Categories > Books > Harry Potter > World Tree Book I: Harry Potter and the Past Lives
Confrontations & Observations
0 reviewsHarry and Hermione explore their new relationship. Daphne confronts Luna about her dreams. People spy on others and plot for the future.
5Ambiance
Author's Notes: Gotta love Summer! I'm updating way more often than during the school year! Actually I was updating during the last month or so of school pretty fast, so maybe I'm just finding my groove.
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Gryffindor Commonroom; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 7:22a.m.
Harry yawned as he walked into the Commonroom. "Harry," a voice called, causing him look up. Hermione was sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for him. "When did you go bed last night?"
The young wizard shrugged. "Half-past eleven," he answered.
Hermione's eyebrow twitched; that meant that he'd gotten almost a full eight hours of sleep last night. "Ron left half an hour ago with Dean and Seamus," she replied.
That's twice now he's gotten up before me, Harry thought, but chose not to comment upon. "Ready for Breakfast?" he asked instead. Hermione nodded and got up. They headed towards the portal, which Harry pushed open and held for Hermione (the Fat Lady couldn't see on the opposite side of her frame, so it had to be opened manually from the inside).(1)
Hermione smiled at the gesture. Harry had done this sort of thing before, but now . . . Now, there was so much more meaning behind it. Yesterday, Hermione had confessed her feelings for Harry, realized he returned them, accepted (more or less) that Harry was programmed to love seven other girls—unlike Luna, Hermione didn't believe in Fate or Destiny—and dealt with the fact that her beloved was already married and had given his virginity to Luna.
That last one had forced Hermione to take a very careful look at her own feelings and needs. Did she love Harry? Yes, she did love him, had loved him for about as long as she had known him. Did she want to marry him and . . . sleep with him? Yes, she did. Was she ready for that right now? No. No, she wasn't. Hermione was sacrificing a major part of her dreams to be with Harry, the part involving monogamy, but she still wanted, needed, to be "courted."
It might have seemed a bit old-fashioned and silly to their ears, but Hermione wanted to go on dates, to get in fights and make up, to decide when she was ready to kiss him, to spend days knowing he was the one for her but still cry out in surprise when he proposed . . . Or, maybe she'd propose as Luna had, Hermione had always been annoyed by the thought that she'd have to wait for her man to ask her instead of asking when she knew they were ready.
Surprisingly, neither Harry nor Luna had thought it was silly or old-fashioned at all. Harry had just beamed and said he'd be happy, even going so far as to ask "Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?" When she'd replied in the affirmative, Luna had hugged her from behind.
Her mind returning to the present, Hermione saw that they were walking down the halls alone, closer than usual, but still not quite touching. For a moment, she debated about putting her arm around his, but decided not to. That would be rushing things.
Instead, she just enjoyed his closeness as they walked down the stairs and the halls towards the Great Hall and Breakfast. Hermione blushed, which prompted an internal scolding. You've done this a thousand times before; stop blushing like a schoolgirl on her first date! Except she was a schoolgirl, and this might, just might, qualify as a first date.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, although some ends are less unpleasant than others. The couple turned the corner and could see the open doors to the Great Hall. What really captured their attention, however, were the two blond witches standing in front of them. One was Luna; the other was . . .
"Daphne?" they both asked, no rehearsal.(2)
Slytherin Dormitories; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 6:30 a.m.
Daphne had woken early. While her little "adventure" last night had been meant to burn off energy, the memory was too strong this morning to let her sleep in. She'd be forced to have a repeat performance during her morning shower. Not that she didn't enjoy that, although she'd had to be careful to keep the noise down.
After that, she'd gone back to her room and quickly dressed herself. She'd finished just as Tracey was waking up. "Tell the others I went down for Breakfast early, all right?" she'd asked, just pausing at the door for a moment. Once the groggy Tracey had agreed, she'd been off.
Part of her felt bad leaving her best friend and sister to put up with Pansy's "pack" on their own, but Daphne needed to do something on her own. Her "session" this morning had been partially fueled, as last night's had been, by images of two particular Gryffindors doing much the same thing . . . along with a few other things. She blushed at the thought of two of her favorite non-sibling people having sex.(3)
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She blushed at the thought of dear, uptight Hermione Granger bent over and moaning as Harry Potter took her from behind: her hair flowing over her shoulders, breasts swaying, butt jiggling, whilst her lover’s lean muscles flexed as he claimed her.
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That experience had forced her to come(4) to a decision regarding her feelings, feelings she knew she'd been harboring for a certain witch for years and she'd suspected she'd had for a certain wizard for even longer.
Daphne had shown up in front of the Great Hall but chosen not to go in, waiting as other students passed by her, waiting for two in particular. That was how she was taken by surprise by a certain other witch.
"Hello, Daphne."
Daphne jumped a little and, to her eternal shame, let out a tiny "eep!" She'd spun around to see Luna Lovegood twirling her hair and smiling warmly at her. Luna Lovegood, the girl who had told her "Pleasant dreams," just two nights ago . . . Frowning, Daphne folded her arms and demanded, "What did you do to me?"
Lovegood kept smiling. "Surprised you, apparently. I seem to have that effect on people. Maybe I should consider adding some bells onto my necklace," she said, playing with the bizarre, cork-based jewelry.
Daphne almost considered calling her on her obvious evasion, but decided not to. It might be possible that the other witch really was as naïve as she appeared. "The other night, you told me to have 'pleasant dreams,' and I have had very strange dreams for the past two nights. I take it this is your doing?"
To her surprise, the other witch shook her head. "Oh, no. I didn't plant those dreams in you. I knew you'd be getting them. I just wanted to say hello before they started. Have they been pleasant?"
Daphne blushed but tried to continue scowling. "How did you know I would be having these dreams? What do they mean? What's going on here?"
The fair-haired girl tapped her chin for a moment before responding, "Does the name 'Aviendha,' mean anything to you?"
Daphne gasped. Aviendha, that name had appeared in her dreams. "What's it to you, Lovegood?" she snapped.
The other girl smiled. "She was a tall, red-haired woman with nice curves but plenty of muscles, and she loved a tall, red-haired man more than life itself even though she shared his love with two other women." It wasn't even a question, just a list of facts to prove she did know something.
"How did you know that?" Daphne asked. "What do you know that you aren't telling me? What's going on?" Daphne maintained the presence of mind to avoid shouting too loudly so no one heard from the Great Hall.
"Did you remember the names of the other two women?" Lovegood asked. "Min and Elayne?" The other blond looked Daphne strait in the eye—the Slytherin actually had to take a step back; those eyes looked as though they were studying her soul—and said, perfectly calmly, "It's simple. You were Aviendha many centuries ago, and I was Min. Harry was the man, Rand al'Thor, and Hermione was Elayne."
"I was . . ." Daphne's mind tried to stand up under the weight of the idea. It was like trying to stand under a giant waterfall.
"It's true, Daphne," Luna said, softly. "You're not dreaming; you're remembering. How else could you feel the sun on your skin . . . the clothes on your body . . ."
"The touch of his hands when he . . ." Daphne broke off, blushing fiercely.
"Don't be ashamed, Daphne," Luna smiled. "We've all experienced his love, and, hopefully, you will again."
". . . How is this possible?" Daphne asked, shaking. She placed s hand on the stone walls to steady herself.
The other witch shrugged. "I certainly don't know. 'Why does the sun come up? Or are the stars just pinholes in the curtain of night, who knows?'"(5) When Daphne looked at her strangely, she shook her head. "You should try attending the cinema sometime, Daphne, or read more. The point is, I don't know. I can't explain how this is happening; it simply is."
"'Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do or die,'" Daphne quoted, softly.
Lovegood nodded. "Exactly, I guess you do read Muggle literature occasionally."(6)
Daphne nodded. ". . . so, the three of us—you, me, and Hermione—are we all, someday, going to—"
Luna's grin diminished a little. She had learned something from her experience with Hermione. "I'm afraid it's not that simple," she said. Looking into Daphne's broken eyes the flaxen-haired witch grimaced. Oh, dear! Bad choice of words; she thinks she may not get him. "What I mean is . . . you understand that the four of us were reborn together, right?" she asked. The other girl nodded. "That makes us soulmates, you see." Another nod. "Well . . . there are . . . more of us . . . five more . . all female."
"Eight?" Daphne gasped. "I'm going to have to share Harry with . . . seven other girls." The other girl nodded. Daphne sighed. "I really shouldn't be surprised, I suppose; Harry's the last of the Potters, and you're the only heir of the Lovegoods, aren't you?" At Lovegood's—Luna's nod, she continued, "So, Harry would need to marry multiple women, especially if Hermione invokes her right to declare the Grangers a new House . . ."(7)
"I don't think she will," Luna said. "She's uncomfortable enough with the idea of having to share Harry as it is, although I wish people would stop thinking of it that way." When the Slytherin witch stared at her, the fey witch shrugged. "You don't own a spouse or their love, so you can't really 'share' either of them. I prefer to think that we're simply forming one, very big, hopefully happy family, but no one else seems to share my opinion."
"I suppose that is a more . . . positive way of looking at it," Daphne replied. "I can't say I'm really against it; at least, being married to Potter and, sort of, to Hermione . . . I don't think that would be . . ."
"You've been dreaming of it, haven't you?" Luna whispered. Daphne gasped and stepped back; Luna just smiled a little. "People don't pay much attention to me, but I pay a lot of attention to them. I have Ancient Runes right after you, and, sometimes, I pass the Arithmancy classroom on my way back to the Ravenclaw Dormitories . . . I've seen the way you look at her Daphne . . ." As the blush spread further across Daphne's face, Luna's smile grew a little wider. "It's all right; I've had the same dreams."
"You . . .?" Daphne asked, dropping her hands from her face.
"I've always loved Harry, and Hermione is one of the few people to take the time to be kind to me, to even try to know me . . ." Luna replied. Daphne's blush returned, but now she was truly ashamed; she was one of the one's who hadn't. "It was easy to love her." Walking up to Daphne, she offered her hand. "I believe we can learn to love each other, too, maybe not the same way but some way, First Sister?"(8)
First Sister, Daphne's mind shuddered with an impossible feeling. Two innocuous words that combined, made her heart leap and burn, and caused her mind to drift back . . . somewhere. She couldn't place it, yet, but she understood that the title had meaning, and, to some part of her soul, it still did.
But that was a question for another time. For now, there was only one question that she needed to answer: take the offer before her or decline it.
"First sister," she breathed, taking Luna's hand. Maybe it was her guilt; maybe it was the desire to be close to the only source of information she had; maybe, just maybe, it was the ache for a long lost friendship. Whatever her motivation, Daphne knew this: it was an easy choice to make.
Present
"Hello, Hermione," Daphne said, letting go of Luna's hand. "Hello . . . Harry."
Harry's eyebrows went up. She called me 'Harry?' He chose not to comment on that issue either, however, instead turning to Hermione and asking, "You two know each other?"
Hermione nodded. "She's in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes with me. You?"
"We've spoken a little over the past week," Harry replied. "Luna, what were you two talking about?"
"Only what her Ka is," his consort cheerfully replied.
The other girls looked at her oddly. "Well," Daphne said, "Luna's explained a bit of what's going on. I don't know how much I believe, but I want to know more." Turning to Harry and Hermione, she added. "Shall we meet this afternoon, 'my soulmates?'" The last bit was said oddly, not quite sarcasm, but not with a sense of true familiarity, either.
Harry gulped, looking to Hermione and Luna for support. Luckily for him, Hermione was as decisive as ever. "Of course, Daphne, there is a lot we need to discuss."
"Excellent," the blond Slytherin replied. "I will see you then. Now, I should get to breakfast before someone notices me speaking with you three." She cringed. "No hard feelings, please, but my Housemates would not approve of my speaking to you."
"Of course," Luna agreed. "There's no reason for us to reveal our joining so soon, right Hermione?"
"Agreed," the bushy-haired witch said.
"Then, I'm off," Daphne said. "Goodbye my dears, until later." With that, she Daphne walked into the Great Hall with her usual Ice Queen demeanor. The remaining trio was silent for a moment, until . . .
"Glad to know my spouses will value my opinion," Harry said, glumly.
"Sorry, Harry," Hermione winced.
"I am, too, but you should be ready, Harry. Men claim to be in charge, but women have always been the real decision-makes," Luna declared, walking over to wrap her arms around his waist and kiss him lightly. "My Mama taught me that."
Harry sighed. "I guess I'll try to learn, then." Wrapping an arm around her and—after a moment's hesitation—Hermione, he smiled and noted, "I guess there are worse fates than being bossed around by eight lovely ladies, right?"
Hermione smiled a little and allowed herself to lean into his embrace. Luna beamed and declared, "I think you're learning very quickly, Harry. Don't you agree, Hermione?" Smiling, they all walked into the Great Hall together.
What neither the trio nor Daphne knew was that there had been two others observing their conversation. They had hidden behind one of the corners and observed the way the four interacted.
"I wish we could hear what they were saying," Parvati grumbled.
"It was bad enough we were spying on them," Padma said, not all together happy to be watching Harry enter the Great Hall with an attractive young witch on either arm.
"'Bad enough,' seems more appropriate for what I just saw," Parvati groused in response. "Honestly, it looks like he already has three girls going after him."
"If there is anything to these dreams, they will not be the only ones," her sister replied. "Besides, given the way their Houses are at the moment . . ."
"Yeah, yeah," the Indian Gryffindor replied. "If nothing else, we always knew we'd have to share a guy between ourselves anyway, what's a few more? All I can say is, he better improve his romantic skills if he expects any more than a dance from me in the future."
Padma raised her eyebrow. "With three witches possibly viewing for his attentions, I don't think that will be an issue, Parv . . ."
The Great Hal; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 7:30 a.m.
Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and a lot of other things, sat at the faculty table, looking out over the students assembled before him. A few seats to his left, his new Defense Teacher was speaking very persistently (but very politely, of course) with Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher about something.
Likely, he believed, she was attempting to win over support from the Pureblood teacher. I'm afraid not, Dolores, the old wizard thought. Professor Vector might have been a Pureblood, but she was staunchly pro-Muggleborns and even pro-Muggle. Dolores would receive no support from her.
Confident in his professor's ability to handle herself, Dumbledore returned his attention to the assembled student body. If only this could go on forever, he thought. So long as they were in these walls, the children were shielded from the danger and the corruption of the outside world . . . mostly. Casting his eyes on the Slytherin table, Dumbledore wondered how many would choose to follow in their fathers' or mothers' or friends' footsteps as servants of Voldemort.
Too many, he answered himself, and turned away, fighting the urge to sigh. That was when he saw Harry walk into the Great Hall—with both Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood on his arms! Oh, dear, the old man thought, what do we have here?
It could be something that could be problematic to his plans . . . or helpful . . .
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Author's Notes: Wow, another chapter complete! I'm a little worried that I'm rushing the romantic bits, but I feel I need to get everyone involved somehow or else the relationships will turn out token or I'll go out of my way to shoehorn them all in at the end, and everyone will be disappointed. This is the problem with having to develop not one but eight, possibly more, relationships at once. (Come on! I know at least a few of you got your juices going with the little exchange between Daphne and Luna).
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[*I feel the need to re-explain myself here: Dumbledore, in my stories, is not some Lex Luthor with hair or an old, magicky, Norman Osborne. He's a tragic figure: a man who walks a road to Hell paved with the best of intensions (why do I feel like I'm quoting someone?). To me, that's more interesting, and makes more sense (not that I don't like The Harem War and others like it; it's just that the idea is a little hard to swallow at times)
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[*Also (I didn't feel the need for a Footnote to say this, but I still think I need to), the ideas that Daphne and Luna each have a thing for Hermione and possibly Harry and Hermione are not my own creations. I've seen the idea used before, and really liked it, so I decided to spin it my way. Additionally, it gives these two some common ground.
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[*FOOTNOTES:
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[*(1) I don't remember whether or not Rowling ever explained how the doors operated on the inside of the Commonrooms, so I went with this. It makes sense; no one could sneak out after curfew if the doors refused to open.
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[*(2) Another gratuitous Artemis Fowl joke. I don't remember how often it came up in the series (I only really remember a scene in my favorite book in the story, The Artic Incident), but I liked it, so there you go.
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[*(3) No, you perverts, I am not going to describe Daphne's "morning fun" in detail for you. It's unnecessary and would have only held the story up. Seriously, writing about sex is fun, but really. . . er, difficult (HAH! Made it!) BUT! I am posting this, uncensored version of Daphne's fantasy because a) it's really short, and b) it reveals a little more of Daphne's character.
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[*(4) This was not supposed to be a pun! No, really, I wrote that line with a clear, unperverted conscious (I think). Sometimes, small details, both good and bad slip through the cracks.
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[*(5) This is from the original Highlander from the 1980's, I believe it was (don't really care, the only movie I 've actually seen was the bizarre but fun Highlander II, The Quickening. Mostly, I'm a fan of the T.V. series-Go Duncan!) Get used to the popculture quotes, I'm going to keep using them.
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[*Also, credit where credit's due, the idea that Luna is a fan of Muggle literature and movies kind of comes form zArkham's Rejected Path, where Luna is a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, and Narcissa Malfoy likes Muggle films.
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[*(6) This quote comes from Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, British poet extraordinaire. (I warned you there would be a lot of quoting!) As insular as Wizarding Britain is, they can't totally escape the world around them, otherwise they'd still be speaking Old English.
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[(7) I'm going to try to explain this more later, but this is my contribution to the "Harry Potter Fan Lore." The way I look at it, every family has to start somewhere, and I never really liked the idea that "Hermione turns out to be descended from an old Wizarding family that got 'squibbed-out.'" To me, a major part of Hermione's character is her totally mundane background; she gets a lot of flak just for being Muggleborn, and, lots more for being so much better than all the Purebloods. I can kind of understand how the idea that "all Muggleborns are really descended from 'lost' Magickal families" can work (reveals how pointless the whole Pureblood vs. Everyone else debate is), but it makes the Wizards seem human, and, still sucks out a BIG part of the characters for me. Ah, well: to each his/her own . . .]
[*(8) This is another element of The Wheel of Time. I won't explain it here, because the characters will down the line, but I will say this, IT'S A BIG DEAL!
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[*PREVIEW OF NEXT TIME (because I'm really excited about it):
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[*We learn more about Purebloods and Slytherin House, particularly the Greengrass family and where their wealth and influence comes from. (Bear with me, I took an idea I've hear a dozen or so times and put a twist on it, and now I finally get a chance to reveal it. This is a big deal for me!).
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[*Also, the group finally gets to a subject I'm sure some WoT fans have been wondering about for the last few chapters if not since the start of the story . . .
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[*No, I'm not going to tell you what it is! Come back in a couple of weeks!
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Gryffindor Commonroom; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 7:22a.m.
Harry yawned as he walked into the Commonroom. "Harry," a voice called, causing him look up. Hermione was sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for him. "When did you go bed last night?"
The young wizard shrugged. "Half-past eleven," he answered.
Hermione's eyebrow twitched; that meant that he'd gotten almost a full eight hours of sleep last night. "Ron left half an hour ago with Dean and Seamus," she replied.
That's twice now he's gotten up before me, Harry thought, but chose not to comment upon. "Ready for Breakfast?" he asked instead. Hermione nodded and got up. They headed towards the portal, which Harry pushed open and held for Hermione (the Fat Lady couldn't see on the opposite side of her frame, so it had to be opened manually from the inside).(1)
Hermione smiled at the gesture. Harry had done this sort of thing before, but now . . . Now, there was so much more meaning behind it. Yesterday, Hermione had confessed her feelings for Harry, realized he returned them, accepted (more or less) that Harry was programmed to love seven other girls—unlike Luna, Hermione didn't believe in Fate or Destiny—and dealt with the fact that her beloved was already married and had given his virginity to Luna.
That last one had forced Hermione to take a very careful look at her own feelings and needs. Did she love Harry? Yes, she did love him, had loved him for about as long as she had known him. Did she want to marry him and . . . sleep with him? Yes, she did. Was she ready for that right now? No. No, she wasn't. Hermione was sacrificing a major part of her dreams to be with Harry, the part involving monogamy, but she still wanted, needed, to be "courted."
It might have seemed a bit old-fashioned and silly to their ears, but Hermione wanted to go on dates, to get in fights and make up, to decide when she was ready to kiss him, to spend days knowing he was the one for her but still cry out in surprise when he proposed . . . Or, maybe she'd propose as Luna had, Hermione had always been annoyed by the thought that she'd have to wait for her man to ask her instead of asking when she knew they were ready.
Surprisingly, neither Harry nor Luna had thought it was silly or old-fashioned at all. Harry had just beamed and said he'd be happy, even going so far as to ask "Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?" When she'd replied in the affirmative, Luna had hugged her from behind.
Her mind returning to the present, Hermione saw that they were walking down the halls alone, closer than usual, but still not quite touching. For a moment, she debated about putting her arm around his, but decided not to. That would be rushing things.
Instead, she just enjoyed his closeness as they walked down the stairs and the halls towards the Great Hall and Breakfast. Hermione blushed, which prompted an internal scolding. You've done this a thousand times before; stop blushing like a schoolgirl on her first date! Except she was a schoolgirl, and this might, just might, qualify as a first date.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, although some ends are less unpleasant than others. The couple turned the corner and could see the open doors to the Great Hall. What really captured their attention, however, were the two blond witches standing in front of them. One was Luna; the other was . . .
"Daphne?" they both asked, no rehearsal.(2)
Slytherin Dormitories; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 6:30 a.m.
Daphne had woken early. While her little "adventure" last night had been meant to burn off energy, the memory was too strong this morning to let her sleep in. She'd be forced to have a repeat performance during her morning shower. Not that she didn't enjoy that, although she'd had to be careful to keep the noise down.
After that, she'd gone back to her room and quickly dressed herself. She'd finished just as Tracey was waking up. "Tell the others I went down for Breakfast early, all right?" she'd asked, just pausing at the door for a moment. Once the groggy Tracey had agreed, she'd been off.
Part of her felt bad leaving her best friend and sister to put up with Pansy's "pack" on their own, but Daphne needed to do something on her own. Her "session" this morning had been partially fueled, as last night's had been, by images of two particular Gryffindors doing much the same thing . . . along with a few other things. She blushed at the thought of two of her favorite non-sibling people having sex.(3)
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She blushed at the thought of dear, uptight Hermione Granger bent over and moaning as Harry Potter took her from behind: her hair flowing over her shoulders, breasts swaying, butt jiggling, whilst her lover’s lean muscles flexed as he claimed her.
LemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemonLemon
That experience had forced her to come(4) to a decision regarding her feelings, feelings she knew she'd been harboring for a certain witch for years and she'd suspected she'd had for a certain wizard for even longer.
Daphne had shown up in front of the Great Hall but chosen not to go in, waiting as other students passed by her, waiting for two in particular. That was how she was taken by surprise by a certain other witch.
"Hello, Daphne."
Daphne jumped a little and, to her eternal shame, let out a tiny "eep!" She'd spun around to see Luna Lovegood twirling her hair and smiling warmly at her. Luna Lovegood, the girl who had told her "Pleasant dreams," just two nights ago . . . Frowning, Daphne folded her arms and demanded, "What did you do to me?"
Lovegood kept smiling. "Surprised you, apparently. I seem to have that effect on people. Maybe I should consider adding some bells onto my necklace," she said, playing with the bizarre, cork-based jewelry.
Daphne almost considered calling her on her obvious evasion, but decided not to. It might be possible that the other witch really was as naïve as she appeared. "The other night, you told me to have 'pleasant dreams,' and I have had very strange dreams for the past two nights. I take it this is your doing?"
To her surprise, the other witch shook her head. "Oh, no. I didn't plant those dreams in you. I knew you'd be getting them. I just wanted to say hello before they started. Have they been pleasant?"
Daphne blushed but tried to continue scowling. "How did you know I would be having these dreams? What do they mean? What's going on here?"
The fair-haired girl tapped her chin for a moment before responding, "Does the name 'Aviendha,' mean anything to you?"
Daphne gasped. Aviendha, that name had appeared in her dreams. "What's it to you, Lovegood?" she snapped.
The other girl smiled. "She was a tall, red-haired woman with nice curves but plenty of muscles, and she loved a tall, red-haired man more than life itself even though she shared his love with two other women." It wasn't even a question, just a list of facts to prove she did know something.
"How did you know that?" Daphne asked. "What do you know that you aren't telling me? What's going on?" Daphne maintained the presence of mind to avoid shouting too loudly so no one heard from the Great Hall.
"Did you remember the names of the other two women?" Lovegood asked. "Min and Elayne?" The other blond looked Daphne strait in the eye—the Slytherin actually had to take a step back; those eyes looked as though they were studying her soul—and said, perfectly calmly, "It's simple. You were Aviendha many centuries ago, and I was Min. Harry was the man, Rand al'Thor, and Hermione was Elayne."
"I was . . ." Daphne's mind tried to stand up under the weight of the idea. It was like trying to stand under a giant waterfall.
"It's true, Daphne," Luna said, softly. "You're not dreaming; you're remembering. How else could you feel the sun on your skin . . . the clothes on your body . . ."
"The touch of his hands when he . . ." Daphne broke off, blushing fiercely.
"Don't be ashamed, Daphne," Luna smiled. "We've all experienced his love, and, hopefully, you will again."
". . . How is this possible?" Daphne asked, shaking. She placed s hand on the stone walls to steady herself.
The other witch shrugged. "I certainly don't know. 'Why does the sun come up? Or are the stars just pinholes in the curtain of night, who knows?'"(5) When Daphne looked at her strangely, she shook her head. "You should try attending the cinema sometime, Daphne, or read more. The point is, I don't know. I can't explain how this is happening; it simply is."
"'Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do or die,'" Daphne quoted, softly.
Lovegood nodded. "Exactly, I guess you do read Muggle literature occasionally."(6)
Daphne nodded. ". . . so, the three of us—you, me, and Hermione—are we all, someday, going to—"
Luna's grin diminished a little. She had learned something from her experience with Hermione. "I'm afraid it's not that simple," she said. Looking into Daphne's broken eyes the flaxen-haired witch grimaced. Oh, dear! Bad choice of words; she thinks she may not get him. "What I mean is . . . you understand that the four of us were reborn together, right?" she asked. The other girl nodded. "That makes us soulmates, you see." Another nod. "Well . . . there are . . . more of us . . . five more . . all female."
"Eight?" Daphne gasped. "I'm going to have to share Harry with . . . seven other girls." The other girl nodded. Daphne sighed. "I really shouldn't be surprised, I suppose; Harry's the last of the Potters, and you're the only heir of the Lovegoods, aren't you?" At Lovegood's—Luna's nod, she continued, "So, Harry would need to marry multiple women, especially if Hermione invokes her right to declare the Grangers a new House . . ."(7)
"I don't think she will," Luna said. "She's uncomfortable enough with the idea of having to share Harry as it is, although I wish people would stop thinking of it that way." When the Slytherin witch stared at her, the fey witch shrugged. "You don't own a spouse or their love, so you can't really 'share' either of them. I prefer to think that we're simply forming one, very big, hopefully happy family, but no one else seems to share my opinion."
"I suppose that is a more . . . positive way of looking at it," Daphne replied. "I can't say I'm really against it; at least, being married to Potter and, sort of, to Hermione . . . I don't think that would be . . ."
"You've been dreaming of it, haven't you?" Luna whispered. Daphne gasped and stepped back; Luna just smiled a little. "People don't pay much attention to me, but I pay a lot of attention to them. I have Ancient Runes right after you, and, sometimes, I pass the Arithmancy classroom on my way back to the Ravenclaw Dormitories . . . I've seen the way you look at her Daphne . . ." As the blush spread further across Daphne's face, Luna's smile grew a little wider. "It's all right; I've had the same dreams."
"You . . .?" Daphne asked, dropping her hands from her face.
"I've always loved Harry, and Hermione is one of the few people to take the time to be kind to me, to even try to know me . . ." Luna replied. Daphne's blush returned, but now she was truly ashamed; she was one of the one's who hadn't. "It was easy to love her." Walking up to Daphne, she offered her hand. "I believe we can learn to love each other, too, maybe not the same way but some way, First Sister?"(8)
First Sister, Daphne's mind shuddered with an impossible feeling. Two innocuous words that combined, made her heart leap and burn, and caused her mind to drift back . . . somewhere. She couldn't place it, yet, but she understood that the title had meaning, and, to some part of her soul, it still did.
But that was a question for another time. For now, there was only one question that she needed to answer: take the offer before her or decline it.
"First sister," she breathed, taking Luna's hand. Maybe it was her guilt; maybe it was the desire to be close to the only source of information she had; maybe, just maybe, it was the ache for a long lost friendship. Whatever her motivation, Daphne knew this: it was an easy choice to make.
Present
"Hello, Hermione," Daphne said, letting go of Luna's hand. "Hello . . . Harry."
Harry's eyebrows went up. She called me 'Harry?' He chose not to comment on that issue either, however, instead turning to Hermione and asking, "You two know each other?"
Hermione nodded. "She's in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes with me. You?"
"We've spoken a little over the past week," Harry replied. "Luna, what were you two talking about?"
"Only what her Ka is," his consort cheerfully replied.
The other girls looked at her oddly. "Well," Daphne said, "Luna's explained a bit of what's going on. I don't know how much I believe, but I want to know more." Turning to Harry and Hermione, she added. "Shall we meet this afternoon, 'my soulmates?'" The last bit was said oddly, not quite sarcasm, but not with a sense of true familiarity, either.
Harry gulped, looking to Hermione and Luna for support. Luckily for him, Hermione was as decisive as ever. "Of course, Daphne, there is a lot we need to discuss."
"Excellent," the blond Slytherin replied. "I will see you then. Now, I should get to breakfast before someone notices me speaking with you three." She cringed. "No hard feelings, please, but my Housemates would not approve of my speaking to you."
"Of course," Luna agreed. "There's no reason for us to reveal our joining so soon, right Hermione?"
"Agreed," the bushy-haired witch said.
"Then, I'm off," Daphne said. "Goodbye my dears, until later." With that, she Daphne walked into the Great Hall with her usual Ice Queen demeanor. The remaining trio was silent for a moment, until . . .
"Glad to know my spouses will value my opinion," Harry said, glumly.
"Sorry, Harry," Hermione winced.
"I am, too, but you should be ready, Harry. Men claim to be in charge, but women have always been the real decision-makes," Luna declared, walking over to wrap her arms around his waist and kiss him lightly. "My Mama taught me that."
Harry sighed. "I guess I'll try to learn, then." Wrapping an arm around her and—after a moment's hesitation—Hermione, he smiled and noted, "I guess there are worse fates than being bossed around by eight lovely ladies, right?"
Hermione smiled a little and allowed herself to lean into his embrace. Luna beamed and declared, "I think you're learning very quickly, Harry. Don't you agree, Hermione?" Smiling, they all walked into the Great Hall together.
What neither the trio nor Daphne knew was that there had been two others observing their conversation. They had hidden behind one of the corners and observed the way the four interacted.
"I wish we could hear what they were saying," Parvati grumbled.
"It was bad enough we were spying on them," Padma said, not all together happy to be watching Harry enter the Great Hall with an attractive young witch on either arm.
"'Bad enough,' seems more appropriate for what I just saw," Parvati groused in response. "Honestly, it looks like he already has three girls going after him."
"If there is anything to these dreams, they will not be the only ones," her sister replied. "Besides, given the way their Houses are at the moment . . ."
"Yeah, yeah," the Indian Gryffindor replied. "If nothing else, we always knew we'd have to share a guy between ourselves anyway, what's a few more? All I can say is, he better improve his romantic skills if he expects any more than a dance from me in the future."
Padma raised her eyebrow. "With three witches possibly viewing for his attentions, I don't think that will be an issue, Parv . . ."
The Great Hal; Hogwarts; North of Hogsmeade, Scotland; Earth 1; September 13, 1995; 7:30 a.m.
Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and a lot of other things, sat at the faculty table, looking out over the students assembled before him. A few seats to his left, his new Defense Teacher was speaking very persistently (but very politely, of course) with Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher about something.
Likely, he believed, she was attempting to win over support from the Pureblood teacher. I'm afraid not, Dolores, the old wizard thought. Professor Vector might have been a Pureblood, but she was staunchly pro-Muggleborns and even pro-Muggle. Dolores would receive no support from her.
Confident in his professor's ability to handle herself, Dumbledore returned his attention to the assembled student body. If only this could go on forever, he thought. So long as they were in these walls, the children were shielded from the danger and the corruption of the outside world . . . mostly. Casting his eyes on the Slytherin table, Dumbledore wondered how many would choose to follow in their fathers' or mothers' or friends' footsteps as servants of Voldemort.
Too many, he answered himself, and turned away, fighting the urge to sigh. That was when he saw Harry walk into the Great Hall—with both Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood on his arms! Oh, dear, the old man thought, what do we have here?
It could be something that could be problematic to his plans . . . or helpful . . .
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Author's Notes: Wow, another chapter complete! I'm a little worried that I'm rushing the romantic bits, but I feel I need to get everyone involved somehow or else the relationships will turn out token or I'll go out of my way to shoehorn them all in at the end, and everyone will be disappointed. This is the problem with having to develop not one but eight, possibly more, relationships at once. (Come on! I know at least a few of you got your juices going with the little exchange between Daphne and Luna).
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[*I feel the need to re-explain myself here: Dumbledore, in my stories, is not some Lex Luthor with hair or an old, magicky, Norman Osborne. He's a tragic figure: a man who walks a road to Hell paved with the best of intensions (why do I feel like I'm quoting someone?). To me, that's more interesting, and makes more sense (not that I don't like The Harem War and others like it; it's just that the idea is a little hard to swallow at times)
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[*Also (I didn't feel the need for a Footnote to say this, but I still think I need to), the ideas that Daphne and Luna each have a thing for Hermione and possibly Harry and Hermione are not my own creations. I've seen the idea used before, and really liked it, so I decided to spin it my way. Additionally, it gives these two some common ground.
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[*FOOTNOTES:
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[*(1) I don't remember whether or not Rowling ever explained how the doors operated on the inside of the Commonrooms, so I went with this. It makes sense; no one could sneak out after curfew if the doors refused to open.
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[*(2) Another gratuitous Artemis Fowl joke. I don't remember how often it came up in the series (I only really remember a scene in my favorite book in the story, The Artic Incident), but I liked it, so there you go.
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[*(3) No, you perverts, I am not going to describe Daphne's "morning fun" in detail for you. It's unnecessary and would have only held the story up. Seriously, writing about sex is fun, but really. . . er, difficult (HAH! Made it!) BUT! I am posting this, uncensored version of Daphne's fantasy because a) it's really short, and b) it reveals a little more of Daphne's character.
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[*(4) This was not supposed to be a pun! No, really, I wrote that line with a clear, unperverted conscious (I think). Sometimes, small details, both good and bad slip through the cracks.
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[*(5) This is from the original Highlander from the 1980's, I believe it was (don't really care, the only movie I 've actually seen was the bizarre but fun Highlander II, The Quickening. Mostly, I'm a fan of the T.V. series-Go Duncan!) Get used to the popculture quotes, I'm going to keep using them.
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[*Also, credit where credit's due, the idea that Luna is a fan of Muggle literature and movies kind of comes form zArkham's Rejected Path, where Luna is a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos, and Narcissa Malfoy likes Muggle films.
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[*(6) This quote comes from Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, British poet extraordinaire. (I warned you there would be a lot of quoting!) As insular as Wizarding Britain is, they can't totally escape the world around them, otherwise they'd still be speaking Old English.
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[(7) I'm going to try to explain this more later, but this is my contribution to the "Harry Potter Fan Lore." The way I look at it, every family has to start somewhere, and I never really liked the idea that "Hermione turns out to be descended from an old Wizarding family that got 'squibbed-out.'" To me, a major part of Hermione's character is her totally mundane background; she gets a lot of flak just for being Muggleborn, and, lots more for being so much better than all the Purebloods. I can kind of understand how the idea that "all Muggleborns are really descended from 'lost' Magickal families" can work (reveals how pointless the whole Pureblood vs. Everyone else debate is), but it makes the Wizards seem human, and, still sucks out a BIG part of the characters for me. Ah, well: to each his/her own . . .]
[*(8) This is another element of The Wheel of Time. I won't explain it here, because the characters will down the line, but I will say this, IT'S A BIG DEAL!
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[*PREVIEW OF NEXT TIME (because I'm really excited about it):
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[*We learn more about Purebloods and Slytherin House, particularly the Greengrass family and where their wealth and influence comes from. (Bear with me, I took an idea I've hear a dozen or so times and put a twist on it, and now I finally get a chance to reveal it. This is a big deal for me!).
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[*Also, the group finally gets to a subject I'm sure some WoT fans have been wondering about for the last few chapters if not since the start of the story . . .
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[*No, I'm not going to tell you what it is! Come back in a couple of weeks!
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