Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize from the books in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling belong to the aforementioned J. K. Rowling. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
Not Another Author's Note: Many thanks to the_scribbler for his kind assistance with this chapter.
Edward Normalis, introduced in chapter 42, has had his name changed to Edouard Gerard Doucet and so I guess his old nickname of E-normous won't work either. Blame my beta, he made me change it. I did rather like the nickname though, but neither of us liked Normalis. Further note: though his name sounds French he knows only English, the name came from North American settlers many generations ago. He did his first year at Whistler Mountain Institute for Magical Education in Western CANADA, and his family moved to England over the summer.
Several late changes to the previous chapter including: Due to comments such as (but not limited to): `When H/Hr have children how are you going to differentiate between Little James and the baby or child named James?' I have decided to change the name of Harry's trouser snake (not C'ba a real snake) from `Little James' to `Prongs junior'. Both are primarily in reference to his Father, a Marauder. The name reflects the characteristics of the wee beast. Seeming to have a mind of its own, it tries to get Harry in trouble by going where he isn't supposed to go yet, such as trying to get into Hermione's Forbidden Forest.
Chapter 45 - "The Contract"
Saturday, Sept. 6th
They slept late and would have woken up quite refreshed had it not been for Harry's dreams. He kept dreaming about her and what she dared to do, his heart would race, his breathing would become hot and heavy and he would squirm and thrust his hips towards her just as he had done. She, of course, in her mind could sense all his feelings and emotions each time the dream recurred, causing her to wake up in much the same state as him, fully aroused, while hanging on to a twitching and wiggling Harry. She suspected her presence, tucked into his side, might be a contributing factor to the repetition of his dream. She finally gave up trying to return to sleep; it was obviously long past breakfast judging by the light coming in the window. She knew from experience it would be difficult to get out of bed without waking him up, but she tried ... and he stirred as soon as she did. Hermione gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek and whispered that she would be right back before leaving to clean herself up for the day. By the time she was done Harry was set to do the same.
*************************
Harry found her sitting in the cushy arm chair in their Common Room, with Crookshanks on her lap and an open book occupying her hands. She had somehow acquired an assortment of pastries that were on a platter on the table beside her. Harry didn't immediately notice C'ba until he called for her. She poked her head up beside Crookshanks and answered Harry. Harry leaned over the back of the chair kissing Hermione's neck and nibbling on her ear while enjoying the view down the front of her jumper. They heard the portrait open and McGonagall's voice calling to them before the Headmistress entered.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," she called as she entered, then once inside in a softer voice she continued, "Ahh ... Dobby told me you two were finally up and dressed."
They were both startled by Minerva's sudden appearance and concerned about the possible reasons for her to search them out.
Hermione got up and joined Harry to face Minerva, but before they could ask her, she spoke, "I received a message from Severus an hour ago, Voldemort collapsed twice last night. As far as Severus knew, at the time he sent me the message, Voldemort hadn't regained consciousness. That's the good news ... the bad news I'm afraid is that in between episodes, he ordered your deaths as well as the death of Mr. Weasley."
The teens looked at her curiously before it dawned on them that she meant Ron.
"It would seem that Voldemort is no longer concerned with killing you himself, Mr. Potter, perhaps he has found out about the horcruxes that you two and Albus have destroyed." Added Minerva.
"With four out of his seven soul fragments destroyed, could that cause him to collapse?" asked Hermione.
"I have no idea, Miss Granger ... perhaps one of the Founders could answer that" replied Minerva. Out of curiosity, were you two doing anything last evening that might explain Voldemort's condition or reaction?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a long moment ... the Headmistress noticed the pink flush produced on their faces.
"Severus has reported Voldemort having several fainting and dizzy spells over the latter part of the summer break, nothing however quite this dramatic." Minerva said, then added, "If you were doing something … different last night … then just nod your head." Hermione's eyes bugged out when Harry nodded and they blushed some more. "Interesting", was almost the last she said about that subject. "I am going to try to find Mr. Weasley and inform him of Voldemort's orders to kill him. If you decide you wish to elaborate on last night's activities, I don't want the details, just some indication of what made last night different than what may have gone on during the summer. You two are both of age and Bonded, therefore I can't stop you if you choose to pursue those activities ... so long as no one gets hurt." Minerva looked pointedly at her cleverest student in over forty years of teaching.
Hermione responded, "Harry, if anything, is overprotective, but never less than the perfect gentleman, Professor."
"Right!" Said McGonagall, "Be careful you two."
"I don't think she believed you," whispered Harry.
As the Headmistress turned, about to leave, she remembered the other thing. "This morning quite a number of the Gryffindor students have reported some sort of vandalism that happened overnight. Numerous items were floating in mid air, some dropped and broke, others landed undamaged. Several students were dropped to the floor meters from their bed. A few speculated that some purebloods were making love. None of them, of course, would admit to it. I told them that any incident like that, something I've never been aware of, would have had to be in the same room as them so they quickly dropped that idea. If it happens again, I may have to seriously investigate the phenomenon. I trust that you two can solve the mystery and it won't happen again?" Minerva finished turning and left the same way she came.
After McGonagall had gone out the portrait door Hermione turned to Harry saying, "Merlin ... we have to be more careful Harry, I never expected the effects to extend beyond our rooms."
"Do you really expect me to believe that we caused all that?"
"Unless half the Gryffindors in this tower were doing the same thing last night ..." responded Hermione.
"Yea ... I guess so," said Harry, "Apparently I wasn't too far off when I said we could destroy a small village while we made love."
"Merlin, Harry." She looked at him, not sure whether to be horrified or just aghast at the power of their bonding. She knew that Harry always radiated tremendous power….but if their lovemaking significantly amplified it, they were going to have to work hard to temper the effect.
"Maybe we could set up a bedroom in the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, "it's several hundred feet below the lowest dungeon ... and who cares if we disrupt some Slytherins."
"Forget it Harry. That would be awful at best. If we're going to make love, it will be here, in our bed, where it's warm and safe." She said it in a way which told Harry that she was not in a mood to talk about it anymore. "Now about Voldemort..." said Hermione, "You don't really think that what we did ... I mean, it was spectacular, the best so far ... but ..."
Harry sighed when he recalled the memory, "I definitely owe you for last night." He said taking her hand and looking deeply into her eyes, a goofy smile on his lips.
"No ... you don't ... no one owes anyone anything. That's not what love is about." She said with an almost stern look on her face and her other hand pointing to her head, "Remember, I feel everything you feel ... I think I got just as much out of that as you did." She closed the small distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head on his chest, then crushing herself into his groin. "Hmmmmm", she smiled up at him as he groaned, then backed away from him slightly, saying, "Down boy ... down ... it's time for lunch ... no that's not on the menu right now." Her heart rate was slightly higher, almost matching his, just from feeding off his feelings of arousal.
On their way down for lunch Harry asked, "How are we going to know when Voldemort is back on his feet so we can try to knock him out again?"
"Harry!" she stated in exasperation, "You can't seriously believe that what we did last night caused Voldemort's seizures, besides it's far more likely that the four dead pieces of his soul are responsible. Yesterday we killed piece number four of his soul and he had a more severe attack ... well two attacks, that he may or may not have recovered from by now. The secret to killing him might just be in finding the next two Horcruxes."
"I like the other way better ... we make love until he dies", said Harry.
Hermione shook her head and sighed, "I told the Headmistress you were a gentleman, Harry, don't make a liar out of me, please?"
"You're probably right dear, no more said about that, we concentrate on the next Horcrux."
"How are we going to handle the Death Nibblers that will now be after us?" asked Hermione, "I think the six of us should stick together as much as possible. And we need to talk to someone ... maybe Rowena ... or maybe ... I hope we don't have to rely on Snape to know what's going on with Voldemort."
"Oh Merlin, that reminds me, I never did explain about C'ba ... and you never asked me again." Said Harry.
"Well we did get busy with classes and other things, both Crookshanks and you seemed totally happy with C'ba and I had other things on my mind." She replied.
"It seems that C'ba knows of Nagini and the Boa Constrictor ... you remember the one I told you about where the Dursley's took Dudley and me ... Marwells ... I think was the name of the Zoo." Harry told her, "If I let her out once in a while, she can try to get us information ... It seems that Nagini is none to good at keeping secrets and the snakes have a better web of communications than that internet thing you showed me over the summer."
As they neared the Entrance Hall they could see Parkinson, Goyle, Zabini, Nott and a few other Slytherins, spread out around the hall watching them intensely. Hermione moved away from Harry just enough to allow space to access her wand and staff if necessary.
With a presence of mind one would not normally expect of Ron, he announced himself as he approached them from behind. Ron strode up beside Hermione and whispered, "Luna, Ginny and Neville are watching our backs. We were all together when McGonagall found us. What did you guys do now to piss off V ... Voldemort?"
"Harry here would like to think that it was because we had a particularly enjoyable evening", responded Hermione.
"Enjoyable? ... Is that what you call it? ... Luna has a different word to describe it ... maybe I should tell you later ... in private Harry, I don't think Hermione would appreciate it nearly as much", said Ron. Hermione glared at Ron and he smirked back.
They made their way into lunch without any problems. After they ate, the trio plus Luna returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny and Neville followed shortly after.
*************************
Flashback from the past few days:
It was becoming quite normal to find Luna and Ron in the Gryffindor or Ravenclaw Common Rooms together. During the first few days of school there were some curious stares and snide comments directed at the unlikely couple, however they were soon accepted and welcomed in either Common Room.
In the Ravenclaw Common Room another peculiar couple were also being accepted. Jeannette could usually be found sitting or studying with, or for some reason nearby the tall and rather muscular Edouard Doucet. Their appearance together had drawn veiled comments from some of those around them, for their height differences were akin to that of a house cat befriending a Saint Bernard (an exaggeration). Edouard, despite his size was never the bullying type that Dudley or Draco was. He was much more athletic; though noticeably overweight from a summer of inactivity, he moved with confidence greater than any of the other boys in Ravenclaw - something that didn't go unnoticed by the upper-year Ravenclaw girls. To make matters better (or worse), Edouard was a musician and poet, as well as much more widely traveled - so he could talk to her about a great many things. His interests wandered all over the map and he was never shy about sharing those interests with her. Perhaps that was why Jeannette liked him so much. He was kind and gentle and, as they got to know one another more and more, they started to become attuned to each other's likes and dislikes. Ed was quite different than any boy Jeannette had ever met ... with the exception of Harry. She rarely thought of Harry anymore, though. Ed had captured her heart and soul in less than a week, though he didn't realize it. Jeannette had now thanked Rose several times for introducing her into that compartment of second years on the Hogwarts Express where she met him.
Edouard had, like Harry in his second year, never really considered dating a girl, still wasn't considering it; he just knew he liked her company. He was long since past the, `girls are icky' stage, and could easily appreciate her beauty and her figure ... when he could see it. Those school robes hid her gorgeous figure so well. He also liked her mind as much as anything about her. When they were doing homework together, they usually came to identical conclusions, often in two very different ways. That made them look at things from each other's point of view, and it intrigued him. The first chance he had to get a good look at her was on the second day after classes, Jeannette and a few of the girls in her dorm, after dropping off their books and robes, got into their jogging T's and shorts, then jogged out to the lake. The girls, on their way back from the lake, spotted Edouard jogging back from the Quidditch Pitch, broom over his shoulder, and followed Jeannette when she veered towards him. Ed, when he saw her jogging towards him, was so distracted, he nearly stumbled and fell. Ed loved to fly; would have liked to play Quidditch for the Ravenclaw team, but he knew he was too large to be able to play effectively. He was too big to make the quick turns and fast acceleration that was required in that game. Had he been in Slytherin, he could easily have bulldozed the other team out of the air; that was not how he wanted to play the game. Edouard - since he was muggle-born, knew an entirely different art. He was what the muggles called a `black belt' and moved with the easy confidence of someone who could take care of himself without hesitancy.
End Flashback : return to Saturday after lunch
*************************
They decided it was time to learn from Rowena, just what they could control in the Castle and how to upgrade its wards. The girls with Harry under his invisibility cloak left for the Library first. Ron and Neville followed, close enough behind to keep them in sight most of the time. Both groups of Gryffindors noticed several Slytherins and a few other students that were attempting to be inconspicuous, but were obviously watching them. Harry wondered if Goyle and a few others were again using Polyjuice potion to appear as someone else. Harry reached out with his mind to find that a little girl that looked like a first or second year was actually Harper, a sixth year Slytherin. They obviously must have a stash of Polyjuice somewhere. Malcolm Baddock and Graham Pritchard were the other two of the three little girls, both Slytherins. As far as Harry could tell, the three little girls hadn't felt his mind probe at all. They all seemed to be content with watching for now, perhaps waiting for Crabbe and Malfoy to return. Harry next tried making eye contact with Pansy Parkinson; she was smart enough not to look directly at Hermione, Luna or Ginny so Harry had to move into her line of sight and away from his girls.
Once he was able to move into her line of sight he was easily able to enter her mind. Pansy wasn't trying to hide anything, she probably didn't know how. Harry tried to search around carefully so as not to tip her that he was in there. He found a memory of her and Draco, but didn't stay to watch, he moved on to a newer memory and then several more memories before he finally found the message from her Father. Pansy was to be in charge until Draco returned, they were to watch Potter and his friends, carefully noting where they went and to whom they talked. When Draco returned, he would have more instructions. At the moment he had finished with that memory, Pansy turned her head sharply and Harry lost his view into her mind. Harry had been too determined to see that memory and had pushed for it. Pansy probably realized something was wrong. Harry got what he needed; he knew they were going to be safe until Draco returned, unless something went wrong. He and his five friends along with seven Slytherins in that hallway, in close proximity, if someone even sneezed, a battle could erupt instantly. He quickly caught up with the girls; they soon made it past the Slytherins and were well on their way to the Library
They were a few rooms down the hall from the Library, Harry and the girls waited patiently for Ron and Neville to catch up. The three polyjuiced Slytherins that looked like second year girls were following closely behind them. Harry, who was still under his invisibility cloak, whispered to Hermione that he would meet the five of them at Rowena's portrait. Hermione nodded back almost imperceptively and when Ron and Neville caught up they made their way through the Library, into the Restricted Section and to Rowena's portrait.
Harry allowed the three little girls past before casting separate `Accio' charms to take their wands and `Incarcerous' spells to bind them individually. He then bound them as a group and summoned Fawkes. After a brief exchange with Fawkes, who had no trouble seeing through Harry's invisibility cloak, Fawkes took the little girls to the Headmistress office. Minerva just happened to be having a meeting with her heads of houses, Slughorn, Flitwick and Sprout to discuss the upcoming Halloween Dance when Fawkes arrived with his package. Three wands also appeared on McGonagall's desk though she had not noticed them yet.
After Fawkes in his own way explained the situation to Minerva, she said, "Horace, I believe these are three of your boys on Polyjuice." Slughorn and Flitwick each cast different revealing spells on the children; both spells indicated that the students were somehow magically transformed. Minerva then said to the girls, "Normally I wouldn't do this, but I need to know who you are," Then pointing her wand at the nearest girl she spoke the charm, "Legilimens." Not being as careful as Harry was, though not as vicious as Snape would have been, Minerva searched through the mind, confirming the identity of the sixth year as Harper, and the source of the Polyjuice. "Mr. Harper here has confirmed that you are missing some Polyjuice potion from your store cupboard Horace. After this meeting, I would like you to look and determine how much and if anything else is missing."
Minerva untied the girls and sat them in a far corner then cast a `Mufliato' charm on them so that she could talk to her staff and sort this mess out as well as the upcoming dance, Dumbledore's Army and several other details.
*************************
Harry caught up to his friends at the portrait; Hermione was already talking to Rowena. The discussion ended when Harry arrived, Rowena preceded them through the portrait and into her Common Room. Once inside they quickly noticed Jeannette and a rather tall and burly young man that Luna had vaguely mentioned. They were finishing lunch and talking animatedly to each other, oblivious of the new arrivals. Hermione spoke first in a raised voice of surprise and curiosity, "Jan!"
The second-years turned and looked, Jeannette responded, "Hey sis ... guys ..." as she waved. Her response confused Edouard who had no idea that Jeannette had any older friends here or a sister, other than seeing her talk to Luna a few times in their Common Room. He had believed Jeannette to be a Muggleborn one of a kind like himself. Jeannette turned and caught the confused look on Ed's face and realized her faux pas. "I'm sorry Edouard, Hermione's not really my sister, she's my cousin actually ... long story ... I'll explain later. I would have told you, but Hermione wanted it kept a secret ... so I wouldn't draw the attention of the people that don't like Harry". Edouard's confused expression cleared and then became a wide smile; he obviously accepted her answer as making sense.
Jeannette looked between Harry and Hermione; their faces seemed to question why she was here. "Once Madam Pince was sure I wasn't trying to sneak out a restricted book and just wanted to visit Rowena ... you know, Ed wouldn't believe me that I had talked to Rowena Ravenclaw ... I wonder why. Anyway she let us in ... you know the books went very quiet when we passed the gates ... I thought they only did that for you?"
You are her descendant too, maybe one day this will all be yours to deal with." Hermione stated, a few blue sparks came off her fingers as she waved her arm around, surprising Ed more than anyone else. "How much do you want him to know?" Hermione knew that Jeannette didn't actually know about the Horcruxes, she knew Harry and Hermione were looking for magical relics to help in the war against Voldemort, but not what or why they were important.
"I trust him Hermione," Stated Jeannette, "Rowena obviously trusted him or he wouldn't be here."
"You love him that much, do you?" Hermione said with a cheeky smile. Jeannette blushed almost as well as Ron had done on occasion. Edouard looked sharply between the pair, trying to figure out what had just happened, he had heard exactly what Hermione had said, and the lovely young lady beside him had not denied it. Hermione then looked at Harry who was looking directly at the large boy in front of him. Harry had sympathy for him figuring out what he had just heard ... he suspected the word `love' had never crossed the poor boys' mind. Now he was up to his neck in it ... was he going to sink or swim. The next thing Ed knew his hand was inching towards Jeannette's; it seemed to have a mind of its own. The tall, Canadian-born student looked up at her with a pleading, almost begging expression on his face. Jeannette's eyes started to sparkle with the tears that were starting to build up in them. Ed had no idea what he should do now.
Harry again recognized the look in Edouard's eyes, all the `what if' questions that must be going through his mind right now. Harry's own `what if' questions had dragged on for years and finally Hermione had to confront him in the park to get him to admit it. "Luna, what's his name?"
"Edouard Gerard Doucet," answered Luna briefly, her eyes fixed on Harry.
"Edouard … Uh … Ed," said Harry and Ed started to look towards Harry, "Tell her you love her too, before she thinks you're some kind of nut case and runs away." Harry knew that Ed heard him, he could sense the gears crashing around in the poor boy's head, trying to make sense of it all. Ed slowly turned his head to face Jeannette, his mouth moved, but no sound came out.
-->