Chapter 241
As Harry moved Hermione to the side, Tonks stepped up to take the vacated spot as Fleur's
dance partner while Luna went to find Tracey. "I'll try not to make us fall," the metamorph
said softly.
"Even if you do, we will have somezing to laugh over," Fleur murmured back with a grin.
"Relax, Tonks. Zis is supposed to be fun, not work."
"Dancing is always work for me," she replied in an amused tone.
"Zen perhaps I can finally do ze tango? Zat would get you to loosen up on ze dance floor."
"No that would get me worked up not loosened up. Since I'm not about to sneak off to a
broom closet with you tonight and neither Harry nor Hermione and I are that far along I
think I'll pass," Tonks said openly grinning as they started to move. "Just because you can
tango and salsa better than whatever-this-is-called doesn't mean you get to tango with me.
Not until either of my partners says so at least."
"Oh well, I will just to wait until it is my turn with 'arry zen," Fleur said sighing theatrically.
Harry's conversation with Hermione meanwhile, was going down a starkly different path.
"I still can't believe that Dean asked Ginny to be his date for tonight," Hermione said while
they moved with the music.
"Really?" Harry asked laughing. "They apparently started dating last week." Hermione
stared at him in surprise at that and she almost missed the twirl she was led into.
"Well…I didn't know that. I do hope Tracey at least attempts to rein Luna in soon,"
Hermione said caught sight of the little blond twirling around on the dance floor all on her
own showing off why they had all refused to let her teach Harry.
"I'm sure she will. Let Luna have her fun for now, Mione." He directed them through a full
spin and his eyes widened a bit as he caught sight of someone he hadn't expected to see
on the dance floor at all. "Mione, did you know that Ron had a date?"
"Yes. He asked Lavender two nights ago and got lucky. Her boyfriend had apparently just
broken up with her so she said yes. I'm surprised he's dancing actually. I wouldn't have
thought he'd know how…"
"Yeah me neither. I hope he makes sure she has a good time," Harry said frowning.
"If he doesn't he'll regret it. She's getting quite good at stinging hexes from what she told
Parvati."
The song ended and Harry bowed to Hermione and shifted positions again to hold his hand
out to Fleur. "Miss Delacour, may I have this dance?"
Smiling Fleur nodded and accepted his hand. Hermione paired off with Tonks and both sets
were swaying around the floor again. "So I saw you kept Tonks on her feet," Harry said.
Fleur smiled back. "It was difficult, but yes, I managed. Are you enjoying ze dance, 'arry?"
"Actually I am," he said. "I was a bit skeptical at first, but this has worked out a lot better
than I expected and it's a very nice evening so far."
"Well I am glad you are enjoying zis. Balls can be so much fun as long as ze friends and
partners are interesting," the French girl chuckled. "I do still wish we could tango zough."
Harry blushed and softly replied, "Maybe next time, Fleur. That's kind of a step too far."
"I know. No one wants to tango with me zough," she said rolling her eyes. "It does not
have to be sexual. It generally is but it does not have to be."
Harry laughed. "Fleur I think you'd give most of the people here a heart attack if you tried
to tango with someone."
She nodded sagely. "Ah, yes, you British folk are so sensitive at times. Oh, before I forget,
zis weekend after Christmas is for ze eggs yes?"
"Yup. We'll open them together and see if we can get a head-start during the holiday."
The next song had Harry dancing with Shiva. She laughed as he started to lead her. "You
got pretty good at this, kid. At least for someone who was deathly afraid of the dance floor
when we started."
"I decided that if I could fight a chimera and an evil twin I should at least be able to dance,"
Harry commented grinning. "When are we getting you a date by the way? I have two and a
third girl trying to become official. You need a boyfriend, Shiva."
"Or a girlfriend. I'm not picky."
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Chapter 242
Harry laughed. "Or a girlfriend. What about Bill? You guys seem to get along well."
"A, he's out of the country way too often. B," Shiva said shaking her head in bemusement,
"I am not taking love advice from a teenager. Especially not you. You never do anything
normal, kid."
"Well Millie and Viktor certainly seem to be having a good time. I can do the match-making
thing on the side."
"You keep telling yourself that, Harry."
The song ended and Harry's next dance was claimed by Daphne. The music had barely
started again before she was swinging him rather forcefully around the floor. Harry knew
from when she had taught him that Daphne liked to lead her partner so he let her take
control. "You okay, Daph? You seem a bit annoyed."
"It's nothing, Harry," she said shaking her head.
"People aren't giving you a hard time for coming with Tracey are they? You know you
aren't the only same-sex couple here, Daph. Fleur and Luna may have just come as friends,
but Katie Bell and Su Li came together together just like you."
"No, Harry, it is fine, really. I've just gotten a few comments from Malfoy tonight that have
me riled up a bit."
"Oh." His eyes narrowed. "I should sic the twins on him then. When he left Hermione,
Tonks and I alone I thought he'd have taken the night off."
"No, he has merely focused on a more convenient target. He appears to think I should be
on his arm. Sanctimoniously little prat," she glowered.
"Hey, don't let the git ruin your night, Daph. At least you and Tracey aren't fighting."
"True. Don't be too surprised if I hang around your group a bit tonight though. Tracey
rather has her hands full keeping track of Luna. Shouldn't that be Fleur's job?"
Harry chuckled. "Fleur took Luna solely so that the girl could come to the dance. Hermione
and I have agreed that when Tracey gets exhausted one of us will step up and take the next
spot. The goal is to make Fleur be the last one standing so that she can leave with Luna and
escort her back to the dorm."
Daphne grinned shaking her head. "We'll make a Slytherin out of you yet, Harry."
Tonks had just grabbed a new drink when she spotted one of her targets this evening and
made a beeline to intercept him before he could run off again. He spotted her just before
she reached him, but wasn't fast enough to move in time. "Hey, Mad-Eye, are you even
trying to enjoy the night or are you too worried about assassins popping up?" she asked
with a grin.
"You can never be too careful, girl," Moody grouched, his magical eye spinning and
focusing on random women before moving on. "Constant vigilance is of the utmost
importance. Now more than ever what with these insane events."
Tonks' eyes narrowed though she nodded in agreement. "It has been rather worrying,
though I don't think it's likely for anyone to try anything with this many people."
"At least you got the right idea sticking close to Potter, Tonks. With you at his side, it'll be a
lot harder for anyone to get to him outside the Tournament."
"True, but that's not why I started dating him, Mad-Eye." Something was definitely off here.
The conversation had gone on long enough and he had only given one of his code phrase
answers instead of the three she had given him openings for. She'd only actually said her
own version once though and he'd answered that one correctly…Maybe she was just being
paranoid. Her old mentor would of course answer her second code phrase correctly. "So it
feels like you've been avoiding me. Anything brewing in the winds I should know about?"
"Nothing specific. Just have to maintain constant vigilance. I taught you that if I taught you
nothing else."
Wrong. Completely wrong. "Yeah, that you did. Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find
my date. Try to loosen up a bit and enjoy the night for once, Mad-Eye." She smiled as she
left though it was forced. Hermione had the map. She needed to check it immediately.
Dumbledore practically ran down the corridors. The pass phrases to insure against
impersonators and the Imperius! How had he forgotten that?! How had he not realized the
danger of allowing Tonks and Crouch to speak! He'd already known the Death Eater only
knew of a single code from his own initial talk with the man. How had he overlooked this
for so long?!
It was just lucky that he was close enough to overhear their conversation and recognize
the importance of what had been discussed. He knew the woman would be going to that
frustrating Map that the children possessed. He only prayed he had enough time to reach
his office before it was too late.
"Hermione, do you have the Map on you? I need to see it," Tonks said as she pulled her
partners aside.
Hermione frowned. "I do. You need it here? With all these people around?"
"Yeah. Please, it's important."
Hermione hesitantly reached into her purse and pulled out a small folded piece of
parchment. Harry looked at Tonks with a piercing stare. "Nym, what's going on?"
"Something's weird with Moody. I just want to check to be sure. I solemnly swear – "
"No," Hermione said cutting her off. She took her own wand and laid it on the parchment.
"I promise to never disrespect a book." The parchment began filling with lines and the title
at the top read The Librarian's Aide and Tonks gaped for a moment before turning to
Hermione. The younger girl blushed. "Sirius has the original. I've been working with
Daphne to try and recreate and improve their work using Harry's mother's notes and
Remus' and Sirius' recollections. There are still some bugs, but I felt it more appropriate to
keep this one on us despite the issues. It…has a search function."
Tonks whistled quietly. "That's my girl. Alright, well let's see. Moody, Moody, Moody…he
should be right here…Barty Crouch? What the hell?"
Dumbledore was breathing hard as he ran into his office. He cast a quick freezing charm on
the portraits and leapt to the Ward Anchor. Hurriedly he pressed the symbol that would
display a visual list of the presences detected by the inner wards. The feature had initially
been implemented nearly three centuries ago by a teacher particularly annoyed at
students leaving the grounds and it ensured he could track when they were actually at the
school. Dumbledore put it to a decidedly different use now.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his wand and directed his magic between the names of
Barty Crouch Jr. and Alastor Moody. Nearly 30 seconds of chanting later, the names
swapped. Dumbledore closed down the display and resealed the Anchor.
He could only hope he was not too late.
"I told you it has some bugs," Hermione said shrugging. "Try wiping it and restarting it.
That tends to clear any issues. Knowledge safeguarded."
Tonks nodded distractedly and hurriedly activated the Aide again. "The name switched to
Moody…Hang on a second. Comm on, contact Sirius. Hey, cousin, I need you to grab your
Marauder's Map. Yes, I'm at the Ball. Don't ask questions, I'll explain later. Okay great. You
see the Great Hall? Who does the map say is at the corner near the main doors? It does
show Moody? Okay, thanks. Yeah, I'll call back later and explain. Thanks again, cousin.
Disconnect." Tonks tapped her Comm Stone and sighed. "Well I guess it is Moody. Maybe
he just didn't think that he needed to give all the code phrases since we've seen each other
around for almost four months now?"
"What do you mean code phrases?" Harry asked as Hermione slipped her version of the
map back into her purse.
"Moody's paranoid to high heaven. He has three code phrases he teaches people he trusts
and they're supposed to slip the phrases into conversations with him the first time they
meet after being apart for three or more months." Tonks shrugged. "It's a safety measure
to avoid the Imperius curse or polyjuice incidents. Since this was our first real conversation
since I got here I figured he'd want to use more than just one."
"Could he be under the Imperius?" Harry's gaze had turned to fix on Moody.
"Not very likely. The old man's practically as good at throwing it off as you, Harry. Plus if it
was Imperius he wouldn't know any of the code phrases. Same with polyjuice." She
paused and sighed. "It's always possible he's just drunk. That flask isn't always filled with
water you know. With this many people here tonight he might have actually decided it was
safe to drink a bit."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and frowned. "All the same, I think we should
keep a closer eye on him. My track record with Defense Professors is…not great, Nym,"
Harry said.
Tonks nodded. "We'll keep watch just to be safe. For now though, I think one of you owes
me another dance. I didn't wear heels just to sit around and speculate about the enigma
that is my old mentor!"
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Chapter 243
Harry's friends and fellow Champions were all assembled in the Room of Requirements the
day after Christmas. Dobby and Winky were serving refreshments to everyone while the
Champions stood off to the side with their eggs. Harry turned his over in his hands
studying the thing. It was about a foot high and completely golden with little decorative
whirls and etchings all over it. The hinge along the middle had an ornate little lock in the
center with a keyhole. The key, that the Champions had received for successfully
completing the Second Task was perfectly sized to fit inside the opening.
"So do you think that they all have the same clue inside?" Fred asked frowning at the egg.
"If they do, it seems rather stupid of them to deny us a key if we had failed the last Task.
All we'd have to do was go and ask one of the other three what the clue was."
Viktor shrugged. "It does not seem like they feel ve vill cooperate like this. I have avoided
mentioning it to Karkaroff myself. I doubt he vould approve despite that being the actual
purpose of this Tournament."
"Madame Maxime might not encourage it, but at zis point I don't zink she would
discourage it eizer," Fleur commented.
Harry just raised his eyebrows at the others when they looked to him. "What? Do you
really think Dumbledore would like me working with you guys? I'm just happy he didn't
come up with a rule preventing it. Let's just open these things and get it over with. Anyone
want to go first?"
"I'll take the plunge," Fred said slotting his key in and flicking it to the side. As the
prankster opened the egg a loud, shrill screeching echoed throughout the room. Everyone
immediately cringed and covered their ears crying out in pain at the horrible noise. Dobby
and Winky had dropped their plates and smashed their ears over their heads while the
Champions dropped their eggs in reaction. Thankfully as Fred dropped the egg it banged
closed and the offending screech ended.
"What the bloody hell kind of clue is that?" Tracey complained sticking her fingers in her
ears and glaring at the egg. "That's the most useless piece of information throughout this
entire competition!"
"I almost don't want to open mine now…" Harry muttered. "Dobby, Winky, you guys
okay?"
Dobby nodded wincing slightly. "Yes, Master Harry. Dobby bes fine. It bes hard to hear, but
Dobby bes fine."
Harry sighed in relief and turned back to his fellow Champions. As he caught sight of Fleur
he froze. She was standing stock still staring at the egg with a look of fear and revulsion
stuck on her face. "Fleur, what's wrong?" Harry asked reaching out to gently touch her
shoulder.
Fleur jerked back at his touch and took a shuddering breath. "Mermish. It was Mermish."
"Mermish?" Hermione commented frowning.
"Oui," Fleur replied softly.
"Fleur?" Harry moved towards her again. "Fleur?"
"Sorry," the French girl shook herself and visibly composed her features back to neutrality.
"We must listen to it underwater. It will make sense zat way."
Neville frowned. "Wait, how could you recognize it right away like that? All I heard was
screeching."
"Any Veela would recognize Mermish," Fleur said shaking her head, but not elaborating
further. Most of the group nodded though Harry continued to eye his friend.
"Well let's get some water in here!" Fred commented with a forced grin. "Who set the
configuration?"
Shiva raised her hand. "I did. Give me a second." She shut her eyes and a few moments
later, four large tubs of water were standing in the back of the room. "That should be big
enough guys."
"Thanks, Professor!" Fred bounded over to one of the tubs and thrust his egg and head in
opening it up. None of the sound carrying above the water.
Viktor snorted. "Always so dramatic," he said shaking his head in exasperation. He walked
to the next tub and after unlocking and placing his egg in, he just lowered his head so that
just his ear was underwater.
"Fleur, let's go listen to the clue. Okay?" Harry said taking her hand and pulling her
towards the tubs of water. She nodded weakly and moved to her own section.
Harry dropped his egg in the water and leaned in to hear it's message:
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
He lifted his head from the tub and frowned. "Guys I need some – " He cut off as Hermione
was already at his side with parchment and quill.
She blushed and muttered. "I saw Fred and Viktor start writing."
"Thanks, Mione," Harry said smiling and copying some of the clue. He stuck his head back
into the tub a few more times to make sure he ended up getting the whole thing right.
Finally satisfying he removed the egg and walked back to the table to join the others.
"Okay this is what I got in my egg. Did you guys have anything different?" Harry asked the
other Champions. All three took a quick glance at each clue and shook their heads.
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Chapter 244
Viktor shrugged. "Vell at least ve know this Task vill not be different for each of us."
"I wonder what they're having us grab from the Third one though that will help in this
one…" Fred said thoughtfully. "Maybe a map of the Black Lake?"
"Or maybe vhat ve vill miss?"
"No that doesn't make sense," Harry said. "It's probably either a map or another key.
'What we will sorely miss' has got to be something we already have. Like my rune belt or
your broom or something."
"Or a person…" Susan said softly. All noise in the room stopped and everyone turned to
look at her. "What? It would fit the pattern wouldn't it? Make the Task as dangerous as
possible and motivate as best they could? Especially if The Umbitch has any say in the
matter, you're probably going to have to retrieve someone from the lake, not something."
Tonks' hair had gone white as she took Harry's clue and reread it. "And if you don't get
there within in an hour they're dead…they can't seriously get away with that could they?"
"If it's another 'accident'? Sure," Shiva spat out. "As long as they can claim that it wasn't
intentional and that the line was just to scare you all a little."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I'll talk to Myrtle. She gets flushed into the lake a lot so she
might already know how to find the Merpeople's village. If she can't draw us a map to start
getting used to it, she might at least be able to point us in the right direction."
Tracey's eyes widened as she stared at Hermione in shock. "You actually talk to Moaning
Myrtle? Voluntarily?"
Hermione shrugged. "She's really not that bad as long as you don't set her off. She got a lot
calmer after the basilisk corpse was trotted out. I actually think she has a bit of crush on
Harry and Daphne…"
Daphne shivered. "Remind me to never go into that bathroom. I don't even want to think
about the implications of a ghost having a crush on me."
"The map is useless unless you can breathe underwater," Tonks said, her hair shifting back
to blue. "Harry, I can start teaching you the Bubble-Head charm. The others should know it
by now. It's a sixth year spell I think. Takes a bit of a magic to maintain long term, but it's a
solid option."
Harry shook his head. "I can learn it as a backup, but if it causes a constant magical strain
then I might have a better method."
"Oh?" Hannah cocked her head in surprise. "You can already breath underwater?"
Neville snapped his fingers and laughed. "The Breath Keeper! You're going to repurpose it,
Harry?"
"No reason it shouldn't work just as well underwater," Harry said nodding. At the querying
looks from the others Harry shrugged. "It's something I came up with to help Neville a few
weeks ago. He was having some trouble with one of the potions we were working on and
it kept blowing up and letting off these horrible fumes. I made a rune stone that switched
the contents of your lungs with the nearest clean source of air within 333 meters. It's
designed to prevent you from breathing in toxins or bad smells, but since it works via
breathing relax and switching spells there's nothing that stops it from working underwater
too…I should start selling that one actually…I could market it to potions labs, and divers…"
Harry trailed off rubbing his chin.
"You could also sell it hospitals! If it works using switching spells then it can get rid of any
fluid or blood in someone's lungs," Hannah said grinning broadly.
"Good point, Hannah. Fred can you add it to the list? I'll give you the specs and instructions
on the design later."
"Will do, partner," Fred said nodding. "I think I'll stick with the Bubble-Head though for the
Task."
"You could also always just use gillyweed," Neville said. "It's a plant that turns you partly
aquatic. Webbed hands, webbed feet, gills, slight immunity against cold water. It only
works in freshwater though. Nobody's found a saltwater variant yet. I might try and
crossbreed one when I graduate."
Shiva nodded. "Gillyweed is a good idea. It would help if you're a weak swimmer too."
Viktor held up his hand. "I think that I vill use this method then. I do not enjoy swimming
so the boost vould be helpful."
"What about you, Fleur?" Harry asked turning to the French Champion. His friend had
been unnaturally quiet throughout the entire discussion and she was still just staring down
at the note clutched in her hands.
At Harry's question she shook herself and sighed. "I will go with a Bubble-Head charm. I
can swim relatively well if I have too and while I would not turn down a rune stone I would
prefer not to have somezing zat I could lose – or have taken from me." Harry frowned at
her last comment but remained silent for the moment.
"Who do you think they will take?" Luna asked. "Perhaps we could put a tracking charm on
them the night before to better assist in locating them quickly."
Fred smiled at the younger blonde. "Good call! My hostage will almost definitely be
George. Maybe Alicia."
Viktor thought for a moment. "I am not close with most in Durmstrang. They will likely
take Millicent as ve vill have been on several dates by the time of this Task."
"Hermione, Tonks, they'll…probably take one of you. Or you, Shiva," Harry said dejectedly.
"Ze same for me," Fleur contributed quietly. "Zough I would zink most likely Hermione for
me."
The others all nodded. "Okay, so we have a decent plan for the Fourth Task. What about
the Third? Do you guys have any info on it?" Daphne asked.
"All we know for sure is that we have to retrieve the thing to help in the Fourth and that its
theme is: Face the Sky," Fred said shaking his head. "My best guess is we're going to be
doing some flying."
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Chapter 245
"I don't think we're going to end up getting much more than that unfortunately. At least
not without the Headmasters cheating again which I certainly wouldn't turn down. We're
all really good flyers though which is nice," Harry shrugged.
Fleur nodded perking up a bit. "Zis is true. I may not play Quidditch like you zree, but I do
enjoy being in ze air and I have my wings as a backup if required."
"Okay," Shiva said clapping her hands together. "Good planning session and good progress
people. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and don't forget to do your holiday break homework
if you haven't gotten it done yet." A round of grumbling greeted the last comment and
people began to file out of the room. Shiva, Harry, his girlfriends and Fleur hung back.
As the last person left, Harry turned Fleur and frowned. "Okay, what's wrong, Fleur? Why
did you freak out about the Merpeople?"
"Binns really needs to be fired," Shiva muttered with a sigh. "You're worried about the
treaty right?"
Fleur nodded and Hermione gasped. The French girl smiled a little at that though she
crossed her arms before replying. "Oui. Ze treaty forbids any Veela from entering a
Merman's territory just as it forbids zem from entering ours."
"What treaty?" Tonks asked her hair shifting a few colors.
"Wait…I read something about this a few weeks ago…" Harry said. "Something about…the
Treaty of Athens? A Veela and Merpeople war right? That was what…two hundred years
ago?"
"Zree hundred," Fleur said shaking her head. "Ze hostilities stopped, but both sides still
hate each ozer for ze most part. All Veela are taught to avoid ze Merpeople as many will
use any justification to kill us while trying to uphold ze treaty terms."
"They can't do that!" Hermione yelled. "How can they possibly expect you to compete in
this if they're marching you to your death?!"
"Zat was why I was frightened. I don't believe I will have much issue at first zough. Zis
Tournament is known zroughout much of ze world so ze Merpeople will not do anyzing as
long as I stay within ze time limit. If I am still in ze water zough after an hour is up…" Fleur
grimaced.
Harry violently shook his head. "Not going to happen, Fleur. We'll stick together in the Task
and if they try anything I'll be there to help fight them off."
Fleur looked up at him blinking. Harry caught a sheen across her eyes before she smiled
and nodded looking down again. "Zank you, Harry," she whispered.
Tonks walked over to the younger girl and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't forget, Fleur,
Harry has a 'saving people thing'. You'll be fine. He'll probably end up hurt somehow
knowing this idiot's luck, but you'll both survive. I'm sure of it."
Fleur chuckled. "Yes. I'm sure you are right."
"Of course she's right," Shiva smirked. "Now all of you come on. Dobby and Winky
promised us some hot cocoa."
Adult Content
New Year's Eve after dinner saw Harry being dragged back into the Room by Hermione and
Tonks with his eyes closed. He was laughing at their insistence that he keep his eyes shut
once they hit the seventh floor corridor, but didn't ask questions.
"Okay, Wonder Boy, you can open your eyes now," Tonks said her grin evident in her tone.
Harry shook his head good-naturedly and opened his eyes. A moment later his jaw
dropped and he squeaked in surprise. The Room had been turned into a cozy bedroom
again with a couch to the side and a large bed in the corner. Both the bed and the couch
were covered in satin and against the opposite wall was a roaring fireplace. Above the
fireplace was a picture of Big Ben and the London Eye with the countdown displayed on
Shell Centre. "Wow…"
"We wanted to do something nice for New Year's and while the castle was planning on
having some fireworks visible from the dorms it didn't really seem like enough," Hermione
said smiling.
Tonks nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, so we decided to get a picture of the celebration in
London last year and charmed it so that the countdown will end up being correct. The
fireworks should go off at the right time too."
"Girls, this is amazing!" Harry said grinning and hugging both of them tightly. "How come
the bed though?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows and Tonks broke out into chuckles. "Really, Harry?"
Hermione asked. "Did you seriously think we'd want to be alone on New Year's Eve?"
Harry's face went bright red as he caught her meaning. "Um…I hadn't really thought about
it, but when you put it like that…"
"Ah he can be taught!" Tonks crooned quieting her chuckles and shifting to grinning
mischievously. "Now we are all wearing too much clothing."
"Err, all I have on is a shirt and trousers," Harry hedged raising his eyebrows.
"As I said, far too much clothing. Let's slip into something a bit more comfortable eh,
Mione?"
Hermione blushed but nodded. As she followed Tonks over to grab a mostly transparent
nightgown from the bed Hermione looked back over her shoulder at Harry. "Feel free to
watch, Harry. You've seen both of us mostly naked anyway."
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Chapter 246
Harry could only nod dumbly in reply. Hermione's statement wasn't entirely accurate. He
had actually only seen them both topless not naked. It was an important distinction. In his
mind at least. A distinction that was quickly growing rather outdated. The girls pulled off
their shirts and removed their bras without much fanfare though Harry still stared in awe
at both of their chests. He couldn't help comparing the two. Tonks was slightly larger than
Hermione, though Hermione's breasts seemed a bit perkier and her nipples were a bit
bigger. That was hard to focus on though with Tonks' piercings still on display. He was so
focused on their upper bodies that he barely even noticed as they unbuttoned their
trousers. As the jeans started to slip down though, Harry eyes widened as he finally
followed their hands downward.
His mind ground to halt as the trousers were removed entirely leaving Hermione and Tonks
clad in just a set of panties each. Well Hermione had panties on – a red piece of material
with some small lace around the sides. Tonks on the other hand seemed to be wearing a
yellow thong that barely covered her at all. His blinked in awe of the two beautiful women
in front of him and barely managed to restart his brain enough to say something. "Is that a
badger on those?" He didn't get his brain working enough to say anything intelligent
however.
Tonks giggled. "Yup, it is. Hufflepuff and proud! Granted they're not my sexiest pants, but
I'm saving those for Valentine's Day." Harry swallowed on a suddenly very dry throat and
nodded dumbly. Both girls reached for their nightgowns and slipped them on. How more
clothes could make them even more alluring was a mystery lost to time but the addition of
the transparent gown certainly managed it.
"Harry," Hermione said raising her eyebrows and slinking closer to him. "Are you going to
get comfortable or are you going to leave Nym and me dressed up all alone?"
Harry's shirt, shoes and trousers were on the floor almost before he finished processing
her statement eliciting another round of giggles. "Man, Wonder Boy, that was almost fast
enough to make me think you used a switching charm."
Harry's face went red though he turned back to Tonks and quipped, "Well, I guess next
time I'll have to undress you to prove it wasn't magic."
Tonks raised her eyebrows at the challenge and chuckled. "I'm going to hold you to that,
Harry. Hermione, are you bringing his cute little arse to bed or what?"
"Coming, Nym," Hermione sang as she took Harry's arm. She led him to the bed and
pushed him lightly so that he was laying down between herself and Tonks. "There, that's
better." Hermione leaned over and kissed him. Harry melted into her embrace for nearly a
minute before coming up for air. As Hermione pulled back, he grinned widely and pulled
Tonks down for a kiss as well.
"You two are beautiful. I don't say that nearly enough," Harry mumbled panting for breath
when Tonks pulled back.
"You do, Harry," Hermione sighed as she leaned her head down on his bare chest. "But
thank you."
"Doesn't mean we don't mind hearing it more though," Nym agreed nuzzling his neck.
"You're pretty handsome yourself, Wonder Boy."
Harry made a noncommittal sound of agreement though he was currently more focused on
Hermione. She had grabbed his hand and laid it on her stomach shifting it slowly
downwards. "Mione?"
She stopped and lifted her head to stare into his eyes. "Harry…I want this. We both do. I'm
ready for it and Nym is ready for it with us as well. If you want me to stop though I will.
Just say so and we can stick with what we've done previously."
Harry blinked and tried to think of a reason why they should be staying above the stomach.
He really tried.
"Um," Harry let out a low moan as Tonks lightly bit his ear. "Never mind. I'm done arguing.
I'd have to be a complete idiot to argue."
"Good man," Tonks whispered into his ear sending a shiver down his spine as she took his
other arm and brought it under her nightgown and up to her chest. Her other hand drifted
down to slip underneath his pants while Hermione resumed guiding Harry's right hand
down her own body.
Both of them groaned when he felt his hand slide under her panties and cup her. Harry's
last coherent thought for several hours was a simple, "I love you girls."
End Adult Content
"I think we missed the New Year," Harry said. The wide smile on his face as Hermione and
Tonks both cuddled on his chest left no concern that his statement was a rebuke.
"Eh, we were probably kissing during it anyway," Tonks mumbled.
He felt Hermione nod. "Yes, we were. I was snogging you, Nym, when I saw the fireworks
go off in the painting."
"Oh was that why you broke off and hurriedly pushed me towards Harry then claimed his
lips for yourself almost immediately?"
"Yes. I wanted us all to get the New Year's Kiss in on time," Hermione stated contentedly
causing all three of them to laugh softly. "So, Harry, I take it you liked this idea?"
"Very much so," Harry said nodding. "It was definitely the best New Year's celebration I've
ever had." He paused and shrugged. "Well, technically it's my fourth New Year's
celebration and really only the second that I've actually done something worth
remembering, but it still counts."
"That it does, Wonder Boy," Tonks said patting his chest.
"And you're going to have many, many more of them, Harry, so don't even think about
slacking off for the remaining Tasks," Hermione said holding him tighter.
"I'm not going anywhere, Mione."
Tonks lifted her head a bit and furrowed her brow. "Actually, speaking of that, Mione, with
the Marauder's Map and the Librarian's Aide, how do they determine who's who?"
"They tie into the castle's inner ward scheme," Hermione said shrugging. "It was Sirius'
idea, but they hadn't gotten it to work until Harry's mum managed to invent the charm
that piggybacked off the wards. According to Remus' notes, your cousin was actually going
to try and insert a modification to the Anchor to make the Map work before Lily agreed to
help. Good thing she did too because they had no idea where the Anchor was and best
guess had been under Black Lake or somewhere in the dungeons. Why?"
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Chapter 247
Harry shifted so that he could see Tonks' eyes. "Moody right?" She nodded.
"I know it's stupid, but I can't help thinking that I'm missing something. I managed to get a
detection charm on his flask before the Ball was out and it did show whiskey so I'm
probably just being paranoid. Still though…it's just odd," Tonks winced. "Sorry, this isn't
the time to be talking about that. Just ignore my paranoid Auror mutterings."
"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you," Hermione commented grinning. "Muggle
saying. I don't think the wards that identify people can really be changed though, Nym.
Even with access to the Anchor you'd need an incredible amount of finesse, power and
time. Not to mention intimate knowledge of the entire ward scheme."
"Sounds like something Dumbledore could do," Harry said.
Hermione shook her head. "He may be Headmaster and he's a very good wizard, but even
he would need at least a half hour to erase someone from the ward scheme and replace
them with someone else. Swapping people might take a shorter time, but Crouch has
barely left his house since Sirius got those reparations from him – so there is no way he
was on the grounds to swap names with."
Tonks nodded. "She's right. I actually looked for Dumbledore while you were dancing with
me right after that, Harry, and he was there. If he'd done anything it should have taken
longer. We can settle this right now though to be sure. Accio Librarian's Aide." Hermione's
map flew out of her pants lying on the couch and into Tonks' hands. "Okay, if Crouch is on
the grounds we call Bonesy and take both of them in. If not, we just continue watching
Mad-Eye and note any inconsistencies compiling until we see if we have enough to bring to
Bonesy."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry said as Hermione nodded.
Tonks activated the map and Hermione showed them how to use the search function. "You
just hold your wand to the eye over here and say 'Locate, Barty Crouch'. See when the eye
flashes like that it means the target isn't detected by the wards. If it does see them, then it
will highlight their name and flash the room their in."
"Cool. This is amazing work, Mione," Tonks said. She redid the search a few times to
ensure that the lack of response wasn't due to a 'bug' before wiping the map and putting it
on the table. "Okay, let's just cuddle for now guys. I'll keep poking around later and seeing
what's what. Mione, would you mind checking for Crouch every once in a while just to be
safe?"
"Of course, Nym." Hermione frowned and reached out a hand run along the older
woman's back. "Just promise me if you do find something you come get one of us first. I
don't want you getting hurt because you didn't call for backup."
"Promise, Mione," she said smiling. A second later she shivered as Hermione's hand
drifted between her legs. "Playful little minx…"
Harry laughed while Hermione smirked. "Yes. I certainly can be."
Barty scowled as he sat down in his office during his first free New Years in a decade and
drank a bit of firewhiskey in 'celebration'. That damn Yule Ball had set off so many alarms
in his head it had been all he could do not to make the bloody metamorphmagus
disappear afterward. She'd been fishing for something deeper then what Moody had given
him and his stupid 'constant vigilance' hadn't been good enough judging by her quick
retreat. How the damnable old paranoid had managed to hide layers upon layers of code
and avoid telling him everything was simultaneously the most impressive and most
frustrating bit of foresight Barty had ever seen.
At least he'd managed to swap out his polyjuice flask for the whiskey one while she ran.
Seeing her with Potter and Granger afterwards had worried him immensely and ended up
being the sole reason he had stayed his hand from slaughtering the woman. If she were to
simply up and disappear after telling those two he was acting suspicious, he wouldn't have
lasted the night. He was good and in any fair duel he'd decimate the teens or whatever
backup they brought…but Potter wouldn't fight remotely fair if he suspected Barty had
killed his sex toy. Barty'd probably wake up to a tree growing through his back or
something. That was one of the way those Asians slowly tortured and killed criminals
wasn't it? Even if Potter didn't try to kill him, the boy would still end up exposing him and
then his Master would kill him for screwing up the plan. Either way he was looking at a
painful death if he acted against the bitch.
So he'd let her live. A few precautions and things should still be fine. He'd moved Moody
to a room in that rundown old shack just in case they tried snooping around his office. It
made getting extra hairs more difficult, but it wasn't much more than an inconvenience
really. He'd just have to avoid mentioning this little problem to the Dark Lord until he could
permanently take care of it.
Now if only he could figure out how the girl had found him out and not Dumb-as-a-door.
Either the old man really was getting senile or the Moody had never trusted him as much
as the fool had liked to pretend. Barty briefly considered that perhaps Dumbledore did
know and was simply letting him be. He couldn't help a laugh at that idiotic idea. The
Great Lord of the Light helping a murderous Death Eater? That would certainly be the day!
A few days before the start of the new term Harry was sitting on the grounds in his
Midnight form and letting Luna and Fleur pet him. Ostensibly he was 'letting his instincts
guide him'. He personally felt he was more just relaxing and taking the chance to get used
to the sensation of having a tail as well as better handle the increased smell ability in his
panther form.
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Chapter 248
And getting teased to high heaven by Fleur. "Midnight is so dreadfully boring though,
Hermione. And far too appropriate," the French girl was saying. "I much prefer Snowball.
When you call for Snowball ze first zing someone will zink of is 'Oh no, I am about to be
pelted with slush!' and not 'Oh no ze evil 'arry!panzer is attacking!' It is ze best cover, no?"
"You just want to call him Snowball because you like to tease him," Hermione pouted
crossing her arms.
"And because I like to tease him, yes," Fleur agreed wholeheartedly. She smiled and
hugged Midnight around the middle. "Ze name is adorable. You, Midnight, are always
going to be Snowball to me, you fluffy, silky little monster."
Midnight huffed in grudging acceptance. He was too concerned with Luna's hand
scratching behind his ears to bother caring about what nickname Fleur was going to call
him. His tail was swishing back and forth on its own with a curious little shiver flowing up
his spine every so often. He tried to ignore the feeling since it felt like ice running down
part of his tail.
Luna's hand suddenly froze and she went very still. Midnight could taste her scent change
into something exuding a mixture of curiosity, wonder and fear. Growling slightly Midnight
raised his head to peer around the girl and take stock of his surroundings trying to find
what had her on edge.
"Harry…your tail," Luna said softly. "The graboids seem to have stolen it."
Midnight's eyes narrowed and he turned to stare at where his tail had fallen still. The ice
was running up its length again and it was staying present far longer than before. Coiling
his muscles, Midnight, searched the ground by the tree.
His tail was not there.
Letting out a low growl, Midnight stayed very still and shifted his eyes to his haunches,
tracing the beginning of his tail to where it ended as it disappeared into the shadow of tree.
Sucking in a sharp breath Midnight again traced his tail. It wasn't a mistake, his tail wasn't
just lost in the shadow of the tree it was literally in the shadow!
Letting out a yip of fright Midnight jumped up and away from the tree. The ice left his tail
as he leapt over Luna's head and landed on the other side of her well away from the
shadow. He curled around to inspect his newly whole tail and start licking it and then
pawing at it lightly.
"Harry," Hermione said softly her eyes wide, "are you alright?"
Midnight shifted and Harry sat down on the ground heavily. "I have no idea. What the
bloody hell was that?"
"The graboids stole your tail," Luna repeated with a bit of wonder seeping into her voice. "I
watched it happen. Your tail was flicking back and forth on the ground and when it fell
onto the shadow, it disappeared inside it then came back as it flicked back out. It was the
oddest thing…"
"Do you feel alright, 'arry?" Fleur asked reaching out but seemingly unsure of where she
should be touching to make sure he had all his parts intact.
"I…think so? Hang on, I'm going to try to do it intentionally. If I disappear get Shiva and
Madame Pomfrey."
"You will not bloody disappear, Harry Potter!" Hermione started to yell as Harry shifted
back to Midnight and carefully stepped forward.
Extending a tentative paw, Midnight touched the shadow hanging in the air. Nothing
happened. He growled low and gently laid his paw on the ground inside the shadow. Still
nothing happened. Giving himself a little shake, he tried to remember just what he had
been feeling and thinking as he had felt the ice in his tail a few moments ago. With
deliberate slowness, Midnight called up that feeling again and pushed gently into the
ground against the shadow. His paw slipped into nothingness and ice spread up his limb.
Shivering Midnight leaned more of his paw into the ground and the ice spread higher.
When the feeling reached his shoulder Midnight pulled back shuddering and shifted back
to human.
"Merlin, that's cold!" Harry shook out his arm and cast warming spells on it until he started
to regain some feeling. "Did you guys see that? I was literally in that shadow!"
"Yes, Harry, we saw it. You're okay?" Hermione asked as she moved forward to lightly run
her hand along his arm. Harry nodded in reply.
"Shadow panther," Luna whispered her mouth gaping. "Oh my! You're a shadow panther,
Harry!"
"I'm a what?" Harry asked.
"A shadow panther!" Luna jumped up and hugged him hard enough to make him lose his
breath for a moment. "Oh they are nearly extinct! The shadow panther is a cousin to the
North American wampus. It can travel through shadows as easily as walking. Observers
have only seen it use shadows it can see to maneuver through, but there didn't seem to be
a range limit beyond requiring line of sight from what they could tell. It could also take
passengers with it though that was what led to their overhunting. Many people wanted a
shadow panther for the novelty of traveling through shadows." Luna's happy voice died
down to a sad tone. "Unfortunately the shadow panthers didn't take too well to that and
many died as their masters forced them to travel with them. At least the masters tended to
die or disappear as well."
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Chapter 249
"That…doesn't sound very safe, Luna," Harry said slowly.
"Well the animals themselves never had a problem before they were domesticated," she
said shrugging. Tapping her chin she continued in a bemused tone, "Perhaps they died of
frostbite?"
"Haha, very funny. That really was freezing you know." Harry stared speculatively at the
shadow.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Harry, I know that look. You are about to do something
incredibly stupid."
"Maybe," Harry acknowledged nodding. "But if it works it'll be pretty cool. And probably
pretty useful too."
"And if it doesn't work you'll be on a bed in the infirmary."
Harry shrugged and shifted into Midnight before taking a long look at the shadow of the
castle wall about 200 meters away. Staying fully focused on the wall, he leaped into the
shadow of the tree. Ice covered his entire body and it felt like he had jumped into an Arctic
bath. His body was squeezed and bombarded by a wind that came from nowhere and all
light had vanished. For what felt like an eternity Midnight flew through the space between
places buffeted by the wind and the cold.
Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped and Midnight flew out of the shadow of the wall
exactly where he had been focusing on. Yowling at the uncomfortable cold and shaking
slightly trying to return some feeling to his extremities he paced back over to the small
group and shifted back.
"Ow," Harry muttered. "As naturally as walking, huh? Yeah no. That's going to take some
serious getting used to if I want to do that more often."
"What was it like?" Fleur asked cocking her head.
"Cold. And windy. And it wasn't just dark but…it was like the complete absence of even the
idea of light. It…felt wrong. Like I was intruding on something primal or something. I don't
know really how to describe it," Harry finished with a lame shrug.
"Only Harry Potter would break every known magical law by becoming a magical animagus
and describe it as simply as 'it felt wrong'," Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I used other descriptors too!" Harry complained.
"What if you tried enflaming your magic while walking through the shadow?" Luna asked
quizzically. "Encase it around you like a cocoon."
Harry ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Worth a shot. If I can do this more than
once or twice it would really improve my battlefield mobility." He shifted to Midnight and
tried to do what Luna had described. It took him a few minutes to figure out how to call up
his magic and force it through his body to hover just at the surface of his skin and fur but
once he got the hang of it he tried leaping through the shadows again.
This time, the cold was still present but it was less a bone-chilling numbness and more of a
fall evening. The wind didn't do much more than push him along and before he could feel
anything beyond a heavy tingle, Midnight was popping out of the shadow of the wall.
Mouth widening in the feline approximation of a grin, Midnight called his magic back up
again and stepped back through the shadow to jump out beside his friends. This time
though, instead of popping up inside the shadow of the tree he decided to have a bit more
fun with it.
He leapt out of Hermione's shadow and ended in a crouch in front of her.
Hermione cried out in a surprise and fell back on her butt before glaring at Midnight. In
response he looked up at her with wide eyes and nuzzled her leg purring. "Insufferable,
twit," Hermione grouched. She reached out to scratch behind his ears though all the same
and laughed along with Luna and Fleur.
Daphne leaned back against Tracey in the other girl's bed with a soft moan of both
exhaustion and contentment. "That, was tiring," she said shutting her eyes as Tracey
moved to rub her shoulders.
"Complicated tattoo this time?" Tracey asked in sympathy.
Daphne nodded. "And awkward positioning. Trying to correctly place the thing along the
pad of his paw was frustrating enough. It was made even worse when he kept fidgeting
every time I brought my wand closer. Shiva ended up having to stick his paw to the floor
before I could start."
"Yeah, that sounds annoying," Tracey grimaced. "Both feet?"
"Paws. Both paws," Daphne corrected with a sigh. "We did make sure Harry took his shoes
and socks off first before shifting to Midnight in case the runic tattoo decided to
incorporate those items while being inscribed which would've been a disaster – but that's
beside the point, the distinction between paw and foot is an important one. Remember
what happened in the Second Task when he used a tattoo in feline form that was made in
human form? These were made in feline form instead so he can't use them in human form
or the same thing would happen."
Tracey shrugged and snorted. "I know, Daph. You don't need to get defensive about it.
What were these ones again? Windflyer something or other?"
"Windrunner. It seemed like a modified short-range directional concussive blast designed
to amplify reactionary feedback instead of dissipate it from what I could tell. A
complicated way of saying his leaps will have quite a bit more power behind them while
the tattoos are used. Harry only asked for them on his back paws since he never expected
to use any tattoos on his feet while human," Daphne said waving her hand in the air
dismissively. "Like being a large cat that can leap through shadows isn't impressive
enough."
Tracey laughed. "Yeah well when does Harry ever do anything halfway, huh?"
"True."
"Soooo…" Tracey said softly. "Daph, I want to ask you something. Please don't dodge the
question this time okay?"
"Okay," Daphne shrugged. "Why would I dodge it?"
"Because it's about Harry," Tracey sighed. She felt Daphne stiffen slightly underneath her
fingers. "You do like him, don't you?"
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Chapter 250
Daphne stayed silent for nearly a minute before sighing deeply and giving a small nod. "I
honestly didn't want to. I tried not to. I don't even know why I do like him. Maybe it would
make sense if he was a frustrated loner who leans on everyone else at every turn. At least
in that case then I would be shoring up his weaknesses and he would be softening my
edges. But…he's an alpha the same as me. I shouldn't like him."
Tracey quirked her mouth a small smirk. "We can't really choose who we like, Daph. I
never chose to like girls."
"That's not quite the same thing, Trace," Daphne frowned.
"It kinda is after a fashion." Tracey kept up her massage for another minute in silence. "Are
you going to tell him?"
Daphne shook her head. "Of course not! He has more than enough to worry about at the
moment than yet another girl with a crush on him!"
Tracey sighed and lightly flicked Daphne's forehead. "Stop being an idiot; it's not attractive.
You aren't just another girl with a crush. You are Daphne Greengrass."
"His group already has Fleur in a holding pattern. The girl obviously told them how she
feels and what she's looking for and they're still trying to decide what to do about it,"
Daphne said matter-of-factly. "Even if I was willing to say something to Harry I'm certainly
not going to until they give her an answer."
"Daph, we both know he'd accept you over Fleur in a heartbeat."
"Oh come off it, Trace, he's only known me a year-and-a-half longer then her and the girl
not only has a beautiful accent but is a Merlin-be-damned Veela!"
"Harry has never cared about that side of her. And you're his right hand," Tracey said
quietly. "You're the first one he calls if he needs muscle to back him up in something. Just
like he's the first one you call."
Daphne scowled and sat up turning so that she was staring at Tracey. "Why are you even
trying to convince me of this, Tracey? Do you want to end…us?"
Tracey gave her girlfriend an exasperated look and leaned back crossing her arms. "I want
you to be happy, Daphne. If Harry makes you happy then I'm going to do what I can to get
you together. I'm sorry I've been a jealous bint for so long this year. You didn't deserve that
and I don't like being that type of girl. We swore we'd be friends first and lovers second. As
both your friend and your lover, I want you to be happy."
"I am happy with you, Tracey," Daphne said shaking her head.
"You've never looked at me like you look at him. He's your equal. I'm not. I want to be, but
I'm not," Tracey said simply. "Look, if we can keep up what we have I'd love that. But I
don't want you to pass something wonderful up just because you think you'd hurt me,
Daph. I'm a big girl and I can handle it." She paused and glanced to the side in
embarrassment. "I'm…also not entirely without my own options, you know."
Daphne furrowed her brow thinking before letting out a small bark of pleased laughter.
"Luna? That does actually have potential? I thought she was just playing?"
"So did I at first. I've recently been informed she's actually rather serious about it," Tracey
said blushing.
Daphne smirked and shook her head. "Well you and Harry do seem to be the only two who
can calm her particular brand of…"
"Oddness?" Tracey supplied.
"I was going to say quirkiness. Do you like her?"
"Actually…I kinda do. It's not the same as with you. I'd be in the flying seat which…would
be weird to be honest. I'm not sure, Daph."
Daphne nodded and twisted so that she could lean back against Tracey. "Quite a pair we
make," she said as she pulled the other girl's arms around her. "Neither sure of what we
want and both somewhat unwilling to find out."
"Too bad, we're not more Slythindorish, huh?" Tracey commented eliciting a round of
laughter from both girls. "Seriously though, Daph, I think you should go for it with Harry
before the year is up. If you decide you want to keep up with us – either in the meantime
or after he accepts you – I'm willing to do that. I rather doubt that boy would object to
letting you stay with me on the side. Just know that I won't be joining you in bed with
him."
"I'll…think about it," Daphne said quietly. After a short pause she continued louder, "If you
want to give it a go with Luna you have the same permission from me. Just please let me
know so I don't find out secondhand." Daphne paused and shrugged. "I also wouldn't be
joining you two in bed. She is adorable in small doses, but the girl is not my type at all."
"Noted," Tracey laughed. Both Slytherins sighed and closed their eyes relaxing against one
another and trying not to think about the future.
"Hey, Shiva, you have a few minutes to go over some stuff?" Harry asked his guardian after
class ended for the day.
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