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Disclaimer: This story is based on characters, ideas, and situations created by JK Rowling and owned by her and her publishers. I own the original elements & characters. No money is being made by me, and no trademark or copyright infringement is intended.



Chapter XX

Much of the rest of the holiday was spent in moving the Grangers. This was made easy in part by Harry, who merely bought the Grangers a nice house, allowing them to sell theirs at leisure and pay him back the sale price (Harry did come out slightly behind, much to the Grangers' chagrin). Then Harry (directed by Hermione) would shrink parts of the Grangers' possessions and Dobby would send them to Winky at the new house. Mrs. Granger would tell Winky where to place the items, and either Sirius or Remus would restore them. Mr. Granger was covering their practice alone, guarded by Luna and Padma, and either Sirius or Remus, whomever was not with Mrs. Granger.

The Grangers were still unhappy about the unorthodox arrangement their daughter was in. It was bad enough that their sixteen year old daughter was in a sexual relationship (not that they hadn't been at her age), one which at least seemed set for the long-term due to the Bonding. Adding in two more teenage girls, not just as Harry's lovers but Hermione's (and each other) made them wince every time they thought about it.

Granted, now that they had met Padma and Luna, they could see the attractions. Padma was conventionally pretty and sexy, and when she tried, down-right sultry. Luna reminded them of some of the free spirits they had known in University in the early 1970s. All that helped the Grangers a bit, but just a bit.

The one unexpected visitor who turned up was Arthur Weasley, who showed up on the afternoon of New Year's Day, asking to speak to Harry and Hermione.

"Is Ron alright?" Hermione asked.

"Ron?" Arthur asked, confused. "Of course, why wouldn't he be?"

"Sorry," Hermione said. "I thought something had happened to him."

"No, no," Arthur said. "This is about Ginny." He turned to Harry. "I understand you suggested that she consider seeing Neville Longbottom?"

"Yes, sir," Harry answered, now a bit worried.

"Well, we had Augusta Longbottom around yesterday, on her grandson's behalf, asking for a marriage to be arranged and for the Bonding to start." They knew that Ginny needed permission, still being fourteen.

"And how does Ginny feel about that?" Hermione asked.

"She's agreed, or else I wouldn't be here," Arthur replied. "You both know young Longbottom. In fact, I understand he was your first sworn supporter."

Harry looked at Arthur and asked, "Sir, why are you nervous about talking with me." He gestured for Arthur to sit.

Arthur sat down, heavily. "We always knew you were special," Arthur told Harry. "We worked very hard at giving you a taste of normalcy whenever you visited us, to treat you as a person. Well, now . . . now. . . ."

"Now he's the Heir of Merlin, the Chosen One, and the sworn lord of three of your sons," Hermione concluded.

"And a declared warlock who has truly claimed his heritage as both a lord and the leader of one of the most ancient warrior families, and a raising power in the Ministry," Arthur agreed.

"Sir, to you I'm still just Harry," Harry told him.

Arthur smiled. "You have never just been 'just Harry,' and if we ever thought you were, you stopped being that to us when you saved Ginny. Now, Neville is your liegeman and you suggested the arrangement. Do you still think he's right for Ginny?"

"I do," Harry said. "Neville still lacks confidence at times, but really nothing else. Ginny will supply that. Ginny is a bit, well, flighty, and not just because by age she's closer to being a Third year in age than really a Fourth. Neville will help ground her, in the good sense of the term."

"I agree," Hermione said.

"There only one thing," Harry said.

"And what's that?" Arthur asked.

"What about Ron?"

"Ron?" Arthur frowned. "How does he figure into this?"

"His two brothers who are still at school are Bonding. His two best friends are Bonding. Now his sister, seventeen months younger, is Bonding," Harry pointed out.

"He's dating Lavender Brown, and she really does like him," Hermione told Arthur. "Still, I don't know if Ron is really responsible enough to offer her Bonding."

"Not to mention that he doesn't know what to do with his life," Arthur agreed. "If Neville had no certain prospects, I certainly would not be considering this. I will have to have a talk with Ron about responsibilities, even though I know how he'll react."

Harry and Hermione could imagine.

Arthur turned to Harry. "There is just one thing from our point of view, then."

"Yes, sir?"

"Would you allow Ginny to pledge her service to you?"

"Hey?"

"Ginny cannot pledge her service to you until she is fifteen without my permission," Arthur reminded Harry. "Her three brothers have sworn themselves to you. She would as well. Her mother objects, of course, but I do not, and it is my decision to make. So, I am asking you if you would please accept her service."

"I will," Harry said.



The captured Death Eaters were not encouraging. While they had all been British, it was clear from the younger four that Voldemort was tapping into small pro-Grindelwald groups which had had no internal cooperation and which had been squabbling between themselves back in the 1960s and 1970s.

Harry was not totally surprised. One member of such a group had been involved in the attack on Hogwarts in the other time line when Dumbledore had been murdered. However, in that time stream, Voldemort had had them mostly on a recruiting drive in parts of Europe, only drawing on their numbers for some specific attacks.

Obviously, this time around could be different.

Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Padma therefore met with the Headmaster, Remus, and Sirius.

After a general discussion, Remus asked, "Harry, do you think Wormtail is still guarding Nagini?"

Harry thought a moment, and answered, "I think so. She might be in partial hibernation for the winter. That would free up some of his time."

"But that's just a guess?" Remus asked.

"Just a guess," Harry agreed. "I don't dare open up the channel between us. Even if I drive him out when I want to separate us, there's no way to be certain what he might pick up." He turned to Dumbledore. "When was the last time anyone checked Little Hangleton?"

"I checked it Boxing Day," Sirius said.

Dumbledore nodded. "I have it checked every seven-to-ten days. There's some evidence that several people have crossed the property, but nothing more than that."

"Any activity near the graveyard?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "That's where all the activity is, why?"

"I have to admit, I didn't have much time to take a survey, but it seemed to be a private cemetery, not the one for the town," Harry said. "Even if some of the Riddle servants are buried there instead of near the church or chapel, the last would probably have been buried there more than fifty years ago. How many visitors would they have?"

"Maybe more than you might think, or maybe there's a lair of some kind there," Luna said thoughtfully.

After a moment's silence, Harry just looked at Dumbledore, who shrugged, leaving the decision to Harry for the moment. "Remus?" Harry said. "The full moon is in two nights. If you're up to it, why don't you and Sirius visit the cemetery and villages Sunday afternoon. Do we need to make any suggestions?"

A tired Remus shook his head. Sirius, however, said, "We take stock of the tombstones, especially to see the more recent ones. Look for tracks. And set up passive survey wards to see what times people are coming through." The others nodded.



Ginny approached Hermione the next day.

"You want me to what?" Hermione said, when Ginny had finished.

"I need you to coach me through performing fellatio on Neville," Ginny repeated. "I've seen it done, of course, but I want to do it right, and I need to do it right the first time I do it in the couple's corner. Please, my lady?"

Hermione blinked.

"Harry accepted my service this morning," Ginny reminded her. "You are sworn to be his bondmate. You, therefore, are my lady. And we were close, even if we've drifted apart a bit this year."

Put in those terms, Hermione of course was glad to agree.



All three people were nervous -- Ginny, Hermione, and especially Neville.

"I wish this didn't have to be so public," Neville whimpered.

"Harry said pretty much the same thing," Hermione told him. "You aren't ashamed, are you?"

"Of course not," Neville stated. "I would happily scream it from the turrets, if that was the requirement. It's just that this is so. . . ."

"Personal?"

"Exactly," Neville agreed, "and embarrassing." He looked at the nearly as nervous Ginny, and he smiled. "But no, it's not in any way shameful."

Ginny smiled back.

"Okay, back against this chair," Hermione said. "Shut your eyes, and keep them shut. Harry says it's easier that way. Just concentrate on what Ginny is going." Hermione reached under Neville's robes and loosened and dropped his trousers and then his drawers. She helped Neville sit back.

Hermione placed the pads and helped Ginny to kneel, and laid the towel on Neville's leg. She pulled on Neville's right knee while Ginny pushed a little on his left.

Ginny had tied her hair back, and Hermione leaned close in case she needed directions. Ginny reached and touched Neville's flaccid penis. Hermione whispered, and Ginny took Neville in hand and raised his totally flaccid penis.

Hermione was glad that Harry had reminded her that this might happen, and that she had warned Ginny. Because of his nerves, there wasn't much of Neville visible beyond his foreskin.

Ginny leaned forward and licked around Neville's foreskin, while she lightly held the base between her right thumb and forefinger. She started pumping and continued licking, her small pink tongue darting about, swiping.

It took almost a minute for Neville to reach his full erection, just over five inches, although thick for its length, nearly as thick as Harry in fact. His crown slowly pushed its way out of the foreskin.

Hermione was glad that Harry was circumcised, and that he had (although very embarrassed) reminded Neville to fully clean there.

Once Neville was fully exposed, Ginny just managed to fit the glans into her tiny mouth and began licking and bobbing, and now was stroking with her thumb and two fingers. From that point, Neville groaned and shot off in less than thirty seconds.

Hermione helped them clean up, and then left the stunned and dazed lovers to adjust to their new feelings.



Sunday, January 21, 1996

The group remet nearly three weeks after their first meeting. Remus, at least, looked much better.

"I set up the wards a week ago last Thursday," Remus said. "I didn't check on them until this morning. I didn't want anyone thinking we were paying too much attention." Everyone nodded. "I checked out the cemetery itself two weeks ago, and also went through and checked out the village both times. There is a larger cemetery there."

Remus looked at Harry. "You were right. I also checked out the history of the Riddle property." He smiled. "I'd like to give you the full account."

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius muttered. "Ow!" Sirius looked at Hermione, shocked, for she had kicked him.

Hermione smiled sweetly, while Harry, Padma, and Remus chuckled. "Go ahead," she told Remus. "I, at least, would like to hear it all."

"The whole area belonged to Slytherin a thousand years ago," Remus said. "Slytherin may or may not have married, but he did have children by three witches. The children of the first witch fully backed Slytherin against the other Founders. The children of the second, two witches, separated from him after he broke with the other Founders, in large part because they were married to the younger sons of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. They were disinherited by Slytherin, and yes, the younger witch and that son of Gryffindor are the founders of the respective line you're descended from, while Lily was descended by that youngest son of Ravenclaw and the older daughter of Slytherin's second consort."

"So I have a blood relation to Slytherin, but it doesn't count because the witches were disinherited?" Harry asked.

"No, it makes you an heir of Slytherin, just as you're an heir of Hufflepuff," Remus responded. "You are not the Heir, because there must still be a blood heir senior to you, one which neither the Gaunts nor Voldemort knew about. However, because whoever the senior blood heir is is very distant from a direct descent of male blood, you were recognized at the Magical Heir, because of both your connection to Voldemort and your double blood connection."

"My head hurts," Harry said. "And who knows how many blood heirs there might be, lost out there."

"Well," Hermione mused, "it has been a thousand years. . . ."

"Exactly," Remus agreed. "Two of the three sons of the first witch followed Slytherin out of the country, and died, so far as we know, childless. So did the two sons of Slytherin by the third witch. The third son of the first witch went back to the area which today is around the villages of Little and Great Hangleton. In addition to the son from the first witch, the only daughter of the third witch also settled in the area. Each claimed the whole territory, as the daughter claimed her parents were bonded, giving her a superior claim. The son claimed that his parents were bonded and the daughter's mother was a consort. The two had a great fight. The son won, and to punish his half-sister, he raped her and drove her out."

"She fled to Ghent in Flanders, where she had the child. She married a wizard who was a merchant there. The son came back and killed his both father/uncle and his family some forty years later, except for the youngest daughter -- after defeating them, he strangled them all and left their bodies hanging between the areas of the villages. He made the girl his mistress. He sold off the land which is now the village and area around Great Hangleton. Great Hangleton therefore made it into the Domesday Book while Little Hangleton, like nearly all magical property held at the time, is not."

"Ghent, of course, was known as Gaunt in England throughout the medieval period. The family maintained ties with their Flemish cousins for the next four-hundred and fifty years and later adopted the surname of Gaunt. Neither seems to have had many branches, and the English branch seems to have married their first and second cousins almost exclusively." Everyone wrinkled their noses at the idea.

Remus turned to Sirius. "You told me to spare no expenses. I have three friends of mine researching some ideas."

Sirius broke in before Harry could offer. "That's fine. Go on."

"Fortunately, even if the Flemish branch rarely had many children, and many of them joined the celibate communities which flourished until the late 1500s, they also kept bringing in outside blood. The Flemish branch died out during the early 1500s and as best anyone can tell left no relations outside of the Gaunts. The Gaunts spent the next four hundred years selling off stray acres of their patrimony and intermarrying with a small group of equally Pure-blooded and inter-bred families. There were five other families, and after 1600, they only intermarried with each other. One family died out in the early 1800s. The others died violent deaths in the 1960s through the late 1970s and seem to be gone now."

"Voldemort getting rid of potential claimants?" Padma asked, before anyone else could.

"Exactly," Remus agreed. "There is no evidence so far that Riddle Senior ever married Merope Gaunt, and in fact Riddle laid a claim for all their property a few days after he left Hogwarts. He was granted the land on the basis of his birth certificate, and the fact that there was no one in the Riddle family left to contest the will. The land itself had been entailed. Voldemort's grandfather had a will, and his son had an incomplete will, dealing with the money but not the land, since he still expected to marry and have legitimate children -- Voldemort was disinherited from the money, along with any other illegitimate children Tom Senior might have had. If there were any others, none came forward. The family money was dispersed according to the two wills, so Voldemort got the land but nothing else. It was transfered to wizarding property, so there is little money needed for taxes and the like. Voldemort also owns the dozen acres left of the Gaunt patrimony. The two families shared joint control over six acres."

"The cemetery," Harry said.

"Exactly. A monastery some twelve miles away bought the land around the Riddle House and most of Little Hangleton over the course of the 13 and 1400s. They used the land as forest, taking wood and game out, and fattening herds of pigs in it. When the monastery fell to Henry VIII's Commissions in 1536, a wealthy London merchant named Riddle bought the land. He and the Gaunt of the period argued about the exact boundary. The Gaunts had been using part of the land as a cemetery since the beginning. They agreed to share. Only Riddles and Gaunts are buried there."

"Meanwhile, Riddle's son built a small lodge on the hill, and also built the village which became Little Hangleton. He needed them on the other side of the valley from the Gaunt land, since he opened a clay dig down near the stream and a small slate quarry a bit further away. The clay dig ended in the early 1800s, and the quarry closed in the 1890s. The Riddles were living off their investments when Voldemort murdered them, and the villagers these days either work in Greater Hangleton and beyond or are pensioners. The village has a pub, and that's the only business. The church was built in the 1560s, and hasn't had an incumbent since the 1950s. The Great Hangleton vicar comes over every first and third Saturday evenings and conducts the buryings."

"And all this is relevant because?" Sirius asked.

"Well, it means that there's no one who has the right to be going to the cemeteries," Hermione pointed out. "Of course, there could be people having . . . well, no, not in the winter."

"And they aren't crossing the cemetery to and from anything in the surrounding woods, licit or illicit," Remus said. "According to the tracking wards, they are going to and from a fair-sized mausoleum, built by the Riddles in the early 1600s."

"According to the tracking wards?" Luna asked.

Remus nodded. "There are no tracks in the remaining bits of snow, or in the places where it's muddy instead of grassy."

"Where are they coming from?" Harry asked.

"From the direction of the village," Remus admitted, "not the woods."

"So, something is up there," Dumbledore mused. "And it is possible it is something to do with Voldemort."

"What else could it be?" Padma asked.

"Muggles can be pretty sneaky," Hermione said. "I would imagine at least a few of the villagers are poachers, and could cross through the cemetery without leaving much evidence. They could also making illegal drugs there for all we know."

"Possible, I suppose," Dumbledore agreed.

"The village itself is a dead end," Remus said. "There's no way for a stranger to walk around and ask questions. I spent two nights there, disillusioned. All I can say is, it seems like a boring place. I saw no evidence that anyone was be-spelled in any way. I didn't want to watch the road or increase the number of tracking charms, as that might become noticeable."

"Anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "You're hoping to dig up another Heir of Slytherin, aren't you?"

Remus nodded. "That's why I'm researching those marriages before the early 1600s. The later ones all seem accounted for." He turned to Sirius.

"While Remus was skulking around Little Hangleton, I drank a lot of beer in Great Hangleton," Sirius said. "I was under a number of charms to make me both inconspicious and which inspired people to talk around me." He shrugged. "They really haven't seen anything unusual, but they do tend to think that their neighbors in Little Hangleton are an odd, in-bred group."

"So, one of us needs to go back and set more wards, closer to the village, or you need to send someone to spy," Remus told Dumbledore.

"I will set some subtle wards myself," Dumbledore said, glancing at Harry. Harry merely nodded.