Chapter 431
Stumbling to his feet Harry tried to run out and sight on Voldemort. Unfortunately the
damage from his use of the incomplete Gauntlets proved to be more than he had
anticipated. Stumbling, Harry fell to the ground in the open as Voldemort stood smiling
down at him. Harry activated the Boomstone and felt the vibrations of the amplified sound
rattling his teeth and bones. Voldemort flinched back and raised his wand to his ears as
Harry hurriedly raised his final set of walls behind him and finished off his transfiguration
below on the ground below him etching a small circular divot into the ground.
Harry released the Boomstone and crawled back slightly while Voldemort walked over to
stand above him. "Would you like to 'accept your loss with dignity', Harry Potter? You have
fought well. Far better than I would have ever expected from one so young. But you could
never have surpassed me. I have decades of experience on you, hundreds more spells in
my repertoire, a complete lack of conscious to hold me back…what do you have?"
Harry let out a weak laugh his injuries and fatigue showing. "I know I could never beat you
one on one Voldemort. Not with spells. You're right. How is a teenager who hasn't even
finished school supposed to win that fight?" Harry grinned as his hand slipped into the
hole he'd transfigured next to the Fortress stone. "The answer, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is with
misdirection. Family first!" he shouted slamming his hand into the point at the center of
the hole hard enough to draw blood.
Several things happened simultaneously at that point. The first was that the dome of light
contracted back into the rune stone as the password was given. The second was that
Voldemort's eyes widened in sudden fear that he had missed some critical element. The
third was that all of the surrounding transfigured walls that Harry had constructed lit up
with a golden glow circling inwards from the edges. The light immediately spilled into the
central hole Harry's hand was wedged in, a hole exactly in the center of his newly formed
transfigured runic pattern etched from the very ground around him.
The buildup took less than a second. The magical energy from the ley line underneath
Hogwarts channeling through the Livewire runic circle and arcing through Harry. His right
hand came up and the roiling power spewed forth. Voldemort had just enough time to
raise his wand and cast the most powerful set of shields he knew as Harry glowed from
within and the line of raw magic blazed towards the Dark Lord. The energy beam quickly
sheared through all of the protection that Voldemort had managed to erect and hit him
full on. The power sent him soaring backwards and smashing to the ground before
continuing on scorching the side of the mountain in several dozen miles in the distance.
With a primal roar, Harry pulled his hand free of the channeling segment and the Livewire
fell silent. Panting Harry flopped back to the ground amazed that the energy inherent in
the system had actually managed to channel correctly and not burn him to crisp from the
inside out. With a groan he rolled over and lifted his head enough to see Voldemort
meekly clawing for his charred wand three feet from his hands. It was pointless since the
man's lower body had been twisted beyond recognition and only his right hand and eyes
seemed to be working at all.
"How…are you…still…alive?" Harry panted.
"Because cockroaches always manage to survive until you have them directly under your
heel," a cold voice came from the surrounding crowd of onlookers followed immediately
by a second voice saying, "And yet when it comes down to a cockroach versus a man…the
man wins every time." Harry blinked up and let his head fall back to the ground tracking
the two voices with his eyes alone. Those icy tones probably sent shivers of fear through
many in the crowd, but to him it resulted in a far different type of shiver. Daphne
Greengrass stepped forward from the crowd with Hermione in lock-step with her.
Both girls looked disheveled, Daphne's normally bound hair was loose and plastered to her
face and back by an assortment blood and dirt. Her armor was scorched in multiple places
and one of her ears was bleeding. Hermione had a large amount of her hair singed off
all-together along with a missing pinky on her left hand and she had managed to lose a
boot somewhere. Together they strode forward to stand beside the prone Harry, Daphne
on his right and Hermione on his left.
"My Right and Left Hands," Harry murmured trying and failing to stifle the urge to laugh at
the absurdity of his joking titles for the two girls playing into the conclusion of this drama
and the final note of the prophecy.
"Mione?" Daphne asked never removing her gaze from Voldemort's increasingly frantic
scrabbling.
"Ready when you are, Daph," Hermione responded leveling her wand at the creature that
had haunted their nightmares for so long.
"Goodbye, Tom Marvolo Riddle, do try not to come back this time," Daphne said.
"REDUCTO!" she and Hermione both shouted. The twin spells lashed forth and
Voldemort's body was reduced to nothing more than ashes.
XXX
"So now that the Dark Lord is simply another name in the history books can I assume we
will be seeing far less of each other, Mr. Potter?" Madame Pomfrey asked raising her
eyebrows with her hands on her hips.
Harry rolled his eyes as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You realize I don't ever
intend to get hurt so often right?"
"All the same, I believe you've been my patient far too often young man. Hopefully this
latest brush with death has been enough to sate you through the last two years."
"Barring Quidditch mishaps, sure," Harry said chuckling letting his eyes roam briefly over
the plaque above the bed with his name on it. "I think I've hit my limit on almost dying for
this lifetime. Besides, if it happens again my partners will probably end up making me wish
I died." He paused and hefted the cream from the table as he stood. "Will this actually
help with the scars or is it just to make me feel better?"
Pomfrey sighed and shook her head. "It should lessen them…slightly. I am sorry, Mr. Potter,
unfortunately that is the best I can do. At least…at least you didn't take a Killing Curse on
those gauntlets of yours. If I may be so bold, don't try to make those again."
Harry grimaced and nodded. "Yeah. I don't think I can get them to work any better than
that and it's not really worth the damage they can do. Thanks for the help, Madame
Pomfrey. And for keeping the reporters away."
"Me? Ha, I didn't do that, you can thank Miss Granger and Miss Greengrass for that."
Pomfrey winked at him. "Apparently they drew quite a lot of attention for dealing the final
blow."
"Good for them. With any luck people will forget I was even involved and I can just stay
quietly anonymous," Harry muttered.
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Chapter 432
Pomfrey laughed so hard at that comment she had to clutch her sides before wiping away
the tears leaking from her eyes. "Anonymous he says! Anonymous! Potter, I should keep
you here for another few hours simply because you're delusional!"
"No thanks! I'm good! Bye, Madame Pomfrey!" Harry yelled quickly hurrying away from
the still laughing witch before she could make good on her threat. His pace slowed as he
made his way down towards Shiva's room and he took a moment to recenter himself
before reaching out and quietly knocking.
"Door's open!" his mentor's voice shouted from within.
"Everyone decent?" Harry yelled back with a grin.
He could practically hear the eye roll in Shiva's reply. "No, kid, Lily is lying on the couch
starkers and I'm dancing around in just my knickers. Open the bloody door!"
Chuckling Harry complied and walked in waving hello to his very much clothed red-headed
mother sitting on the couch. Shiva was sitting on the armchair sipping her tea and looking
with amusement at the pile of papers surrounding Lily. "Hey, mum, mum. Grading papers?
I thought exams were cancelled?"
"Only for you, Harry," Lily said marking an 'O' onto the parchment in front of her before
shifting to a bound notebook underneath. "Well, you and the ones actively involved in the
defense of the castle. The rest of the school had to turn in their finals after all. Oh and it's
less 'cancelled' and more 'postponed'. O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. periods will be rescheduled for
the second week of June, give people time to 'rest and recover'."
Shiva snorted into her tea. "Bunch of bollocks if you ask me, but at least they're not really
cutting into the meat of summer. Are you ever going to let that incident go by the way?"
"Not likely," Harry replied with a grin and plopping down into his chair. "I'm really glad
you're both okay…"
"Us too, honey," Lily said looking up and smiling at him with a grin that seemed to light up
the room. "Though I did lose some hair with some of the fire that your French friend was
tossing around."
"Who, Apolline? I thought she had better aim than that."
"Sure. Let's go with that," Lily replied, her chuckling eliciting a raising set of eyebrows from
both other occupants in the room. Lily just shrugged and zipped a finger across her lips
turning back to her papers.
Shiva shook her head and shared a look with Harry. "I swear, you got your mischievousness
as much from her as your father. In all seriousness though, kid, without that basilisk armor
and those robes there probably would've been a ton more casualties."
Harry grimaced. "I wish we could've afforded to lay traps or just hit them with Yamatos all
at once then there wouldn't have been any casualties."
"True," Shiva shrugged. "But then we wouldn't have been able to get Nagini or the ring
before wiping out Voldemort. Better that a few die now than thousands if he got away to
try again…with a better idea of what we were capable of too."
Harry sighed and nodded. "What was the final count? Pomfrey wouldn't tell me."
"The French lost about 15 total with over half falling to that Vampire Queen. The goblins
lost six. We only knew Griphook, though Snapfist is going to have to get used to one hand
now – from what I hear, he's pretty happy with the battle scar and is displaying it to
everyone who'll listen to his story." Shiva frowned at that before draining her cup. "Never
understood goblins…Anyway, the Bulgarians lost four. A lot of them fell back into the field I
set up once they got injured so they're the group hurt the most but with some of the least
deaths. Millie sends her regards by the way and says she's probably still better than you at
dancing."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "She probably is which is pretty sad."
"Australians didn't lose anyone," Lily put in waving her hand and not looking up. "I advise
you to never piss off Luna if half of what I was told in the pub was real. Between her, that
snorkack and Andi, the Death Eaters were basically slaughtered. I don't know what Xeno
has taught that girl, but she has no right to be that adorable while carving a path that even
Voldemort would've appreciated."
Harry could only stare between the two women for a few moments with his mouth
hanging slightly open. Finally deciding that they weren't actually having him on, Harry shut
his mouth and tried to move on to a safer topic. "So uh…anyone from the school not make
it through?"
Shiva grimaced. "We lost two. Zacharias Smith tried to fight for about a minute before
deciding he wasn't cut out for it. He was hit in the back while trying to run back into the
castle. Almost got Lavender killed too when he pushed her right in front of Su's spell as he
ran – from what the girls said at least. Cormac McLaggen didn't do too much better sadly.
He tried to take on Avery and lost. Marian saw the whole thing, but didn't get there fast
enough to help."
Harry's eyes fell and he shook his head. "Cormac was a git, but he deserved better than to
die at their hands."
"Things would've been a lot worse, Harry," Lily said softly. "We had a lot of injuries, but
considering the force against us it was extremely few deaths. Proper planning and
equipping cut this war off at the knees before it ever even really started. That's thanks to
you and your friends."
"We shouldn't have been that good…Schoolkids have no right beating adult wizards with
years of experience like that…It's almost enough to make me actually believe in Merlin or
your Goddess, Shiva," Harry murmured.
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Chapter 433
"Don't piss off the Goddess," Shiva said playfully slapping the back of his head. "You never
know when Morrigan is listening." Leaning back into her seat Shiva refilled her glass and
shrugged. "It's really not that much of a mystery that you guys all did so well, Harry. Those
arseholes were used to fighting a hit-and-run battle. They hit hard and fast and ran just as
fast. They never really had people fighting back against them until a few months ago. You
saw how quickly Voldemort pulled in his people once the citizens started defending
themselves. You kids were fighting to live. They were only interested in causing pain. It's
not really a fight if your opponent doesn't actually know how to hit back after the first
spell is thrown."
Harry frowned. "I think you're downplaying them…But I really don't want to argue about
this." He stood and stretched before walking over and hugging each woman hard. "I love
you," Harry whispered with a soft smile.
Lily ruffled his hair and returned the grin. "Love you too, honey."
"I love you too, Harry," Shiva said setting her cup down and moving to his side. She gently
pushed him towards the door. "Now stop bumming with us and go find your girls. Fleur
and Tonks are back at the manor for the moment though Hermione and Daphne both
stopped in to say they were heading to the Room to get some peace and quiet. I think they
were using the Lounge Configuration."
Harry nodded and blinked away the sheen in his eyes. "Thanks, Shiva. I'll see you later,
mum, mum." As he walked out they could hear him mutter softly, "Gotta figure out which
of them is 'mum' and which is 'mother'. This is getting bloody confusing…"
Harry paced his third time in front of the dancing trolls and nodded to himself as the door
appeared. "Lounge Configuration it is," he murmured as he stepped inside the Room of
Requirement and glanced around for his partners. He found them both sitting on the couch
staring intently at each other. Feeling a slight shiver of fear that they were about to fight
Harry hurriedly walked over. "Hey, Mione, Daph, Pomfrey said I'm free! Girls? Hello?"
Narrowing his eyes and frowning Harry looked closer and chuckled to himself as he
dropped into an armchair across from them. How he'd mistaken their Legilimency for
hostile intent was beyond him. As he settled into the chair both girls blinked with
Hermione shaking her head and grimacing. "I had forgotten how…brutal I was during
that…"
"Brutal? Mione, that was…that was amazing!" Daphne said brushing away a tear. "You
rode that bastard to the ground! And the way Harry jumped in afterwards with a magical
grenade? Merlin that was – it was – oh screw it!" She reached across the gap between then
and grabbed Hermione's face with both hands. Harry watched as Hermione's eyes widened
slightly and Daphne pulled the brunette in mashing their lips together. Hermione froze for
the barest of moments before melting into the kiss and wrapping an arm around Daphne's
waist.
Feeling a blush rise on his face Harry coughed loudly trying to make sure that the girls
realized he was in the room with them. His effort was apparently successful as they pulled
apart and turned towards him. Hermione blushed while Daphne just snorted in
amusement before smirking at him. "Like the show, Harry?"
That seemed to break the trance over Hermione who leapt off the couch and wrapped him
into her arms. "Pomfrey let you out! You're alright!"
"About an hour ago, yeah. Hand alright, Mione?" Harry asked pulling back from her
embrace enough to gently run his own hand along her left one, grimacing as he traced over
her missing pinky.
Hermione smiled at him and shook her head. "It's fine. I barely use that hand anyway. If I
wrote left handed I'm sure it would be more awkward, but as it is this is far easier to deal
with than what some others have to face. I'm honestly having more issues getting used to
short hair…strange I know…"
"Good. That's good…How about you, Daph? Hearing coming back in the right ear yet?"
Harry asked.
Daphne shrugged. "Mostly. There's a bit of a ringing sound every so often. Now that we've
all assured each other that we're alright are you going to ask?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay sure, skip all the pleasantries then. What were you guys going
over?"
Hermione shifted to the side to sit down next to him and shrugged. "I finally showed her
when we met Fleur at the Quidditch World Cup."
"When you rescued her you mean," Daphne said raising an eyebrow. "That was…extremely
impressive to say the least. And it bears some striking similarities to my own rescue…"
Daphne fell silent, frowning. Harry stood and shifted over gently wrapping an arm around
her.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," she said.
Hermione sighed and joined the other two on the couch resting a hand on Daphne's knee.
"It's alright if you're not, Daphne. It's just us here."
"I will be fine. Alright? It just dredged up some confusing memories. I already talked over
all this stuff with Tracey the other day," Daphne said.
Harry nodded. "She doing okay? I heard that she killed Malfoy."
A large grin split Daphne's face. "She did. That seems to have helped her heal far better
than I ever managed to. I'm not sure what that says about us as a whole, but I'll take it."
Hermione shrugged. "You can't be expected to fix everything, Daphne."
"I know. I'm going to have my hands full trying to fix the wizarding world soon enough. We
have a responsibility now after all," she finished with a smirk at Hermione. "We're the
Witches-Who-Conquered."
Hermione groaned and collapsed back into the couch. "Please don't remind me of that. I
don't know how you dealt with it for so long, Harry. I haven't been able to escape anyone!
Between the media, our schoolmates, the staff, the owls from 'supporters'…ugh!"
"Bet Daphne is loving it though," Harry said winking at his blonde partner who simply
chuckled in return.
"To a degree. As long as it dies down at some point. I prefer to run things from the
shadows after all. The spotlight isn't exactly my thing."
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Chapter 434
"Well if either of you get too tired of it, we'll just sic Luna on them," Harry said laughing.
The others chuckled and leaned into him. Hermione ran a hand down his arm tracing the
scars starting from his left palm and running along his arm. Her hand paused as it reached
the edge of his shirt sleeve. "Do these hurt?" she asked softly.
"A little," Harry said wincing slightly. "Pomfrey said they won't get much better than this. I
should've just taken the crucio."
"Can I…can I see them?" Hermione asked. Her fingers lightly traced the lines again with a
slight wince on her face.
Harry nodded and shifted enough so that he could pull off his shirt. As it was dropped to
the floor he heard a slight gasp from both of the girls. Daphne gently touched the
unbroken double lines etched down both arms and across his back causing Harry to cringe
slightly. "I know they're bad…I understand if you girls want me to keep my shirt on from
now on when we're together…"
Hermione's eyes narrowed though before she could say anything Daphne had grabbed
Harry's head in both hands and turned him to stare into her gaze. "Harry James Potter, you
stop that self-pitying right now! You have scars, so what? Hermione's missing a finger!
Millie is missing a foot! I can barely hear from the right side! Su has scars across her
cheek!" She huffed and leaned closer until their noses were practically touching. "You just
defeated Tom Riddle! Mione and I may have killed him, but you were the one who beat
him! You! You have confidence now. Act. Like. It!"
"Well, I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but I agree. If I don't need to wear a glove, you
certainly don't need to wear a shirt, Harry," Hermione said hugging him. "Okay?"
Harry reached up and gently took Daphne's hands off his face. "I get it and I'm sorry. Still
trying to kick that habit. You both realize you're going to have to keep yelling at me about
this for another few years until it's not my go-to thing right?"
Hermione squeezed him before letting go and leaning back chuckling. "I've been doing that
for five years. I'm used to it."
"I just like bossing people around," Daphne said shrugging and winking at them both. After
a moment her easy grin morphed into something saucy and hungry. "Speaking of
which…Hermione, I feel like we should demonstrate in detail how we are unaffected by
Harry's scars. Take off your shirt."
Hermione raised her eyebrows in response and she crossed her arms over her chest only
serving to highlight her bust. "Excuse me?"
"Take off your shirt, please," Daphne corrected visibly holding in her chuckle.
"Why of course! There's no need to forget manners, Daphne." She paused with her shirt
halfway off before snorting and shaking her head with a smile. "Unless you're sleeping
with Nym, then you're free to forget them." Her shirt quickly joined Harry's on the floor
and Harry tried hard not to stare at the bright jade bra she was sporting underneath.
"Err…"
Hermione chuckled and patted his cheek. "I thought it appropriate considering I was
hanging out with a Slytherin."
"It nicely offsets my red one for Gryffindors," Daphne commented drawing Harry's
attention to the right only to be confronted with his other partner also sans shirt, her
breasts covered only by a lacy red number.
Swallowing Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Girls, I love you. I just wanted
to make sure I said that while I can still speak."
\/
MATURE SCENE BELOW
\/
"That's good, because I do believe your mouth should be occupied elsewhere now,"
Daphne said smiling and leaning over to briefly capture his lips before gently pushing his
head down to lodge it in her cleavage. "Mione, if you'd be so kind as to assist…"
With an amused murmur of agreement, Hermione reached around behind the two and
popped the clasp loosing the red lace binding Daphne's chest. A quick roll of her shoulders
saw the bra falling to the couch utterly forgotten by all three. Harry didn't need Daphne's
hand on his head to know her thoughts as he shifted his attention from light, trailing kisses
to teasing her peaked nipples. A soft gasp and her palm pushing against the back of his
head harder told him he'd gotten it right and he let himself nip slightly harder eliciting a
sharper gasp.
Hearing a settling sound, Harry reached around behind Daphne and found Hermione by
touch alone as his hand trailed along her now bare back. A soft sigh escaped from his
partner as his fingers left her spine and traced her side. As he shifted from Daphne's right
breast to her left he tried to move his hands to pleasure Hermione's as well only to find his
questing passage blocked. "Hmm, someone's been talking with Tracey…" Daphne
murmured. Harry opened his eyes and pulled back enough to see that Hermione had
pressed herself firmly against the blonde's back and was slowly moving up and down in an
erotic parody of a massage.
"One must be prepared for all circumstances. As a Slytherin you should know this, Daph,"
Hermione replied moaning slightly at the end.
Harry had opened his mouth to reply with an anecdote of his own but was cut off as
Daphne grabbed his head and brought him back to her breasts. "Not done, Harry. Back to
work."
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Chapter 435
Chuckling against her, Harry decided he was done playing fair and started to murmur to
her in parseltongue. The quick vibrations from his tongue along her peak had Daphne
gasping in moments. He wasn't content with just one girl getting his sole attention
however so he abandoned the pursuit of Hermione's breasts and shifted his hands
downward. He let one cup her arse while the other threaded into her pants. Another moan
from Hermione followed as he let his fingers trace the outside of her knickers pushing in
just enough to feel the dampness on the material and provide a small amount of friction.
"I'm not the only one who's prepared it seems!" Hermione gasped as Harry rubbed against
her button for a moment. She ground her lower body into his hand to prolong the contact
and twisted her own hands around Daphne's body.
Daphne groaned and clutched Harry's head with both hands as a shudder ran through her.
"No kidding. Merlin's beard that's good! How did parseltongue ever get labeled as a evil?!"
Her breathing turned to pants and she shuddered again. With a final groan of approval, her
grip around his head slackened and she collapsed back into Hermione. The move served to
firmly wedge Harry's fingers directly over Hermione's most sensitive spot again bringing a
pleased sounding yelp from the brunette. Lifting his head, Harry noticed the surprised grin
spring to lift on Daphne's face and saw it morph into her more typical playful smirk.
Daphne wasted no time in starting to grind her arse against Hermione using Harry's
trapped hand as an impromptu tool to get the other girl off. The increased stimulation and
friction swiftly had Hermione panting and shaking. Hermione bit down on Daphne's
shoulder muffling her cry of release as Daphne finally lifted her arse enough for Harry to
remove his fingers from his partner's knickers. Shaking his hand to restore some feeling
into his extremities Harry smirked at the two women collapsed back into the couch. "You
both realize, I'm expected to satisfy four women, right? It pays to be a quick study."
\/
MATURE SCENE ENDS
\/
"Probably helps that one of your partners is a Veela," Daphne replied with a laugh as she
shifted her bum to avoid sitting directly on Hermione.
"I was comfy like that," Hermione's murmur of displeasure brought smiles to the other two
as well as a red face from the bookworm.
Rolling his eyes at Hermione, Harry turned to Daphne and raised his eyebrows. "Daph,
you're getting along smashingly with Mione; you're more than welcome to join in with
Fleur or Tonks as well you know."
"One step at a time, Mr. Hero. One step at a time." She took a breath and twisted her head
to share a look with Hermione. As one, the girls turned back to leer at him with nearly
identical smiles. "Now, we should shed the rest of these clothes. Two out of three isn't bad,
but I do believe we should be aiming for a hat trick; don't you agree, Mione?"
"While I'd argue semantics on the use of 'hat trick' here," Hermione stated before
chuckling and shaking her head, "I'm in complete agreement on the spirit of the
statement."
Harry traced the hungry gazes from both girls and the remainder of his worry about his
new scars vanished into the wind. "If this is my reward for conquering Dark Wizards maybe
I should be an Auror instead of a shopkeeper," he mused with a smirk.
"Not on your life, Potter. Can't have you risking that fine arse too often after all," Daphne
commented. She leaned up and grabbed one cheek to emphasize her point. "Trousers.
Floor. Now." At a soft cough, she amended, "Please."
Laughing Harry arched an eyebrow at Hermione who shrugged. "You heard her. Please
ditch the trousers, Man-Who-Conquered. We have a hat trick to complete."
The extended Potter family stepped off the plane into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with
Tonks clinging to Harry's arm and a very amused Hermione trying to hold in her chuckles as
she walked behind them. "See, Nym, safe and sound back on the ground," Harry said
patting her hand with a smile on his face. "We told you it was safe."
"Safe my arse," Tonks mumbled. "Give me a broom or a portkey any day. Hell, give me a
freaking hippogriff!"
"You know, statistically speaking, it's safer to ride in a plane than a car," Hermione said.
"And for some reason I rather doubt that a hippogriff would be able to last for an entire
flight across the Pond. Or that you'd be okay on a broom for that long."
"We could've taken a portkey. We're not exactly wanting for money…" Tonks said glaring at
the girl.
Harry leaned up and kissed Tonks' cheek. "But then you wouldn't have experienced travel
that doesn't hate me! We're proud of you for soldiering through and humoring me, Nym.
We can apparate to the facility from here."
"Thank Merlin," Tonks muttered. "I still say we should've waited for this trip until your
O.W.L. results came back. Having more to rub in the old goat's face would've been fun."
"Yes, because there is so much doubt on how we did," Daphne commented with a dry
tone.
Lily shook her head and led the small group out towards the airport exit. "You've taken
them, that's good enough. I've waited long enough to confront Dumbledore and I have no
intention of postponing this trip just to hold out for test results."
"Breathe, Lils," Shiva said placing a hand on the other woman's back and rubbing a slow
circle. "Remember, no dismembering of old men."
"I'm not going to dismember him. I'm just going to strangle him with his own beard."
"I almost did that," Tonks volunteered finally letting Harry slip from her grip as she held up
a hand with a smile. "Ah, good memories that."
Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Says the person who hadn't just gotten his arse kicked
from fighting a chimera."
"While zis is true, Snowball is soo adorable zat I zink you got the better end of ze deal from
zat battle," Fleur commented while grinning and patting Harry's head as if he was in his
animagus form.
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Chapter 436
The group laughed at that and made their way into the alley. With a short apparition jump
all seven of them appeared in an alley near the mental facility the Flamels had directed
them too and strode towards the gate. Harry took a deep breath and set his features
resolving to not let anything Dumbledore said get to him. Shiva appeared to do the same
as did a few of the other girls – though Tonks' red hair showed off the ex-Auror's feelings
on this meeting rather clearly.
"I should've let Sirius come," Harry said as they walked. "There is far too much estrogen in
this group."
"Ah, but you can handle ze women far easier zan ze men, mon amour," Fleur commented
with a wink.
Hermione wiped a hand across her face and glared momentarily at Fleur obviously trying
to ignore her blush. "Let's stop with the innuendo for a bit, shall we? Please? We should
aim to get this finished with as little fuss as possible."
A chorus of amused consent greeted that proclamation as all present dutifully said, "Yes,
Hermione."
They came to a halt in front of the gates and Shiva stepped up waving a hand in greeting
towards the guard. "Hi, we're here to see Mr. Brian. The Flemmings should've called
ahead."
"Yes, they did. Hang on a moment and I'll get someone to walk you up. This is a private
meeting correct?" the man asked as he picked up a phone.
"Yes, please." The guard nodded at her answer and spoke into the line for a moment
before opening the gate and waving them through towards an orderly walking up the drive.
The group followed along in his wake until they reached a side room with several comfy
couches and armchairs scattered about.
They only had to wait a few minutes before the door opened again and a familiar looking
old man walked in. Harry had to blink a few times to make sure it was really Dumbledore
thanks to the changes in his appearance. While the ex-Headmaster didn't seem noticeably
older he did appear visibly exhausted. When he walked he dragged his feet, when he
paused he slumped, his beard was frizzy instead of well-groomed…the thing that most
threw Harry off though was the thoroughly normal clothes that Dumbledore was wearing.
The logical part of Harry's mind knew that the staff wouldn't have let Dumbledore use his
eye-wateringly colorful wizard robes, but that didn't prevent the shock of seeing the old
man in sweat pants and an 'I Heart The Liberty Bell' t-shirt.
As soon as Dumbledore saw them he stiffened and stood up straight, his hand instinctively
reaching for his – missing – wand. Harry raised his eyebrows at the move and had to resist
a snort at the reaction. Thankfully, Dumbledore appeared to possess enough frame of
mind to wait until the door closed and Hermione activated a Privacy Stone before he
started his ranting. "Harry, my boy, you have returned…"
"He's not YOUR boy!" Lily snarled rising to her feet with one hand balled into a fist and the
other white-knuckled around her sparking wand. Dumbledore's reaction was extreme. As
soon as he took notice of the red-head, the old man's mouth dropped open and he swiftly
backed up until he was pushed against the wall with one hand held forward as if he could
ward her away with the limb. Once upon a time he probably could…Harry resolved yet
again to never piss off the Flamels.
"Easy, Lils. Down girl," Shiva murmured standing and running a hand along one of Lily's
arms while her other reached down and carefully plucked the sparking wand from her
hand. "Why don't I keep this until we leave? Just to be safe."
"He's your son too! Why aren't you screaming at the old fool!?" Lily growled never once
removing her eyes from Dumbledore despite allowing herself to be guided back to a sitting
position.
Shiva took the comment in stride and simply nodded as she grasped the other woman's
hand. "Because I've already screamed at him several times for that comment and you have
it well under control for the both of us. I don't need the old goat's approval, I just need
Harry's. Breathe, Lils."
After several deep breathes, Harry watched his mother close her eyes and nod.
Dumbledore however stayed in his defensive position. "Harry…you actually did it…I had
hoped…I had hoped that it was embellishment. That you had not fallen so
far…Necromancy? Truly? How could you desecrate your own mother's grave?"
Another growl issued from Lily though this time it was joined by a quieter one from Tonks.
"How dare you…" the metamorph whispered as her hair flipped through a kaleidoscope of
colors before settling on a deep crimson bordering on black.
"Nym," Harry murmured shaking his head. Tonks scowled, but waved for him to continue
as she leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms. "Mr. Dumbledore, perhaps if you
had actually followed my parent's wills instead of sealing them we would have had a far
more congenial relationship. My mother managed to create a combination of
enchantments that left me with protection against Tom Riddle by using herself to power
the charm. When I touched her body as it laid in stasis the enchantment ended and her
consciousness was returned, which served to end the stasis. Lily Potter never died
Dumbledore. By ignoring the instructions left by my father, you effectively buried a woman
alive for 14 years."
"Impossible!" Dumbledore yelled. His wide eyes and wavering hand served to show the
truth of his feelings.
Daphne snorted and glared at the man. "Impossible? Why? Because you are the Great And
Powerful Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore? Because you cannot possibly be
wrong?"
Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Deny it all you want, Dumbledore, but your denial
does not make it untrue. Simply because you did not think of it does not make it
impossible."
Dumbledore shook his head violently enough for his beard to flop against his sides. "Even
if that is true, it changes nothing! Harry is Dark. He has installed his own puppet as a
Minister and has a harem of willing slaves! He has an army of schoolchildren he has
trained to be elite killers!"
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Chapter 437
Fleur chuckled and shrugged at the raised eyebrows from the others. "What? Zat last one
is actually true! You did raise an army and several of zem were still in school."
"I can be a slave in bed if you guys want," Tonks said raising her hand and winking at
Dumbledore who shuddered.
Harry groaned and rubbed at the scar on his forehead. "You people are impossible…Tonks
please stop trying to give the ex-Headmaster a heart attack, Fleur please stop egging him
on."
"Sure take away all my fun," Tonks murmured rolling her eyes. Fleur simply smiled and
shrugged again.
"Dumbledore, I didn't raise an army," Harry said turning back to the man who had finally
sunk into a chair as far from the group as he could get. "I helped establish alliances
between England, France, Bulgaria and Australia along with ensuring that the Goblins, the
House Elves, the Centaurs and the werewolves were all treated better and given more
favorable living/trading conditions in exchange for their help. All I did for my mates in
Hogwarts was to make sure they could properly defend themselves. Something that all of
your Defense teachers utterly failed at besides Remus."
"And I would like to establish that I am most certainly not a 'harem slave'. If anything, I am
the reason that Harry is even dating multiple women!" Hermione huffed glaring at the old
man. "He is Heir to two Ancient and Noble Houses, he needs at least two wives. I pushed
him to accept that fact to better integrate into the wider wizarding culture. Daphne and
Fleur both love him as much as Tonks and I and with their need to continue their own
family names, the Consort arrangement is perfectly justified and acceptable by the
standards of the community!"
Daphne couldn't resist chiming in at that. "You are old enough, Dumbledore, that you
should remember such situations being commonplace."
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at her. "You are completely biased. Your family is as Dark
as they come! You have corrupted a good, self-sacrificing young man with your wiles and
you have even managed to sway Miss Granger and an Auror!"
Daphne sighed and leaned back looking pointedly at Harry and Hermione. "I told you I
should've stayed at home with Tracey and Luna. This is pointless and all I'm doing is
antagonizing him further."
"You deserve to be here, Daphne," Harry said shaking his head.
"You helped kill Voldemort, you have every right to be present at this conversation as the
rest of our family," Hermione agreed reaching out to squeeze Daphne's hand.
That set off a new goggling from Dumbledore as he stared agape between all the others in
the room. "Voldemort is dead…?"
"That's right, old man, the Dark Wanker is dead and buried! Well dead and blown away to
be more accurate," Tonks replied sending a toothy grin towards Dumbledore as she got up
and wrapped Harry, Hermione and Daphne into a giant bear hug.
Fleur nodded with her own grin as she explained, " 'arry trapped ze arrogant fool inside a
barrier before tricking him into zinking it was a spell battle when it was really a rune battle!
'arry's counterattack left Voldemort crippled and barely able to move. Zen 'arry's Hands –
Hermione and Daphne for ze mentally challenged – arrived and finished him off togezer."
"As I stated in the Infirmary," Hermione said with narrowed eyes. "You took the prophecy
far too literally."
Dumbledore sat back into his chair shaking his head and wiping his eyes. "You fools! You
fools! He's not gone! He'll be back, even stronger than before now! He'll be more prepared
and he'll – "
"Shut it!" Lily snarled. "You arrogant tosser! You don't hear a single thing we say do you?
'He's not dead!' " She stood and threw off Shiva's restraining hand to stalk forward and
poke him in the chest. "Shut your mouth arsehole and listen when we speak!" Dumbledore
pushed back into his chair and stared wide-eyed at the screaming Lily Potter. "Diadem,
purified. Locket, destroyed. Cup, purified. Ring, destroyed. Diary, destroyed. Snake, killed.
Harry, purified!"
"Impossib– "
"I said shut it!" Lily yelled grabbing his beard. The people behind her tensed slightly, but
Lily merely used her leverage to jerk his head up so their eyes were only a few inches apart.
"My son nearly doomed himself to being possessed by that abomination when he revived
me. You left him with that thing inside him for over a decade! A DECADE! It was only linked
to the scar at first! My enchantment kept it from linking to him for – at minimum – several
months if not years. That was more than enough time to have the section of skull surgically
removed before the soul fragment could begin to be a problem. But no, if you couldn't see
the solution it didn't exist did it! Never thought to ask for a second opinion did you?!
"You let the fucking thing fester inside my child. We had to watch as he almost killed
himself twice to get rid of it! He had to practically invent an entirely new branch of magic
in order to destroy it without any danger." Lily paused and grinned down at Dumbledore.
"How do you think he managed to save Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem or Helga Hufflepuff's
Cup? Harry James Potter did in months what you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,
couldn't do in years! Stop blaming my son for your own failures and act like a man for once
you pathetic excuse for a has-been wizard!"
Lily let go of Dumbledore's beard and stepped back, the group behind her collectively let
out a small held breath and relaxed their grip on their wands. Dumbledore could only
weep as he stared between Lily and Harry. "It's just…not possible…" the old man
whispered. "Harry is corrupted…he has to be, it all fit…"
"Why?" Lily asked softly looking at him. "Because he survived something worse than
Ariana did? Because Harry didn't turn to suppression and rage like your sister? Why must
Harry be evil, Dumbledore? Can you even answer that yourself?"
"I…I will find the truth one day…I must!" Dumbledore breathed out between his sobs.
"Does anyone else need more closure?" Harry asked with a sigh. "Because I'm done trying
to make him see sense." As he received head nods from those assembled Harry stood and
looked to Dumbledore shaking his head. "I'm sorry you can't see past your delusions
Dumbledore. Goodbye. Come on, mother, let's go."
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Chapter 438
Harry gently reached out to take the rune stone from the table, deactivating it as he
pocketed it. He reached the door and didn't even look back as he led the small file
outside…never to see Albus Dumbledore again.
The morning started off as pleasantly normal as every morning for the past three years.
Petunia Dursley had seen Vernon off in the morning with a nice plate of breakfast for him.
She smiled as she set a new plate down in front of Dudley. Her little boy was taking the
time during the summer hols to better his diet and exercise regime with his friends. The
wrestling team had already served to remove some of the baby fat from her boy though he
had to work on the rest by himself to ensure that the improvements continued.
As Petunia plated his meal a frown briefly crossed her face as her mind involuntarily
dredged up bad memories. It was only a few weeks past the anniversary of the day that
her…nephew had left them for good. They weren't entirely certain that the boy had ever
made it to his new home – he certainly wasn't sending them a letter and why should they
have to track the little runaway after what he'd done to Marge and Ripper? Vernon had
made the recurring event into a sort of family holiday and used the excuse to take them all
out to a wonderful dinner on the town. Of course her husband conveniently forgot that
once the boy had vanished, Petunia had been forced to relearn how to take care of the
house. Cooking, cleaning, laundry…weeding. The yard work had been some of the worst.
Dudley was always being so sociable so she couldn't ask him to do the work and Petunia
couldn't be expected to simply give up her Best Roses award now could she?
It had taken some time, but she'd finally figured out just how the Potter brat had managed
to get her garden looking so beautiful. Petunia had already been informed that she'd won
the Roses and the prize personnel should be arriving shortly to drop off her trophy. It
would fit nicely on the mantle next to the picture of Vernon accepting his new promotion
that they had heard about this morning. She couldn't wait to hear all about it once he
returned!
The doorbell's ring saw Petunia quickly rising from her seat and waving Dudley to keep at
his food as she moved to the front. Taking a brief moment to puff up her hair into an
appropriate presentation, she opened the door all smiles. "Hello, I'm so glad you've finally
seen the effort put forth into my roses again and – " Anything else she was going to say
degenerated into choking, inarticulate sounds of distress and terror. The woman coming to
her door was more appropriate to a visitor during Christmas. A ghost from the past. A dead
woman.
"Hello, sister," Lily Potter nee Evans said with a sickly sweet smile spreading across a face
framed by flaming red hair falling barely below her cheekbones. "I think it's about time we
had a bit of a chat don't you?"
Petunia finally found her voice again and let out a high-pitched scream. She held the note
for nearly five seconds with the ghost of her dead sister smirking at her before the world
went black and she felt the floor rush up to meet her.
Moaning, Petunia reached a hand up to rub her forehead feeling a small bump there. "Well
that's a perfect way to handle the stress of receiving my award," she muttered to herself.
"Humph as if she'd come here."
Sighing, Petunia opened her eyes and searched for Dudley, assuming he'd been the one to
carry her to the couch. Her eyes roamed over the occupied seating across from her before
making their way to the kitchen doorframe. They'd covered half the distance before her
mind caught up with her sight and Petunia's head froze. Ever so slowly twisting her head
back around to stare across from her, Petunia saw the horrifying visage from her nightmare
staring back. Her hand flew up to her chest while she kicked her feet back. The move
succeeded in flipping the couch over and dumping Petunia onto the ground where she
scuttled back towards the wall and tried to blend into the wallpaper while still screeching.
"Wow, Lils, your sister has almost as impressive a set of lungs as you do," an amused voice
came from the other couch.
"Honestly, this would be funnier if Harry had felt comfortable enough to come inside with
us," Lily Potter replied with a sigh.
"True."
Petunia finally had to stop screaming in order to breathe. She took in a shuddering breath
and stayed very still for a few seconds longer to see if she could escape from the ghost.
She'd have to find Dudley on her way out…
"Oh for crying out loud, if you're not getting her up, Lils, than I will," the second voice said.
A second later Petunia screamed again as she was thrown into the air by invisible hands
and plopped down onto her newly righted couch. "Better now, Mrs. Dursley? Not that I
really care how you feel of course, but we should at least try to be polite about this. I'd
rather this not end in bloodshed and as demonstrated by our last difficult meeting I need
to be the one to maintain my cool." Petunia finally noticed that an unknown woman was
sitting next to the ghost. This 'visitor' had light brown hair and wore shorts with a t-shirt
though the wand in her hand left no dispute about the freakish nature.
The ghost snorted and leaned back into the couch crossing its arms. "Honestly I think you
may be the one my dear sister should be more worried about here, Shiva. I'm pissed at her,
but I unfortunately expected behavior like this from her. Maintaining a near constant state
of disdain for your sibling really tends to tone done the vitriol that you can muster up at a
moment's notice. I'm sure I'll get there by the end of this…conversation."
"Shiva…you're that woman! The whore!" Petunia screamed. She scowled and turned to
glare at the ghost. "So this is just a trick by that little freak! Bravo, well done! Now kindly
get out of my house before you infect my son!"
The ghost's mouth set into a thin line though the bitch that had 'adopted' her wayward
nephew was the first to react. "A, I am not a whore. B, yes, I am the one who adopted
Harry. C, this is not a trick, your dear sister is indeed among the living again; actually that is
thanks to Harry from a certain point of view. D…keep your bloody opinions to yourself or I
start cursing everything in this room."
"Told you, you had to worry about her instead of me," the ghost said with as her mouth
relaxed into a smirk. "For the record Tuni, I really advise against commenting on the sex life
of my girlfriend."
"Girl…girlfriend?!" Petunia sputtered. "But…but…but you're dead!"
"Try to keep up, sister. I never actually died. I've only been – in the words of a story greater
than mine – Mostly Dead," Lily said.
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Chapter 439
Petunia felt the fear coil up inside her like poison. If Lily was truly here and not an illusion
or an echo…she tried to scowl again and hide her terror beneath bravado. "Well, if you're
alive than you obviously cared less for your child than we did. Dumping the little freak
here with decent normal folk like us…" Petunia trailed off as she noticed the temperature
in the room had plummeted and her breath was visible as she breathed out. The visible
wand in Shiva's hand was vibrating and sparking while Lily's eyes had closed and she was
breathing in short pants. Petunia performed probably one of the most intelligent acts of
her life then as she very carefully stopped all movement.
After nearly two minutes the wand had stopped sparking and Lily was breathing more
normally. Shiva unclenched her fisted hand and flexed her fingers before speaking very
slowly, "Petunia Dursley, I am trying very hard to avoid killing you. I've already done it to
several people who threatened my son. Please. Stop. Tempting. Me."
Lily nodded. "Petunia, I was in a coma until a little over a year ago. I have done everything
since waking up to ensure that I was there for Harry to make up for his…upbringing with
you. You had my son for twelve years and he never even called you a family. Shiva had
been his mentor and friend for less than four years before he thought her as his mum.
Perhaps you should consider that when you cling to your precious 'normality'."
Petunia frowned at that. She knew she'd never treated the boy like family. She didn't need
her perfect little sister to explain that. Harry Potter simply hadn't been family. He'd been a
freak just like Lily. He'd had the power to do things that Petunia could only ever perform in
dreams. He hadn't been like her. He hadn't deserved to sit at the same table as her son and
let Dudley grow up just as bitter and hateful as she'd been. It had only been right to try
and ensure that Harry had learned what it was like to do things without the universe
bending to his will…hadn't it…?
"Mrs. Dursley," Shiva said breathing out a long breath and shaking her head. "The only
reason we haven't come here before now is because we've been busy killing Voldemort
and his posse then dealing with the aftermath. Now that we're done though – "
"That insane terrorist is dead?" Petunia blurted out. Even she remembered the stories of
the monster that Lily had spoken of so long ago. That he was finally under the ground…
"He is," Shiva said cocking her head to the side and staring curiously at Petunia. "Harry
brought him to death's door and his girlfriends kicked him the rest of the way."
"Harry?"
Lily's smile was mocking as she replied. "Yes. That, 'worthless little freak' managed to
defeat the most powerful magic user of our generation. Funny how that works out isn't it?
Oh and he's also rather intelligent too for that matter. I'm sure you're proud of Dudley
finally understanding that he actually has to attend class in order to graduate, but my
Harry managed to start his own business before he turned fifteen. He's been so successful
with it that he's entered into a partnership with a long established owner in Australia of all
places."
Petunia could only goggle at the two women. Harry wasn't smart. He barely managed to
achieve passing grades and he'd always been so slow to pick up anything that they tried to
teach him and…and it had all been an act. Petunia scowled at that thought.
"We're here trying to figure out how to deal with you," Shiva said rolling her wand
between her fingers. "Harry's sole request has been to not hurt Dudley. Nothing about you,
nothing specific for Vernon other than that it be painful both mentally and physically."
Petunia couldn't help a shiver running down her spine at those words and she wrapped
her arms around her chest. "Now my vote was for Azkaban…child endangerment and
abuse is taken rather seriously in our world you know? However, Lily has successfully
convinced me that this would only serve to make you feel justified in your hatred of us and
your treatment of my son."
"So we have a better idea," Lily said smiling as she leaned over and put a paper and pen
onto the coffee table between them. "You're going to write a letter to the local paper. It
will detail everything that you did to Harry while he was in this house. Shiva and I will
review it to make certain that nothing is missing. We're not expecting you to make
anything up, Tuni. We merely want you to write the truth."
Petunia felt the color drain from her face as she thought of what the neighbors would
think reading such an account. How they would be horrified. How they wouldn't
understand that she hadn't had a choice; she'd had to make sure that he grew up normal.
That he…that he… "Oh god…please no!"
"Do you finally understand, Mrs. Dursley?" Shiva asked softly. "What better way to prove
how unnatural you and your husband have acted than by having your own peers explain
it?" She laughed softly before continuing. "Oh and a copy of the letter is going to be sent
to the police as well."
Petunia felt herself start to cry as she shook her head back and forth. "Please…"
"You did this to yourself, Petunia," Lily said, all amusement gone from her cold, hard voice.
"I understood eventually why you hated me, Tuni, and I made peace with that. But with
Harry…all you had to do was treat him normally and you were just too blinded by hate to
do that…you brought this punishment down on your head all on your own, sister."
Petunia wept louder and stared at the paper in front of her. Without another word she
reached her shaky hand for the pen and started to write.
Harry twirled the high-backed chair around in a circle. Using his feet to kick it fast enough
that he grew slightly dizzy, Harry kept the speed up for almost half a second before finally
stopping the spin and wobbling back and forth. "Why doesn't Hogwarts have these? We
need to bring some of these to the castle!"
A snort of amusement and a shaken head was his answer as Shiva leaned over and
playfully slapped the back of his head. "You're practically more mature than me, kid, and
you're acting like a toddler with a new toy. There is no way that spinny chairs are making
an appearance in the school. No way."
"Always spoiling my fun," Harry pouted.
The phone on the desk in front of them buzzed and the third person in the room reached
out and pressed the intercom's button. "Go ahead, Mary?"
"Mr. Dursley is on his way up, Sir."
"Thank you, Mary. Everything is ready for his arrival?"
"Yes, Chairman," the voice on the other end replied.
"Excellent, thank you, Mary, that will be all." He took his finger off of the phone and the
line went dead. Turning a smiling expression on Harry he winked at the young man and
nodded. "If you wanted to maintain the surprise, Mr. Potter, you should probably turn
back around."
Harry sighed and sat up straighter. "Yeah, guess it's time to get serious. Thanks for your
help with this, Sir."
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Chapter 440
Harry saw the Chairman nod again before his face was hidden from sight by the high back
of the chair. Shiva reached down and gently squeezed his hand before she quickly left by
the side door to wait for her cue with Lily. Harry followed the door as it clicked closed and
shut his eyes allowing the sound to cement his resolve and set his spine. He'd made it
through years under this man, his mothers had finished dealing with Petunia in the
morning…he could keep his composure with Vernon long enough to make this work. He'd
just have to keep thinking of it like it was all a grand prank by the twins. It was all mental.
It was all…mental.
The main door to the corner office opened and thudding footsteps pounded into the room.
"Chairman Brown, it's such an honor to meet you!" Vernon Dursley rumbled. Harry could
already see the smile plastered onto the face of the walrus without even needing to turn
around. He forced his mouth into a smile imagining the walrus bobbing his head and
clapping for fish with that giant grin. "When I heard this morning that you wanted to see
me personally, why I couldn't wait to tell my wife the news! I am so very proud to have
been so recognized, Sir! That the Board itself has taken notice of my work…it's simply
astounding!"
Yup, there was the head bobbing. Harry had to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside
him. Letting it out before his cue wouldn't have nearly the right effect. Chairman Brown
chuckled softly and said, "Mr. Vernon, I have never heard nor seen your name before this
morning. Frankly from what I'm seeing at the moment, I'm amazed you're able to fit
behind your desk quickly enough to get any work done." Harry didn't need to hear the
blubbering to picture the wide eyes, slack jaw and bulging vein. "Thankfully for you, my
opinion is rather immaterial at the moment. Grunnings Drills has a new majority owner
and he has specifically requested to meet with you this morning to discuss your future
here."
"Really?" The note of cunning in that single word was so laughably weak and transparent
that Harry again almost lost his control. Daphne would've hexed the man for daring to
think that that counted as shrewd. "Well I am more than prepared to show you exactly
why the new owner has recognized that I am to be promoted."
"Well, let's see how well you do with that shall we?" Brown asked, the sarcasm practically
thick enough to choke on. "Harry? Mr. Dursley has arrived."
Harry made certain that the huge smile was still plastered on his face as he kicked his chair
around and stopped it directly facing Vernon. The walrus was sitting in a chair at the far
end of the table with his blubber spilling out over the edges of the armrests. As Harry's
turn completed and Vernon caught sight of him, the vein bulged and the man's face
reddened. Vernon's eyes widened and his mouth snapped closed hard enough to rattle his
mustache. Slamming his hands onto the table the walrus surged to his feet and raised a
shaky finger to point at Harry. "You! You little FREAK! What have you done to the
Chairman?! You've used your freakishness on him!"
Harry shifted his smile into a confused frown and cocked his head to the side before
leaning over and asking the Chairman in a loud whisper, "Do you have any idea what he is
talking about, Mike?"
Brown shrugged. "Not even an inkling," he replied in the same stage whisper obviously
meant for Vernon to hear loud and clear. "Perhaps he feels you drugged me?"
"That's gotta it," Harry nodded rubbing his chin as he leaned back into the chair giving it a
slight spin for effect. "He always used to accuse me of drugging his family, apparently he
thinks my skills have improved if I can get the head of a major company 'under my spell'."
A quiet snort of amusement from Brown greeted that comment and Harry barely managed
to maintain his solemn face as he saw Vernon's face crimson.
"You've used your little stick on MY COMPANY, you little freak! How dare you!" the walrus
screeched, his jowls trembling.
"Well that's just rude!" Harry said gasping and holding a hand to his chest. "To imply I'd
stoop to sexual favors is underhanded, Vernon! And the fact that I'm still only 16…are you
accusing Chairman Brown of being a…a pedophile?"
Vernon's lips curled and spittle flew from his lips though he couldn't seem to muster a
coherent reply beyond a growl. Brown saved him as he sighed and shook his head. "I see
this is getting us nowhere. Perhaps proof would assist in moving the meeting forward. We
are all busy men and this is already looking to extend beyond the schedule." He reached
over and tapped the intercom. "Mary, please send up, the owner's assistants with their
acquisition paperwork."
"Right away, Sir," the intercom voice squeaked.
Harry had just enough time for a half spin of the chair before Shiva opened the main door
of the room and waltzed in with several sheets of papers. She laid one in front of Vernon
and waltzed around the table to place two more in front of Harry and Brown before
standing to the side and looking through the rest in her hands. "Those are the declaration
pages, gentlemen. Harry, Lily will be up in a moment with the entire document. They were
taking longer to copy than we had expected since the machine jammed."
"That's fine, Ms. Babbling," Brown said waving off the 'issue'. "I imagine the final page is
more than sufficient to assuage your worries, Mr. Dursley?"
Vernon swiped the piece of paper off the desk with one meaty paw without even glancing
at it. His eyes locked onto Shiva's and his face turned puce. "That harlot is the same sort of
freak as the boy! They've played with your mind, Chairman! Arrest them and throw away
the key! The whore has already sold herself and she has been teaching the freak since he
ran away!"
----------------------------