Chapter 531
Returning from the Wizengamot session, Sirius had
remained quiet until after dinner. That evening, he called
for a 'family' meeting in the main dining room.
Once everyone was there, he laid out what had happened
at the Wizengamot meeting regarding CeeCee. Harry only
added a couple of very specific and relevant points, as he
felt Sirius had done a sterling job of relaying the major
ones.
Once he was done, CeeCee was already enveloped in her
mother's arms, Dorothy's, as the older woman looked
quite concerned.
"As Harry explained to me," said Sirius. "This was just, as
he put it, a further 'shot across the bows'. This was the
Dark trying to both discover further information and trying
to squeeze us into making certain moves of their own
desire."
"It is clear Parkinson wants the Malfoy fortune," sighed
Harry. "I believe that was the background of the betrothal
contract between Draco and Pansy. Parkinson wanted the
Malfoy fortune and vice versa. Both thought they would
come out on top, once the time was right.
"Parkinson is trying to recover that plan. But, by the body
language of Caracticus Nott, it is clear he's also willing to
share the fortune with Nott by seeing CeeCee in a similar
contract with Theodore Nott, Nott's grandson. It is clear to
me those two have formed an unholy alliance."
Narcissa gave a huff, crossed her arms and said, "That
makes sense."
She then turned a very direct look on Harry and said, "It is
now clear to me you were not lying when you said the
Sorting Hat wanted to immediately sort you into Slytherin."
Harry just gave a slight smug smirk back for a moment.
What the two had not seen were the quick looks passed
between Dorothy and Stephen.
"Parkinson is now going to do his own research," said
Sirius. "I'll have to talk, again, with Ted Tonks and find out
how successful he believes he's been in muddying up the
tracks of the research he carried out to find CeeCee in the
first place. Until we know that, the Wilkinses are in grave
danger if they go home."
"No," sighed Harry. "Sorry, but that's misleading. What you
mean is the Wilkinses are in danger if they go home,
because of someone carrying out the same research Ted
was able to gather. That implies the danger will no longer
exist if the research is hidden or destroyed. We cannot
presuppose that. We do not know if there exists other
research that could also find them.
"For example," he looked to the Wilkinses, "Did any of you
speak, while in the bank, in front of anyone else who isn't
family and trusted?"
"Yes," sighed Stephen. "I guess we all did, at some time."
"Then there exists the risk that someone will have, or will
in later viewing of a memory of the event in a pensieve,
recognise your accents as Australian," he explained.
"Now, how many magic schools are there in Australia?"
Sirius sighed and replied, "Three. Two boarding and one
'day' school."
Harry quietly said, "Then it would only be a matter of days
before the Wilkinses would be found - maybe a couple of
weeks if they, those looking for them, were stupid. I do not
know how corrupt the Australian Ministry of Magic is, but it
must be assumed they are possibly even more corrupt
than our own. A quick and surreptitious handing over of
gold and the home address of the Wilkinses would be
easily known. Running and hiding back in Australia is not
a safe option."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The Weasley household were in good spirits. Arthur had
come home the previous day in high spirits and the most
relaxed his wife had seen him in months.
"What's gotten into you, Arthur?" she'd asked.
"You know those two projects I was in charge of
shepherding through to completion?" he'd laughed.
"They're done! Both of them!"
"Oh, Arthur!" Molly had gushed. "That's wonderful news!"
"And only a month late!" he grinned. "At least I got it on
Madam Bones's desk in time for her to present it to the
Wizengamot for first reading tomorrow. I hope she does,
too."
As Arthur sat back and relaxed, Molly had prepared for
him his favourite meal; roast corned beef, baked veggies
and lashings of gravy, followed up with a freshly baked
apple pie from apples freshly picked from the trees
outside.
Ron, though, hated corned beef with a passion that
bordered on loathing. It didn't stop him from eating more
than his fair share, though. However, after his months at
Aunt Muriel's, he now only ate just a little more than a full
adult serving. And he no longer shoved food into his
mouth at a rate that had him going through his dinner
twice as fast as even the second fastest eater at the
Weasley table, Charlie.
All the Weasleys had noticed the drastic change in Ron's
eating habits and congratulated him on the major
improvements in his table manners. He'd tried, his second
night home, to return to his old ways while he had the
chance. However, it just made him sick and he nearly
ended up vomiting it all back up again. He didn't try again.
"So, Madam Bones accepted it?" pressed Ginny, once she
found out why her father was in such good spirits.
"Accepted it, yes," he replied. "Now I just need to wait to
see what sort of changes I'll need to make before it
becomes law."
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---------------
Chapter 532
"And the 'muggle experience' course?" asked William,
home at the time on one of his 'short visits'.
"Same," his father replied.
After watching the reading of the Bill for the Statute in the
Wizengamot session, Arthur had quietly left the chamber
and returned to work. He had immediately sought out the
witch he considered his second-in-command, after Cliff
had fulfilled his promise and retired within the second
week of the 'new reality', as he'd called it.
"Genevieve," he'd called to her.
"Boss?" she'd immediately looked up from what she was
working on and asked.
He grinned and said, "It's been accepted for the first
reading."
"Woohoo!" she'd returned, before laughing.
Genevieve Goodfellow was one of the two muggleborn
government spies who'd been assigned to accept
employment in the new and expanded Muggle Artefact
Office - the words 'Misuse of' had been dropped from the
name. Arthur had 'promoted' her to be his second in
command of the office within only a few weeks, when she
showed a clear understanding of what was needed to be
accomplished and worked hard to see it done.
Arthur just didn't know that her ideas were coming to her
from an MI-5 'think tank' set up to provide her with the
ideas, which formed the direction the government security
agency wanted to see things go. He was just happy that
her ideas, according to him, all proved sound and do-able.
It was because of her work that the new Statute for the
Misuse of Muggle Items was near exactly as MI-5 wanted
it, with what they thought they could get away with. She'd
already been informed that, once her current MI-5
assignment was done, she was to be promoted within that
organisation and allowed her choice of assignments. She
was giving serious thought to staying where she was and
seeing if she could employ her skills in seeing other
wizarding Statutes 'amended' with MI-5 recommendations.
Her colleague who headed the procurements team, Peter
'He of three first names' Glengarry, was the NCIS
undercover agent. He earned the position as Head of the
team by being the one to both come up with the idea of
using a disused muggle holiday camp as the muggle base
for the course and shepherded through the purchase of it.
What only a few - he, Goodfellow and Bones - knew was
that the camp had been seized by NCIS as an asset used
by a major British drug cartel only twelve months prior.
And it was the NCIS that faked up the documentation that
'allowed' the Ministry of Magic to purchase it.
Not even those three knew, though, that the camp was
also heavily monitored through hidden surveillance
equipment. Security was that tight. Neither MI-5 nor NCIS
were going to leave anything to chance.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
However, that was the previous day. Today, Ronald was in
his room, frustrated with not being able to get the books
he wanted. Yes, he had the books on protective magic and
light magics that he could use to combat dark magic, but
he wanted the actual dark magic books. He wanted those
curses.
While in his room and working on his knowledge of lightsided charms, hexes and protections by going through the
wand movements as fast as he could, his mind kept
drifting to figuring out ways to get the gold he needed to
buy the right books.
With a sigh, he looked outwards in memory at what he
had, what the wider family had and what he could hock to
get him more gold. Even across the whole family, there
was very little. The Weasleys lived inside their means, but
lived to the maximum inside their means. There were no
extras that could be hocked without being missed. There
were no hidden caches of 'treasures' or gold he could use.
There was nothing.
But, then he had a thought. There were such at Aunt
Muriel's. She had a couple of items he could take and
hock. He just had to take them to the right person. And,
the only one he could think of was Mister Burke of Borgin
and Burke's.
His problem there was that he'd have to go back to Aunt
Muriel's to collect what he needed and make a quick trip to
Knockturn Alley. Though he knew he'd then soon have the
books and, with it, the curses needed, he didn't want to
ever have to return to that woman's questionable care.
"I should have grabbed them while I was there," he
muttered, annoyed with himself over his lack of
forethought.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The day after the Wizengamot meeting, Narcissa was
more determined than ever to get her Tapestry Circle off
the ground.
'Potter is right,' she thought. 'Parkinson and Nott are
clearly in some form of "duo" alliance to try and get hold of
the Malfoy fortune through forcing a marriage or
concubine contract - or, worse - onto Corina. I am not
going to let that happen.'
With her determination reinforced she prepared what she
needed to say and to whom. First, she needed to speak to
a new Law-wizard of Record. There was no way in
Morgana's name she was going to use the one who was
the Malfoy one until Ted Tonks, nor would she use Ted
Tonks for this.
She went to the one who used to be the Black Law-wizard
of Record until Sirius moved the account to Tonks -
Dewey, Skroohem and Howe. Of course, she dealt with
Dewey, the senior partner.
The man was quick to provide what she needed, as the
firm was desperate to get back at least one of their now
departed major clients. They would have preferred to get
the Black account back, but were more than willing to
accept the Malfoy legal account as 'compensation' and
were gambling on Narcissa becoming regent for her
daughter. After all, the Malfoys were close to the same
value as Black, gold-wise.
Quickly, the man had the instructions to draft the
necessary documents to create the 'club' called 'The
Tapestry Circle'. When he was given the information as to
why the circle was being formed, he was almost horrified;
not by what the Club wanted to achieve, but by why it was
clearly necessary.
He and his wife, both purebloods from long lines of
purebloods, had lost two children to stillbirth; the only two
they'd ever tried for. They'd never tried again, as the pain
of losing such was already nearly too much to bear. When
shown the evidence of Malfoy's claims he, too, was furious
the information had been deliberately buried. Though male
and the membership of the Circle would be strictly female,
he became a major supporter, right then and there.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After a long day and a half over the previous two days
occasionally sitting with the Wilkinses and explaining what
Parkinson had attempted, on the Thursday Harry was
brought out of focussing 'inwards' on the family and
focussed 'outwards' on friends and the rest of the
wizarding world. He was surprised to receive a letter
delivered by Errol, the Weasley's old family owl. It was
from the twins.
~ # ~
Lord Harrison J Potter,
Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
All-round top bloke.
Harrikins!
We send you this mini-missive to let you know that the
Pinhead, Percy, has gone and gotten himself betrothed.
And, you probably guessed, it's to the lovely Miss Penny
Clearwater.
It seems he took onboard what you told him about offering
to change his name to Clearwater and he's done exactly
that. Leastwise, that's what he's going to do as part of the
betrothal contract written up between Dad and Lord
Clearwater.
Mum's a bit pissed about it, though. She doesn't like that
Percy's been 'forced to' change his surname, just so he
could marry the woman of his dreams. She thinks it's a
load of old nonsense and 'modern' witches and wizards
shouldn't engage in such outdated concepts. We know it's
because she doesn't want to understand, rather than she
simply doesn't.
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Chapter 533
But, Percy's right pleased and really doesn't care whether
or not Mum's upset about it. He has our respect for that.
We've no idea when or where the handfasting's going to
take place. However, Percy's so happy about everything
he's told us to tell you that you and yours will be invited.
He says he knows he wouldn't have ever gotten the
chance to marry her, if it wasn't for your idea to offer to
change his surname. So, as far as he's currently
concerned, Harry Potter and 'his three ladies' will be VIP
guests at the handfasting.
Anyways, we just thought you'd like to know.
Oh; and Mum wants to know when you can come and pay
us a visit again.
Gred and Forge
(love and kisses)
~ # ~
After snickering in amusement and passing the letter off to
Daphne, Harry wrote his reply.
~ # ~
Messers Fred and George Weasley
The Burrow
Ottery St. Catchpole
Gred and Forge,
I'm glad to hear Percy took on board my suggestion and
went with it. Please pass on my, Hermione's, Daphne's
and Fleur's congratulations to him and his.
As Penny is the Heiress Secondary to the Noble and Most
Ancient House of Clearwater (and, therefore, One of the
Seven), together with in direct line of succession, I doubt
very much we four will not receive an invitation to attend
the handfasting. Lord Clearwater is pretty much obligated
to send us one. So, tell Percy not to worry about it.
Our only concern will be, of course, Ron's behaviour. I still
have not forgiven him for deliberately creating a situation
that could have easily gotten me killed - if I was the Harry
Potter he thought me to be. That is, if I did not already
know of the treachery of which he is capable. We'll be
giving that a lot of consideration before we'll even decide
whether or not to attend; because, as Percy's brother, Ron
will of course also attend.
Please also pass on my congratulations to Ginny for
successfully taking on the role as seeker for the Lions. I
and mine attended both Gryffindor matches and saw how
well she performed. She has real talent in the sport. I
daresay she could easily make a career of it, if that was
her dream.
No doubt you would all know by now of the appearance of
young CeeCee. She's the young lass who is the rightful
inheritor of the Malfoy estates after the sudden deaths of
both Lucy and Draco on the night they tried to use me in
some kind of resurrection ritual to bring back Vole-in-hisshorts.
CeeCee - Charlotte C Wilkins - is the adopted daughter of
a couple of muggles, who already had two children of their
own when they adopted her as an infant. She was actually
born the second child of Lucy and Narcissa Malfoy, but
was dumped by Lucy Malfoy halfway around the world
because of birth issues that are considered medical-in-
confidence. That is, it's private medical information and
not for discussion. I've met her and talked to her.
Wonderful girl.
At the moment, I'm currently staying at the Black
Townhouse in Kings Cross. I've spent only a little time at
my own home, Pottermore, because of needs to visit my
three ladies. However, I'll soon be moving to southern
France to spend time with Fleur and her family while Fleur
undertakes her NEWT exams in the French Ministry. After
that, I'll be staying for a little while at the Greengrass
manor and at the Grangers' home, which will take us to
the end of the summer break.
So, as you can see, time is very restricted for me.
Thank your Mum for the invitation, but I doubt very much
I'll get a chance to drop by The Burrow before school
recommences. There's already just far too much I've still
yet to do regarding my responsibilities and nowhere near
enough time in which to do it.
Harrison
~ # ~
After reading the letter, Daphne handed it back to Harry
and asked, "Do you think that's going to stop Molly
Weasley from sending you invitations?"
"Nope," he replied. "She'll keep badgering the twins to
invite me over. It's in her nature."
"So, what are you going to do about it?" she asked.
"Nothing," he replied. "At least, this way, I get to hear from
the devil twins. Besides, it's not my responsibility to curb
her demands. Sooner or later the twins are going to have
a gutful and refuse.
"Now they're of-age they can legally refuse. But, as they're
still living at home, I don't think they will until she pushes
them just that bit too far."
She nodded back.
He sent it that afternoon via Hedwig and hoped Molly
would not try to intercept it. As both twins were now of-age
he hoped she wouldn't.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Even though she was still waiting for the corporation
documents of The Tapestry Circle to be finalised, Narcissa
was not going to sit idle until they were. That day she
began to make her visits to others she was both
'acquaintances' with and of whom she already had
evidence they'd lost children.
She'd be starting with the Neutrals, rather than the Darks.
Taking them alphabetically, because there was no reason
to use any other order, that meant a visit to the Dowager
Aldermaston, Mildred Aldermaston. The advantage with
Aldermaston was it would give her a 'foot in the door' of
the other Neutral families.
After sending the dowager a letter by owl the previous late
afternoon, she'd received confirmation and invitation to
join the woman that very morning at 9.00am. Dressed in a
set of her 'visiting' robes, Narcissa was out via the floo
right on the hour of the appointment, to the second. She
took with her both the evidence of the birth rates and
defects, together with the initial documents of The
Tapestry Circle.
Narcissa would later come to know that, by pure
happenstance, her visit to the Dowager Aldermaston as
one of her first visits was the most important of all. The
'old biddy', once she learned of what Narcissa had to show
her as evidence of her claims, went on a rant that lasted
almost half an hour.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter 534
Once she calmed somewhat, she demanded, "And what,
pray tell, do you intend to do to repair this... this...
abomination!"
Narcissa laid out for her what she'd done until then and
what she hoped to accomplish in the near future and
beyond.
"I'm in!" declared Aldermaston. "And... I'll help you with
getting in touch with the others you need. So they know
there's nothing underhanded going on, I'll be joining you in
those meetings.
"You and I might not see eye to eye on many things;
however, on this, we are one voice!"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After a long morning spent at Longbottom Manor with
Alice and Adeline, Hermione turned up at the Black
Townhouse shortly after lunch. By then, Harry and Daphne
were in Fleur's room and again assisting the girl with study
for her exams.
Hermione immediately dove in to help.
After an hour she asked, "So, when do you have to head
back to France?"
"We leave tomorrow morning," replied Fleur. "The
eeexams will be starting on Monday morning at the
Ministry."
When Hermione then turned to look at Harry, he said,
"Yes, Hermione. As I said before, I'll be joining her for the
two weeks."
Hermione gave a nod and said, "In that case, I'll come
over sometime during that time. I don't think my parents
will have a problem if I'm gone for... say... a week."
Fleur smirked and said, "You do not want to miss out on
your ''Arry-time'."
Hermione lightly blushed, stuck her nose in the air a little
defiantly and replied, "No. I do not."
That had all three girls giggle while Harry chuckled a little.
"I'm going, too," said Daphne. "Father has no problem with
it."
"And your mother?" asked Harry.
Daphne lightly blushed and replied, "She wants to help me
pack. Or, rather, she wants to help me pack... light."
Harry didn't know what she meant, but it appeared
Hermione and Fleur did. It wasn't that important to him, so
he'd see if he could subtly find out later.
Instead, he asked Hermione, "How goes your lessons with
Alice and Adeline?"
"Good!" she immediately replied, before launching into an
explanation of what sort of lessons she was being given.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Thankfully, the international portkey was not an early one.
It left at 10.00am from the Ministry international portkey
point within the Department of International Magical
Cooperation.
The three going were Fleur, of course, Harry and Daphne.
All three had their trunks shrunk and in their pockets.
Sirius 'brought' them, but there was really no need to.
They only had to go via floo from the Black Townhouse to
the Ministry atrium and take the lift to the department. All
up, about five minutes.
Arriving in the Ministère de la Magie in Paris, France, they
were met by Jean-Paul, Apolline and Gabrielle, the latter
of whom immediately gave a squeal of delight and
charged her sister. The two were hugging before the three
were even far enough forward of the International check-in
desk not to be in the way. It was left up to Fleur to drag her
sister with her and far enough apart from the desk not to
be considered a nuisance.
Jean-Paul immediately asked, "Got everytheeng you
need?"
Harry gave a nod and smile back, "Yes, Sir."
"Good," Jean-Paul gave a firm nod back. "Apolline weell
make sure you get to the manoir, safely. I 'ave to return to
werk."
After he gave Fleur a big hug, a quick hug to Daphne and
shook Harry's hand, the man quickly gave his excuses
and left. That then left it to Apolline to escort them to the
nearest set of public floos so they could floo to Delacour
Manoir.
Less than three minutes later and they were in the
manor's welcoming parlour.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The first thing Harry noticed was the almost opulence of
the building. It was quite close, but just a smidge better,
than Pottermore.
Surprising Harry, he was shown to a room that was across
the hall from Fleur, with Daphne in the room next door to
Fleur's. Harry just hoped Hermione would not be shunted
off somewhere else.
However, his fears were laid to rest when Apolline said her
room was directly next to Fleur's on the other side to
Daphne's. And she apologised for not being able to get
them all right alongside the others.
"It's alright, Apolline," he was quick to say. "I cannot see
how you'd be able to organise them any other way and still
be fair."
After dropping off their shrunken trunks, with the Manor
house elves immediately moving to unpack them for them,
Fleur took them on a quick tour of the manor.
Finally, they were shown outside. And the first thing he
and Daphne noticed out there was the warmth. It wasn't
the comfortable warmth of London in summer, either. This
was almost a tropical warmth with a decently high
humidity.
Moving her arms a little as she looked about, Daphne
said, "Alright, that's going to take a little getting used to."
"The warmth or the humidity?" asked Harry.
"Both," she smiled back. "I think we all need to change
into something a lot lighter and airier than we're wearing."
"Yes," said Fleur. "That is a very good idea."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After changing into light cargo pants, a simple collared Tshirt and with canvas slip-ons on his feet. Harry rejoined
the two girls down in the informal dining room.
Their tour showed him that Delacour Manoir was of a
similar style to the main manor houses of magical Britain.
The main difference was the wide balconies that
surrounded both main levels - the ground floor and the
next floor up, where all the bedrooms were to be found.
Each bedroom also had a door that opened out onto the
balcony, so one could go out there at night and enjoy the
evening air.
Once down in the informal dining room he looked to Fleur
and asked, "What are your plans from now until Monday
morning?"
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Chapter 535
"Rest," she immediately replied. "I intend to rest my mind,
with only light revision work of no more than two 'ours
each night over the weekend and then three 'ours each
evening for the exams that would be 'eld the next day."
"Good," he nodded. "I'm glad to hear you intend to
practice what you preached to Hermione a couple weeks
ago."
She lightly smiled back and said, "Proper study practices
is something we were taught at Beauxbatons in our first
year. It is disappointing to discover it is not at 'Ogwarts."
He gave a sigh and said, "True."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The weekend was as relaxing as they could get it for
Fleur. However, Sunday night Harry took Fleur into his
room and gave her the aid she needed, even if she did not
need that aid that night.
Lying in bed later and with both bathed in a light sweat, he
said, "I hope that will be able to help you get the best
grades you can."
Like the other two, she liked to curl into his side after sex.
She was doing it this time, too. Her only response to his
comment was a very pleased verbal nod. "Mmm."
He already knew he'd made it good for her. She'd again
babbled in French during the late evening's activities, as
she usually did.
On the Monday morning, she almost languidly rose and
readied herself for her day. Surprising Harry, she wasn't
wearing either her Beauxbatons or Hogwarts uniforms.
"They're unnecessary for the eexams when taken at the
Ministry, 'Arry," she replied when he asked. "Those who
usually take the eexams at the Ministry are almost always
those who were 'ome schooled, tutored or self-studied.
Therefore, it is considered rude to wear uniform when
undertaking the tests there."
"Ah!" he muttered. "Makes sense."
After she'd left, escorted by Jean-Paul, Apolline
approached and said, "You met 'er needs last night, yes?
Zank you."
Only blushing a little, he replied, "I... thought it would help
her, concentration wise, for her exams."
"I belief eet weell, too," she smiled. "Eef notheeng else, as
you would ser-mise, eet weell remove zee... com-pulshun... yes?... compulsion from 'er for zee time."
"Yes; that's what I thought," he confirmed.
"Zen, again, Zank you,"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As the week progressed, while Fleur dutifully returned as
needed back to the Ministry, Apolline took both British
teens out to see the sights of both magical and nonmagical France. They visited all the muggle highlights, of
course; the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Palace
of Versailles and the Chateau De Chambord. However,
they also visited the magical (wizarding) areas, too. They
visited Voie de Magicien (Wizard's Way), the main
shopping area of Paris and biggest in France; Le Louvre
Magique, the hidden magical part of The Louvre Museum;
Jardins Beauxbâtons, the gardens of Beauxbatons, open
to the public during summer when school wasn't in
session; plus others.
Of course, Harry being Harry just had to sample the finest
foods on offer around the country. He visited small
provincial cafes right up to restaurants that rated three
Michelin stars. However, while he thought the presentation
was nice for each dish in the latter cases, he could not see
how the taste could be considered any better. He might try
to 'chef' each plate he served up a bit in future, just for
presentation purposes, but he couldn't see any
improvements on what truly mattered - how delicious it
was.
After Fleur would return from her day at the Ministry, Harry
would ensure she had a relaxing bath then cooked for her.
Though he was considered a guest, Fleur begged her
mother to allow Harry to cook at least one meal.
"You will see, Maman," she firmly said. "Once you 'ave
sampled 'Arry's cooking, you will let 'im cook whenevair 'e
wants. I assure you."
She was right. After being allowed to cook dinner on the
first Sunday night after arriving, they were only on the
second course when Apolline looked him dead in the eye
and said, "Whenevair you want access to zee kit-chon to
cook; you 'ave eet!"
While Daphne and Fleur snickered in amusement, Harry
beamed in delight. "Thank you!" he firmly said.
"I just ask zat you attempt to teach our 'ouse elves these
improvemonts in cookeeng," she begged.
Harry was only too happy to try. Which led to him giving
the elves cooking classes in the early mornings, before
everyone else was up; and during the late afternoons,
after being out doing the touristy stuff while he waited for
Fleur to return from the Ministry, if that's where she was on
that day.
Of course, she wasn't at the Ministry, day after day, from
early morning until late afternoon. Some days, she was
only there for the morning or the afternoon, not both. And,
on one occasion she was there for the mid morning and
the late afternoon, but had a gap of four hours between
the two.
Even with Fleur having the full day off, Harry hadn't even
realised it was a Friday when Apolline informed him they'd
be at the Ministry the next morning to collect Hermione
from the international portkey point they'd arrived at a
week earlier. Nor was he even fully aware it was his
fifteenth birthday the next day.
He'd never had the chance to 'celebrate' his birthday
before, except on the two occasions when he'd already
been collected from the Dursleys by the Weasleys. The
only clue he had that his birthday was coming up was
when Molly Weasley had sent him a letter, via Errol, that
she had planned to bake him a cake, especially for the
day. And that she was insisting he turn up at The Burrow
to have a major party for it - his birthday, not the cake.
He, of course, immediately wrote back and informed her
he was currently in France and would not have a chance
to return 'for the foreseeable future'. He, happily, heard
nothing back.
'Maybe she's finally accepted the fact that nagging me
with invitations wasn't going to work,' he thought, before
he then muttered, "Nah! She's far too pig-headed not to
keep trying."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The next morning, Harry cooked up a decent breakfast
feast. He did it, not because he knew the Delacours and
Daphne were expecting one, but because it was just so
much fun to do. Besides, it was his birthday and he
decided to splurge.
Knowing the Delacours much preferred their own French
cuisine than standard English fare, even if Harry did cook
it far better than the 'dripping with fats' that the English
usually plated up, Harry laid on a French breakfast spread
with fruit croissants, pain au chocolat (chocolate bread)
and an apple/pear turnover, but added Flemish waffles,
poached eggs, grilled bacon, coffee and orange juice. It
actually all worked well together. Harry even thought he'd
found the basis of a decent breakfast spread for when he
was cooking 'full time' back in Pottermore in future and
didn't want to lay on a Full English Lite. He'd try to change
things around, of course, but this was definitely a
successful template.
After letting breakfast settle, with no one really interested
in morning tea except for cups of tea for Harry and
Daphne and cups of coffee for the Delacours, Jean-Paul
took the three 'Potters' back to the Ministry to pick up
Hermione.
Jean-Paul was last through after a short delay. Harry
wondered why, but was too keyed up on the near
imminent arrival of Hermione to worry about it. Quickly,
they made their way up to the arrival point.
Right on time Hermione arrived with about half a dozen
others around a big rope quoit in the arrival point and was
quick to grin and hurry over to them. Of course, Harry was
practically snogged, right there, before she finally stepped
back and cheerily said, "Hi! Missed you! Happy birthday!"
Grinning back he said, "We missed you, too. And, thank
you."
With the girl almost clinging to him like a limpet, he asked,
"Got everything?"
"Yup!" she declared. "Shrunk and in my pocket."
"Great," he firmly said. "Let's get you to Delacour Manoir
then." Then looked to Jean-Paul.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 536
Jean-Paul merely grinned at them and led the way back to
the public floos.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Surprising Harry, almost as soon as they returned they
threw him a surprise birthday party. Apparently, the house
elves had gotten to work as soon as he'd left via the floo.
That was the short delay of Jean-Paul arriving at the
Ministry. He'd given the house elves the 'go ahead' to get
everything going. Something they'd been planning for the
past week and had kept from him.
Of course, with Hermione's arrival and the immediate
party, the house elves took care of organising the lunch
too. And, it was during lunch Harry received his birthday
presents.
His favourite, by far, was the somewhat illegal wand
holster with the auto 'draw' charm gifted him by Jean-Paul.
It caused the wand to eject into his hand at just the right
point for him to snag it by the grip, ready to cast.
"In Briton," said the man, "These are considaired only
permissable by your aurors, 'it wizards and Unspeakables.
'Owevair, such laws do not exist 'ere in Fronce."
Hermione immediately asked, "Won't he get in trouble for
having one when we go back to England?"
"Non," he replied. "'Arry is the Lord of a Most Ancient
House. He is... excused... exempted from such laws."
While that would have, in the past, sent Hermione on a bit
of rant, nowadays it did not. She was more and more
becoming used to and understanding the exemptions that
applied to the Seven.
It didn't even take him all that long to get used to it, either.
Jean-Paul explained there was a built-in rune sequence
that held back the hand from gripping too early, thereby
meaning the wand was gripped too far up the shaft.
However, there was no such one for gripping too late.
Harry's quick reflexes, though, meant that second one
wasn't even tested.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Apparently, by prior understanding between his ladies,
Hermione spent that night with Harry in his room. No one
in the manor even batted an eye when, the next morning,
Hermione came down late to breakfast looking a little
'goofy', but clearly happy.
Harry just looked a little smug. He'd finally caught on to
how he was believed, by his ladies at least, to be quite
skilled in the bedroom. Mind you, all three practically had
to sit him down and tell him; almost having to go the route
of a magical vow to ensure he both knew and accepted
they weren't just trying to boost his self-confidence in the
sexual arts.
As it was Sunday and the middle of summer, the manorhold decided they'd spend the day at one of the beaches
of the Côte d'Azur, the French Riviera. Harry, never having
been to a beach before - let alone a French one - did not
know what all the knowing smirks between the ladies
meant. Instead, he happily changed into a pair of
swimming trunks, donned a collared T-shirt and a pair of
sandals, grabbed a large beach towel from the manor
stocks and was ready to go in plenty of time. They'd be
taking a portkey created by Jean-Paul to a little rarelytravelled laneway a short walk to the beach.
When the girls all came down, each wearing a light
summer dress over what appeared to be bikinis and the
like, each also wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat and
carrying small canvas bags, he definitely knew they were
up to something.
However, they were joined by Jean-Paul, Apolline and little
Gabby and were already portkeying away before he could
even ask.
As promised, it was a short walk to the beach. And, it
wasn't until they didn't immediately stop, but instead
walked along the beach into a more secluded one, that he
realised what was going on. Before he even realised it,
he'd been led onto a nudist beach.
Everywhere he looked: Nudity - or, at least toplessness.
"Errmmm―" he whined.
His bondmates saw he'd finally figured out where they
were and giggled at him.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Back in Britain, Narcissa had been working wonders in
getting all the Dowagers and Ladies together. Dowager
Aldermaston had worked her magic and, over the past ten
days, brought together as many of the 'victim' witches
together as she could. The meeting just concluded was
the first time the (greatly expanded) Tapestry Circle had
met as a single group. To date, there were almost thirty of
them; members.
"This has to be a cover-up!" declared one elderly witch.
"There is no chance people did not already know of this!"
"That is true," said Narcissa. "However, while we might not
know who it is who is responsible for this, we know what
the result has been; lost babies!"
There was no dissent.
"And what do we need to do to stop it?" asked another.
"First thing; we cannot continue to let our children marry
one another across the supposed existing blood lines,"
she replied. "Dorothy assures me that the number of lost
babies will be greatly reduced if newbloods - that is, those
we call muggleborns - are matched with those known as
purebloods, or match well outside of magical Britain and,
probably, other English-speaking countries. We must stop
local purebloods marrying local purebloods."
"Our Lords, Heads of Houses and husbands will never
allow it!" declared one.
"Our Lords, Heads of Houses and husbands must be
made to!" another shot back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The afternoon at the beach turned out, as far as Harry
was concerned, brilliant!
At first he was embarrassed as all get out. However, once
he managed to get his mind wrapped around the idea that
there was far more skin on display than he expected, by
switching his thoughts on the matter from 'sex' to 'biology',
he found he enjoyed the time. But, that was after first
having to take quite a few swims.
However, he didn't even take his own togs off until they'd
been there for at least three quarters of an hour. It took
him that long to get over what his eyes were telling him.
'Boobs! Lots and lots of boobs!'
The girls, for the most part, weren't anywhere near as
body conscious, though. Fleur, as expected, was first to
disrobe. After the summer dress was slipped off, the bikini
top went immediately after that. He thought she was going
to stop there, but she didn't. As soon as the top was
removed and dropped onto her 'pile' of clothes, the
bottoms were next. Before she even had her towel laid
out, she was standing there completely starkers.
As she then laid her towel out, he saw that Hermione also
had her summer dress off and, after hesitating only a few
seconds, seemed to give herself a firm nod and removed
her bikini top. However, she didn't go any further than that.
And Daphne only removed her dress, even leaving her hat
on as she laid her towel out.
Then he finally turned his attention to the other Delacours.
Like Fleur, both other Delacour 'girls', oldest and youngest,
had disrobed completely and were stretched out on their
tummies on their towels. However, Jean-Paul only went
down to one of the briefest pairs of 'speedos' Harry had
ever seen. They even had that 'thong' strap in the back,
leaving his bum cheeks bare.
Harry'd not even had a chance to do anything before Fleur
called him over and asked him to lather her back with the
contents of a large jar she was holding out to him.
That led to him smearing whatever was in the jar all over
his bonded's back before she simply rolled over and said,
"Keep going, please." And laid back.
Of course, then Hermione wanted the same, then Daphne.
After doing her back, that was the point at which Daphne
seemed to reach a decision. She rolled over, sat up,
refused to even look at anyone, reached behind and
released the catches to her top, removed it, set it aside
and laid back down again. Then she laid there, quit a bit
tense.
Harry was quick to swab her front with the unguent, or
whatever it was, starting with her 'safe' areas before gently
moving up to smear the cream over her breasts. By the
time he was done, she'd relaxed again.
After finishing Daphne he then used the cream to cover
himself, but wasn't too interested in doing his back.
Hermione took care of that about an hour later when she
noticed he was definitely going a little too red.
It was also about then that Hermione had finally realised
that there was so many on the beach who were going
bottomless, she might as well too; and did. Even Harry
had doffed his trunks for a while, while lying on his tummy.
However, that was a line Daphne was completely unwilling
to cross and none of them pushed it.
Of course, they didn't just sunbathe. They also swam.
After the girls felt they'd gotten enough sun and their big
lunches had settled down enough, they all redressed back
into their swimwear and dragged Harry off to swim about
in the ocean. They were joined by Gabrielle, who hadn't
redressed as she was still naked while they were in the
water.
The only problem they had was when a couple of young
men saw that Harry was accompanied by four incredibly
attractive young ladies and, even if Gabrielle was still quite
young, decided he needed to share.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 537
That lasted right up until both Fleur and Gabrielle hit them
with their allure and both men found they had to quickly
run into the water to hide their 'embarrassments'.
As Fleur moved in close to Harry and slipped her arm in
his, she quietly said, "And that, 'Arry, is a clear
demonstration of why Veela 'ave the allure."
He just gave a snort of amusement back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Returning to the manor late in the afternoon near dusk,
they all showered and changed. Then made it down, just
in time, to all sit down for a summer dinner.
Of course, talk at the table was all about how the day
proved to be quite the enjoyable one for them all.
Apolline asked, "Steel planning on returning to Briton on
Saturday morneeng?"
"Yes," Harry firmly replied. He knew the Delacours really
wanted them to stay longer, but he also knew he had to
get back to Britain so they could spend time with the other
families. "I know Hermione is still going through informal
'Lady of the House' training and would like to get back to
it. And I have other work relating to both my House and
business matters I simply cannot put off any longer."
She sadly nodded back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Ron Weasley had managed to amass just over what he
thought would be worth twenty five galleons from his
efforts of finding things he could use to barter with to
collect books with combat curses and the like. Some was
in coin, but most was in goods; small trinkets he knew
would not be missed, or would not be missed for some
time.
With the goods at hand he now just needed to find the
time to go to Borgin and Burke's, where he knew he could
lay his hands on the books he wanted.
After a great deal of thinking about it, he knew he'd have
to use the floo. He had first thought to use the Knight Bus,
but knew that would cut into his meagre supply of gold.
So, the floo it was.
'Now,' he thought. 'What was it Potter said by mistake
back when he first used the floo? It was some slight
mispronunciation of Diagon Alley. Day-gin-alley? No, he
said it as if it was one word. Di-gon-lee? No. Diagonalley?
Close. Di-gonally. No... diagon― Diagonally! That's it!'
Now he just needed to pick his time to go. He knew that, if
he was caught, his dad would block the floo to him. So, he
had to be sneaky and make sure he wouldn't be caught.
No matter how much it galled him, he had to patient.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The three bondmates, excepting Fleur who was at the
Ministry, were almost pacing in the welcoming hall of
Delacour Manoir on Thursday afternoon. This day was the
day of the final NEWT exam for Fleur. She was done.
They expected her almost fifteen minutes earlier.
However, she was running late.
When she did step through, immediately followed by her
father, she was grinning a smile wide enough to cause her
eyes to crinkle almost shut.
Then, with a squeal of happiness, she practically skipped
over to Harry to laid a massive hug on him. A hug that was
quickly joined by Hermione and Daphne, making it a fourway.
"All done!" declared a chuckling Harry. "Congratulations!"
Giving it another few moments, Fleur gently disentangled
them and stepped slightly back. She was still grinning, but
there was also an underlying expression of worry.
"Mon cher!" she carefully said. "You... still have no
problems with me going into cursebreaking at Gringotts?"
"No," he immediately replied. "However, I insist that any
such contract you enter with them includes how you need
to... errr... regularly visit with me."
Harry could physically feel the tenseness in her torso and
shoulders immediately relax. He hadn't even realised how
tense she was holding herself until she did that.
"Thank you," she quietly, but heartfeltingly, said.
"I told you, Fleur," he firmly said back. "You're not a slave.
I expect and even encourage you to live your life as if this
does not impact you. You want a career as a
cursebreaker, then I... we... will help you attain that."
Both other girls also firmly nodded.
That earned him another snog, right there.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The last few days at Delacour Manoir were spent pretty
much just lazing about. Fleur only needed to send a letter
off to Gringotts to inform them she believed she had
successfully completed her NEWTs with high marks and
also informed them she would forward a copy of her
results as soon as she'd received them.
Daphne also received an International Owl post letter from
Tracey letting her know she had huge news to share and
wanted to confirm the four would be back in Britain on the
Saturday morning. Daphne was quick to send a reply.
Hermione asked, "Any clues on what's so important she
would call it 'life changing'?"
"I think her betrothal to Justin might have moved onto the
next step," replied Daphne. "That's about the only thing I
can think of, which would lead to her stating that."
Harry said, "Good for her."
Other mail out and in was: Hermione sending letters off to
her parents to let them know she'd be back in Britain on
Saturday morning, her sending one to Alice and Adeline
letting them know the same thing, Harry sending one to
Sirius also mentioning the same thing, who also wrote
back, with Daphne doing the same with her parents. They
also received letters off their friends.
On the Friday, they also received their letters from
Hogwarts; letting them know what their required texts for
the year would be. It was accompanied by a note
informing them that Headmistress Marchbanks had
decided to continue as Headmistress for at least a few
months more, but would be replaced sometime during the
year by Professor and Deputy Headmaster Goodstone as
the new Headmaster.
On reading it, Hermione said, "I didn't know she was
thinking of quitting."
Daphne said, "She only took on the job because of
Dumbledore's and the rest of the senior staff's fall from
grace. She was the only one qualified who could fill the
Head's role."
"I think that's why she's staying on for a while," posited
Harry. "Goodstone really needs to be Deputy for a year
before he can ascend to the most senior position. That
won't occur until the start of the second term after New
Year's Day."
"That makes sense," said Hermione.
Harry turned a wry smile on her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 538
The trip back to Britain, as with their trip to France, was
quite quick for the Potter Four; just reversed.
They flooed to the French Ministry, went up to the
International Portkey point, took the pre-scheduled portkey
across to the portkey point at the Ministry of Magic in
Britain, went down to the atrium and flooed to The Black
Townhouse; arriving only half an hour after - or before,
with the time change - they left Delacour Manoir. They
were met at the British portkey point by Remus.
First through the floo to The Black Townhouse, Harry sang
out, "We're baa-aack!"
"Kitchen!" he heard Dorothy call.
Leading the other four, Harry dropped down to the semibasement kitchen and walked in through the door.
Dorothy, as expected, was at the kitchen bench; but not at
the stove. She was making sandwiches.
With only a glance in their direction, she asked, "Welcome
back. How was France?"
"Yeah, it was nice," replied Harry, first to respond. The
others all said something similar.
Hermione asked, "Where's everybody else?"
"Hmmm..." she replied, clearly thinking. "Narcissa's out
doing something with her new Tapestry Circle; Sirius is...
actually, I don't know where Sirius is; Stephen and my lot
are, once again, off doing the touristy stuff; and Remus―"
"Is right here," said Remus, walking in behind the Four.
Curious, Harry asked Dorothy, "How come you don't go
out and do the, as you call it, 'touristy stuff'?"
"I do... some," she replied, still working on sandwiches.
"But, what you probably don't know is, I spent part of my
childhood growing up in London." She turned to look
directly at Harry and said, "It... wasn't a pleasant time of
my life."
"Ah!" he said. "Say no more."
"But, why?" asked Hermione.
Harry snapped to look at the girl and softly, but firmly, said,
"Hermione. Don't press."
That had the girl blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry," she
softly squeaked.
"Anyways," he said. "We need to go and unpack."
"Harry," said Daphne. "Feel for your trunk in your pocket."
Harry immediately reached down and couldn't feel it.
Looking in surprise at her, he asked, "Dobby?"
Before Daphne could respond, Dobby quietly popped in
and said, "Dobby and Betsy alreadys be doing the
unpackings, Master Harry." And popped away again.
With a sigh as Daphne and the other two grinned at him,
though Hermione's was not as wide, he said, "Well then.
I'd best go and make sure he's unpacked things where I
want them." And rose.
"Admit it, Harry," said Daphne. "That little elf is devoted to
you."
"Fiiiine," he grumbled, making his way out as the other
three began to follow. "He's devoted to me."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As it was a Saturday, as soon as he'd finished his
breakfast - only one and a half servings - Ron Weasley
begged off working any further in the house and asked to
finally be allowed to give his broom a ride.
He argued, "If I want to win back my position as keeper for
the Lions, Mum, I have to get my skills back up. I wasn't
able to accomplish any practice while I was at Aunt
Muriel's."
Molly thought about it for a long moment before she
quietly said, "Well, I suppose the hand of your clock hasn't
dipped into 'In Danger' for more than five weeks now...
And, since it hasn't, your father and I might think about
sending you back to Hogwarts... Very well. You can go
practice, some."
Whirling on him as he was about to bolt out the door, she
said, "But... for no more than an hour. Hear me?"
"Yes, Mum!" he was quick to reply.
He quickly ran out the back door and away. However, he
only went as far as the side of the house.
He quickly checked about to ensure he wasn't being
watched, then attempted a Disillusionment charm on
himself. As the book said, he felt that odd feeling of thick
water running down his body, which meant it was
successful.
He quietly made his way back inside and slipped through
to the lounge.
In there, he cast a silencing ward over the fireplace, took a
pinch of floo powder and dashed it in. Quietly, he called
"Diagonally!"
With a silent whoosh of green flame, pleased it made no
noise, he stepped in and was away.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Weasley popped out exactly where he thought he'd end
up; right in the middle of the shop called Borgin and
Burke's in Knockturn Alley.
Old Mister Burke was behind his counter and frowning at
him. There was another man on Weasley's side of the
counter. It appeared Ron had popped out of the floo while
the two men were doing business.
Coughing a little bit of soot out of his lungs and casting a
Scourgify charm on himself, Ron braced himself up and
marched over to the counter. The clearly well dressed man
on his side appeared both annoyed at the interruption and
amused at Ron's behaviour. Ron had no idea who he was,
but didn't care.
Striding up to the counter, ignoring that the other man was
there first, he slapped the few galleons, sickles and knuts
he had, together with the few small trinkets he'd been able
to collect, onto the counter.
Trying to pretend to be, though he did not realise that was
what he was doing, a clone of Draco Malfoy, he
demanded, "I want to see a collection of your dark arts
books."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 539
Burke looked at the meagre pile of money on the counter
before him and was about to say something scathing back
when he caught a signal from the man opposite;
Caracticus Nott.
"Young man," said Nott. "From what you've rudely dumped
onto Mister Burke's counter, you lack sufficient funds to
even think about perusing Mister Burke's merchandise.
Perhaps I may be of assistance?"
Weasley turned to look back and, still mimicking a poncy
git, demand, "Who're you?"
Nott was shocked the boy spoke to him that way. Clearly,
he had no idea he could challenge his guardian to a duel
for his words. 'Probably his father,' he thought. 'However,
maybe I can use this.'
"Young man," he quietly said, "I am Lord Caracticus Nott.
And, for your remarks to me just then, I could demand of
you the identity of your guardian and demand of him or
her satisfaction by way of a duel to the death." He couldn't,
not quite, but he very much doubted the boy would know
that.
While Ron parsed that through his mind, eventually paling
in fear, Nott continued, "Instead, I'm not going to go that
route if you come clean with me."
When Ron thought about it, he then carefully nodded
back.
"Good," said Nott, inwardly smirking. He was correct.
"Now, why is it you wish to purchase dark arts books?
And, don't lie to me; I can easily tell if you do."
Ron thought about that for a few long moments before he
took the time to come up with his careful answer. "I need
them."
"Why?" pressed Nott.
Ron thought about it and replied, "I need to teach
someone a lesson."
Nott frowned and demanded, "Don't make me have to
delve through your mind for the answer, boy. Who is it you
need to teach a lesson?"
Ron did think about lying, but when he saw Nott's frown
turn into a scowl, he blurted, "Harry Potter."
That surprised Nott. He now knew who the young idiot
before him was and thought he was still somewhat a
friend of the Potter boy.
"Reee-ally?" he drawled. "That is interesting. And, just why
do you want to teach Potter a lesson?"
Now starting to fume at the interrogation he was getting,
Ron finally snapped, "That's none of yer bus'ness! Why, is
my own reason. I've answered yer questions, as such I've
met yer demand!"
Nott smirked back and said, "Very well, Mister Weasley.
Clearly you have a backbone where I thought you did not."
Ron completely missed about how Nott referred to him by
name. It completely slipped his attention he'd not given it.
Think a bit, Nott eventually said, "The amount you have
offered the good Mister Burke is grossly insufficient for him
to meet your... request. However, I believe I may be of
assistance."
Warily, Ron asked, "How?"
"I, too, have a desire to see Potter taught a lesson, as you
put it," he replied. "However, I am far too likely a suspect if
anything... untoward... were to happen to the young man.
Therefore, if you were to see to Potter being taught a
lesson, then I may be in a position to assist you in giving
that lesson. In that way, I will have been part of seeing the
boy... taught."
Still wary, Ron asked, "How will you help?"
"For a start," smirked Nott. "I will provide you with the gold
you need to purchase those books you want. If you are
able to make use of them and show me at a later time you
have learned from them, then I may be able to provide you
further assistance.
"What say you, young Mister Weasley?"
Ron thought about it for a long few seconds and couldn't
see anything untoward about that. Finally, he looked the
man directly in the eye and firmly said, "Deal."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
The Potter Four were only back at The Black Townhouse
for less than an hour when Remus informed them that
Tracey was on the floo.
Following a hurrying Daphne down to the welcoming
room, the other three arrived just in time to see Daphne
kneel before the fireplace on the cushioned mat stored
just off to one side for just this purpose.
She happily called, "Hi Trace!"
"Daph!" the other girl almost giggled back. "You won't
believe what has happened in the past couple of days.
Can you step through?"
Looking first to the other three, she asked, "Can we four
step through?"
"Yes, of course!" gushed Tracey. Then she pulled out and
was gone.
Harry gave a nod and said, "I'll let Remus know." And
hurried off to speak to his honourary uncle.
"We'll see you there!" Daphne called to his back.
After a quick word to Remus to let the man know where
'he and his' would be, Harry quickly followed them to the
Davis Estate. When he popped out of the floo at the other
end, only skidding on his knees for about three feet before
popping back up to his feet, he could see the three girls
were in a group hug with Tracey in the middle. They were
all congratulating the girl.
"Alright," he said, "What'd I miss?"
Hermione quickly whirled to face him and exclaimed,
"Tracey's Betrothal Agreement with Justin Finch-Fletchley
has now been signed!"
Confused a little, Harry asked, "I thought that might have
been off. What happened with Blaise?"
It was as if he'd just doused the lot with ice water. They all
froze for a moment before showing anger, but thankfully
not aimed at him.
Daphne gave an angry little sniff and replied, "Mister
Zabini seems to think he's much too good to marry our
Tracey. He's looking for a bride on the continent."
"Well," said Harry, "That's disappointing. I thought better of
Blaise than that."
"So did I. However, it seems his mother... his Head of
House and Regent... had a change of heart upon hearing
some news and forbid it," said Tracey, not a little sadly.
Then she suddenly perked up and said, "But, Dad said he
was glad it happened because he was already in
negotiations with Earl Finch-Fletchley and Lady
Marchbanks about a Betrothal Agreement between Justin
and me. It wasn't off, at all; just delayed. That's now gone
ahead!"
Walking over, Harry said, "The important question is: Are
you happy?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 540
"Yes!" she happily declared before almost jumping at
Harry to wrap him in a hug. "I wasn't, at first; but, I am
now."
Harry hesitated only a moment before wrapping the girl in
a hug of his own. He firmly said, "Then, I'm happy for you."
"I've also been told there's a Concubine Bond Agreement
in the works, too," she said. "But, I don't know with whom
that is."
Harry immediately looked to his girls as Hermione looked
back in shock. So did Daphne, but hers was more along
the lines of a cocked eyebrow. It didn't seem to faze Fleur
one jot. Obviously, Tracey hadn't told his girls that before
he arrived.
Harry thought it was probably CeeCee. However it might
also be, as he'd suggested months ago, young Astoria or
Luna. He thought the second unlikely, though.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After Weasley left Borgin and Burke's, this time by way of
a portkey created and provided by Nott, Burke looked to
Nott and simply asked, "My Lord... if you're of a mind tell
me... may I ask why?"
Nott smirked back and said, "Tell me, Burke; of all those
who've directly gone against the young Lord Potter, how
many are currently still in the game?"
Burke frowned and shook his head. "I... confess to not
knowing the answer to that."
Nott's smirk deepened and he said, "The Dark Lord,
Dumbledore, Malfoy senior and junior, Crouch senior and
junior, MacNair, the Minister, his muggle relatives and
even my own grandson; with the exception of my
grandson all are either dead or as good as, having been
permanently or semi-permanently dealt with. And all by
the direct action of the Potter boy."
With a self-deprecating snort, he said, "Going against the
Potter boy directly has proven to be a quick way to either
end up in Azkaban or a grave. I do not intend to go the
same way. Therefore, I shall be taking a different path. I
shall be using the easily manipulated young Mister
Weasley as my personal 'cat's paw'."
Surprised by the answer, Burke quietly said, "A truly
Slytherin move, My Lord."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Ron Weasley returned to The Burrow by the portkey
'freely' provided him by Nott. In his pocket he had a small
stack of shrunken books.
How much gold had changed hands had shocked the boy.
He had no idea he didn't even have anywhere near
enough to purchase one book, let alone the half dozen he
was given.
Getting back into the house, Weasley was surprised to
discover he'd been away for less than the allowed hour.
Thankfully, his mother had no idea he'd been gone.
As he tried to quietly head up the stairs, his mother stuck
her head out of the kitchen and spotted him. "What are
you doing back inside already?"
Pausing, he turned back to her and replied, "I thought
that... if I'm going to be allowed to return to Hogwarts, this
year... I should do some studying to make sure I'm not too
far behind."
Surprised, she thought about what he'd said, trying to see
if he was up to no good and not finding any clue he was,
gave a nod and said, "That sounds like a good idea, Ron.
I'll see if I can prepare some of your favourite foods for
lunch while you study."
Surprised at the offer, Ron paused a moment himself
before he replied, "Thank you, Mum. That sounds nice."
After Molly smiled back for a just a moment before pulling
her head back out of the doorway and returning to the
kitchen, Ron completed his trip up to his room.
Yes, he'd be studying. However, it wasn't on anything to
do with Hogwarts. No, he had a small stack of books he
needed to read and spells to practice wand movements
for.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
On return to the Black Townhouse, Harry went to find out if
Sirius had also returned.
Their stay at the Davis Estate had eventually been for a
solid hour plus. As such, he felt there was a good
possibility his godfather had returned in the meantime.
Seeing the office door closed, he knocked on it. He was
unsure of whether or not there was anyone in there and it
was a rule that such offices were not to be entered without
prior permission.
"Come in," he heard Sirius call from the other side.
'Ah!' he thought, opening the door.
When he entered it was to see Sirius talking with both Ted
Tonks and Narcissa.
"Hello, Harry," said Sirius.
"Hi," he softly greeted all three.
Looking to his godfather, he said, "We four have just
returned from Davis Estate. Tracey had news for us."
"Ah!" grinned Sirius. "Tell you about the BA, did she?"
"Yup," he replied. "However, she also told us about a
pending CBA, while she was at it. Care to elaborate?"
Sirius smirked and said, "That's just where I've come from
and what we're discussing right now."
Harry nodded and said, "Good. CeeCee needs protecting.
And a CBA with Justin would be... as the muggles would
say... the duck's nuts. Convinced Stephen and Dorothy of
it yet?"
"Yes," he smirked. "Now, scram. We've got more
parchmentwork to get through regarding that, yet. And
you, as only Heir Tertiary, do not need to know of it."
"I'll leave you to it, then," he nodded. And began to
withdraw.
"One moment, Lord Potter," said Narcissa.
Pausing, he asked, "Yes?"
"I... would appreciate the opportunity to talk to your three
ladies," she replied.
Harry gave a nod and said, "I don't know if you understand
the relationship between us four, but I do not make
decisions on their behalf unless it's something that applies
to us as a group.