the very people who vilify him." She turned to Hermione. "See, I can use big words too!" she finished with a small laugh.
"Yes, dear," Hermione said in a voice used to tell a child they've a good job, but grinning as she spoke. General chuckling answered her comment, albeit nervously from the Weasley clan, who looked afraid to join the laughter for fear that they had simply done too much to Harry to permit it.
"A far better idea would be to develop a rumour that you have access to a specific item or bit of knowledge that he might desire," Severus drawled quietly. "If we can make it irresistible enough, he would come for it, in a place of our choosing."
"A power ritual," Ginny said into the silence. "The Tom I knew wanted power more than anything else. And if rumour was that this ritual required the sacrifice of others -" She shuddered as she remembered something.
"What is it, honey?" Molly asked.
Ginny sniffed. "Riddle enjoyed the pain of others a little too much, if you understand my meaning." At her mother's puzzled look, she said, almost too quiet to hear, "I had my very first … uh, orgasm … while he was in control of my body. I think I was killing the roosters at the time. It was his mind reacting, but it was my body. I showered for over an hour trying to feel clean again."
"Well, that would be disturbing," Harry said with no trace of humour or derision in his voice.
"It was." She would not look at Harry.
"All right," Harry said, pulling everyone from their own disquieting thoughts. "Try this on for size, and let's pick it apart piece by piece. I have found a book in the Black library while going through it. It contains a ritual for increasing your power level by an order of magnitude." Seeing blank looks, except from Hermione and Luna, he explained, "multiplies it by ten. Problem with it, from my point of view, is that it takes the sacrifice of someone's magic and often their life. I've found that the book is warded six ways from Sunday, and I can't spare the time to destroy it at the moment. Since I don't want so evil a book anywhere near where I'm living, I'm going to hide it in Godric's Hollow, since no one would look for it in a burnt out old building. I'm going to place a Fidelius Charm over the site as well the day I drop it there, so no one will remember it after I do it."
"Why Godric's Hollow?" Albus asked.
"Two reasons. First, the site is nothing but a burnt out building and a few small outbuildings so blowing the hell out of it isn't going to do any more damage to the place, really, since I'd need to tear it down completely to rebuild out there. The cemetery on the plot, where my parents are buried, is far enough away as to make it unlikely to be damaged. The second reason is simply poetic justice. The place where he met his first end becomes the place where he meets his final end."
"How delightfully Slytherin of you," Severus said with a slight smile. "One wonders if he will appreciate it in his final moments."
Harry looked at his Potions teacher and smiled. "Thank you, Professor. That is probably the nicest thing that someone I'm not married to has ever said to me."
"What do you mean?" Bill asked, white-faced.
Harry was quite certain what Bill was truly asking about, considering the fact that his face had lost all colour, but Harry intentionally answered the question he seemed to be asking. "Well, as far as Hogwarts is concerned, the disagreement between Professor Snape and myself is somewhat legendary. For him to tell me that he expects me to win is quite the compliment." He looked at Severus's face and let him see the twinkle. Harry was answered with a very slight smirk of amused approval.
"What do you mean by married?" Ron asked, the slightly green colouring his face clashing horribly with both his hair and his Chudley Cannons orange shirt.
"You know, Ronald," Harry said calmly. "You stand before a legal representative and swear to cherish, honour, and generally love someone for the remainder of your days on the planet. Marriage."
"You got married?" Bill finally asked.
"That's not really the scope of this meeting. Let's move on." He rather forcefully brought the conversation back to the reason the meeting had been called. "Can anyone see holes in this scenario? I think that Tom will accept that I might not want such a dark book in the house I'm living in, so he'd likely believe that I'd be moving it elsewhere. With Professor Snape being so good at what he does, he can give Tom minimal warning and make it seem believable. I've been brewing up the explosives with which to destroy the area, so I'll start mining the place soon."
He looked around to see two significant emotions. The Weasleys were all wearing expressions of sorrow mixed with horror, save Ginny, who sat with no visible expression. The others in the meeting tended toward some malicious amusement at the Weasley plight, having endured more diatribes against him than they could conceivably wanted to hear.
"I think you broke the Weasleys, Harry," Tonks said, eyeing the interesting shade that Charlie was currently sporting.
He shrugged. "That's neither here nor there, to be honest. We have a question before us on the table. We need suggestions on how to improve it. We need to make sure that Riddle will fall for it and come to the right place." He frowned. "For one thing, we need to ensure that he will come, rather than only send his goons. I understand that we'll have goons there, but I need Riddle there too."
"I believe that I can be certain to get him there, if you will trust me to embellish slightly on your story. In fact, if phrased properly, we could potentially get only Riddle there."
"No, Severus," Albus said before turning to Harry. "I believe that I have a possible story that will make Tom much more likely to come to Godric's Hollow. It requires that I take on the role of master manipulator in regards to you again, however." Harry cocked his head and motioned for the Headmaster to continue. "Rather than you moving the book to get it out of your household, you know nothing of the book. You have allowed myself and a few trusted individuals to gain access to the Black library in an attempt to find spells or rituals to help you against Tom. I found the spell in question in this book, and will be moving it to keep it out of your hands, lest you become the next Dark Lord." His smile told Harry how likely he thought that possibility to actually be.
"… and you talked to Professor Snape, to explain things, since you'd never suspect him of really being in league with Riddle," Harry laughed. "Perfect! I think that this proves the need for this brainstorming session, sir. Ginny Weasley came up with an idea, Professor Snape clarified it, and you finalised it. This should work, right, Professor Snape?"
Snape pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "If we use Albus as the mover and shaker in the attempt to move the alleged book, it will most certainly work. Riddle cannot conceive of someone not wanting to have that much power, save Albus, so he will jump at the chance."
Harry nodded. "Before we table this for the night, does anyone else have any ideas that might work? I hate the idea of putting all our eggs in one basket on this, because this is a 'do or die' scenario. If this attempt to trick him doesn't work, we're likely in for a long haul, with a long and bloody war of attrition." Looks around the table showed no one with any ideas. "So, we're on for this plan, and hopefully some time in the next few months we can all celebrate the destruction of a Dark Lord." After a pause, he added, "If you come up with another idea, do not hesitate to contact either Albus or myself concerning it, and we'll set up a meeting."
There was the general milling around that usually happened at these meetings, and Harry noticed the Weasleys congregating together, looking bothered by something. It was likely the fiery, young, female redhead facing them, whose stance made it quite obvious that she was angry at them. He tried to look unobtrusive and positioned himself to listen to her.
"… at all!" she was hissing. "We betrayed him, Mother, and you all sit there and think that apologising to him is going to make up for telling him that he's not really family, no matter what we kept telling him. You took his hand off the clock! You believed the world's largest arsehole, also known as our brother Percy!" She stopped and took a deep breath. "Mother, I am stating this now. I am quite well aware of what I have lost, and I am getting the impression that you haven't. If I'd trusted Harry the way that I should have, I'd be wearing his engagement ring right now, rather than dealing with the fact that he's apparently married to one of those four girls. I must live with you for the next year and a half, but when that time is over, I will be leaving the house for good and not looking back. We treated him worse than we would have treated one of Tom's Death Eaters."
"Munchkin …" Bill started.
"Don't ever call me that again, William," she ordered flatly. "After what you and Charles did, you are no longer family to me." She paused for a moment. "One good thing did come of it, I will admit. I know now what kind of a person I really am, and I will not become romantically involved with anyone until I have permanently exorcised any aspect of Tom from my life."
"That's right!" Ron cried out. "Maybe if we explain -"
"Shut up!" Ginny screamed. "It was not Tom controlling me, it was my own stupidity that made me so vindictive. If anything, it's a side effect of being a Weasley. We're hot-headed and likely to jump into things without all the facts. You all fell for it without having Tom as an excuse! I'm tired of it. When my seventeenth birthday hits, I'm leaving. I don't know how I'll support myself, but I can't be around you anymore. I can't get away until I'm seventeen, but know that it will happen." She turned and walked to the fireplace and headed to the Burrow before anyone could react.
Harry sat back in his seat on the train as it pulled out of Kings Cross Station. Neville sat with him to keep the seats for Harry's wives, although Neville was as yet unaware of that change in status. "The Board of Governors is going to explode over this, Harry. Your suspension is still another two weeks long." Neville grinned as he said it, showing his actual opinion of Harry's actions.
Harry grinned in reply. "I'm hoping that they'll raise high holy hell over it. Might make it that much easier to do to them what I'm planning." Neville looked at him inquiringly. "Oh no. I'm going to surprise everyone. Besides, your grandmother is on the Board of Governors, and if there's any hint that you knew what was coming, she'd likely become quite put out with you."
"She couldn't possibly be angrier with me than I am with her right now. Susan's aunt was the only one who stood up for you, and she was censured! Gran was rather surprised when I refused to back down from chewing her out."
"She still hasn't lost the image of the Neville from our first year, has she?" Harry asked.
"She has now," Neville laughed.
The door opened to allow entry for Hermione, Pansy, Susan and Luna, each of whom gently kissed Harry on the lips, and Neville on the cheek. "Careful," said a blushing Neville, "Harry might get jealous."
They conferred with their eyes quite quickly before Luna said, "Why would our husband get jealous at our greeting a mutual friend?" Her eyes were sparkling with mirth.
"Still, I think that … wait, did you say …" To say that Neville was stunned would be an understatement.
Harry quickly sealed and Silenced the door and all four walls. "We're not hiding it, Neville, but neither are we shouting it from the rooftops just yet, no matter how much I want to. The quarters that the five of us share are now a honeymoon suite for us. I am, in fact, lucky enough to be married to four women who could do so much better than me."
"Bullshit!" Harry was surprised that this came not from any of his wives, but from Neville. "I wish that I were half the man that you are. You have managed to catch the interest of the four sexiest women at Hogwarts, damn you!" he finished with an embarrassed laugh, blushing furiously.
"You've not looked at Hannah in the last year, have you?" Susan asked. "She wears the robes she does for the express purpose of not being inundated with drool from boys and some girls coming after her." She blushed. "I may well be the only person at Hogwarts who knows what she looks like nude."
Harry looked at her for a moment. "Something tells me I'd end up with blood flow problems if I asked how you know what she looks like in the nude."
"You're right," Susan said softly, her eyes sparkling wickedly. Turning to Neville, she told him, "You need to talk to her. I think she's sweet on you. In fact, see if you can find her - I think I saw her about three compartments down on the other side. You'll find her to be a wonderful girl, and she puts any of the four of us to shame on a purely physical level."
"I'm not looking for a quick shag, Susan," he replied with an embarrassed smile. "I want … I want a girlfriend, a partner. Maybe even a future wife."
Susan looked at him for a long moment before saying, "Tell her I said that someday she'll be showing off her tattoo. She may blush furiously, but that will get you a conversation with her that … she trusts my judgement. No reason you can't start off on a good foot with her."
Neville smiled. "I can tell when I'm being chased out," he laughed. "Just don't knock the train off the tracks in the heat of passion." His grin told them that there was no anger causing his choice to leave. After the door was unlocked, he left, humming quietly.
Harry looked at the women who gave his life meaning and said to Hermione, "You don't usually put your robes on this early in the trip. At least you don't in September. Why this early now?"
She gave him a half-lidded look that made his pulse quicken and began a familiar blood migration. She quickly blacked out the windows and locked the door before opening her robes. "I don't think you really grasped what I meant when I told you over the break that I'm an exhibitionist. You may not have noticed it over the past few years, but I was always in blouses that showed what colour my bra was, or accidentally moving so that Ron or someone might get a flash of my knickers or cleavage."
"I think I'm glad I didn't notice earlier," Harry breathed as he stared at the almost nude woman before him — only the robe and shoes kept her from being classified as nude. "If you'd done that to me first year — made me notice, that is — I'd likely have entered puberty right then." He shook his head, smiling at the thought.
"Yes, well," she said, smiling happily. "I am not so much a nudist as someone who gets very aroused knowing that I'm giving someone a view that they consider 'naughty'."
"If we weren't married, the thoughts you're causing would be considered 'naughty'," he growled. He stood and pulled her into a clinch, his hands sliding under her robes and getting a gentle hold on her bum. "Hope you're up to date on your contraception," he whispered in her ear.
"Would it bother you if I told you that I didn't use any, my husband?" she asked softly, her eyes widening in very slight fear.
He stopped short. "Would it bother you to be six months pregnant while sitting your N.E.W.T.s?"
"If it did, I wouldn't have stopped my birth control," she replied simply.
He looked at her for a long moment, grinding against her a little and getting an equal and opposite reaction from her. "I think I've got too much clothing in the way," he said, and suddenly everything he wore was folded neatly on one of the compartment seats. His erection stood tall between them and she bit her lower lip. "Tell me, love," he said with the growl returning to his voice, "does it turn you on to know that others will be watching? " He lifted her gently into the air and moved to press her against the wall of the cabin before sliding inside her. He’d been sure that she was more than ready for him, and he was proven correct. "Does it make your heart pound harder to know that your co-wives are watching me fuck you senseless, wishing that they were you?" She gasped at his profanity and squeezed him as he slid deeper in. "Would you like the window blacking dropped, so that everyone on this train can watch me make that baby you want?" She moaned deep within her body at that thought, and he felt her pulse against him several times in rapid succession. "Oh, feels like you might have had a small orgasm there," he moaned at her as he began to thrust deeper and deeper into her. Their lovemaking picked up speed until he was slapping against her with every thrust, and she was moaning louder and louder with every one. One of the other girls moved to Silence the compartment, but Harry growled, "No, I want the whole train to know that I made love to this beautiful woman. I want guys to look at her and wish that they’d been lucky enough to catch her eye. I want everyone to know what she does to me."
This was too much for Hermione, who let loose with the keening wail she always did during a particularly powerful orgasm. She thrust against him, moaning with each thrust. He felt his own orgasm build and soon he was exploding into her, leaning hard against her, panting in her ear.
As he came down from his own high, he began to chuckle. She looked up at him, slightly unfocused and cocked her head in curiosity. "I was just thinking that a small part of me doesn’t want you to get pregnant from this time. Imagine us making love in the Hogwarts library." He was suddenly aware just how much that turned her on as she gasped and pulsed against his softening organ a few times. "Now I know that we have to do that before the school year is done." He chuckled again. "Maybe name the resulting child Alexandria, if it’s a daughter?"
"Gods, yes!" she panted, squeezing him tightly one last time before letting him pull out. A couple quick spells later and they were both cleaned up and dressed, more or less. They unblocked the windows and found a small crowd of people outside, several of the girls voicelessly telling them that they were quite well aware of what had been going on in the cabin.
"So, honey, what do you think?" he asked Hermione. "Everyone in that hallway knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were having sex in here."
"Knowing that makes me even hornier than I was before," she groaned. "I can’t wait until we’re back at Hogwarts, because I am going to our room, stripping down, and starting an orgy with the rest of you."
Luna was looking a little bemused and was uncharacteristically silent. "What’s wrong, love?" Harry asked. "Did what just happened bother —"
She lit up. "Oh, heavens no!" she exclaimed. "If you recover enough before we reached Hogwarts, I’d certainly like to be where Hermione was. I’m not naked under my robes, though."
"Easily enough remedied," Pansy purred at her.
Luna smiled as her nipples became more prominent under her clothes. "Very true," she answered with her eyes twinkling. They heard a thud in the hall and looked to see a fourth year getting up from the floor, eyes wide as he stared into the cabin. It was obvious that staring at Luna’s breasts, rather than watching his path, had led to his accident.
As the boy sped away, Harry darkened the windows again. "What’s wrong, Luna? You didn’t answer the real question."
Luna turned to Pansy. "I’ve been scared to check. Would one of you cast the pregnancy detection spells?"
Harry’s face lit up as she asked, and Luna’s eyes went wide, although she giggled a little when she saw him cross his fingers.
"There are two main ones," Susan said. "Do you want to know the sex of the baby if you are pregnant?"
"Yes, please," Luna said softly. A few moments later, she was surrounded by a soft pink glow. "A girl," she whispered. "I’m carrying your … eep!" she finished as Harry leapt across the cabin and swooped her into his arms.
"My daughter!" he said with wonder in his voice, only just above a whisper. "You’re carrying my daughter inside you!" He set her down gently and knelt before her, gently kissing her stomach. "Hello in there, little one," he whispered, although everyone in the compartment could hear him. "I know you’re just a collection of cells right now, but in nine months you’ll be out here meeting your mommies and showing the world how beautiful I know you’ll be. You’ll be growing up in a Voldemort-free world, too." He looked up into Luna’s eyes, which were wider than normal. She was obviously shocked at just how accepting of the concept he was. "What was your mother’s name?" he asked.
She gasped, and suspicious wetness appeared in her eyes. "Lorelei," she finally managed to say through the happy tears that had begun to fall.
"Careful," he said with a grin, "crying women make me horny."
"And this is supposed to stop me?" Luna asked, with a shaky giggle as she began to unbutton her blouse. Harry responded by reaching up under her skirt and discovering, to his delight, that she had chosen to ‘forget’ her knickers that morning. He gently spread her thighs apart and began to tease her with his tongue.
"I need … need to get … comfortable," she panted, and then placed her legs over his shoulders, carefully locking her ankles together afterward. He continued with abandon, bringing squeal after squeal from his wife before he finally stopped. She released him, and he moved forward, still on his knees, and slipped into her tight opening, one of the other ladies having been so kind as to release his necessary parts from durance vile. Their lovemaking at this point was fast and frenzied, with both having been worked up by Harry's tender ministrations, and he was quickly joining her as she came.
When they had recovered, he held Luna tightly. "I love you, Luna, and I love that you're carrying my … our baby." After a pause, he said, "I know that I asked her name, but would it bother either you or your father if we named the child after your mum?"
"You never met her, and yet you wish to honour her," Luna sniffed. "Why?"
"She was your mother. She had a part in making a very beautiful and special woman. If the universe were fair, she'd have been standing next to my parents when we married."
"She was," Luna said quite seriously. "Sirius Black was there as well. They were simply on a different plane of existence. Heaven, if you will."
"Does that mean that they've been watching us when we …" Susan asked, suddenly blushing.
"I don't know, but I'm not in a hurry to find out," Harry said with a laugh. "I intend to have a very long life with you beautiful women ahead of me."
Hermione sniffed. "I don't think I'll ever be able to say just how happy that makes me feel to hear you talk about living past the demise of Voldemort."
"I have a reason … a desire to survive the meeting now. Even if Luna weren't pregnant, I'd want to live. You four make my life worth living. I don't think I'll ever be able to stress that enough to you. When I thought you'd all been killed, I was willing to meet Voldemort face-to-face and suicide bomb him. I had nothing to live for." He finished, stressing his words as hard as he could.
"Well, we will be helping you at the end then," Pansy said. "You helped take me from that snarky little bitch that I was in the first five and a half years and make me into a girl worth knowing." She giggled for a moment. "Amusingly enough, I'm the one of your wives with the most ordinary of the sexual preferences. We've got a wife who likes to be spanked, one who is likely to have sex with you in the Great Hall someday soon, and someone who likes to be tied up. Then you have me, who prefers to be cuddled and caressed and simply made love to." She paused to look at Luna and Susan, who were kissing gently. "Well, I do like to watch," she finished with a blush.
"Then maybe we should sit down next to them," he said, reaching behind her and gently fondling her. "I've made two of my wives happy on this trip, and I'd like to see if I can manage four for four. Luna's helping out the sexy redhead, so I thought that perhaps I could make love to my raven-haired goddess."
She bit her lip while her blouse made her opinion about that idea rather evident, even through her bra. "I think, my husband, that I would quite enjoy that." She let him gently undo her blouse, and then her bra, and sighed happily as his tongue began to tease the now exposed nipples. It wasn't long before they were bouncing merrily on the seat and she was squealing out her release. He followed shortly after.
He was making love to Susan, completing his desire to make love to all four, when he heard Hermione say, "We're coming into Hogsmeade station."
"So'm I," he grunted as he spent into Susan.
"Oh yes," Susan panted. "Wonderful timing." They took a moment to straighten up, Susan rather futilely brushing her hands across her very prominent nipples as if that would make them soften under her shirt, instead of causing the pleasurable shudder that it did. "I think we'd best cast a few spells to clean up in here. Everyone knows what happened, but I think clearing out the scent would be a good idea."
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, and a ethereal breeze rose and swept through the compartment, clearing out the pheromones.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered. "It was getting a little overwhelming for me." She blushed. "I was about to jump you again, and now isn't the time."
"Could be interesting, though," he replied with a grin, and was rewarded with a very light slap on the arm from the laughing brunette who wore his ring. "Come on, let's head on up to the school." He tossed a Warming Charm on Hermione, since she was nude under her robes, and then led the four from the compartment and to a waiting carriage. Luna, the smallest of them, sat on his lap and cuddled happily against his chest until they reached the school.
The silence as he entered the Great Hall ahead of them was deafening, if such a thing can be said. Finally, someone at the Ravenclaw table spoke up. "Didn't the Board of Governors deny you the right to be here for another two weeks?" The voice clearly held no malice, only puzzlement.
"They have no real enforcement arm," Harry said. "Besides, think about it - they're telling a student who wants to learn that he can't because they chose to listen to the Daily Prophet. If they want me out of school for the two weeks, let them come and remove me themselves. Until they do, I'm coming to classes and learning as I choose to."
A few moments later, the murmur returned, louder than before, as Neville and Hannah came into the Hall, and for once the girl had her robes open. The general consensus at what they were seeing seemed to be best phrased as, "Holy crap! She had that under her robes?" The two came up to the Potter table, and two new seats appeared.
"Thank you, Susan," the blonde Hufflepuff said as Neville pulled her chair out for her to sit down. "And thank you, Neville, for being a gentleman." She was blushing demurely.
"I doubt you could do better than Neville, Miss Abbot," Harry said with a smile. "I trust him alone with my wives when they're being comfortable in the suite we share."
"Given the way Susan likes to be comfortable," Hannah said with an impish grin, "I believe that means quite a … wait, did you say …" She paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Did you say 'wives'?"
"It's okay to say it conversationally," Susan said. "And since you don't squee, there's no worries there." Her eyes went mischievous as she added, "Well, perhaps Neville will someday discover the only time you do squee."
Neville blushed furiously but said, "Only if she deems me worthy of such a great gift." Hannah simply blushed.
Most of Hufflepuff found a reason to stop by for a moment, if only to welcome Harry and the others back. The students at the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables seemed more than a little embarrassed and worried, and could only steal glances at the private table. The Slytherins, as they were minus a ferret and his goons, treated Harry as they always did; they ignored him.
All in all, Harry found it a delightful meal, with excellent company and, as he told the others, "The floor show has been amazing."
He hadn't been back at school a week when he was called to the Headmaster's office. "Harry, it appears that the Board of Governors was rather put out with your decision to return to school," Dumbledore said to him.
"So, is the meeting today, or on the weekend?" Harry asked with a grin.
"They have chosen to hold the meeting on Saturday, during the Hogsmeade weekend."
Harry snorted. "Ah, another attempt to bother me. No matter. If they don't see the wisdom of my choice, they'll find themselves just a little … well, do you think nonplussed would be a good description?"
"Bewilderment will be the least of their emotions," Dumbledore replied with a laugh. "Just remember that you and Susan will need to be at the private parlour of the Three Broomsticks at 1 p.m.."
"Oh yes," Harry laughed. "They are definitely attempting to flex their non-existent muscle with me. There is no way that they can't realise that they are dealing with the heaviest time in the town. They probably will ensure that the students are 'accidentally' made aware of the meeting, so as to watch me show up, expecting me to be cowed." His grin was almost malicious. "And Aunt Amelia is not likely to warn them otherwise."
"I suppose with her busy day job, as it were, such a trivial piece of information would simply slip her mind," was the Headmaster's simple response. His voice and eyes betrayed the humour he felt about the impending situation.
Saturday came quickly. Harry's wives chose to accompany him, with both Susan and himself in their very finest robes. They walked proudly down into the town, developing a small following as they walked. Their entourage remained in the main room of the Three Broomsticks when the five students entered the pub's meeting room at roughly noon, even ahead of the Board. Harry and the girls sat and talked until the Governors began to arrive. "What are they doing here, Potter?" drawled Lucius Malfoy.
"Good afternoon to you as well, Mr Malfoy." He turned to Pansy and said, "Good manners are so hard to find in people of low breeding these days, wouldn't you say?" The sharp hiss of Lucius's nasal inhalation led Harry to say, without looking at the blond man, "I'd put the wand away if I were you, Lucius. You wouldn't like where I'll put it if you don't."
"Not a smart thing, threatening a Board member," replied Lucius with a wicked smile. "It could even lead to your expulsion from the school."
"Oh, I wasn't threatening a Board member, Lucius. I was promising retribution to an individual who was about to threaten me. The fact that said individual happens to be a member of the Board of Governors is secondary and not at all germane to the situation."
"They do not belong in here," another voice stated as a tall woman walked into the room. She had so sharp a chin that Harry found himself thinking that she probably tended to wear something to blunt it, in order to avoid puncturing herself. "Ladies, leave."
Harry looked at the woman and said, "The meeting has not yet started. It is still fifteen minutes until 1 p.m., therefore it's perfectly acceptable for them to remain here so that we may continue to converse." With that, he turned and ignored the remaining members as they walked in, even Neville's grandmother. He did not react again until Amelia Bones entered the room. "Ah, Aunt Amelia!" he said warmly, standing and enveloping her in a hug. "Well, it appears that everyone is here, so the meeting should start."
"You are an arrogant child," a rather portly man said. "We are here to discuss your punishment for disobeying the ruling of the Board, and you think to order us around as to when the meeting shall start?"
"We are here to talk about that punishment and what shall be done concerning it, yes," Harry replied. "However, I find it interesting that every single one of you, save one, has either ignored me or been openly hostile to me since arriving. Madam Granford proceeded to order these four out of the room the moment that she arrived, and by no means was it polite. I expect the Death Eater over there to be hostile to me, since I'm someday going to stamp 'Paid' to his half-blooded master."
"Lucius Malfoy was under the Imperius!" the portly man bellowed.
"Makes sense. That excuse worked last time, and if it keeps him from becoming Dementor food, I'd imagine the fact that he is so susceptible and weak-willed becoming public knowledge was worth it. Or will we discover that a large sum of money ended up in someone's hands just before he was declared innocent?" He turned to face Lucius. "I remember you standing in the Ministry in your Death Eater gear, Lucy. I've seen people under Imperius, and I'm able to shake it off, even from your half-blood master. You may have fooled these people, but you won't fool me.
"But think about what that says about the Board of Governors. You have as a member someone who has been publicly shown to be weak-minded, since he can so easily be turned to the Dark side. You ally yourselves with him. This does not speak well for the Board of Governors."
"How dare you?" Madam Longbottom exclaimed, rising to her feet. "You dare equate my family with Death Eaters and weak-minded fools? You know nothing of what you speak, child!"
"I know far more than you, Madam," he replied coldly, "and you will find me even more difficult to cow than your grandson is right now. Considering the outcome of the last shouting match that you two had, that should tell you something. Yes, I call you weak-willed and ally, however unwitting, to Voldemort. You trust the Daily Prophet to give you fair and even reporting, despite their long history otherwise. You vote with Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater. His bastard son and concubine were directly involved in a plot to murder these four ladies. You choose to continue my suspension, despite discovering that you had been wrong to suspend me in the first place." He stalked up to her. "You want to kick me out of Hogwarts permanently because I'm daring to show that you people are nothing. You censured the one voice amongst you who held to what was proven to be the truth, rather than re-examine the evidence. To paraphrase a very wise man, 'You can choose what is right, or what is easy.' You people chose easy."
Twelve of the thirteen Board members were flabbergasted at Harry's audacity, while the last one was trying very hard not to laugh. Based on their facial expressions, the four Mrs. Potters were having similar troubles. Harry paced around the room for a moment before saying, "I don't like doing this, but you leave me no choice. You simply can not be trusted with power any more. I don't want to do this, but I need to."
"What do you think you can do?" sneered the sharp-chinned woman. "Rant us into submission?"
"Actually, no. I am the last remaining Heir of two of the Founders, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Susan Bones is the final Heir of Ravenclaw. Between the two of us, who are a legal fiction of three people, we have the power to overrule the fourth and final Heir, Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Voldemort, even if he had bothered to show up today." Ignoring the shock and outrage gathering on various faces, Harry stood straighter and spoke formally. "The Houses of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff vote to disband the Board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Susan stood proudly and said, "I speak for the House of Ravenclaw in voting to disband the Board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"With a seventy five percent vote from the Founders' Heirs, which trumps any vote that the Board might wish to make, the Board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is hereby declared disbanded," Harry said to them. "Since you no longer have a job, you are no longer needed here, so I suggest that you leave." He grinned and looked over toward the one former Board member who didn't look like they'd just been slapped with a freshly caught trout. "Except you, Aunt Amelia."
Author Notes:
Fun ride, no? We're nearing the end of the line, folks - only a handful more chapters to go.