Chapter 181
After their late breakfast, the three decided
to head directly to the infirmary. They knew
Madam Pomfrey was expecting them, and
didn't want her to have to wait too long.
Just after they'd walked in together, the
medi-witch came out of her office to greet
them. And Luna walked in behind them.
"Good morning, you three," she said, with a
wide smile before spotting Luna. "Four," she
corrected.
She drew her wand and caused the main
doors to close before a privacy ward went
up.
Re-sleeving her wand, she asked, "I take it
the three of you know why I called you to
visit me, today?"
"You know," replied Hermione.
"That you sealed your bonds last night?" she
asked. Without waiting for a reply, she said,
"All three, from what I heard and felt."
"Heard and felt?" asked a now worried
Harry.
"Yes," she replied. "You caused three pulses
of magic with the last one enough to cause
even the castle to shudder a little."
The three looked back a little horrified by
that news, while Luna just looked pleased.
"Oh, don't fret so much about it," she chided
them. "Word has it among the students that
it was... what did they call it?... 'sonny
booms', or something."
"Sonic booms?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, that was it," agreed the medi-witch.
"What's a sonic boom?" asked Daphne,
confused.
"A sonic boom occurs when an object breaks
the sound barrier," replied Hermione in
semi-lecture mode. "That is, the object
travels faster than what sound can travel at.
If I remember correctly that's 767 miles per
hour.
"When an object travels faster than that,
such as what specialised fighter aircraft are
known to be capable of, it causes a very loud
crack sound and a shock wave. At long
distances, if it's a large enough object that
breaks the sound barrier, it sounds like a loud
boom sound with a physical feeling of a
shock wave, at the same time.
"So, if everyone heard a loud boom sound
that sounded as if it came from a long way
off; and they also felt as if the castle had...
shuddered... then, yes; it would mimic the
sound and feeling of a fighter jet breaking
the sound barrier miles away."
Hermione, coming back to herself, saw her
new husband looking at her with amusement,
while two pure-blood witches looked back in
complete shock. Luna didn't seem to think
anything of it.
"What?" asked Hermione.
"Muggles can go that fast?" asked Daphne.
"Oh, yes," replied Hermione. "And even
much faster. However, they now try not to do
it near populated areas. If they do
it too close, the Air Force receives complaints
from the civilians on the ground. Too close,
and the force of the shock wave has been
known to blow windows out of their frames
and knock people who are outside, for
instance, off their feet and to the ground."
"Well," said Madam Pomfrey, after a few
moments. "Muggles never cease to amaze
me."
Giving herself a little shake, she explained,
"Now, the reason I asked you here is so I can
see what your bonds look like."
"They're sealed, and they're strong," said
Luna, coming forward. Looking to the three,
she almost squealed, "I'm so happy for you!"
"Yes, well," said the medi-witch. "All three of
you on beds and I'll take a look."
The three took beds side-by-side as Madam
Pomfrey and Luna came forward.
Taking her wand out, Madam Pomfrey
started with Hermione on her left. A few
wand movements and she said, "Good,
good." before moving on to Harry, next.
"Uh-hmm!" she muttered. Then she moved
to Daphne.
"Hmm!" she exclaimed with a pleased little
sound.
Stepping back she said, "Excellent. All three
bonds are, as Miss Lovegood said, sealed.
And it's a very strong sealing, too."
Thinking a bit as she looked at the three, she
asked, "Tell me; do you feel anything
different?"
"Contentment..." said Harry.
"Happiness..." said Hermione.
"Love..." added Daphne.
Looking between his bondmates, Harry said,
"I don't think we can truly put it into words."
Hesitating a moment longer while thinking
hard, he said, "I feel happy and content
because I know... know at the depths of my
soul... that my ladies are happy and love me;
and that we are meant to be together."
"Harry's right," said Hermione. "But I also
know that what he said doesn't explain
it near enough. However, it's about the
closest we can come to explaining it... to put
it into words for someone who isn't
experiencing it to understand."
"Then I certainly hope you try your best to do
so with that book I hope you're still writing,"
said the medi-witch.
"We are," replied Hermione. "And we'll do
our best to put it into such words. We just
know it won't be enough; though, we'll
certainly try to get close."
"You won't be the first to make that
admission," admitted the medi-witch. "In the
literature I've read others have made the
same claim. I had just hoped you'd have
been able to shed better light upon it."
"We know we will," replied Hermione with a
smile. "Harry's made some startling
revelations about the nature of soul and
body that we spent a lot of our time over the
break writing down."
"Like?" asked Pomfrey.
"That we are not beings that have souls, as
Harry put it. We're souls that have bodies,"
explained Daphne. "When you accept the
truth of that, it starts to make a lot of other
things that have confused people make
sense."
Madam Pomfrey blinked a bit in surprise,
before she finally said, "Yes, well, I look
forward to reading what you've discovered."
The three grinned back.
"In the mean time, you're all free to go," she
said. "However, I'll still occasionally ask you
to come and see me again. Just because the
literature we have states that the sealing of
the bond means the bond no longer has a
chance to fail, does not mean there's not
other things going on."
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, we will,"
replied Hermione, as the three of them
hopped off the beds.
As the three were about to leave, Madam
Pomfrey called, "Oh, and Mister Potter?"
"Yes, Ma'am?" he asked.
Chapter 182
"I hope you realise that, now that you're
bonded to these two beautiful ladies, you'll
need to back off on the number of risky
activities you're often found involved in," she
said.
"Yes, Ma'am," he grinned back.
While Madam Pomfrey and Harry had been
talking, Hermione walked over and took Luna
by the hand. "Are you free at the moment?"
she quietly asked the younger Ravenclaw.
"Oh, yes," replied Luna.
"Care to join us in our apartment for a little
while?" asked Hermione.
"I'd love to!" Luna happily exclaimed.
The four bid Madam Pomfrey their good byes
and left through the now unsealed doors.
While Hermione held Luna's hand, and Harry
held Daphne's, the four headed back to their
apartment.
As they walked along, Hermione quietly said
to Luna. "We've had to change the password
for Professor Whittaker."
"I know. Harry told me a few days ago," she
replied.
"Good," replied Hermione. "I'm sorry that I
forgot to tell you. I hope you don't think that
meant we'd no longer welcome you to visit."
"No, I knew," replied the younger girl. "I've
also been working on a way to stop listening
charms from being able to work around
places where passwords are spoken."
"Oh?" asked Hermione.
"It can be done with runes," answered Luna.
"We create a permanent ward around and
within listening distance to where you have
to speak the password."
Hermione almost stumbled. "Of course!" she
sighed. "Why didn't we think of that?"
"You've had more important matters on your
mind," replied the girl, as if it was obvious.
"You've been worried about whether or not
you'd be successful in sealing the bond. And
you were worried for Daphne."
With a short stop in the Ravenclaw common
room while Luna collected her notes on
creating an anti-spying ward for passwords,
the four were soon enough back in the
bondmates' living room.
Laying her notes on the coffee table, Luna
explained her thinking about the ward she'd
designed.
"That's... brilliant... and so simple," said
Hermione with Daphne nodding in
agreement.
"Here, Harry," she said, sliding the notes over
opposite where Harry was sitting. "You'll see
how Luna came to her thinking. And, how
she selected what runes to use."
Harry quickly read through the notes and
said, "Mmm," in agreement.
While the three girls discussed any changes
they'd make, and how they'd apply the runes,
Harry sat back and watched them.
It took them about an hour - during which
he'd eventually pulled out his homework and
worked through some of it while casting the
odd glance their way - but they finally
reached a conclusion.
"I think that's it," said Luna.
Both other girls nodded.
"Now we just need to work out where and
how to set the runes," Luna continued.
"I think we should make it permanent," said
Daphne.
"That would mean engraving them into the
stones of the castle, itself," worried
Hermione.
"And why not?" asked Daphne. "It's not as if
this wouldn't be beneficial to everyone who
makes this apartment their home after we
leave."
"I just don't like the idea of making
permanent engravings into the stones of
such an antique as this castle," replied
Hermione. "It almost feels like graffiti. Like
I'm... despoiling such a lovely old
monument."
"Merely walking on the stone floors causes
wear and tear," argued Daphne. "Besides, if
necessary, we can use magic to 'repair' the
stone if we want to remove them later."
With a sigh, Hermione said, "I forgot about
that."
"So, we do this?" asked Luna.
"We do," replied Daphne.
"And what did you eventually come up
with?" asked Harry, speaking for the first
time in a while.
"A ward scheme," replied Hermione.
"One that will make it impossible to employ
the use of a certain type of charm and curse
within the affected field," replied Daphne.
"Will it have a negative impact on, say,
Professor Whittaker?" he asked.
"No, but we'll test it first, anyway," replied
Hermione.
"I'll get the engraving tools," said Daphne,
rising.
Once they had their three sets of engraving
tools, they waited for Luna to collect hers
from her trunk.
In the meantime, they waited outside the
alcove holding Professor Whittaker.
Hermione and Daphne then detailed the area
they wanted the ward to cover, and started
to lay out where to put the runes.
Eight boundary runes were being drawn in
the passageway to give the shape of a box.
They would use four at each point, one high
and one low opposite each other; at one way
down the passage, and four the same going
the other way down the passage.
Inside the alcove, where they'd be nominally
out of sight - unless you specifically went
looking for them - were the control runes.
Hermione, with Daphne coming behind and
checking, first drew each boundary rune in
chalk. Harry was surprised by just how tiny
they were drawn. Each was no more than
about an inch in height.
"They're awfully small, aren't they?" he
asked.
"They don't need to be any bigger," replied
Daphne. "For a start, they'll be engraved into
the very stone of the castle. Second, the area
of affect isn't that big. And, third, the very
magic of the castle itself will power it in
perpetuity making it stronger."
While Hermione and Luna ducked into the
alcove and started drawing the rune array to
control and power it all, Daphne explained
more about what the ward would
accomplish.
"It'll block the use of listening charms and
any other charm based on similar magic,"
she explained. "It'll also render the voice of
the person muffled outside of the field, but
not within; similar to a temporary silencing
ward. While we were planning it, because
some Ravenclaws used the Confundus charm
on the eagle to block Luna getting inside the
Ravenclaw common room, we've also added
a block for that and similar charms; even if
they're rune-based. There's also one to
counter the effects of the Imperius curse, if
someone walks into the field under the
control of such. And, finally, a defensive ward
that'll block anyone standing outside from
immediately attacking you with hexes and
curses, if you're within the field.
Chapter 183
"If all this works... or, even most of it... we'll
take it to Professors Flitwick and Babbling for
use throughout the castle. I can see this used
for the entrances of all four House common
rooms, maybe the Headmaster's gargoyle,
and every other apartment throughout the
castle. Then we'll ask about moving on to
doing the corridors, then the unused
classrooms.
"Oh, and Luna really is brilliant. Most of this
is her work. Hermione and I just added or
tweaked it a little."
"But, how does it target just cast wanded
magic directed at another, and not wanded
magic that isn't so cast?" he asked.
"'Ill-intent' is one avenue the runes block;
and another is that all curses and the like
have the same arithmantic fundamental
equation, so was an easy target for the runes
to block," she explained
"We're ready!" Luna sing-songed. "And,
remember: Don't banish the stone dust as
you carve. We'll need it if we have to repair a
section or rune and start again. We can
banish it after we know it all works."
"Yes, Professor Lovegood," Harry sing-songed
right back.
That earned him a giggle from the younger
girl and a harrumph of, "Really, Harry!" from
Hermione.
As their fastest carver, Hermione worked on
the runes within the alcove while Harry and
Daphne worked on the ones out in the
passageway. She then switched out with
Luna to take a break every now and then.
Annoying Hermione but amusing Luna,
Professor Whittaker kept offering his own
advice and suggestions.
They had only just begun carving when
Hermione called a halt.
"Why?" asked Luna.
"It's lunch time," she replied.
"Oh!" the younger girl said sadly.
"We'll come back to it straight after lunch,
Luna," she offered.
"I'd like that," the girl said back.
Harry and Daphne collected the tools they
were using and then banished the steps
they'd conjured to reach high enough on the
walls to have the runes be relatively out of
sight, before putting them on the coffee
table in their living room.
"This is going to take all afternoon," said
Harry, as he walked with Daphne
hand-in-hand while Hermione and Luna
brought up the rear.
"Yes," replied Daphne. "But, once it's in place
and working, we never have to worry about
it again. Therefore, it's worth the effort."
"Have something else planned for this
afternoon, Harry?" asked Hermione,
cheekily.
Not falling for it, he replied, "Yes. I was
thinking of going to see if I could find myself
another wife. I don't know if I'm going to be
happy with only two."
"Why you..." Hermione began.
Suddenly, Harry felt the impact of a stinging
hex right to the left butt cheek. "Yiii!" he
exclaimed, practically leaping forward and
into the air while his left hand came around
to cup the affected area.
Luna's tinkling laugh rang out while Harry
spun on the spot, rubbing his bum and cried,
"Uncle! You win! I'm sorry!"
"Keep up with those sorts of jokes and you'll
be sleeping on the couch," she firmly said.
Stepping forward and wrapping his arms
around her he said, "You never have to fear
that sort of thing really happening from me,
love," he softly said. "I love you and Daphne
both and I'm never going to look elsewhere,
alright?"
"I know," she sighed. "Just... don't even joke
about it, okay?"
"Never again; I promise," he said before
kissing her.
"I thought we were going to lunch?" asked
Daphne.
"Yes, we are," he replied stepping away and,
again, taking her hand.
The four continued to walk to the Great Hall
with Harry vowing to himself to never make
a joke of that sort of thing again.
After a quiet lunch, the four returned to the
passageway and returned to working on
engraving the runes.
After he'd finished the first one, and having
Daphne check it to make sure it was good
enough, he dropped down to the one low
down near the floor.
After having seen a number of Ravenclaws
come up the stairs and walk into the
common room, he said to Daphne, "Have you
seen how many Claws have walked by just
down the passage and none have paid
attention to what we're doing?"
"I put up a Notice-me-not charm across the
whole passageway, Harry," she replied.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That was a good idea."
She just smirked back for a moment before
returning to her work on her own low to the
floor rune.
When the two were finished, they each
checked the work of the other before going
down the passageway to the other side of
the alcove. There, they again conjured steps
to reach up high on the walls, and began to
carve.
They were finished about five minutes before
the evening meal began. Then they just
needed to wait until the control runes were
done.
Having a look for himself, Harry could see
Hermione and Luna were about two thirds of
the way through. But, he couldn't work out
why they were carving in the order they
were.
"Why those ones in that order?" he asked.
"Doing it this way will allow us to bring up
each of the various components of the wards
in a select order," explained Luna. "Now that
you have the boundary runes completed we
can start to bring up the various fields."
Hermione stepped back from finishing the
last rune she'd been working on, while Luna
stepped forward and checked it.
"First, we're bringing up the listening and
similar charms block ward," Hermione
continued with the explanation. "Then will
come the anti-Confundus charm ward. Next
will be the anti-hex and curse ward. Then
we'll bring the silencing part up. And, finally,
the anti-Imperius ward. The last one is the
one we're not so sure about, so we want to
add it last. Besides, we're not, legally,
allowed to use Imperius on ourselves. So,
we're not actually allowed to test it. We'll
have to get Ministerial approval to test that."
"When will we be ready to test?" he asked.
Chapter 186
"We've just finished the last rune needed in
the array for the first one," explained Luna,
stepping back. "We'll let it charge while
we're at dinner, and test it when we come
back."
"In that case," cut in Daphne. "If you two are
done for now, please step out of the way so
we can enter and get cleaned up. Luna,
you're welcome to join us to clean up."
"Thank you," she said, stepping out of the
way.
Once Hermione was also clear, she looked at
the statue and said, "The Headmaster is a
manipulative old fool, Professor."
The statue smiled back and stepped out of
the way. And the four entered the apartment,
dropping off their tools onto the coffee table
before heading into the bathrooms to get
cleaned up.
After dinner, the four were excited to return
to their rune work. Hermione immediately
went to the wall where Dumbledore had left
his listening charm and checked for it, again.
With a smile, she stepped back and said, "It's
gone."
"So, either that part of the ward works, or
Dumbledore's removed it," sighed Harry a
little in relief.
"No, I checked it before we left for dinner
and it was still there," corrected Hermione.
"He would not have had the time to come
and remove it and still be seen by us in the
Great Hall right through dinner."
She then performed a quick scan of the area
and said, "It's not been replaced, either."
"Then, let's finish this," said Daphne giving
the password to the Professor and stepping
inside.
Hermione and Luna gathered their tools and
stepped back outside while Harry and
Daphne sat down with the various notes and
sketches of what they'd planned to do.
"Alright, let's clean these up," suggested
Daphne. "Your handwriting is still not the
best, so you work on the sketches and I'll
rewrite the notes."
"Agreed," nodded Harry.
Harry had carefully redrawn the sketches and
handed each to Daphne to check. When she
determined each was accurate she set it
aside and marked it as an attachment to her,
main, notes.
As he was working, she explained, "I've put
down Luna as both Team Leader and creator
of the original idea. Hermione, you and I are
listed as Team Members. I've also included
who came up with what idea, and who
solved it."
Harry looked up and smiled. "You're looking
to make this a project for extra credit," he
said. "If nothing else, it should see Luna
receive an Outstanding Plus for Runes."
"Of course," she replied. "It's worth it, too. If
it's accepted by Professor Babbling we
should be able to convince Professor Flitwick
to apply the same to the Ravenclaw Eagle."
Daphne went out to see if she could help
Luna and Hermione, only to find they were
doing the last few clean up carves, cleaning
the edges of the ones they'd already
finished.
Looking up at the statue, Luna asked, "Are
you still with us, Professor? We haven't done
something to negatively impact you, have
we?"
"No, Miss Lovegood. I'm fine," replied the
statue.
"Good, I was a little worried for you," she
said. "There was always a chance..."
"Never fear, my dear," replied the statue
calming her down. "I would have let you
know if there was a problem."
Once they were finished and every one had
cleaned up again, as she collapsed onto a
couch Hermione said, "Phew! I'm glad that's
done."
"How long before we can check they're
working?" asked Harry.
"Tomorrow morning," she replied. "Just to be
sure."
"How come so long?" he asked.
"You need to give the array time to fully
charge," replied Luna. "If it was only
powering one part it would have charged in
only an hour or two at most. However,
because it needs to charge for a lot more
than that, it'll take a lot longer. That's why
we should wait until tomorrow morning to
properly test it."
Daphne picked up the notes and sketches she
and Harry had done and passed them off to
Luna. "As you're Team Lead for this project, I
think you should be the first to take a look at
these.
A little puzzled at first, Luna accepted the
report and started reading through it. As she
read and flicked through the drawings, her
eyes got wider and wider.
"You... these..." she tried, almost in tears.
"Those," said Daphne, indicating the notes,
"Should see you receiving an Outstanding, at
least, for your Ancient Runes class."
"Thank you," the girl quietly replied.
"After we check the array first thing in the
morning to confirm everything's working to
specifications, I think you should hand those
notes over to Professor Babbling," said
Daphne. "It's brilliant work. And it's all
because of your initial idea and concepts."
"You'll need a copy," Luna quickly replied.
"I already have one," replied Daphne,
indicating the small pile of parchment still on
the coffee table. She then picked it up and
handed it off to Hermione, who avidly read
through it, just as she read through
everything.
"There's no changes I can see should, or
could, be made," murmured Hermione, once
she'd finished and was looking closely at the
sketches. Pulling her head away and giving it
a little shake, she said, "No. It's perfect as it
is."
Looking to Daphne and Harry she said, "Good
job, you two."
After Luna had left to return to the
Ravenclaw tower, with a good night bid to
the statue on her way past, Harry turned to
his wives and brightly asked, "Bed?" before
adopting a morose expression and asking,
"Or do you want to work on homework,
first?"
Daphne laughed but Hermione smirked and
said, "Homework. And don't pull that
face, husband."
Knowing it was already a lost argument,
Harry collected his assignments and sat
down to get them knocked over. He hoped
they would only dedicate about an hour to it.
After all, all three made sure they'd had just
about all of their homework completed and
ready to be handed in before they sat for
dinner the previous night.
Chapter 184
"We've just finished the last rune needed in
the array for the first one," explained Luna,
stepping back. "We'll let it charge while
we're at dinner, and test it when we come
back."
"In that case," cut in Daphne. "If you two are
done for now, please step out of the way so
we can enter and get cleaned up. Luna,
you're welcome to join us to clean up."
"Thank you," she said, stepping out of the
way.
Once Hermione was also clear, she looked at
the statue and said, "The Headmaster is a
manipulative old fool, Professor."
The statue smiled back and stepped out of
the way. And the four entered the apartment,
dropping off their tools onto the coffee table
before heading into the bathrooms to get
cleaned up.
After dinner, the four were excited to return
to their rune work. Hermione immediately
went to the wall where Dumbledore had left
his listening charm and checked for it, again.
With a smile, she stepped back and said, "It's
gone."
"So, either that part of the ward works, or
Dumbledore's removed it," sighed Harry a
little in relief.
"No, I checked it before we left for dinner
and it was still there," corrected Hermione.
"He would not have had the time to come
and remove it and still be seen by us in the
Great Hall right through dinner."
She then performed a quick scan of the area
and said, "It's not been replaced, either."
"Then, let's finish this," said Daphne giving
the password to the Professor and stepping
inside.
Hermione and Luna gathered their tools and
stepped back outside while Harry and
Daphne sat down with the various notes and
sketches of what they'd planned to do.
"Alright, let's clean these up," suggested
Daphne. "Your handwriting is still not the
best, so you work on the sketches and I'll
rewrite the notes."
"Agreed," nodded Harry.
Harry had carefully redrawn the sketches and
handed each to Daphne to check. When she
determined each was accurate she set it
aside and marked it as an attachment to her,
main, notes.
As he was working, she explained, "I've put
down Luna as both Team Leader and creator
of the original idea. Hermione, you and I are
listed as Team Members. I've also included
who came up with what idea, and who
solved it."
Harry looked up and smiled. "You're looking
to make this a project for extra credit," he
said. "If nothing else, it should see Luna
receive an Outstanding Plus for Runes."
"Of course," she replied. "It's worth it, too. If
it's accepted by Professor Babbling we
should be able to convince Professor Flitwick
to apply the same to the Ravenclaw Eagle."
Daphne went out to see if she could help
Luna and Hermione, only to find they were
doing the last few clean up carves, cleaning
the edges of the ones they'd already
finished.
Looking up at the statue, Luna asked, "Are
you still with us, Professor? We haven't done
something to negatively impact you, have
we?"
"No, Miss Lovegood. I'm fine," replied the
statue.
"Good, I was a little worried for you," she
said. "There was always a chance..."
"Never fear, my dear," replied the statue
calming her down. "I would have let you
know if there was a problem."
Once they were finished and every one had
cleaned up again, as she collapsed onto a
couch Hermione said, "Phew! I'm glad that's
done."
"How long before we can check they're
working?" asked Harry.
"Tomorrow morning," she replied. "Just to be
sure."
"How come so long?" he asked.
"You need to give the array time to fully
charge," replied Luna. "If it was only
powering one part it would have charged in
only an hour or two at most. However,
because it needs to charge for a lot more
than that, it'll take a lot longer. That's why
we should wait until tomorrow morning to
properly test it."
Daphne picked up the notes and sketches she
and Harry had done and passed them off to
Luna. "As you're Team Lead for this project, I
think you should be the first to take a look at
these.
A little puzzled at first, Luna accepted the
report and started reading through it. As she
read and flicked through the drawings, her
eyes got wider and wider.
"You... these..." she tried, almost in tears.
"Those," said Daphne, indicating the notes,
"Should see you receiving an Outstanding, at
least, for your Ancient Runes class."
"Thank you," the girl quietly replied.
"After we check the array first thing in the
morning to confirm everything's working to
specifications, I think you should hand those
notes over to Professor Babbling," said
Daphne. "It's brilliant work. And it's all
because of your initial idea and concepts."
"You'll need a copy," Luna quickly replied.
"I already have one," replied Daphne,
indicating the small pile of parchment still on
the coffee table. She then picked it up and
handed it off to Hermione, who avidly read
through it, just as she read through
everything.
"There's no changes I can see should, or
could, be made," murmured Hermione, once
she'd finished and was looking closely at the
sketches. Pulling her head away and giving it
a little shake, she said, "No. It's perfect as it
is."
Looking to Daphne and Harry she said, "Good
job, you two."
After Luna had left to return to the
Ravenclaw tower, with a good night bid to
the statue on her way past, Harry turned to
his wives and brightly asked, "Bed?" before
adopting a morose expression and asking,
"Or do you want to work on homework,
first?"
Daphne laughed but Hermione smirked and
said, "Homework. And don't pull that
face, husband."
Knowing it was already a lost argument,
Harry collected his assignments and sat
down to get them knocked over. He hoped
they would only dedicate about an hour to it.
After all, all three made sure they'd had just
about all of their homework completed and
ready to be handed in before they sat for
dinner the previous night.
Chapter 185
The next morning, Sunday, the three were
woken by Luna walking into their room and
climbing up onto the bed.
Harry was woken by a cry of, "Luna!" from
Hermione, causing him to suddenly flip to his
back before sitting bolt upright in bed.
He had to wipe his eyes a couple of times
before he saw that Luna was calmly sitting
cross-legged on the foot of the bed.
Hermione was also sitting upright but was
trying to hold the covers up to cover her bare
breasts while staring back in shock at Luna.
"What're you doing in here?" asked a
near-whining Hermione.
"I came in to wake you up because Dobby
wouldn't," she calmly replied.
"But... we're naked!" exclaimed Hermione.
"We could have been... doing things!"
"You weren't," replied Luna. "But, if it's you
being naked and me not that has you
concerned..."
She reached down and grasped the bottom
hem of her jumper and began to pull it up
when Hermione realised what she was going
to do. "No!" she cried, reaching forward with
one hand as if she could reach the girl and
physically stop her.
Luna stopped with her top halfway up her
torso, and looked back. "It's not as if Harry
hasn't seen the nude female form, Hermione.
After all, he's seen yours and Daphne's," she
explained in a quite reasonable voice.
"Yes, but..." Hermione tried.
"My being in the nude won't unnecessarily
sexually arouse him, either," Luna continued.
"His bond with you is far too strong. If
anything, he'll want to have sex with you,
again."
"Yes, but..." Hermione tried again.
"He'll show interest. That's because he hasn't
seen me nude before. But you won't have to
worry about him having sex with me."
"Luna..." Hermione whined again.
Harry just watched the byplay, quite amused.
Meanwhile Daphne had groaned, annoyed at
the noise, and sat up in bed, herself. Unlike
Hermione, she shifted her pillows so she
could lean back against them. The covers
remained around her waist.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Luna's being logical and it's confusing the
Hell out of Hermione," replied Harry.
"No! That's not it!" Hermione spun on them.
"It's that she calmly walked in here, sat on
the bed and began taking her clothes off."
"No, it's because she came in here and you
were worried she might have come in here
when we were engaged in hot, passionate
sex. That we weren't has no bearing on it for
you," corrected Harry. "She only offered to
take her clothes off to let you feel more
comfortable."
"Hermione, why are you covering your
breasts?" asked Luna, suddenly. "I live in a
girl's dorm, remember. Up until the start of
this year, so did you."
"Because..." Hermione tried. "Because..."
she tried again. With a huff she practically
yanked the covers back down to her waist.
"I was surprised, is all," she almost growled
out.
"Then, I'm sorry I surprised you," Luna
solemnly replied. "It was not my intent."
"Why are you in here?" asked Daphne.
"To wake you up. I asked Dobby to, but he
wouldn't," replied Luna.
"And why did you want us to wake up?"
asked Daphne.
"To check on the wards, of course!" she
brightly replied, as if it was obvious to
anyone. "I can't do it on my own. It needs
someone to stand within the warded area,
and someone to stand outside of it."
"Of course," said Daphne, as if the answer
was obvious. Suddenly, she swept back the
bedding from her side and swung her legs
over the side of the bed. Standing, nude, she
said, "It looks like there's no sex for you this
morning, husband." And headed for the
ensuite.
"What?" exclaimed Harry. "Noooo... The
morning's not over, yet!"
Turning before she walked into the ensuite,
Daphne calmly said, "I'll not ask Luna to wait
outside while we engage in sexual
intercourse." Then, walked in.
With a sigh, Harry turned to Hermione and
began, "Herm..."
"No!" Hermione shrilly barked back before
he could even finish her name. "The same
applies for me."
Luna suddenly said, "The nargles have
suggested I have sex with Harry for you,
while you shower and get dressed, Hermione.
Would that be alright with you?"
Hermione started gaping like a fish with her
eyes bugged out staring back at Luna. Harry
just roared with laughter because he knew
Luna was just teasing her.
"Nooo!" Hermione finally half-shrieked.
It wasn't until Luna impudently grinned back
that Hermione realised she'd been pranked.
"Why... You... I..." she tried, before she took
a deep breath and barked, "Out! You can
wait in the living room until we're dressed!"
she hissed.
Flicking a grin to Harry, Luna calmly climbed
off the bed and walked back to the door. Just
before she was about to walk out, and as
Hermione swung her legs to the floor, she
turned back and said, "You know, I think I
might be a lesbian, after all. Because, I think
you have very lovely breasts, Hermione."
And smirked.
Hermione picked up a pillow, shrieked,
"Out!" and threw it at Luna as the younger
Ravenclaw quickly stepped out the door.
Harry flopped back on the bed and roared
with laughter again as the door closed with a
thunk/click.
Spinning about while standing nude,
Hermione picked up a second pillow and
proceeded to beat on Harry with it. "It
wasn't funny!" she barked.
"Yes, it was," he shot back, giggling, once he
could draw proper breath.
With a huff she tossed the pillow onto the
bed, took a moment to glare at him again,
and stormed off to the ensuite.
After a final bout of giggling, Harry climbed
off the bed and walked into the ensuite, too.
A quick shower with no hanky-panky and the
three were quickly dressed and walking into
the living room.
Hermione was still a little annoyed with Luna
and let it show by quietly glaring at the girl. It
didn't seem to faze the young girl any,
though. So, Hermione's glares were wasted.
Chapter 186
Daphne asked her, "Have you checked to see
if the charging runes are fully charged?"
"Yes, and they are," replied Luna.
"Well let's go test what we can before
heading for breakfast," suggested Daphne.
Once outside, Harry stood back a little from
the statue and asked it, "Can you hear me,
Professor?"
"I most certainly can, young master," the
statue replied.
"Does it sound a little muffled and low in
volume to you?" he asked.
"No, not at all," replied the statue.
"Is the ward affecting you in any way?" he
asked.
"I can sense it's there; but, that's all," replied
the Professor. "It does not negatively impact
upon me."
"Well, that's one worry we no longer need to
be concerned about," said Harry to the
others.
Hermione had started to slowly back away
and said, "Start talking or singing or
something and don't stop until I tell you to."
Harry started singing. "It's a world of laughter,
a world or tears; it's a world of hopes, it's a
world of fear; there's so much that we share,
that it's time we're aware, it's a small world
after all.
"It's a small world..."
Hermione suddenly held her hand up and
Harry immediately stopped. She then took
half a pace back and asked, "Can you still
hear me?"
He nodded back.
She then turned to look at the walls and saw
the runes were a good couple of feet inside
where she could suddenly no longer hear
Harry.
Walking back into the field she said, "Good.
The ward boundary is a good couple of feet
beyond the runes. That means it goes right to
the floor, at least."
Drawing her wand she cast at Harry.
"Confundus!" she cried.
With a frown he asked, "Don't you think you
should have asked, first?"
"You teased me, this morning," she replied.
"Consider this payback."
Suddenly she snapped her wand back at him
again. And again, nothing happened.
"What this time?" he asked.
"A stinging hex," she replied.
Drawing his own wand with a smirk,
Hermione started to look a little worried. He
held his wand before himself and cried,
"Tempus!" as Hermione jumped sideways in
fright.
The red glowing digits of the actual time
glowed just above his wand as he smirked at
her.
"You prat!" she grouched.
"At least we know the ward doesn't affect
those sorts of charms," he shrugged, still
smirking before banishing the time.
"How's the charging wards, Daphne?"
Hermione called to the other girl.
"No change. Not even a blip," replied
Daphne.
"Alright, let's try something stronger," said
Harry. Incantless, he raised a Protego shield
and held it.
"That works," he said. "Hermione would you
do the honours and cast a couple of
mid-level curses and hexes at me?"
With Harry's shield held between them,
Hermione began casting curses.
"Reducto!... Bombarda!... Stupefy!" she
cried.
Harry's shield held through it all, and there
was no light to show a curse had been cast.
"Daphne?" asked Hermione.
"No change," replied a quite smug Daphne.
"But there was just the faintest blip as you
said each three, and were only there for a
moment. The charging runes had recharged
before you cast your next one."
"That just leaves the Imperius block ward,
right?" asked Harry.
Hermione walked to the wall and attempted
to cast a listening charm onto it. It failed.
"Yep. That's it bar the Imperius," she said
with a big sigh of relief before grinning.
She turned to Luna and said, "Very well done,
Luna. It works."
Luna was clearly happy with the praise and
asked, "Does that mean I can turn the report
in to Professor Babbling now?"
"It does," replied Hermione.
With a squeal she almost leapt into
Hermione's arm to give the older girl a huge
hug. Then she hurried over to Daphne and
did the same. Finally, she jumped into Harry's
arms and hugged him.
Stepping back she exclaimed, "I
cannot wait to hand the report to Professor
Babbling! She'll be ever so pleased."
"Why not see if you can hand it to her at
breakfast, this morning?" asked Daphne.
"I'll do that," she said. "But, I've left it in my
trunk."
"Go get it," suggested Daphne. "We'll wait."
While they waited for the young girl outside
the Ravenclaw entrance, Harry was looking
around.
"Trying to think of where to put the
boundary runes, love?" asked Hermione with
a smirk.
Harry grinned back and said, "Yep."
Daphne raised her hand and pointed. "There,
there, there and there," she said before
turning the other direction. "And, there,
there, there and there,"
Both Hermione and Harry paid attention to
where she was pointing. They couldn't
disagree.
"Nice," said Harry.
When Luna returned they were discussing
where to engrave the control runes.
For a Sunday, breakfast in the Great Hall
seemed a little crowded.
"It's not," replied Luna when Harry pointed it
out. "You're just used to being down here
earlier."
As the four were about to sit at the
Ravenclaw table, Luna gave a little squee
sound before she excitedly said, "Professor
Babbling's here. I'll just go and see if she'll
accept the report before I sit for breakfast."
Then hurried off to the head table.
While Harry was busy digging in to hash
browns, friend tomatoes on toast, and bacon;
and was washing it down with a cup of tea;
Hermione kept suggesting adding an egg
'dish' to his meal. She just couldn't
understand he just didn't feel like eggs, that
morning. Luna returned.
Chapter 187
"She accepted it," she gleefully reported. The
girl turned to look at the head table, for a
moment, before she turned back and said,
"She's even reading it, now."
Harry glanced at the head table and watched
as Dumbledore was scanning his breakfast
and other food before him.
Chuckling, he turned to see if the twins were
down for breakfast. Seeing them, he grinned
and indicated with his eyes the Headmaster.
They, too, had seen the old man's antics and
were quietly chuckling to themselves.
They were about to wrap up breakfast and
head back to the apartment when Professor
Babbling intercepted them. Professor
Babbling was a young witch, compared to
most of the teaching staff. But, that was
because she attained her Mastery at such a
young age.
"Good morning, you four," she said.
"Good morning, Professor," they chirped
back.
"Would you mind walking with me to my
office?" she asked. "I've just been over
Luna's report and I have a few questions."
"In that case," interrupted Hermione.
"Instead of your office, would you mind if we
escorted you to our apartment? It's just that
we have a working model of what's in the
report, there, and we can't bring it down."
"Very well," the Professor agreed with a nod.
"Lead the way."
Once in the corridor outside their apartment,
Luna and Hermione described the control
runes. Then Daphne showed them the small
boundary runes that were not normally
noticeable because they were not in a
normal line of sight.
Once they'd shown the runes they
demonstrated that they worked. Of course,
the only one they couldn't demonstrate was
the anti-Imperius ward. However, both
Hermione and Daphne assured her it should
as it was based on the same rune concept as
the anti-Curse ward.
"But, how do you get it to differentiate
between a hex and, say, a shield?" she asked.
"There're two halves to it," replied Luna.
"One is that the shield isn't a 'travelling' spell.
That is, it's not designed to go from point A
to point B. It's designed to form roughly
where the wand tip creates it. The second
part is intent. It's not intended to harm.
"However, if a spell meets both those
conditions, then it's blocked by the ward and
negated before it even leaves the tip of the
wand."
"And if it's cast into the warded area from
outside?"
The three looked at one another before
Hermione stalked beyond the boundary.
Spinning about, she stared at Harry for a
moment before he drew his own wand and
cast a shield.
"Reducto!" she cried. It flashed out of her
wand but died as soon as it hit the ward
boundary.
"Well, that answers that question," said the
Professor. As Hermione walked back into the
warded area, the Professor said, "This is
amazing work, you four." And, turning to
Luna, she said, "Keep up your normal
exemplary work in my class and there's an
Outstanding Plus in this for you, Miss
Lovegood. This," she said, waving the report
in her hand, "Assures it."
With a bit of a squeal, Luna jumped forward
and wrapped the Professor's waist in a hug.
"Thank you!" she gushed.
Amused, the Professor waited for Luna to get
it out of her system. "Yes, well," she said. "I
want to show this to a few other members of
staff. Do you mind if I do that?"
"Professor Flitwick is alright," said Harry.
"We'd like to know from him if we can set up
the same ward scheme for the area outside
the Ravenclaw common room entrance. But,
we're not ready for the Headmaster to hear
about it yet."
"Professor McGonagall?" she asked.
"As long as she promises not to go running to
the Headmaster about it; yes, that'll be
alright," replied Daphne.
"She won't," replied the Professor with a bit
of a forced smile.
Harry wondered what was going on there.
Had the staff become more aware of
Dumbledore's manipulations, and were
beginning to baulk at them?
The Professor left a little while later.
When a knock on his office door was heard,
while he was currently working on grading
assignments, Professor Flitwick called,
"Enter!"
Professor Babbling stepped in and closed the
door behind her.
Surprised by the visit from his colleague,
Professor Flitwick said, "Bet! This is a
pleasant surprise. What brings you to visit an
old wand-waver such as myself?"
With a matching smile, Bathsheba Babbling
walked over and sat in the chair her
diminutive colleague offered her.
"I've just come from a very interesting
discussion and demonstration from four of
your 'Claws," she replied.
"Oh?" he asked.
"Yes. Are you aware some of your 'Claws had
been up to no good by Confunding the Eagle
guardian to the Ravenclaw common room?"
she asked.
With a frown hovering near a scowl, the
Charms Professor replied, "I was aware that
it had been going on. However, I believe I'd
managed to stop that by punishing all the
culprits."
"Oh, it hasn't happened recently, as far as I'm
aware, Filius," Bet replied. "But, that it had
happened led to the development by Miss
Lovegood of a way to stop it from ever
happening again."
"Oh?"
With a nod, she explained, "Young Miss
Lovegood then took her idea to Miss
Greengrass, Miss Granger and Mister Potter.
They then told her that they had found a
listening charm affixed to the wall next to the
Alcove that contained the entrance to their
apartment. They believe it was put there by
Albus.
"Clever," said Filius, but still clearly upset
that Dumbledore had done something like
that.
"Mmm," replied Bet. "So, the four of them
set to work, starting with Miss Lovegood's
initial concept, and developed the most
amazing ward scheme.
"The main two purposes are to block
the Confundus charm and the use of listening
and other monitoring charms," she explained.
"However, they then took it further and
added a workable anti-Curse and Hex ward
that works on spells that are cast; that travel
from one point to another while allowing
charms that don't travel, or are not intended
to harm, to still work.
Chapter 188
"However, the surprising thing is, they also
believe they've developed an
anti-Imperius curse ward that they've added
to it."
"They what?" he exclaimed with a near
squeaky voice.
The witch then handed her Charms colleague
the documentation Luna had handed her
that morning.
The little Professor eagerly took the
documentation and began reading through it
as if it was worth ten times its weight in gold.
While he was reading, he almost
absent-mindedly called a house elf to serve
them tea. And Bet sat back and enjoyed her
tea while watching her colleague read.
When he'd finished he sat the document on
the desk before him and looked in wonder at
his colleague. "It works?" he asked.
"It does," she replied with a small nod. "The
only part we cannot test is the
anti-Imperius component. However, their
reason, as written there, gives it a strong
likelihood it'll work."
"This is NEWT level work," he said.
"Beyond NEWT," she corrected. "Merlin! If
the anti-Imperius ward works, it's
beyond Mastery. However, I've not told them
that."
"Why ever not?" he asked.
"Because, I don't want them to think about
how hard something is to do, just go ahead
and do it," she explained. "If they're not told
something is either improbable to
accomplish, if not impossible, they won't be
hindered by the knowledge."
"Simply amazing," sighed the little Professor,
sitting back and sipping his tea, thinking. "I
believe there was a muggle general centuries
ago... Alexander, I think... who was not told it
was impossible to cross the Alps in winter. So,
he went ahead and did it."
She thought about that for a moment before
she said, "Same idea; yes."
"Those four seek your permission to set the
same ward set around the Ravenclaw
common room entrance," she continued.
"They hope to eventually be allowed to set
them around the entrance of each of the four
Houses, then move on to the personal staff
offices and then the various apartments.
"Our three bonded were quite incensed that
the Headmaster had set a listening charm to
listen to what their password was. They've
changed it now, of course. And, with the
ward, another cannot be placed."
Sitting up straight, Filius said, "I think I'd best
go and have a look at this ward of theirs."
"By all means," she replied. "I believe they're
in their apartment, studying. However, I
won't be able to accompany you. I, too, have
assignments to grade."
With a smile the little Professor stood,
handed the report back to her and escorted
the Runes Mistress to the door of his office.
"Take care, Bet," he said. "I'll speak to you
soon."
"You, too, Filius," she said, before leaving.
Quickly, the little Professor set his office to
rights and locked his door as he stepped out;
placing a password protected locking charm
on it as he did so. Then he practically jogged
up to the Ravenclaw tower area before
walking across to the entrance to the
bondmates' apartment.
Before approaching the statue he quickly
looked around for the runes, finding them
tinier than he expected but exactly where
the report said they'd be. "Eight!" he
muttered. "Highly unusual. I wonder if it's
the number of them that makes it work so
well."
Returning to the alcove he said to the statue,
"Hello, Wilford."
"Hello, Professor," replied the statue with a
smile.
"Could you please let your guests know I
wish to see them?"
"Of course," the statue replied before it
stepped aside and knocked on the door.
Inside, the three were working on their
transfiguration homework when they heard
the knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" said Harry, rising from his work
and going to the door.
Opening it, he was greeted by Professor
Flitwick.
Professor!" Harry happily exclaimed before
stepping aside. "Come in, please."
"Hello Professor," both girls said.
"To what do we owe the pleasure, sir?"
asked Daphne.
"I've just had a most amazing discussion with
Professor Babbling," he said. "Plus, she
allowed me to read that report you three and
Miss Lovegood wrote."
"Your views?" asked Daphne, perking up.
"As I told you," replied the Professor. "Simply
amazing. I've come to ask if you can
demonstrate it for me."
"We'd love to!" beamed Hermione. She'd
always favoured the little Professor, thinking
of him as a rather boyish favourite uncle.
All four again left the apartment and stood in
the Hall. This time Daphne and Hermione
described the ward and its various facets
before demonstrating them.
By the time they'd finished, the little Charms
Master was almost jumping up and down,
giddy with glee.
"So, Professor," began Harry. "We wanted to
ask your permission to..."
"Yes!" the Professor said, before Harry had
even asked the question. "You can set up a
similar ward outside the Ravenclaw common
room entrance. I heartily approve!"
With a snort, Harry looked to his wives and
said, "Well, that was easy."
Chapter 189
Knowing they needed to balance the work
with their assignments, the three plus Luna
planned on starting with setting up the ward
outside the Ravenclaw entrance for a few
days into the next week. All three wanted to
clear as much of their assignments out of the
way as possible. And his wives reminded
Harry he still had to work at incantless and
minimal movement casting for the second
task. Plus, combat for his time at the
graveyard.
"There's still six weeks until the second task,"
he grouched.
"Then train for your time in the graveyard!"
Hermione berated him right back.
"She's right," added Daphne. "You can't just
rely on the fact you managed to escape last
run through. You need to make sure of it.
Plus, didn't you say John told you that you
were supposed to heavily injure him during
your confrontation there? That's the time
when he's at his weakest."
"The graveyard also gives you the
opportunity to kill the snake and capture
Pettigrew," said Hermione. "What you want
to happen there... need to happen... is you
need Voldemort to run away; not you! That
way, he leaves the snake behind. If you've
managed to stun Pettigrew, then Pettigrew'll
get left behind, as well."
"Secondly," added Daphne. "By him running
away, it weakens how his inner circle looks at
him. They'll know he ran. That'll
tell them that you're stronger than him. It's a
major psychological advantage."
"I know," he grouched. "Alright. I'll
train... we'll train. I have no doubt he already
knows we're at least bonded. I also have no
doubt we won't be able to keep the fact
we're now married a secret until then. So,
he'll know you're my wives."
"Good," said Daphne. "I don't want to keep it
a secret. I want everyone to know."
Surprised, Harry looked to his wives. "You
do?" he asked.
"Yes," both replied.
With a sigh, he said, "Then you'd best send a
letter to your mothers to let them know they
need to tell your fathers pretty soon, if they
haven't done it already. Because, I don't like
keeping it a secret, either."
Both girls grinned back, quite pleased.
"I want to tell Astoria and Tracey, at least,"
said Daphne. "Family and friends should find
out from us; not from reading about it in
the Prophet."
"Invite them up," said Harry. "Blaise and
Horace too, if you trust them not to blab."
Turning to Hermione he said, "And Neville
and Hannah."
"We'll invite them up for Friday night," said
Daphne. "But, I want to talk to Astoria, at
least, no later than Friday afternoon."
"She should be told as soon as possible,"
disagreed Hermione. "She's family; she
should know."
"Hermione's right," said Harry. "We'll need
to tell her as soon as possible in case
the Prophet gets wind of our marriage
earlier."
"Tonight, then," said Daphne. "Astoria still
hasn't really forgiven me... us... for getting
engaged and not letting her know straight
away."
Her husband and sister-wife nodded back.
"Then let us not make the same mistake
twice," said Hermione.
Astoria had missed seeing her sister in the
Snake Pit. She knew she was happy with
Potter and the Granger girl, but it still hurt a
little how her sister now had two others
more important to her in the school.
She was in the library with her friends
working on an assignment for Herbology
when a house elf suddenly popped in,
handed her a note, and popped out again.
The house elf looked familiar to her.
Opening the note, she saw it was from her
sister.
Stori,
Please come to our apartment. We have
important news to share with you.
I love you,
Daph. xo
Astoria stared at the note for a moment and
frowned. The little secret clues meant it was
a real note, not written under duress, and
wasn't about bad news. Her name written
with the period was one, the single 'x' and 'o'
was another, the comma after her own
shortened form name was a third.
Thinking about it, she knew that if her sister
said it was important news then she wanted
her to know of it as soon as possible, and not
hear it from another source.
Turning to her friends working at the table
with her, she said, "I have to go. I'll see you
all at dinner, alright?"
"What's going on, Stori?" one of her friends
asked.
"My sister wants to see me," she replied,
while packing her books and school work
away. "She says it's important."
With pleas to be careful in her ears, the
young girl headed for the Ravenclaw tower.
As one of the few people outside of the three
who knew the password, Astoria walked
straight into the apartment. Daphne and her
bondmates were sitting around the coffee
table working on their own homework.
As soon as Astoria entered, Daphne pushed
her work away and walked across the floor to
give her sister a hug.
"Come; sit down," said Daphne.
Astoria, quite curious, could see from the
expressions on the faces of the three that,
whatever the news was, it was big. She
dropped her bookbag next to the couch
where her sister led her, and sat with her.
With her sister holding her hands between
them, Astoria waited for her to start.
"You're aware of what the bond between us
three means, right?" asked Daphne.
"Of course," replied Astoria.
"Well... Harry and Hermione are no longer
your future brother- and sister-in-law,"
explained Daphne as she watched her sister's
eyes widen in surprise. "We've sealed the
bond."
"That means..." Astoria began before
petering off.
"That means we're now married," finished
Daphne. "I'm now Missus Daphne Potter... or
Greengrass-Potter. We've not figured that
out, yet."
Astoria gave a little squeal and immediately
wrapped her sister in a hug. "I'm
so happy for you!" she cried, as she pulled
away again before holding her sisters hands
up looking at the back of her fingers.
"No ring yet," said Daphne. "We'll have to go
into Gringotts to get the Potter wedding rings,
at some stage. But, we don't plan on wearing
them until we actually hold a wedding in
August."
"But, you're already married," Astoria said, a
little confused. "Why a wedding?"
Chapter 190
"Because Hermione's muggleborn and they
believe you can only be married by a
ceremony," explained Daphne.
Though they knew that wasn't true - there
were registry weddings, after all - both Harry
and Hermione knew it would only confuse
the two pureblood witches sitting opposite if
they mentioned it.
After Astoria spent some more time with
them, the four then headed down to dinner,
separating as they walked in through the
doors to the Great Hall.
By the time they were ready to set up the
ward outside the Ravenclaw entrance,
Professor Flitwick had properly introduced
them to three of the seventh year 'Claws
who were studying Ancient Runes.
"I'd like you to accept their assistance in
carving the runes for you, as I know it takes
you a while to accomplish that," explained
the Professor.
He'd received no argument from the three
and Luna; so, after showing them what they
were going to do, the three older 'Claws were
eagerly involved.
Instead of the project then taking a couple
days to carve the runes spread across a
couple hours each afternoon, they were all
done in the one. Other 'Claws, wondering
what they were up to, even offered to help
to rest those who were working once it was
explained to them.
The next morning, the wards were tested and
found to be working just as well as the one
they'd set up outside their apartment.
"That's just brilliant!" exclaimed one of the
original seventh years when they were
demonstrating its effectiveness. "I wonder
what else we can add."
"Add?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, this means our younger years are now
protected," the older 'Claw explained. "In
years past, we've had some of our younger
years ambushed by Slytherins, even up here.
I'm sure there's more that can be done to
protect them."
"I don't think there's more we could add,"
said Daphne.
Though it was nice to set up something to
keep the younger years safe, the main bonus
of the project was that Luna, once word
passed through all the other 'Claws about
what had been designed and implemented,
was now a fully accepted Ravenclaw.
Those who had been the main instigators of
the bullying she'd received were now firmly
on the outs with the other 'Claws, and Luna
began making friends within her own House.
She even had some of the older years
approach her about her knowledge of runes
and worked with her.
From those discussions they also discovered
she was pretty close to being a prodigy in
Arithmancy, just like her mother before her.
On the Friday Tracey, Horace, Blaise, Neville
and Hannah all eagerly attended the three's
apartment. And the three then informed
them about their magical marriage.
"I'm surprised it took you this long," drawled
Horace.
"We knew not to rush it," explained
Hermione. "It took as long as it did because it
needed to."
"However, even though we're now married
by magic, we still want to hold a wedding,"
said Harry. "That will take place during
summer, in August."
"Oh, I love weddings," said Tracey.
"I'm glad," smirked Daphne. "Because I want
you to stand with me as my Bridesmaid."
With squeal, Tracey almost dived on top of
Daphne, enveloping her in a huge hug while
pretty much insanely cackling.
"And Neville," said Harry, turning his amused
expression on his ex-dorm mate. "Start
thinking about what you need to do as Best
Man. You'll be standing with me."
Shocked to his core, Neville sat gaping for a
few moments before he finally said, "Errr...
yes. I mean... thank you, Harry; I'm
honoured."
"I'll be asking Luna to be mine," said
Hermione. "As I haven't, yet, please don't
talk to her about it until I've had a chance to
ask her."
With grinning nods, the others agreed.
"How will you do it?" Tracey suddenly asked.
"I mean, there're three of you..."
"Ah," said Harry. "Hermione's and Daphne's
mothers are planning all that out. My idea is
for the three of us to stand together, in a
triangle, facing each other. The difficult part
will be, where do we stand the Druid? And
those who stand with us?"
"Let the mothers figure it out," said Blaise.
"I'm sure they will."
A few days later, Daphne asked, "Harry, have
you heard anything more about that Order of
Merlin Chief Interrogator Fitzwilliam ordered
the Minister to award you? And forgot to tell
us?"
"No," he replied. "I just thought these sorts
of things took time."
"Not that much time," she half growled.
"You think the Minister is trying to block it?"
asked Hermione.
"Someone is," replied Daphne.
"If someone is," said Harry. "My money
would be on the Minister... or Umbridge... or
Malfoy... or Dumbledore... Damn, there's just
too many who would try to."
"I'll write my father..." began Daphne, before
Hermione interrupted.
"No, write Madam Longbottom," she
suggested. "It's time to put the alliance to
work."
With a nod of her head, Daphne said to
Hermione, "It would also be better to come
from either mine or your hand. It would
look... gauche... if it came direct from Harry.
Coming from me, on the other hand, I'm
simply a wife concerned my husband is being
denied something that is rightfully his."
"You know it doesn't bother me..." tried
Harry.
"It bothers me," Daphne shot back.
"And me," huffed Hermione.
Turning to Harry she said, "Mister Fitzwilliam
was right. You deserve one, Harry. This is
something you accomplished. So, it's
something you can be proud of."
Looking from her to Daphne and back, he
nodded in acceptance. "You're right," he said.
"Alright, do it."
Daphne quickly pulled a spare sheet of
parchment across and penned a letter to
Madam Longbottom for the Wizengamot
member to investigate on their behalf."
Hedwig left with the letter a short while
later.