Chapter 61
"This is not to be considered a slight on their current
Houses. These three students wanted to make sure
you're aware of that. This is just something that all
three, after much consideration of the implications, felt
needed to happen. I believe the current relationship
between the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin went a
long way towards this decision. I have also been made
aware that, when sitting at Gryffindor table, Miss
Greengrass was the victim of abuse of at least one
member of that House. And, when they sat together at
the Slytherin table, Mister Potter and Miss Granger
were the victims of similar abuse.
"This is appalling behaviour from those who should
know better. If it had come from those who are
muggle-raised, and therefore have a lesser
understanding of wizarding life, it may have been
somewhat understandable; though, still not acceptable.
That it came from those who have been raised in the
magical world, and therefore have a greater
understanding of the issues involved, is shocking in the
least. I am quite disappointed with you."
While he'd been talking, Professor McGonagall had
brought around the Sorting Hat and its stool, and
placed them where it usually went for the beginning of
year sort of First Years. She enlarged the surface of the
stool, then stood back and waited.
Seeing that Professor McGonagall was ready, the
Headmaster looked at Harry and his two bondmates
and called, "Mister Potter, Miss Granger and Miss
Greengrass; please come forward to be re-sorted."
Harry and the two girls rose from where they were
sitting at the Slytherin table and he led the two girls
over to the stool.
The Professor quietly picked the Hat up and said
directly to Harry, "Sit on the front of the stool, Mister
Potter. Then I want both ladies to sit either side of
you."
Once they were organised, with both girls sitting
almost back-to-back and Harry sitting back-to-shoulder
with them, Professor McGonagall lowered the Hat. As
she did so, the brim stretched right out and
encompassed all three of their heads.
Watching it happen, the students were surprised and
talked excitedly amongst themselves about what they
were watching. Even the Ravenclaws were talking
somewhat animatedly about it.
Knowing what to expect, Harry waited as the Hat was
placed on his head; and listened intently for the Hat's
'voice' to enter his thoughts.
'Ah, the three-way soul-bond re-sort the Headmaster
warned me about,' said the Hat.
Harry 'heard' Hermione politely think, 'Put us together
in Ravenclaw, please.'
'Hermione?' Harry thought, shocked.
Daphne's mental voice mused with a chuckle,
'Well, this is a surprise.'
'Harry?' thought a just as surprised Hermione.
'Daphne?'
'Stop that, you three,' the Hat scolded. However, Harry
could also sense that their surprise amused the Hat, no
end.
'Sorry,' all three thought back.
'It's still incredible,' thought Hermione. 'I'd love the
opportunity to investigate this further.'
'As would I,' thought Daphne. 'I can even sense your
emotions.'
Harry was happy for the two of them and amused at
the Hat's grumblings in the background of teens with
too much curiosity. Harry was mentally chuckling at the
Hat's annoyance. 'Well, this is a school.
We're supposed to be curious. There's no need to be
miffed about it.'
'You'd be miffed, too, Mister Potter, if you had to put
up with what I have to put up with,' grouched the Hat.
'Harry?' thought Daphne. 'You really do care for me...
for us... don't you? I can feel it.'
'Of course,' thought Harry. 'Why wouldn't I?'
'Enough!' the Hat mentally raised its voice. 'Let's get
this out of the way. You can talk about it between
yourselves later. Angsty teenagers annoy me.'
Suddenly, a fourth presence appeared within the
collective mental landscape of their minds.
Almost instantly, the three teens felt the presence of
pure love wash over their very beings.
'Hello, Gryff,' said the presence.
The three felt the hint of amusement wash through
them from the presence.
'Mi-Milady?' stuttered the Hat, seemingly shocked.
'You know who I am, do you not?' asked the presence.
'Ye-yes... of course,' replied the Hat.
'I know that Albus Wulfric wants you to sort these
three into Gryffindor,' said the presence, Harry had
come to understand was an angel. 'However, you will
be sorting them into Ravenclaw. Am I clear?'
'Y-yes, milady; of course,' said the Hat.
Harry thought he'd figured out who it was who had
'intruded' into the sorting. 'Della?' he asked.
'Yes, baby,' replied the presence, Della, quite amused. 'I
would have thought it would have been one of your
bondmates... Ah! I see both had already also figured
out who I was, but were hesitant to ask.
'Never fear, my babies. You need not fear asking a
question of me. However, I may not be able to answer;
but, will tell you, if that's the case.'
'Thank you,' thought Daphne. Hermione immediately
followed with her own as Della softly withdrew.
'Th-that was...' stuttered Gryff.
'An angel; yes," said Hermione, almost chuckling with
amusement.
Still amused himself, Harry thought back, 'Now that
Della's gone again, just shout out "Ravenclaw!" and
we'll be done.'
'Yes. Ravenclaw, please, Gryff,' thought Daphne as
Harry felt Hermione mentally nod.
With a sigh, the Hat thought, 'Fine! I've got one job to
do, and you blasted kids enjoy denying me the privilege.
And now I also have to put up with one of the Heavenly
Host putting their two knuts in. I already know Albus is
going to be giving me a serve of his anger, ranting at me
after the meal. I'd best figure out what to tell him.'
"As little as possible," thought Harry. 'He's not in the
know.'
'I know,' replied Gryff. "RAVENCLAW!"
With that, Professor McGonagall whipped the Hat off
their heads as the Ravenclaw table half-heartedly
applauded.
A quick look around and Harry could see the Hufflepuff
table seemed quite disappointed but were curious and
still pleased for them; the Slytherins were a mix
between pleased and disappointed. Some were visibly
angry. And, Gryffindor table were all very disappointed.
Oliver Wood, however, looked like he was sobbing into
his hands while Angelina Johnson was trying to soothe
and comfort him.
Chapter 61
'Oh, yes,' thought Harry. 'I won't be able to be the
Seeker for the Lions anymore. Sorry, Oliver.'
There was a significant space opposite Luna Lovegood
at the Ravenclaw table, so the three made their way to
sit there.
Once seated in their usual order, Hermione leaned in
and whispered, "Did you see the looks on the faces of
Ginny and Ron?"
"No," Harry replied. "I was watching Oliver Wood being
consoled by Angelina Johnson. Ollie's figured out I
won't be the Gryffindor seeker any more."
"Well..." she began to say when the Headmaster spoke
again.
"Now that the announcements and the re-sorting are
completed, I believe it's time for dinner." He gave a
swish of his wand and food immediately appeared on
all the tables.
As she was loading her plate, Hermione tried again as
the background hubbub of dinner conversation rose.
"Well," she said. "Ginny looked both really sad and
annoyed. But, Ron looked almost murderous."
Thinking for a few moments, Harry said, "Tomorrow.
We'll need to test our ward breaking skills and go down
into the Chamber tomorrow. If we leave it any longer,
Ron's going to make his move."
"It's a pity we didn't know how quickly the Headmaster
was going to return to the castle," mused Hermione. "I
thought we'd have had more time."
"So did I," said Harry.
"Hello Harry," said Luna, interrupting.
"Miss Lovegood," Harry replied with a smile back.
"Did you know you three are giving off a slight silvery
glow?" she asked.
"No," he replied with a smile. "I think that's part of the
soul bond you're seeing."
"I do, too," she said. "You know you still need to
finalise it, don't you?"
Daphne, who'd been talking to another of the 'Claws
but was listening in, suddenly snorted and broke into a
small coughing fit.
Harry moved his hand to her back and gave it a slight
massage as she calmed down again a little red in the
face. She stared at Luna as she gulped down some
pumpkin juice from her goblet.
"I told you," Harry softly whispered to her so only she
could hear.
Turning back to Luna as Daphne settled down again, he
said, "Yes, Miss Lovegood; we're aware of that.
However, you must also be aware it's a private
matter?"
"Yes," she replied with a small shrug. "Will Hermione
and Daphne also be initiating the bond between
them?"
All three teens now had their attention focussed on
Luna. "Pardon, Miss Lovegood?" asked Harry,
somewhat confused. "What do you mean?"
"You've initiated the bond between you and Daphne,"
Luna calmly replied. "And initiated the bond between
you and Hermione. But, you've done nothing about
initiating the bond between Daphne and Hermione."
The three teens stared back in shock at a clearly
unperturbed Luna, who was happily looking at her
plate and building a dinner for herself.
First to find her voice, Hermione said, "Well, I think
that's something the three of us are going to have to
talk about between ourselves."
"Errr... yeah," said Harry, quite stunned.
"Good," Luna happily replied. "You need to. I don't
think you're going to be able to reach a full bonding
until you do. It's a shame your guardian angels never
told you that."
Harry raised his hands to rest his elbows on the table
and rested his forehead on his clasped hands. It was an
almost identical gesture to what the Headmaster did
that morning. "Luna," he half-whined. "That's a very
big and private secret."
"Oh, do not fret so, Harry," she softly said. "No one
else pays attention to what I say." Looking back up with
an almost shy smile, she said, "You're different, though.
Thank you for paying attention. It seems the
wrackspurts do not bother you."
"No, I dare say they don't," said Harry.
The rest of the meal was on lighter subjects, and some
of the other nearby 'Claws came over and welcomed
them to the House.
One of the fourth year 'Claws, Michael Corner, asked
Harry, "Will you be moving into the dorm with us,
tonight?"
Harry shook his head and replied, "No. We have a
private apartment for the three of us because of the
bond. We need it to help the bond strengthen and be
maintained, for now."
Almost on cue, Professor Flitwick approached them
and said, "If you've a moment, you three, we need to
discuss your sleeping arrangements."
Harry nodded back and said, "Of course, Professor."
And the three rose and followed the little Professor off
to the side and away from the listening ears.
Once apart, the Professor asked, "I believe you three
currently have an apartment with three bedrooms just
down from the Gryffindor common room; yes?"
"Yes, Professor," Harry answered for the three of them.
"Though you may not want to, I feel you should be
moved closer to the Ravenclaw common room," the
Professor said. "Is this agreeable with you?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Harry. "However, we'd like to know if
we could have a four bedroom apartment, if that's
possible. We feel, due to the highly unusual nature of
our bond, we need to have family members stay over
as our guests on occasional nights; so that they, too,
can start to get comfortable with our unique
relationship."
Professor Flitwick thought hard about that for a few
moments before he looked up and said, "Your concern
is quite sound and understandable; so, if such an
apartment is available, I don't see why not. However, it
is a privilege not to be abused."
All three teens shook their heads. And Daphne said, "It
won't be, Professor. This is too important to us to put it
at risk."
The Professor gave a firm nod accepting the
explanation before he said, "Then I shall speak with the
house elves and get them to see if something can be
organised for you before it's time to head off to bed. In
the meantime," he said, reaching into his robes and
drawing out three small pieces of parchment and
handing one each to the three of them. "I had a strong
feeling you'd end up in my house. So, I've already
prepared your class schedules so you can join the other
'Claws in class starting tomorrow morning."
Chapter 62
Accepting them, each teen said, "Thank you,
Professor."
"Alright, then," he said. "You may return to your meal
and I'll collect you when your apartment is ready.
"Thank you, Professor," each said again as they headed
back to the Ravenclaw table.
Sitting down, Harry said, "Well, that went well."
"I'm ever so pleased," said Hermione, a little excited.
"Don't get your hopes up, just yet," said Harry. "It's not
to say we can actually have a four bedroom apartment.
He only said he'd try to see if one was available."
"Still," said Daphne. "It's nice he's even willing to go
that far."
"I think he might be trying to apologise over... you
know," said Harry.
"True," said Daphne. "But, as Hermione said, it's nice
all the same."
After dessert, where Luna was obviously very happy to
find pudding as one of the dishes served, Professor
Flitwick approached the three again and asked,
"Ready?"
"Definitely, Sir," replied Harry with an almost-sigh.
The three rose and followed the Professor from the
Hall.
Walking in silence, the Professor led them all the way
up to the seventh floor and over to the west side of the
castle; before leading them to the entrance to the
Ravenclaw tower.
Walking to an alcove where stood an eagle with it's
wings widespread as if launch in flight on a tall
pedestal, the Professor explained, "The entrance to the
Ravenclaw common room is through here. The eagle
will ask you a riddle... which you have to solve... before
you'll be allowed in. I suggest you come back and
explore when you have chance; as, for example, the
Ravenclaw library is quite unique."
Harry could see Hermione about to ask a battery of
questions, and quickly placed his hand on her shoulder.
When she glanced up at him a little curious and
annoyed, he gently shook his head and mouthed,
'Later'.
She sighed with a look of slight regret before she sadly
nodded her head in agreement.
The little Professor led them down the same
passageway before he came to another alcove along
the same wall. This time it was almost completely filled
against the back of the wall with a life-sized statue of a
scholarly looking man.
Looking up at the face of it, Professor Flitwick said,
"Good evening, Professor Whittaker."
The statue suddenly tilted its head down to look back
at the Professor and said, "Good evening, Professor
Flitwick. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"These three are for the apartment behind," replied
the Charms Master.
The statue then looked up and from one to the next of
the three. He hesitated a moment and said, "Very
well." And the statue stepped to the side to reveal a
door, behind.
Professor Flitwick gave the statue a slight nod before
stepping through and opening the door. The three
teens followed him in with Harry bringing up the rear.
Once the three were inside, Harry closed the door
behind him as the Professor began to describe the
features of the apartment. They were standing in a
'living' room similar to the one over near the Gryffindor
tower. However, this one was trimmed in blues and
bronzes.
On the far, outside, wall there was a large fireplace
with two large windows either side. Harry immediately
noticed Hedwig's portable roost was sitting next to the
one on the right similarly placed to how it was in the
Gryffindor apartment. And Crookshanks was curled up
on one of the armchairs, apparently asleep.
The big difference - besides the twinned windows - was
there was also four study carrels or stations; with two
either side of the entrance door and along the front
wall.
"As you requested, this apartment has four bedrooms,"
instructed the Professor and drawing their attention
back to him, and to the indicated two doors on each
side. "Each has it's own bathroom beyond that."
Indicating the large fireplace in the centre of the
outside wall, he said, "There is a Floo connection in
here. However, for the time being, it is only connected
with a protective password. You may not use it to leave
the castle without prior permission; and you may not
use it to bring family or friends into the castle. They
must enter the castle, as per usual, through the main
gates; unless they've made arrangements to arrive or
leave through the private office of one of the
Professors.
"All other rules, as per your time within one of the
Gryffindor apartments, applies. One of you will need to
set a password with Professor Whittaker, outside," the
Professor said, turning to face the three of them. "My
office is in the same place, further along the corridor at
the base of the west tower. If you need anything that
needs my attention, please don't hesitate to come and
knock on my door."
As the three teens responded in the affirmative, the
Professor said, "And, with that, I shall bid you good
night and see you at breakfast." Before he departed.
Turning back to face the two girls, Harry saw they were
moving about the room doing their detection charms
again. So, instead of waiting, he ducked out through
the door and, after checking for anyone listening in
with a wand swish and a mutter of Hominem Revealo,
set the same password as they had on their previous
apartment.
When he walked back in, the girls had moved into the
bedrooms and were casting their detection charms. So,
Harry just waited them out.
Curious, he moved over to the room which would have
been his in the Gryffindor suite, and stuck his head in
to have a look.
Sure enough, from what he could see, this was 'his'
room. He moved over to the bed and immediately
enlarged it ready for sleeping.
He rejoined the girls in the living room and asked,
"Well?"
"There was a very old listening charm in here affixed to
the centre coffee table," Daphne replied. "I don't think
it had anything to do with us or the current staff. So, I
removed it."
"Other than that, we're good," said Hermione. "Just as
Daphne did with the other apartment, I've set up an
alert ward on the door that'll alert us if anyone comes
into the apartment when we're not here."
With a nod of acknowledgement, Harry said, "Well, I've
found my room. I take it your stuff has been moved
into the corresponding rooms here, as they were back
there?"
Chapter 63
"Yes," both girls replied.
"Excellent," said Harry. "Now, before we go to bed...
and you're both, of course, welcome to join me in mine
and it's already enlarged... I think we may need to talk
about what Luna said when we first sat down at the
Ravenclaw table. We need to clear the air about that."
Both girls blushed but also nodded; and the three of
them moved to take seat at the couches in front of the
fireplace.
When they were sitting down, Harry started things off.
"You both know what Luna meant, right?"
Hermione blushed again and looked away. But Daphne
asked, "How likely is it she's pulling a prank on us?"
"Highly unlikely," Harry sighed. "When Luna pranks,
she always mentions a fantastical creature as part of it.
And she's too much of a sweet and gentle soul to prank
us about this. One thing she most definitely is not, is
cruel or heartless. And pranking us about this would be
cruel."
"It makes sense, you know," Hermione softly said. "For
it to be a true three-way bond, rather than two
separate two-way bonds with one person being one
end of both, this is the sort of thing that would need to
happen."
"But, how do you finalise such a bond?" Daphne asked;
curious, yet still embarrassed. "I mean... you know...
we don't have the right equipment."
"I've been thinking about that, and I don't think it's
a matter of having the right equipment," Harry offered
aloud. "I think it has more to do with the intimacy of
the moment. If you think about it, it's a physical act
where two people, basically, emotionally open
themselves right up to one another. It's that intimacy
that finalises the bond, rather than the physical act.
"When we sleep together and just cuddle, that's a
symbol... an act... of intimacy. That's why it helps our
bond to strengthen."
"You're thinking it has to do with levels of intimacy
rather than levels of the physical acts," opined
Hermione. Surprised, she said, "That's actually quite
logical... and profound thinking."
"You don't need to sound quite so surprised when you
say that, love," Harry half-snarked. "I am capable of
logical thought and positing a workable hypothesis or
two."
With another embarrassed blush, Hermione quickly
said, "Sorry! I wasn't meaning to imply you aren't. I
was meaning to imply I was surprised I hadn't already
thought of it. After all, I'm the one who seems to be
somewhat famous for making those leaps of logic."
Before things could get out of hand, Daphne said, "So,
you think it's more to do with the various levels of
intimacy. Just how far would we have to go to test
that?"
Glad that Daphne had got them back on track, Harry
smiled at her and said, "I think we need to see if we
can judge for ourselves the various levels. Because, I
think it's a direct reflection on how we feel at each
level that decides intimacy.
"For example... and I'm sorry to raise this so clinically,
Daphne... but you cannot consider rape to be an
intimate moment. I don't think rape could ever finalise
a bond. It's a violation; an act of total dominance of
one over another. So, I don't think it's the physical act
that finalises it."
"Again, that makes a lot of sense," said Hermione, still
thinking about it to herself. "If Luna can see auras...
especially the aura of our bond... I wonder if she'd be
willing to help us by telling us when she sees the bond
getting stronger. That way, we can see how well we're
doing."
"I don't want to be the subject of an experiment,
Hermione," Daphne said with a frown, clearly getting
upset.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Harry quickly said waving his
hand in a warding off gesture. "I don't think that's what
Hermione means; and it's certainly not what I mean,
either.
"I think, with Luna's help, she can visually monitor our
bond and let us know if we're in trouble or improving.
Plus, I think she may even be able to tell us if and when
the bond is finalised; and that may be able to occur
without... coitus. I mean, it has to be the case, if Luna is
correct that there is a latent bond between you two.
"Of course, if she makes a determination like that, we
could then approach Madam Pomfrey for a medical
determination; so, we're not just relying on Luna's
opinion. And, I also think the way to approach this is, if
we can set aside our embarrassment, we calmly discuss
what we consider intimate and see if we can progress
matters in a way that is comfortable for the three of
us."
With a sad but resigned sigh, Daphne said, "You're right.
I'm being silly."
"No, you're not," Hermione disagreed. She moved to
sit down next to the other girl and wrapped her arms
around her in a hug. "This is all both quite confronting
and exciting for the three of us. We're all handling it to
the best of our abilities given our history. We may,
together, make mistakes; but, we'll do them together
and learn from them.
"If Luna really can see the aura of our bond... and Harry,
at least, seems to think she can... then we have
someone who can watch out for us and let us know if
our bond is in trouble. It means we don't have to worry
about losing it and end up rushing things. We may be
able to slow things down, if any of us feels they need
to."
"Exactly," Harry confirmed.
"Do you think this has any reason to do with why Della
was firm with the Hat... Gryff... for us to be sorted into
Ravenclaw?" asked Hermione.
"I think it's pretty much a 'given'," he replied with a
shrug. Starting to get up, he said, "Anyway. If everyone
is comfortable with where we are, at the moment, I'm
heading to bed. After the talk we've just had, tonight
I'm asking you to join me. I think the three of us just
need to cuddle a bit before going to sleep. Or, at least,
just be in each other's company."
Both girls looked up at him and nodded. And Harry
headed for bed while the girls head for their own
rooms to get changed.
While the three were discussing the latest news about
their bond in their new apartment, Dumbledore
walked into his office. As he walked in, he allowed his
anger to show.
Walking to his desk, he sat down behind it and turned
to glare the Hat.
"Tell me why you failed to obey my instruction, and
sort Harry and the other two into Gryffindor," he
demanded.
"It is my role to sort the students, Headmaster," replied
Gryff, with a verbal smirk. "I sort them based on
matters of which you are to remain unaware.
"However, you should know that there are... players...
who have vested interests in this little chess game of
yours of which you cannot even fathom. And their
powers are far greater than your own. I strongly advise
you to withdraw from the board; lest they decide your
meddling is so much of a nuisance it would be best to
remove you entirely."
Dumbledore almost physically reeled back in shock.
The Hat's words shocked him to the core.
"I... Wh-what do you mean?" he stuttered.
"I mean," returned Gryff. "There are powers involved in
the lives of those three you have no hope in standing
against. And, if you do not withdraw from meddling
with their lives, are likely to take a direct hand in
stopping you."
"Who?" asked Dumbledore.
"I cannot tell you," the Hat smugly replied. "It's not
that I don't want to... even though that is the case... I
simply cannot tell you."
That, more than anything else, sent a chill of fear down
Dumbledore's spine.
Chapter 64
The next morning, Harry awoke on his left side to find
himself with his right arm around the waist of Daphne
and cuddled in behind her, spooning; while his left arm
was up under her pillow with her head resting where
his bicep would be. Other than a natural reaction in his
groin, he didn't think he was in a 'taking liberties'
position, so remained where he was for a while.
Unbeknownst to him, Daphne had awoken a little
earlier and was also lying, just enjoying the feeling of
Harry's arm around her. Her own right arm was over
the top of his; and her hand was resting holding his
where it was, more or less, across her upper tummy
and cupping her body near her left hip.
She'd had one of the most restful night's sleep she'd
had since they'd 'backstepped' into the past. And she
knew it had to do with how 'her Harry' was cuddling
her. She felt safe. He made her feel safe. She realised
she truly did trust him.
Unknown to either of them, at that moment, their
bond ever so slightly strengthened.
As Harry tried to gently pull away she gripped his right
arm tighter with her own arm and hand. "Don't," she
softly said. "Just cuddle me, for a while."
Surprised that she was awake, he gently asked with
concern, "It's not making you feel uncomfortable?"
"No," she replied. "Actually, I've now realised it makes
me feel safe. I'm... not having as many nightmares
when I sleep in here with you. I know you're keeping
me safe."
"Good," he said, happy for her. "I'm pleased to hear
you say that. Thank you."
"Thank you?" she asked in return.
"For realising you can trust me," he said. He carefully
leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the base of
her neck under her ear.
The immediate reaction of her body to that gentle
touch made her suck in a gasp of air. "Ooohhh!" she
softly exclaimed. "That felt really nice!"
"I'm glad you liked it," he returned. "However, we've
got classes and we need to get up."
"I know," she sighed, finally letting his arm go.
Pulling his other arm out from under her pillow, he
rolled over to see Hermione smiling back at him. Before
he could say anything to her, she held her finger
vertical to her lips in the sign of 'be quiet'.
Then she leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on
his lips; before she then silently sent him off to have a
shower.
With a sigh of contentment, Harry climbed out of bed,
over his blankets and over the foot of the bed; and
made his way to his ensuite.
As soon as he left, Hermione slid over into his 'warm'
spot and wrapped her arm around Daphne, similar to
how Harry had his a little earlier. The blonde girl
stiffened for a moment until she realised it was
Hermione, and she was just looking to cuddle.
Once the other girl had settled down again, Hermione
hesitated for a moment before she said, "You're falling
in love with him."
Daphne stiffened slightly again for a few seconds
before she, once more, relaxed and admitted, "Yes.
You're not angry with me about it, are you?"
"Heavens, no!" Hermione softly exclaimed. "I'm happy
for you!"
With a soft sigh, Daphne said, "It's just that..."
"You were worried it would make me angry? That, you
thought I'd think you were stealing my man?"
"Yes," Daphne replied after a couple of moments.
"Silly girl," Hermione giggled. "I know Harry loves me.
And, I know he won't love me any less because he finds
himself also loving you. His love isn't finite. It's one of
the things about him that makes me love him right
back. But, you already knew that from last night with
the Hat, right?
"Besides, I don't think our three guardian angels would
have set us up for heartbreak, like that; do you?"
"No," Daphne chuckled, seeing the logic of it. She then
shifted around until she was on her back looking back
at her chocolate-brown haired bond-sister. "This is
going to be alright, isn't it? We know this is going to
work, because our angels specifically set it up for us."
"Exactly," Hermione smiled. "I'm glad to see you're
now understanding that."
She then quickly changed the subject. "Now, we need
to get up and go and get ready, ourselves. Otherwise,
Harry's about to come out of the shower and we're
going to get a show of him getting dressed.
Naked man tushie!"
Daphne blushed and giggled. "You say that like it's
a bad thing."
Hermione laughed back and said, "Of course it's not.
But, we'll miss breakfast if we don't hurry." And, with
that, she climbed out of bed.
Daphne followed her out a moment later. But, not
before first looking wistfully at the door to Harry's
ensuite - and wondering.
When Harry returned to his room and went to pull out
his under uniform and robes, he noticed the red and
gold had been replaced with the blue and bronze of
Ravenclaw. Smiling, he quickly dressed and walked out
into the apartment living room to await the girls.
As he waited for them he pulled out his new class
schedule and began to note what classes were held
where. He then collected the books he needed for that
days classes; and wondered if the class material was
going to be any different. When he stopped to think
about it for a while he realised it wouldn't be. After all,
all four Houses sat their OWLs, together.
When Daphne came out first, Harry looked up and said,
"Wow, Daphne! Ravenclaw blue really suits you!"
She blushed a little and grinned back. "This is going to
take some getting used to," she said, indicating her
school robes.
When Hermione joined them they spent a bit of time
admiring and acknowledging the difference the change
in House colours made them look.
"Well, that's enough of that," smiled Daphne. "Let's go
eat."
As they walked down the corridors and descended the
stairs they earned a few looks from other students. At
this time of the morning, it was only the other
Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, as the Slytherins and
Hufflepuffs did not venture up past the ground floor
until after breakfast.
They were just making their way down the last few
parts of the moving stairs when the three of them
heard from behind, "Oi! Harry, mate! Wait up!" Ron
Weasley had found them.
Harry drew his wand and spun about to see the
red-headed nitwit hurrying down the stairs towards
them. Aiming his wand at Ron he snarled, "Stay the
Hell away from me, Weasley. I'm not in the mood for
you."
Chapter 65
However, the youngest Weasley male ignored the
warning and only slowed down to a walk. "But, Harry,"
he said, as if surprised. "I thought Dumbledore would
have told you it was just a prank. We meant no harm
by it."
Not wanting the redhead any closer, Harry cast a
stunner at the boy, who - with a look of surprise on his
face, hesitated - before he dropped like a boneless
heap on the stairs, unconscious, when the charm hit
him in the middle of the chest. Daphne followed it up
with the rope binding charm, Incarcerous, and a
localised silencing charm; as Hermione cast a Wizard
Notice-Me-Not ward around them based on the ones
they used while on the run looking for horcruxes.
Stepping forward, Harry then enervated the boy and,
kneeling over the prat so his face was a lot closer,
growled out, "Listen up, Weasley. Our
friendship irrevocably ended the moment we found out
what you've been up to. We know about the love
potions, we know about the loyalty potions, we know
about the repulsion potions, and we know all about
how you've been blocking other students from getting
to know me, getting close to me. We know that it's all
about you, your sister and your mother getting your
hands on the Potter fortune. We know it all!
"If I thought I could get away with it, I'd kill you, your
sister and your mother, right now. You only live, at the
moment, because I would be the prime suspect if you
suddenly disappeared. However, first chance I get
where I think I can get away with it, you will disappear.
It won't take much for me to kill you, hide your body
under my invisibility cloak and levitate it out to the
Forbidden Forest to feed it to the acromantulas.
"Hell, I might even use the exact same charms we've
got you under right now. I'm sure Aragog's little family
would prefer their prey alive rather than dead."
While Harry was quietly growling at the boy what he
really wanted to do to him, Weasley was growing more
and more horrified and terrified by each passing
moment. When Harry mentioned how he might even
deliver the boy to the acromantulas alive for their
dining pleasure, he fainted.
As Harry stepped away with a smirk on his face,
Hermione recast the Notice-Me-Not field and removed
the ropes of the Incarcerous charm. Then together,
feeling a lot happier with themselves, the three
continued their trip to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Don't forget to clear your wands, ladies," Harry
reminded them.
As they walked, the three started casting quick and
short term charms such as the light charm, its counter,
the levitation charm, a couple of minor shield charms
and the like. By the time they walked into the Great
Hall, each had cast about a dozen spells through their
wands.
Again, they sat opposite Luna at breakfast. Though
gaining her friendship wasn't one of their 'missions'
from their guardian angels, both Harry and Hermione
knew just how much of a trusted friend she would
become within the next couple of years, anyways.
Establishing that friendship now was even better.
As he sat down Harry smiled at the younger 'Claw,
while she was busily building things with her food, and
said, "Good morning, Luna." His two bondmates
followed suit.
Luna looked up a little suspiciously, at first, before her
face brightened with a big smile and she replied, "Good
morning, Harry, Hermione, Daphne."
Harry began building his own breakfast with toast
topped with a poached egg and a couple of pieces of
bacon on the side. Glancing across at what Luna was
doing, he asked, "You enjoy art, don't you?"
Again, a look of suspicion flitted across Luna's face as
she looked back at Harry, before it faded away into a
smile. "Yes, I love art. At home, I paint. I like to make
things, too."
"Mmm," said Harry as he dashed a bit of salt and
pepper on his egg. "I've seen your radish earrings and
butterbeer cork necklace. You do good work."
"Oh, that's not art," she replied. "Wrackspurts are
allergic to radishes, so they don't want to come near
my ears. That way I don't become infected with them."
"And there's something that's allergic to cork?" asked
Harry, quite curious.
"Nargles," she replied.
"Still," he said, "You could have made a perfume
essence of the radishes for the Wrackspurts; and sewn
cork into the lining of your clothing. Instead, you made
quite delicate jewellery out them. I daresay you have a
hidden talent in making fine jewellery with ordinary
precious stones and the like."
Again, Luna looked across at Harry. Only this time it
was with genuine gratitude. She then put down what
she was doing with her food and sat back. "You're a
most unusual boy... no, man... Harry Potter."
Harry grinned back and said, "Thank you, Luna. It's nice
of you to notice."
"Mmm," she said. "I can also see you've been touched
by an angel. As have Hermione and Daphne."
Harry froze.
"Oh, and your bond with Daphne has strengthened a
little since last night, too," she continued, as if she'd
not seen the look of almost panic flit across his face.
She then seemed to look a little spaced out looking at
the space between Harry and Hermione and said, "The
bond between you and Hermione hasn't changed,
though. You need to work on that."
"It's not in danger of failing, is it?" asked Hermione, a
little concerned.
"No," she replied. "It's just holding steady. But, the
bond you have with Harry is now being almost
matched by the bond Daphne has with Harry. That's
how I know the bond she has with Harry has
strengthened. The subtle difference that was there last
night has almost gone."
She suddenly sat forward and reach over placing her
hand on Daphne's where it rested on the table top.
"I'm pleased for you," she said.
Harry grinned at Daphne and asked, "What changed?"
Daphne, who was clearly stunned by what Luna had
said to her, blushed a little and quietly replied, "I... I've
come to realise I'm falling in love with you."
After a moment, Harry leaned sideways to lightly kiss
her on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you. I'm doing
the same with you."
Luna smiled across at the pair of them. "And... it just
strengthened a little more."
Hermione looked across in surprise at Luna and asked,
"You really can see the bonds, can't you?"
Pulling her hand back from Daphne's, Luna looked just
a little hurt by what Hermione asked and said, "Yes."
Chapter 66
Realising she'd upset the girl, Hermione reached her
own hand across to Luna and said, "I'm sorry, Luna. I
didn't mean to offend you. It's just an
incredible, almost unbelievable, gift you have. It's
taking me a little while to come to terms with the
knowing of it."
The younger Ravenclaw thought about that for a while
before she relaxed and smiled back. "Thank you."
Harry cleared his throat lightly and asked the girl, "So,
Luna; what do you have on, class-wise, today?"
"Double Arithmancy, this morning," she said. "Care of
Magical Creatures and History of Magic is after lunch;
and Astronomy, tonight."
"A big day, then," Harry said. "We've got a double
Transfiguration, this morning. Then a single Potions,
this afternoon. And, I think our Astronomy lesson is
immediately after yours, tonight."
As they ate their breakfasts, Daphne became more and
more friendly towards Luna. And, she, back with them.
Of course, Harry and Hermione had been friends with
the younger girl through their original fifth and sixth
years; so, were very happy to make sure that was a
friendship that would be renewed.
More than halfway through breakfast, Ron Weasley
came running in through the door. As he headed over
to the Gryffindor table he spotted the three sitting with
Luna at the Ravenclaw table. He, again, blanched a
little before hurrying away from them, clearly in fear.
Luna, who had seen the exchange, said, "You've scared
Ronald."
"Yes, Luna, we have," said Harry. "Even after the
attempts by both him and his sister in dosing us with
illegal potions, this morning he tried to lie to us and tell
us it was just a prank; and implied that we should just
forget about it.
"We impressed upon him that we believe it was most
certainly not a prank, and that he and his sister should
stay away from us, in future. We were quite forceful
with that impression, and may have even made a
significant threat or two. Not that we're admitting to
doing such a heinous thing, mind."
Luna grinned back. "I'm glad," she said. "He's a
horrid, horrid boy. And I'm glad to see you've come to
realise that. But, I'm very disappointed with Ginny. We
used to be friends."
After morning classes they, again, sat with Luna for
lunch. Though it now appeared the rest of the 'Claws
were leaving the younger girl alone due to Professor
Flitwick finally stepping in, they still didn't choose to
involve her in what they were doing outside of class.
Harry wanted to make sure her time, from this point on,
was not as lonely or hurtful for the girl.
Of course, having been friends before, they knew some
of the girl's history, from what she'd told them in that
timeline. That included how she had lost her mother
when she was nine; when her mother died in her arms
due to an explosion relating to a spell experiment.
It was at lunch that Luna revisited the topic of the
bonds.
"I see you still haven't initiated the bond between
Hermione and Daphne yet," she said.
Both girls immediately blushed and looked around to
see if anyone had overheard the younger girl. Then
Hermione leaned forward and quietly said, "We don't
know if we want to or should."
Frowning back in confusion, Luna asked, "Why ever
not?"
Blushing even more, Hermione replied in almost a
whisper, "Because we don't know how we'd be able to
finalise it."
Luna looked back and seemed to be thinking for a
while. She finally said, "A suitably intimate event
would do it. And you won't find out how in any book,
either."
Seeing that his two bondmates were getting horribly
embarrassed by the turn of conversation, Harry
decided to take pity on them. He got the younger girl's
attention and asked, "Luna, as you'd know, this is a
very important matter for us. However, it's not
something we should be discussing in a public place
like the Great Hall, because it's also a private matter for
us. Would you mind joining us in our apartment, after
your last afternoon class, and discussing it with us
there?
"I promise, if the talk goes on for too long, we'll use our
house elf, Dobby, to provide us with an evening meal in
the apartment. And, we'll also make sure you get back
to your dorm so you can get a kip in before your
Astronomy class, later tonight."
"Your apartment isn't infested with Blibbering
Humdingers, is it?" she asked.
"We wouldn't know, Luna," he replied. "None of us
have your ability to see them. I think your ability to see
them might have something to do with your ability to
see auras."
With a little moue of disappointment, Luna said, "I'll
talk to Professor Sprout, at some time... or, maybe
Neville Longbottom... and see if they have any dirigible
plum bushes here. You might want to keep a potted
dirigible plum bush in your apartment. They'll help you
see and understand.
"Plus, Blibbering Humdingers don't like them. That's
why we have them growing in the garden around our
home."
"And they smell nice," Harry added with a smile.
"Thank you, Luna. That would be very nice of you."
"And I'd love to join you in your apartment after class
this afternoon," she said. "You're behind Professor
Whittaker, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are," Harry replied, surprised she knew that.
"I like Professor Whittaker," she said. "He tells great
stories."
"You've... talked to him before?" asked Daphne, a little
confused.
"Oh, yes," Luna replied. "When the eagle that guards
the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room used to
get confused and wouldn't let me in, Professor
Whittaker would let me in to the apartment there, so I
had somewhere to sleep at night."
Knowing why the eagle got 'confused', as did Harry,
Hermione asked, "Has the eagle gotten confused since
Professor Flitwick had a chat with the whole House
yesterday?" It took her taking full control of her
Occlumency to allow her to ask that without getting
angry. From the feelings he was getting from the two
girls, Harry also knew that they knew what the
'confused eagle' actually meant.
"No, not yet," the younger girl replied.
"Well, if it does, you come and have a short chat with
Professor Whittaker again," Hermione firmly said. "You
say to him 'Double-H Dee', and he'll let you in. Then,
you can come in and talk to us, and even stay for the
night. Alright?"
With a big beaming smile, Luna replied, "Alright. That
would be nice. Thank you."
Chapter 67
"Plus, as we have a pair of house elves," said Harry.
"One of them can get past the eagle and get your bath
things and a change of clothes for you for the next
morning."
"That would be nice, too," she smiled. "Would they
also be able to find my things that the pixies steal from
me and hide?"
"I'm sure they can," Harry replied, forcing his own
anger down again. "Do you have anything missing
now?"
"A few things," she said. "But, they've been missing for
a while."
"Then, I'll talk to Dobby this evening," said Harry. "I
know he, Winky or both would love to go on a treasure
hunt to find your things for you. It would also be
helpful if you wrote down a list of what you know the...
pixies... have taken and hidden. Just to help them out,
mind."
"Thank you," she said, getting a little teary. "I'll write it
up during History of Magic class, this afternoon."
"History of Magic class?" asked Harry, looking
mock-confused. "We have a class on that?"
"Yes, Harry," Hermione smirked. "You call it 'Afternoon
Nap Time', even though we now have it Friday
mornings."
"Oh, the one with the ghost!" exclaimed Harry,
pretending to be surprised; before he frowned in
apparent confusion. "If it's not 'Afternoon Nap Time',
why does he read us bedtime stories, then?"
His words had the desired effect, as it made Luna giggle
as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve cuff of her robes.
As the three left the Great Hall after lunch heading for
the dungeons and Potions, Harry asked, "What say we
stop by the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets on our
way back to our apartment? I want to see if we can
determine just what charms and wards Ol' Twinkles has
put on the sinks."
"Ol' Twinkles?" Hermione asked, a little annoyed with
Harry's disrespect while Daphne snickered.
"Well, I thought you'd be quite upset with other names
I've come up for him," Harry shrugged.
"Like what?" she demanded.
"Let's see," he replied, raising his right hand and
starting to tick them off using his fingers. "There's
'White Whiskered Wanker', "Manipulative Old Fool',
'Leader of the Laughable', 'The Greater Fuck-up', 'The
Pizza Supreme Muck Flinger of the'..."
"Language, Harry James!" an annoyed Hermione
snapped back, interrupting. "And, though we know
he's made... and will otherwise make... mistakes, he's
still the Headmaster and we should show respect."
"Hermione," he sighed. "You were there when he tried
to hit both Daphne and me with a compulsion charm,
and then more directly attacked me with Legilimency.
That's highly illegal. One of the other names I have for
him is 'The Chief Criminal of the Whatchamacallit'."
Stopping their small party in the corridor, Harry turned
Hermione to face him. "Do you know why he uses that
silly cantrip to make his eyes twinkle like that?"
With a frown of annoyance... whether it was at Harry's
disrespect, or that there was something she didn't
know... she shook her head.
"Making his eyes twinkle like that, draws your eyes
to his," he explained. "Once he has you looking him in
the eye, he can use passive, or wandless, Legilimency
against you. Passive or not, without prior permission,
it's still illegal. Using the eye twinkle means he's doing
it deliberately.
"You need to understand that Dumbledore is not the
nice man he has just about everyone thinking he is. He
will not hesitate to break the law, or violate your rights,
if he... and he alone... decides he should. Whenever he
says, 'It's for the greater good', it means someone has
just been, is in the process of being, or is about to be,
well and truly shafted by him. Often, that person is me.
It's led to me developing a near knee-jerk reaction of
clenching my bum cheeks when he says it."
Hermione sighed and looked away. "I know," she said.
"But, it's hard to think like that of a person who has so
much authority. You're supposed to be able to trust
them to do the right thing. That there is so much
corruption in the wizarding world appalls me."
"Yeah, well," Harry sighed, running his fingers through
his hair. "Once Riddle is done and dealt with, that's
what John said we'll be tackling next. That's why he
doesn't want me to destroy Riddle before the events in
the graveyard. I've... We've... got to let him get a body
back so I can then kill him. That way, I'll become known
as the Man-Who-Vanquished, supplanting the
Boy-Who-Lived as my hyphenated appellation.
"We then use that respect... and near idolisation from
the sheeple... to enter into the political arena, and
come down hard on everyone we need to; to ensure
we improve our society. That's one of the reasons why
we have to let Dumbledore die. He'd just get in the way
if he doesn't."
This was their first Potions class since Harry's
'ultimatum' to the Headmaster. And everyone was
completely shocked at the radical change in behaviour
of their 'esteemed' Potions Master. Gone, was the
perpetual sneer; even if the scowl, though muted, was
still there.
The lesson started with an overview of the potion
they'd be making, it's uses, and what to watch for
when it was being brewed. Only then were they
permitted to collect the ingredients and set their
cauldrons to bubbling away on the wizarding flame.
And the instructions appeared on the board.
There were no accidents, no exploding cauldrons, and
no denigrating remarks from the Professor. And, after
the potions were bottled, realistic marks with similar
points awarded.
When it was finished, some of the 'Claws and 'Puffs
congregated just down the corridor in shock. They
discussed what they'd just gone through. It was Susan
Bones who summed up how they were feeling when
she asked, "Did what I think just happened, actually
happen?"
Ernie MacMillan, another 'Puff, put it in perspective
when he said, "I think I learned more about potions in
that one class than I've learned in the past three
years!"
"I can't believe he actually awarded me points!"
exclaimed Stephen Cornfoot. "He's never done that
before!"
Smiling to themselves, the three listened in for only a
short while before they headed directly to the second
floor and Myrtle's bathroom.
Once at the door of the bathroom, the three looked
around to make sure they weren't being watched.
Harry then stood guard as lookout as Daphne and
Hermione began the process of detecting for any
charms or wards.
Once it was shown the door to the bathroom was clear
of such, the two girls entered to make sure the
bathroom was unoccupied. Hermione then stuck her
head out and beckoned Harry in. Thankfully, Myrtle
wasn't there at the time.
Chapter 68
As soon as he stepped in he closed the door and put up
a door sealing charm on it, just in case.
Turning around, he then saw both girls casting
detection charms over the sinks. Where the sink was
that contained the tap that spun glowed a dark green,
for a moment, the two girls hesitated.
"That may have been detecting the spell that allows
the entrance to open," Harry pointed out.
Daphne glanced at him for a moment before she gave
him a small nod, and moved on.
Then there were a couple of other colours flashing up
and fading away before both girls finished and stepped
away.
"The verdict?" he asked.
"The Headmaster clearly doesn't think much of your
skills, Harry," said Daphne. "There's a simple alert
charm based on motion over the whole lot. Under that
is a second one, that's far older. They were put up by
different people.
"There's also a wizard-repelling charm based on the
Confundus charm that's triggered when the recent
alert charm is triggered. It looks like, as soon as you or
Ron... but he doesn't know that... or Riddle, if he enters
the school, opens the entrance, Dumbledore is
immediately notified and the repelling charm activates
making you want to just leave again.
Hermione then said, "It looks like he's waiting for you
to open the entrance and, instead of going down, just
leaving again. Does he even know about the door to
the actual chamber, itself?"
Harry frowned in thought for a few moments before he
replied, "No, I don't think so. I seem to remember just
telling him where the entrance was, and that we went
down into the Chamber to rescue Ginny. But, I think I
also told him about the ceiling collapse in the passage,
which is when I was separated from Ron and a recently
self-Obliviated Flophart. I think I only told you and Ron
about the inner door. And, of course, Ginny saw it
coming back out."
Nodding, Daphne said, "This all looks like he's aware of
just how valuable the carcass is likely to be, and wants
to claim it for either himself or the school."
With a sigh, Harry leaned back against the recently
sealed door. "As if I don't already have enough to
worry about; Dumbledore wants to steal from me,
too."
"Yes," replied Daphne. "However, if he'd succeeded,
you'd have never known. As far as he would know, no
one would have. A somewhat perfect crime."
Banging his head back on the door as he looked up
towards the ceiling, he said, "Yet another crime against
me from the Great Manipulator." Standing back up
straight again, he looked at both girls and asked, "Can
you get both of Dumbledore's charms off without
alerting him?"
The two girls looked at each other for a moment before
Daphne replied, "We can; but, it's going to take some
work."
"We'll need to transfer the alert charm to something
else without setting it off. Then we can simply strip
away the Confundus charm," said Hermione. "I then
recommend we put the exact same alert charm back,
but have it keyed to one of us instead of Dumbledore.
"That way, if Dumbledore comes to check, he'll see the
alert charm and think all is well. If it's Ron who comes
down, we'll know straight away as soon as he sets it off;
and Dumbledore won't. We can then confront him with
his actions."
"And possibly force him to admit he's a parselmouth,"
mused Harry. "I like it. That just leaves actually getting
it done. So, what do you need?"
"We'll need to research the arithmantic equations for
both charms," replied Daphne. "That'll give us the key
to removing them. Transferring the first one, however,
is going to take a bit of research on ward breaking."
"Fair enough," said Harry. "And I'm not trying to push.
But, I do have one suggestion."
"What's that?" asked Hermione.
"Can you put your own alert charm over the top of
Dumbledore's?" Harry asked. "Would Dumbledore see
it if you do?"
Hermione just grinned, turned and cast. A moment
later there was a soft shimmer effect surrounding the
grating at the back of the sinks before it faded away.
"There. Done," she said. "I've cast it onto the grate
because Dumbledore will not come all the way around
the sinks to check for new enchantments. And, as the
grate moves when the entrance opens, it'll activate the
charm. We'll now know if Ron comes down and opens
the entrance before we get a chance to harvest the
carcass ourselves."
"Perfect," grinned Harry.
They stayed in the toilet for a little while longer as
Daphne and Hermione wrote down the formulae for
both spells that needed to be either moved or removed.
And, once done, they made their way up to their
apartment.
They'd been gone for almost the extra hour after their
last class, so the other classes were expected to be
released within the next few minutes. Indeed, that is
exactly what happened as they climbed the last flight
of stairs to the seventh floor.
Homework had been pulled out and placed on the
coffee table, rather than the study carrels. As they
were all in the same classes it was easier, that way, to
share materials. They had thought about transfiguring
one of the carrel pairs into a large desk they could all
sit around, but did not want to risk someone coming in
who wasn't 'in the know'; especially the Headmaster.
They would have no explanation for it, as it would be
'beyond' their current year ability; and they couldn't
use the excuse they asked a seventh year 'Claw to do it,
as they weren't friends with anyone in their new House
yet.
They'd only just pulled out their books, parchment, ink
and quills when there was a somewhat slow and heavy
triple-knock on the door.
Harry rose to answer it, and found Luna standing there
beaming back at him.
Pulling the door wider open and stepping out of the
way, Harry said, "Come on in, Luna."
Luna looked up at the statue and said, "Thank you,
Professor."
And the statue replied, "You are most welcome, young
Miss Lovegood." And Luna entered.
Just as she walked in, Hermione called her over. "Come
on in and have a seat, Luna. We were just about to
start our homework, but it can wait." The young girl
happily crossed the room before then plunking her
bum on the couch next to Hermione.
Harry closed the door and followed her across, taking
seat next to Daphne on the other couch.
Chapter 69
"Alright," he sighed. "Now that we're no longer talking
in the Great Hall... and, therefore, right out in public... I
was hoping, for a start, you could explain a few things
for me, Luna.
"But, first," he said, holding up a finger. He then looked
to the side, a little and called, "Dobby!"
His own personal house elf popped in and said, "Oh,
yes; Master Harry?"
Indicating Luna, Harry introduced them to each other.
"Dobby; this is Miss Luna Lovegood. Luna; this is one of
our house elves, Dobby."
"Hello, Miss Luna," said Dobby, looking at her. "Dobby
is happy to meet more of Master Harry's friends."
Luna smiled back and said, "Hello, Dobby. I like your
outfit."
Dobby beamed most proudly and said, "I is wearing
Master Harry's house elf uniform. All the other house
elveses are very jealous!"
"It looks very nice," she complemented him.
Dobby stood a little taller with pride and said, "Thank
you, Miss Luna."
"While I enjoy listening to my house elf being praised
for his dress," Harry chuckled. "I have a mission for you
and Winky, Dobby."
"Yes, Sir," said Dobby.
"Miss Luna has had some of her personal effects go
missing since she's been a student here for the past
two plus years," Harry explained. "Your mission is to
track down as much of it as you can and return it to her
with the rest of her effects. This is a mission that I very
much suspect is going to take you quite some time. So,
it's something for you to do when you've got nothing
better to do.
"And, I don't want to find out either of you have
allowed yourselves to get too tired or too exhausted
when you're doing this, either. If you can get the other
house elves in the castle to help, that's also allowed.
Do you understand your mission?"
"Yes, Sir!" Dobby almost barked back.
"Very good," said Harry. "You may carry on with what
you were doing, Dobby. And, thank you, again."
And the little elf disappeared.
"I think you're turning Dobby into a soldier," Hermione
giggled while Daphne snickered.
"I think he wants to be," he laughed.
With a sigh he looked over at the still smiling Luna and
said, "If there's anyone I trust to find your things for
you, Luna; it's Dobby. He's quite... tenacious... when he
feels he needs to do something."
"I think you're right, Harry," she said, her smile slipping
a little. "I don't know why I didn't think of asking the
castle elves to help me find my things."
Harry smiled and said, "Sometimes, the most obvious
thing to do is the last thing we think of."
"That's quite profound," she said, a little surprised.
"Yes, well," he replied, a little uncomfortable before
changing the subject. "Now. We've been appreciative
of how you've let us know about the state of our bonds,
and that a latent bond between Hermione and Daphne
is also there.
"As you probably know, a three-way soul bond like ours
is pretty much completely unheard of. Because of that,
we're worried we might do the wrong thing, or the
right thing too late, and cause harm to either existing
one, or the latent one. That you can see the bonds, and
are able to gauge their 'health'... for wont of a better
term... has gone a long way to alleviate our fears over
them. So, for that, you have our thanks."
"That's what friends are for, Harry," she softly said.
"We are friends, aren't we? I sense that we already are,
and have been for quite some time. But, I also know
that this is a new friendship. It is most confusing."
"Yes, Luna," said Hermione. "We are friends. We know
you will be a good and trustworthy friend to us. We
just can't tell you how or why we know that."
"It was the angels, wasn't it?" she asked.
Harry snorted and said to Daphne, "I told you she's
very perceptive."
"That's quite a remarkable gift," Daphne said to the
younger girl, a little awed. "But, sorry; we still can't tell
you if you're correct or not."
Luna happily said, "That's alright. I understand."
"Thank you for your understanding," said Harry. "Now,
we returned to our apartment here last night to discuss
how you let us know about the latent bond between
Daphne and Hermione. At first, we had some confusion
over how such a bond could be finalised, or sealed, or
whatever it is. After all, between two ladies, there's
no... coitus."
Blushing a little he soldiered on past it. "So, I came up
with the idea that it isn't the physical act of sexual
intercourse that finalises the bond; it's
the emotional act. Then, from there, we developed a
hypothesis about the whole bond from when it is
initiated to when it is finalised.
"Now, I believe... and I think I have both ladies at least
somewhat agreeing with me...: he said, glancing at his
bondmates, "that it's the emotional component we
need to concentrate upon. As an example, this morning
you said the bond between Daphne and I strengthened
a little. However, there was no physical change to our
relationship. But, there was an emotional one."
Turning to Daphne, Harry asked, "Would you mind
sharing what happened, emotionally, love?"
Daphne sat thinking about it for a while, and everyone
else just let her figure it out for herself. After all, it was
quite a personal matter.
"I figured out two things," she eventually but softly
said. "The first, is that I'm falling in love with Harry. The
second, is that I realised I actually do trust him; at least,
more than I thought I did."
The surge of happiness Harry heard on hearing that
made him feel he could power a massive patronus from
that one feeling and memory alone. He wanted to get
up and hug her, so he did.
When he backed off again, Luna giggled and said, "It
looks like your hypothesis is sound."
"Oh?" Harry asked.
"The strength of the bond between you surged a little
when Daphne admitted that," she shyly replied. "It's
settled down again now, but it's definitely stronger
than it was a few minutes ago. It's pretty much on a par
with the bond between Harry and Hermione, now."
Harry grinned and couldn't help but feel a little smug to
have his belief confirmed.
"Thank you, Luna," he said with a wide grin. "I think
this is going to make it a lot easier for us to work
towards finalising the bond, sometime down the road."
The conversation then moved on to other topics and
the four chatted freely until they realised they had to
get down to the Great Hall for dinner. The talk also
showed that, though she had this light and almost
flighty side, Luna was also quite brilliant in her own
right with serious matters.
Together, as friends, they headed down to the Great
Hall for dinner.
After dinner, Luna returned to her own common room
to get started on her own homework, while the three
bondmates headed back to their apartment and their
own homework. And, though he didn't say he was
doing it to the two girls, he also did his best to make a
start on a logical list of different levels of emotional
responses to physical acts they could explore.
Chapter 70
However, it wasn't as easy as he thought it might be. In
reality, it was bloody hard. He didn't know if it was
because he was a guy, and therefore supposedly
incapable of putting his feelings into words, or if it had
something to do with being raised by the Dursleys, or
something else. He did, though, figure out that by
writing it down, it reduced the emotional impact of the
act. It was too clinical.
With a sigh of self-disgust and disappointment, he
dropped his quill back into his ink pot and slid the
parchment away.
"Something wrong?" asked Hermione, always in tune
with his emotions.
"I've been trying to put down some ideas as to how we
can progress our bonds and do so in a way we all
remain comfortable," he grouched. "However, I've
figured out it won't work."
"How so?" she asked.
"Because by making it an almost step-by-step guide, it
strips the emotional impact of it away. And that's
the last thing we want to happen."
"Good," she said.
"Sorry?" he asked, confused.
"Harry, Daphne and I figured that out as soon as you
came up with the idea," she said sounding a little
amused.
"Must be a girl thing," he muttered.
"No, it's a logical thing," she retorted. When she saw
Harry didn't seem to get it, she sighed in her own slight
frustration and said, "Look."
She then stood up and started disrobing. As they'd all
already doffed their over-robes and she wasn't wearing
a jumper, she pulled her tie off and started to untuck
her white school blouse out of her grey skirt.
As soon as she had it untucked she came over to Harry,
pushed him back in his seat, and plonked herself down
on his lap. Out of his sight, she reached behind herself
and undid her bra, loosening it under her blouse.
Harry had kept his hands well away, lest he get in
trouble. He was a little fearful of doing anything wrong.
"Let's say the next step you list down for us to progress
our bond is this," she said, reaching down and grabbing
Harry's off hand. Using her other hand, she pulled the
bottom of her blouse away from her body and shoved
his hand up under both her blouse and bra, firmly
placing his hand on her bare breast.
Harry was completely stunned at what she had done
and froze, unable to engage his brain enough to figure
out what to do.
Holding his hand to her breast, she said, "There. The
next step was for you, while we're both awake and
alert, to fondle my boobs."
Daphne was sitting across the table from them showing
signs of embarrassment, shock, and amusement.
Once Hermione had forced his hand onto her breast, he
hadn't moved it. He just held it, right where it was; too
afraid to move.
"Now, how much emotion are you feeling?" she asked.
"Other than, probably, a little lust; not much, right? I
don't think this has done anything to progress our
bond."
Finally pulling his hand down and away, Harry looked
down at her lap and sighed. He quietly said, "No. I
understand."
"Right," she said, reaching around and reconnecting
her bra strap, before settling it back into place. "There
was some emotion, but it wasn't even
the right emotion. That won't happen if you try to plan
it out. You have to let it develop naturally... organically.
Emotion will drive the physical; which, in turn, will lift
the emotional. Trying to map it out will actually work
against us."
Moving back to her seat next to Daphne, she said, "Yes,
Luna will be a great help for us to ensure the health
and wellbeing of our bond. And to see how it develops.
I, for one, am ever so grateful she's willing to help us
with this. But, we can't force it. Since the evidence now
shows that you were right about the bond being one
driven by emotion; that means we can't just decide to
finalise the bond by ducking into one of the bedrooms
and shagging like horny rabbits to get it done."
Straightening himself up and sitting forward, with a
smirk, he said, "Damn. And here I was thinking it would
make it quicker for me to be able to get into your
knickers."
Both Hermione and Daphne looked at him quite
shocked for a moment before Hermione burst out
laughing. "Liar!" she retorted. "You know very well that
wasn't going to happen.
"You said it, yourself, earlier. With Luna acting as a
monitor, we don't have to rush things. And, now that
we know emotion is most important, we also know
we can't rush things. You led both those ideas."
As she was talking, Daphne relaxed back into a
comfortable state; recognising the truth of Hermione's
words.
"Hey!" Harry protested. "I'll have you keep that to
yourself, thank you very much. If word gets out that I
slowed things down for us, my membership of the bro'
club will be immediately revoked! They may even try to
force me to join the girly-boy club, instead."
Hermione giggled and said, "Don't worry, Harry. We'll
keep it between us and, possibly, Luna... and Neville...
and Lavender... and Rita Skeeter..."
As she slowly continued, Harry began to look more and
more horrified. "Ye Gads!" he moaned. "I'll even lose
my local fangirl contingent. I'll be ruined!"
That caused both girls to laugh in response.
After they'd finished homework for the evening, Harry
headed for bed. He didn't bother to invite the girls as
he knew they now knew the invitation was always
open.
Stripping off and dumping his worn clothes into the
hamper for the house elves to clean, he turned to head
for his bathroom for his last of the night ablutions.
Once he was finished he came out and found the two
girls waiting for him, already in the room; but, not yet
in bed.
"You didn't have to wait for me, you know," he smirked
at them. "I think I'm starting to get pretty adept and
getting into and out of bed over the foot of it."
While talking, he crossed the short space to the bed
and climbed on in.
The girls hadn't moved. They actually both appeared
nervous, but Harry didn't notice until he was finally in
bed. Hermione was also doing that nibbling of the
bottom lip thing, which indicated she was either
thinking hard about something, or was worried about
something.
"Ladies?" he asked; now concerned. "What ever is the
matter?"
Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Nothing."
As he was about to say he could see
something was bothering them, Daphne waved her
wand and turned out the lights.
With his eyes ill-adjusted to the limited light coming in
through the close-curtained window, and not wearing
his glasses, he only saw their indistinct shapes come up
on 'their' sides of the bed. Mentally shrugging his
shoulders, he laid back and waited for them to hop in.
There was a quick rustling of material and both girls
climbed in, almost at the same time.
Once they were settled he softly said, "Goodnight,
ladies." And closed his eyes.
"Harry?" Hermione softly asked.
"Mmm?" he muttered back.
"Can you cuddle into my back, tonight, while Daphne
cuddles into yours?"
"Mmm," he muttered, rolling to his right as he felt the
bed move from both sides.
He was about to slide closer to Hermione when he felt
her shift back towards him first.
When they bumped up against each other he threw his
left arm over her upper tummy area and felt bare skin.
And Hermione felt a little tense under his arm and
hand. He was distracted slightly by Daphne cuddling up
from behind.
Confused a little as to what he was feeling, he moved
his hand about. It took him a moment, but he suddenly
realised she wasn't wearing her tank top.
He froze before he then quickly shifted his hand down
to land on her hip and felt she wasn't wearing her
shorts.
Then it also dawned on him that he wasn't feeling the
material of Daphne's sleep robe on his back either. He
could feel bare skin.
Moving his hand from Hermione's hip and across his
own, he moved it to rest on Daphne's hip. Her bare hip.
"Errr... ladies?" he asked. "Is there something going on
that you've forgotten to tell me?"
For a few moments there was no response, as the three
laid there all a little tense.
Hermione then said, "We know that skin-on-skin
contact is important for the bond. Until this morning,
Daphne wasn't completely ready to trust you with us
doing this. Now she is, so now we've decided to sleep
in the all-together. For this night, at least."
"I hope you don't mind, Harry," said Daphne. "But I
only just decided I wanted to do this, and I didn't want
to do it if Hermione wasn't going to do it as well. We
talked about it out in the living room after you left. I
think I would have lost my nerve if I asked first or if I
had to wait."
Harry sighed and said, "No, I guess I don't mind all that
much. Just please don't hex me if I get wandering
hands during the night... or, other things... you know?"
"I haven't yet," she replied with a hint of amusement in
her voice. "And, I know."
"And, you know I won't," said Hermione.
"So, we've reached... at least for tonight... the
skin-on-skin contact part of our relationship," he
mused. "I hope you don't mind if I continue to wear a
pair of boxers to bed, though. 'He' can't be trusted,
yet."
Both girls giggled at that, and the three of them
relaxed.
Harry returned his arm to wrap around Hermione's
upper tummy while Daphne's left arm came over to do
the same with Harry. Happy that he was being trusted
this far, he dropped off to sleep. The girls weren't far
behind.