FicWad

Harry Potter and the Dark Lady
Chapter 11

Potter Castle
Master Suite
Saturday
28 Sept 1996
05:00

Harry wandered through the dreamscape comfortably. It was very pleasant, dry grassland passed under first his feet and then his owl wings. Soon he had accelerated to supersonic and cruised on his magic and his Dragon wings. He saw something below him and banked into a one-eighty. The something turned out to be a woman. An injured woman. Harry walked to her and quickly knelt. The woman had massive tears in her skin and the muscle beneath; someone had healed her but Harry knew he could do better. He extended his hands and rubbed them gently across the wounds while pouring in magic. As his hands crossed the wounds they left a trail of healing skin and tissue.

Nym walked up and knelt beside him. “You know it’s her?”

Harry wondered at her odd contralto. “Yes.”

“You could let her die or kill her yourself here in your mind, Harry, and no one would be the wiser.”

“Now I know you aren’t Nym. She knows I wouldn’t just kill her—fight her head to head and kill her, yes, but not like this.”

“What am I to do with you, my Harry?”

“How about telling me who you are?”

“I am Lilith, Harry.”

“Okay, what are you?”

“I am a consciousness, a stone, like Rowena and Roxanne, Harry. They would call me the mother.”

“So are you going to share with Nym like they do Hermione and Susan?”

“No, Harry, I’m not a good match for our Nym. I’m just using her consciousness for a moment.”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t hurt her.”

“I would never hurt one of our loves.”

“So what can I do for you?”

“Just be Harry and remember what Lily told you. I will see you again, Harry. Now that you are finished you should return and awake. Emma is in need of your excellent attention.”

Harry’s eye’s opened and he heard a small cry. He sat up and looked toward the sound and saw Emma writhing, apparently in a nightmare. He gently wormed and crawled his way to her. Harry reached Emma and folded her in his arms as she snuggled into him; he smiled and pulled his chin down on top of her head gently but firmly.

Harry lay drifting in and out of sleep smelling the warm, comforting, very female scent of the bedroom. He smiled; the mates always wrinkled their noses and headed for the bath or shower first thing. Harry was always, always…not upset or disappointed. They smelled good after a bath or shower, too—ah, bugger it, he just liked these moments when they smelled like women, not soap or perfume.

He might never make it to heaven but he really didn’t need to; he was already there as far as he was concerned. Harry chuckled; what would Father Jozef say when he found out?

Emma smiled; Harry was appreciating her very much. She lifted her free leg and placed the foot behind the knee of the leg she was lying on. Reaching her free hand behind herself and pulling her shoulders back she cupped Harry gently to herself and nibbled his neck as he expanded against her.

Mates began waking and watching. After smiling warmly at Harry’s early morning thoughts as they perused them, they still wrinkled their noses and headed for the bath or shower. Harry was very busy anyway. A lighter perfume was in order, though and citrus needed to be involved—yes, he liked citrus on them all. Oh my, Emma was a needy little minx this morning. How did she get her legs to do that? Hey, if her legs were like that and his hands were full with her breast, what was moving her up and down?

Victoria and Beatrice, watching with their heads turned sideways, figured it out and put their hands over their breasts. Harry was moving her up and down using his gentle, tight grip on Emma’s breast. They watched some more.

“Oooohh, that’s a very creative way to use a lightening charm.”

“Thank Morgana, Beatrice, I didn’t know how I was going to stand that. I’m a stone heavier than her.”

Beatrice looked at Victoria. “It’s not a competition, Vic.”

“I know, but we always try what the other does,” she shrugged. “It works and it’s a lot of fun.”

Beatrice looked sad. “I won’t have a partner.”

“What are we, then, you little cow—chopped liver?”

Beatrice looked at Victoria’s grossly over-acted huge pout. “Why, you bitch.”

The older mates screamed in protest as Victoria the Warg chased a loudly squealing Princess straight into the huge bath. The water hit the illusioned wall and rebounded in a two-foot-high wave.

Harry never broke focus on Emma as the water slopped out of the bathroom door and washed across the floor of the bedroom as they finally peaked together and then released. The bonded shuddered deliciously as the waves settled and rocked them gently.

Winky appeared and shook her head, smiling. She Vanished the water with a wave and cast several drying charms on the acres of rug.

Smiles were seen all around as they enjoyed the afterglow. The orgasms from another bonded weren’t exactly earth-shattering like the ones Harry was capable of inducing when with them, but they were very nice all the same, kind of the petitest of la petite mort.

Emma tugged on Harry’s arm after canceling her lightening charm and he rose and let her drag him to the shower after a stop by the bathroom.

Harry recovered under the warm water and the bonded moved to PT as was their habit.

Today found the Mages waiting for them and then trying to keep up. The mates laughed and joked at some of the over the top efforts being put in by males and females, student and Mage.

Later the bonded bounced and tumbled into the fourth year common. Harry was very on, as were the mates.

Chu buttonholed Harry after breakfast had been served, once the cheering had died down again. “Harry, we have to teach, so you, Nym, Sarah, Minerva, and I will be doing interviews.”

“Okay, Chu.”

Chu blinked.

Sarah chuckled. “What, Chu?”

“I was expecting a struggle. I find myself vaguely disappointed, Sarah.”

Chu turned back to Harry and met a kiss right on the lips. Harry poured himself into it and Chu finally relaxed into it.

Harry broke the kiss and pulled back to a rumble of ooohs and aaahs. Cheekily he rose and bowed, drawing laughter.

Nym shook her head, smiling, and then looked at Chu. “We have the AAR (After Action Review) at 1400.”

“Mmmm-hmm.”

“Harry, you ruined Chu for the day.”

“Nah, Sarah, she’s fine. Sarah, where’s Andrew today?”

Sarah shook her head, looked at Chu’s glazed eyes, and laughed. “Some navy base looking at some boat.”

Harry frowned. “Shouldn’t you be with him?”

“You’re so sweet—a dolt, but still sweet. We’re ‘divorcing’, remember, Harry? We have to be seen to be not getting along.”

Harry’s grumbling in the bond about stupid press and he could just light them all on fire and then they wouldn’t have to play these ignorant games earned him a kiss on the cheek from Sarah and a smile from Andrew aboard HMS Invincible as he heard it through his changing bond with Sarah.

A full morning of interviews followed, and the selected interviewers managed to finish off 240 candidates by the simply expedient of asking for permission and then using deep Legilimency on the candidates.

After a jovial lunch they completed the remaining sixty the same way. Of the three hundred, all could be employed somewhere; and of the sixty Harry had done, only one was compatible enough to enter compulsion any time soon. Nym and Sarah were sure that the rest would eventually achieve some kind of bond with Harry.

As Harry, Nym, and Sarah walked to the theater a thought occurred to Harry. “Nym, if my being here lets the mate-seeking of the wizards at Hogwarts function, does that mean I’m suppressing the wizards here?”

“When you’re around, Harry, sure; but mostly you’re physically located in the Castle and just experience the day with us here at school in the bond. You don’t teach for many different reasons, Harry—that being one of them, the other being that we could only have you teach at the Master’s level, otherwise the younger compatible females would come on compulsion for you, we think.”

Sarah nodded. “The populations of the schools are higher now, also, and you have hundreds of mates and mate-bonds along with hundreds of children or children on the way. I think your magic is a little busy with that instead of sniffing at random females’ magic.”

“I never—”

“Turn of phrase, Harry.”

“So why do you two keep pushing me on new girls? Not that I’m complaining, even though I am, I guess, but really! I mean, Demelza was kind of my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed her. But you’re never shy about me taking some girl and are usually, at least with some part of your minds, evaluating every female you see to see if she should be taken.

He stopped, considering what he’d just said. “Did that make sense?”

Nym laughed. “Yes, Harry, we got it. Your magic was completely unsuppressed, so potentially every girl we meet could have been found and we try to figure them out. I think you’re not creating—errrh, finding any more, but there’s no question there are potentially hundreds more out there somewhere.”

Sarah continued, “Your magic seems to trigger a full-on compulsion, in those found, on contact or close exposure. They get more and more erratic with more and more exposure. So it’s easiest to just let—or in your stubborn case, make you take them and get it over with before someone gets hurt.

“Remember, this is what Nym and I were arguing about. Xi Shi is found, no question. The longer we wait, the more people she’ll hurt, potentially including us.”

Nym was nodding. “And the big fight was me being stupid about it and not trusting you to handle another potential Alpha. You know I’m sorry about that, Harry. I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Oh, I don’t mind, Nym, as long as you don’t channel Ron while we’re having sex. I’m not going to ever love you less than I do now.”

Harry ducked Nym’s halfhearted backhand. “Prat.”

“Stingy, greedy cow.”

“Why, you overmmmmph.”

Sarah looked at her watch and sighed. She couldn’t legitimately break them apart as they had a few minutes yet and no one was near. Oh my, that was interesting looking. How did he get his arm like that with her pinned to the wall? I wonder if Andrew could learn that.

Finally Sarah chuckled and broke them apart. “Okay, come on, you two. AAR time.”

Harry and Nym helped each other to their feet and stood panting as Sarah straightened their robes and fired off a cleaning charm or two. Harry offered his arms and led them into the theater.

In the theater a full house rose respectfully as they entered. Harry made his way to the front and seated Nym and Sarah in the middle of the front row. As he did he looked over the crowd and recognized perhaps one person in ten. Who the hell were these people?

Harry turned back around and sat down. An American Brigadier General mounted the stage. “Your Majesty, Your Graces.” He gave a small smile. “Distinguished officers and friends. My name is Carter Ham, late of the Operations group of the U.S. Seventh Army Training Command. This group of reprobates—ah, officers and Senior Non Commissioned Officers—form a team that has some small experience in evaluating operations of units to U.S. Divisional size, twenty thousand troops or so. We were asked to undertake an evaluation of your operation and see if we could help you improve. To that end we have gathered, ah, memories of your operation and looked at them. We will now discuss what we observed.

“Let me start by saying I have seldom seen a unit that functioned at as high a level of coordination. We as a group have also never seen close combat—errrh, weapons that are as effective as whatever it is that you folks use.

“Unfortunately that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.”

A slide appeared behind him.

“Intelligence Gathering:

“Tough for us to evaluate this on the strategic level, but your tactical intelligence gathering is excellent. Another function of your intelligence staff is intelligence preparation of the battlefield or IBP.

“Duchess Daphne, what did you use to template possible enemy positions?”

Daphne stood. “General, we used the standard NATO intelligence template of Soviet Bloc Forces.”

“Did you notice anything about that template, Duchess—Colonel—Colonel Duchess?”

“Either works, General, or I’ll respond to Daphne. It was wrong. Actual observation on the ground proved that.”

“Any idea why it might be wrong, Duchess—errrh, Daphne? And you all may call me Carter.”

“It’s a set piece template designed around a standard set of units and their equipment and its capabilities. Equipment has changed, units have shrunk.”

“Yes, Duchess Daphne, very good. We’re faced with enemies who adapt. Friends who change and systems capabilities that increase by orders of magnitude every five years. Unfortunately in this business of making peace, stability is death.”

“I must say you and your scouts adapted very well. Change seems to suit you, Daphne.”

“One strives to please, General—Carter.”

Carter Ham smiled. This could turn into a fun afternoon.

It did. The Officers and Senior NCOs of the team General Ham had assembled were funny and very professional, long service combat veterans all. They missed nothing but never dwelled on the mistakes. They discussed them, solicited the involved primary staff member’s opinions and ideas of how to fix them, and moved on.

By 17:57 they were through and the staff was happy with their results. As General Ham said, it was a little hard to be unhappy when you won and everybody was still busy breathing.

Harry had been more and more antsy, though, and as first Krista groaned and Charles and Crissy got anxious at the squeeze, and then Dinara and her twins Aksana and Boris felt their first labor pains, Harry faded Krista and Dinara to the master suite and began his normal hovering-dad routine. Marcia, Jennifer, and Melissa met them there and rolled their eyes. Harry was trying to make Krista and Dinara lie down when they wanted to walk.

Nym said the goodbyes to the gathered visitors.

Carter Ham had watched and been amazed. “Not very good at this, is he?”

“Actually he is, General Ham. For some reason, though, he always gets a little, errrh, nutty at first. He’ll settle down in a moment or two.”

“Okay, General Potter. Remember, next time give us a call before you go in and we’ll see if we can find any holes in the plan.”

Nym smiled at him and then the mates faded away to the master suite.

An announcement was made at the sports ground that two of the mates had gone into labor and the Clan would be attending to them.

The roar of approval was deafening and then the games continued, albeit nervously.

Krista was delivered of Charles and Crissy at 23:28 and 23:34 and Dinara followed, delivering Boris and Aksana at 23:41 and 23:48. Dinara was a little early.

Harry, of course, had managed several new transformations including a rock-like creature he had seen on a rerun of a television program.

The mates had had to freeze him until he changed again because he kept rumbling about “Clobbering Time” in a semi-subsonic voice that made their hair stand on end.

“Beatrice, you have to stop watching cartoons on the telly with Harry. That was the Incredible Hulk or that Thing creature, wasn’t it?” Jennifer asked.

Beatrice controlled her laughter enough to shake her head, then nod, but speech was still beyond her.

“Harry, go see the Nightmares. Krista, Dinara, and the kids are fine.”

Harry the orangutan turned to Nym and said “Oook” as he faded away.

Nym rolled her eyes and went back to fawning over Aksana. Krista and Dinara were sleeping. Just as well really; they wouldn’t have gotten their babies back anyway until all the co-mothers had a chance to hold them or gaze adoringly at them while making silly noises.

Harry the orangutan appeared in the mews and got an eye-roll and snort from Melinda. He wrapped his impossibly long and strong arms around her barrel and laid his head on her withers, prompting another eye-roll and a gently amused nicker.

After an hour as an orangutan, hugging and petting the Nightmares, Melinda heard a determined sounding “Ook” and looked around just in time to see the massive man of the forest fade away.

HPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDLHPATDL

Chita, Russia
Saturday
29 Sept 1996
1031

“Oook!”

“Sir?”

“Oook ook ook ook oook ook ooook oook oooook”

“Yes, sir.”

Geoffrey snapped his fingers and all of the Potter elves not on nanny duty appeared and began mining the Dragon carcasses for useful parts.

Clem looked at Geoffrey. “Why is the Master being an ape?”

Geoffrey shrugged. “He wants to. What are we going to do with the hides, Clem? Some of them are shredded.”

“Potion ingredients, maybe. The larger pieces can be tanned, then we can hand them off to the technomancer classes and they can make the Duchesses more armor like they did with the Basilisk hide.”

Geoffrey shook his head. “Mistress Narcissa will not be pleased; there’s enough blood here to last a thousand years. The price will plummet.”

“We can hold it under stasis in the storerooms and release it a little at a time. Mistress Frieda will be pleased; the Dragons in the reserve won’t have to give blood any more, Geoffrey.”

“Where did the Master go?”

Clem waved off to the east. “He’s looking at that melted vault door.”

As the elves continued their work, Harry examined the door to the underground portion of the Siberian Military District HQ. What had been a four-foot-thick stainless steel blast door was now a three and a half-foot-thick stainless steel plug.

Hairy Harry made a comical picture with his paunch poking out in front of him as he leaned on his left knuckles and scratched his bottom with his right hand.

“Harry, stop that!”

“Oook?”

Anastasia rolled her eyes. “Scratching your bottom.”

“Ook ook ook oooookook.”

“I know you’re an orangutan, Harry, but manners are manners.”

“Ook ook ook ook oooookook ook oook ook ook oook.”

“What do you mean there’s no one here to see you? What am I? And the elves? Besides, we still haven’t been able to cancel Fred and George’s little spell, and every time we aren’t in the commons the screens revert to the satellite view of wherever you are.”

“Ook ook ook oooookook ook ook ook oooookook ook ook ook oooookook ook oook ook ook oook.”

“I’m fully bonded, remember? I hear your thoughts. I love you, too. What are we doing here?”

Harry popped back to human Harry. “Battlefield cleanup. Remember, Sgt Lyles said it should be considered and conducted if possible, at least to prevent your enemies from regaining their weapons or useful resources.”

“So what is this, then?”

“The door to the underground part of the HQ’s building, I think. I was, errrh, a little mad and melted it. I’m trying to figure out how to get it off to let the people down there out.”

Anastasia grinned. “Well, since we took this by conquest, just change to your Dragon and rip it off and I’ll talk to them. I am their Tsarina, after all.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I’d be a little pissed if someone destroyed my base and then ripped the door off my room.”

“Yes; I’ll have a little pet with me, after all.” Anastasia smirked at Harry. “Just rip it off and then come stand behind me, Harry.”

Harry nodded dubiously and changed. He walked up to the door as Anastasia backed away and inserted one giant claw in the edge of the door. Accompanied by a vast screeching and showers of sparks Harry dragged his claw around the door, leaving about a foot on all sides; then he sank all five claws of his right forepaw in the door and pulled. It popped free with a huge clang and Harry set it aside and moved behind Anastasia, with his gigantic head, scimitar-sized fangs, smoking nostrils, and burning green eyes floating about a foot over her head.

In the bunker, Senior Praporshchik Pitior Romanovskaya looked up the tunnel leading to the surface and then back at his men. He laughed bitterly. Fucking commissioned officers to the rear as always. Well, nothing for it. “Platoon behind me, bound by squads.”

Pitior stepped into the main tunnel from the access tunnel in which he had formed the platoon and started toward the door. He could hear the platoon behind him.

As Pitior approached the door the smoke cleared from the ground up and he saw a tartan dress. Fuck, that’s a robe—wizard, then. Well, that made some sense. The Mages would have heard about the Dragons. But no Mage units wear tartan. Oh fuck—that’s that Potter tartan.

Pitior, being a near-Squib, hadn’t been able to attend any of the magical schools, but his litter sister Elena had passed him all the books and he had studied hard. His homemade wand wasn’t a good match, either; typically of a Russian, though, he had stoically persevered. He read the wizard papers and magazines she subscribed to and laughed at her teenage swooning over this Duke Potter.

The smoke lifted more and a beautiful female face surrounded by blond hair appeared. What the hell? This girl looked just like that portrait Grandfather clung to except for the hair—it should have been black, not blond—and her being obviously pregnant, of course.

“You, girl, don’t move.”

Narrowed glowing green eyes studied him. “Senior Praporshchik, report.”

Pitior started to protest when the smoke cleared on a puff of wind and he found himself facing the monstrous black Dragon from yesterday. Smoke puffed from its nostrils.

“Be very still, girl.”

Pitior reached his hand down slowly to signal first squad to start circling to the left when a more forceful puff of smoke followed by a lick of flame stopped him.

“Senior Praporshchik, I said report.”

Pitior just stood there, trying to process. The girl had to know the Dragon was there—hell, she’d shot it a glare when it puffed that flame. So she was completely unfazed and the Dragon was hovering over her like some kind of huge guard dog. So it was her Dragon or she had control of it.

“You did this.”

Pitior’s rifle started to come up and the Dragon leaned forward, covering the girl, and opened its mouth.

“STOP!”

At the ringing tone of command, all motion ceased. “Senior Praporshchik, you try my patience. Soon I will send my little pet into your hole to find out what I want to know. Now report.”

“To who am I reporting, ma’am?”

“Tsarina Anastasia Romanov.”

Holy God, it was true, Grandfather had not lied She was alive, and here and so young—wait, that wasn’t possible. Even if the magic had reappeared in the main line with her, she’d be ninety-five. She should be older even with the charms witches used, and she was blond. Well, another charm maybe.

Anastasia watched the Senior Praporshchik’s face as he processed and the idea occurred to him. She smiled sadly. “Mother finally succumbed to her wounds in 1989, Senior Praporshchik. They never really healed.”

“And Tsar Alexander, Tsarina?”

“She could not keep him alive. His hemophilia—he died in the mine and she buried him there.”

Tears ran down the hard-bitten Afghanistan veteran’s face. “All is lost, then; we’re doomed to this cursed life under these peasants.”

Anastasia huffed. “What is it with men? I am in fact standing right here, Senior Praporshchik, your Tsarina, and you have about five seconds before I let the Duke eat you. REPORT! One...two...three.”

“Tsarina, Senior Praporshchik Pitior Romanovskaya. This is the headquarters of the Siberian Military District. Yesterday we were attacked first by people wearing the uniform you are wearing among others, and then by Dragons. This huge Dragon of yours came along and destroyed the other Dragons and apparently the town. The townspeople and the military retreated to the shelters and we have been attempting to establish contact with Moscow. Casualties, the few that there were, have been treated and we are at ninety percent on consumables. Hardware is another question; and apparently it has all been destroyed.”

Anastasia favored him with a glowing smile, “See, was that so hard? Send your platoon to round up the officers. The Duke wants me to speak to them.”

Pitior turned to the platoon and gave the order.

“Harry, follow my lead here.”

“Of course, love. You have to do the talking as I don’t speak Russian anyway.”

“Oooh, we have to spend more time here. I have you right where I want you. Oh, stop pouting. I was yanking your chain. Now lie down with your front paws out. I’m going to sit on a claw.”

“Oooooh, that’s good, Anastasia.”

“Thank you, Bella.”

“Harry, now that you two have us all awake we’re moving in to secure the area. We’ll stay out of sight. Hermione is watching the situation from the theater in case Xi Shi does something else.”

“Okay, Nym, and sorry. I didn’t intend this to turn into a full-blown operation.”

“Well, you were right, it had to be done. I wouldn’t have thought they’d come charging out either.”

Anastasia thought a moment. “Harry, you know we need to go to Moscow too, after we’re done here.”

“Grrrr.”

“Yes, yes, heap big Alpha Dragon. Just go, then you can tackle a few of us. What has you so horny, anyway?”

“Marie! Errrh, I don’t know. I somehow got this image of you all in like these little red leather bras and pants and, errrrh, well, I can’t shake it.”

“Good.”

Liv’s comment and the smug satisfaction that came with it cracked the bonded up.

“So Pitior, a cousin then, cadet branch.”

“Yes, Tsarina.”

“Long service veteran, brave, seems fairly competent. Look at me, please.”

Pitior looked at Anastasia and she dove into his mind.

“Anastasia, it’s rude to just dive into people’s heads.”

“Feh, he’s Russian—he expects no less, Chu. Harry, I want to make him my representative here.”

“He isn’t very powerful as a wizard, Anastasia.”

“So how do we do this then, Harry?”

“I think we give the cadet lines’ heads runestones, Anastasia, and start sorting through them. We can start forming a government with them and meanwhile I can terrorize the government and these mobsters for a while and get them to mostly behave.”

“Very good, Harry. Oooh, Anastasia, there are hundreds of cadet girls. Harry can mate a bunch of them and we—well, you, Daria, and Dinara—can run the country with them and the kids after a while.”

“Glynis, I don’t want more mates.”

Silence reigned across the bond, finally interrupted by Eugenie’s longsuffering “not again, Harry. Morgana, must we go through this all the time? If they’re found, and undoubtedly some are, you’ll bond them. Just go do it. I haven’t even had you as a human yet and even I don’t object.”

“Oh, stop grumbling, Harry.”

“Shhh, here come the Russians again, Eugenie.”

“Yes, Nym.”

The platoon was exiting the tunnel, holding every officer they found at gunpoint. They had found them all because after they captured the first one the senior NCOs and Warrant officers had started helping them.

The senior NCOs and Warrants had followed along after being told what was happening. They were kind of hoping for a sacrifice to appease the Dragon like in the fairy tales. After the last twenty-four hours they would believe almost anything, and these senior officers were idiots generally.

Anastasia looked them over. “I am Tsarina Anastasia, and this is the Duke.” She indicated Harry. “I claim this land as its rightful Tsarina. You will swear loyalty.”

Marshal Privlocov made a mistake and reached for his pistol. The NCOs got their wish and the ashes slumped to the ground.

Anastasia smirked. “Anyone else? No? Then kneel.”

Anastasia Romanov joyfully forced a loyalty oath on the officers that contained vicious consequences. Payback for murdering her family and denying her her rightful place was at hand. The NCOs and soldiers were next. All the while the giant Dragon stood over her. When she was done she turned to Pitior. “You are my direct representative. You will report any and all infractions to me. The rest of you are charged to support Pitior and turn Siberia into a place I can be proud of. I will be stopping by, or my representatives will. Pitior, you will swear all to my service using the oath you took.”

Anastasia hung a runestone around Pitior’s neck and Harry focused on it. The stone glowed and then warmed.

“Anastasia, touch that redheaded Lieutenant with the big breasts and the slightly Oriental-looking officer beside her.”

Anastasia rose from her talon throne at Nym’s request and walked to the officers in question. When she laid her hands on their foreheads they knelt and offered their wrists with confused looks.

Harry sighed. It wouldn’t have been funny except for the twelve-foot-long flame that accompanied the sigh. Fortunately he had his head up and the flame petered out about twenty feet from the ground. It was like being uncomfortably close to a running turbine engine, though, hot and smelling of overly burnt hydrocarbons.

“Bring them with you, Anastasia.”

“Okay, Nym. Harry, put your head down. We’re going to ride you out of here.”

“White Russians, always with the drama.”

“Your Tsarina commands you to hush, Dinara.”

“Ooooh, just you wait. I’ll give you Tsarina commands when we get home.”

“Promises, promises.”

Harry put his head down and Anastasia brought the two girls and put them astride the giant neck in front of her.

Harry raised his neck and turned; then, bunching his mighty hindquarters, he leapt into the air.

As Harry accelerated, Nym warned Anastasia and she cast the Windshield, Bubble-Head, and Sticking Charms. She reached forward and put her hands on Junior Lt. Zemfira Berkut’s ribs and pulled her back into the heavy breast of Lt Aksinya Kulikova. She held on tightly as Harry continued to accelerate toward the northwest.

“Harry, where are we going?”

“That Dacha suburb, Nym. I want to talk to the government and let them know the Tsarina is back. They’re still in that bunker probably.”

“Okay, but we want to get back for the games, so let’s hurry.”

“Okay. Watch out for missiles and jets. If they get close just fade. We’ll drive them crazy.”

Nym nodded her head. She and the other mates were holding just invisible. They let themselves fade in and concentrated on accelerating and flying.

Several times in the five thousand or so kilometer trip missiles came up at or aircraft tried to get in front of the murder of Dragons. The individuals would wait until just before impact and then fade further along their route.

Shannon invented a new game, Flame The Missile. She or one of the mates would fly up behind a missile, chasing a mate using Hermione’s view of the map, and purse their lips and shoot a pencil of flame hundreds of meters. The object was to cut a missile in half lengthwise. Soon aircraft were added, but at a lesser point value as they were slower.

They hopscotched across Russia this way for about thirty minutes before Harry led them down on the bunker, scattering the engineers who were trying to get the door to the bunker open. A hundred or so mates stayed in the air, fading around flaming jets and missiles. The pieces rained on the suburbs of Moscow.

Harry used no subtlety at all. He stooped on the door and when he hit it he closed his front talons and yanked back. The door screamed its metallic death song and Harry flung it away. He backed away from the hole, lowered his head, and Anastasia dismounted, leaving Aksinya and Zemfira stuck to his neck.

Boris Yeltsin heard the noise from the door and headed up the tunnel leading his supporters, thinking the engineers had succeeded. Some idiot had failed to stock this hole with vodka, and he needed a drink. He left the opening and looked around, his face going an ugly purple color. His eyes locked on the girl standing there and he turned to his security chief. “Arrest that bitch.”

Boris proved not to be much of a warrior after all and wet himself as the massive jaws snapped shut millimeters from him.

Anastasia looked at him and sneered. “I will not take your oath, cowardly peasant. You will be replaced. If you displease me I will let the Duke eat you.” Another snap of the giant jaws was made for emphasis. “You will begin moving my Russia into the twenty-first century and you will get the criminal gangs under control. If I continue to find young Russian women abused and trafficked I will let the Duke have you. I will have further instructions for you later. Consider yourself warned, Boris Yeltsin. Pitior Romanovskaya is my personal representative. You will follow his instructions to the letter. If he is harmed in any way, I will set the Duke on you.”

“You may not speak to the Pre—” There was a whump and another column of ash slumped to the ground.

Anastasia smiled. “I am Tsarina Anastasia Romanov and I will do as I wish. You peasants have been without guidance for too long and are attempting to rise above your station. I will identify and reinstall the aristocracy and you will follow their instructions or die horrible deaths.”

Harry lowered his neck and bunched, and as soon as Anastasia took her seat he leapt into the air. Tears coursed down Anastasia’s face.

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“Harry, I—I—God, Harry it’s worse than Briton but the opposite way. They’ve killed the aristocracy and now are running amok. I’ll have to take them back to the Ivan the Terrible days. I’ll be Anastasia the Horrible.”

“Get down, Anastasia, we’re home. Bring the girls.”

Harry, sensing how close to hysterics Anna was, faded into the roof garden. The mates soon joined them and found Harry holding Anastasia nude in the pool with the two new girls.

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Potter Castle
Roof Garden
Saturday
28 Sept 1996
0500

Anastasia had settled eventually with Harry reassuring her it was not her, it was them, and they would all work at bringing Russia along. Anastasia spent some time in Harry’s embrace and then smiled. They would succeed; look at what they had already done. It might take years, but they had time. Now, since she had Harry right here, let’s see what happens when you....

Harry rapidly responded to Anastasia’s ear and neck nibbling and she smiled smugly as she found herself very thoroughly loved. The sex was very good too...hehehe.

Anastasia turned Harry to Aksinya. He didn’t speak Russian and her English was limited to military terms, but they didn’t really need to talk after Harry touched her. Aksinya was a very energetic and enthusiastic lover. Her wide-shouldered, heavy-breasted frame was very nicely muscled and she never hesitated in allowing Harry lots of access. At twenty-six years old Aksinya was not a virgin, but she was not very experienced either. Harry made a very good effort to educate her and himself to her. Anastasia helped and soon Harry was driving Aksinya from orgasm to orgasm. Aksinya couldn’t believe it; normally she didn’t orgasm the first time she was with a new lover.

She had had some trying experiences with males in the small house her family lived in with fourteen other people and had developed some trust issues. She really couldn’t believe she was here with hundreds of women and these little people coming and going and wasn’t freaked out.

Hmmmm, it helped that this man was so very talented with his tongue. Oh yesssssss, that was very nice, hhhunnngh, what the hell was that HUUUUNNNNGHH.

Harry lifted his head with a smirk. That Parseltongue thing was so fun. The girls came so hard.

Harry slid up Aksinya’s body and paid some homage to her breasts on the way by. In his usual manner he worked on the sensitive underside gently with lips and tongue. Harry steered around Aksinya’s very hard nipples and crinkly, now dark pink aureole, figuring she would be very sensitive.

He locked onto her lips and entered her slowly and firmly. Harry was able to read her, and using the advantage that gave him he pushed her into another series of orgasms. and Finally, when she couldn’t take any more, he peaked with her.

After the light flashed Harry hugged a shocked and shaking Aksinya and rolled on his back.

The twenty-one-year-old Zemfira was hiding or peeking from behind Anastasia. She was a virgin. She didn’t really know why; she had had offers, some she had had to dissuade very aggressively, from both men and women. She didn’t mind, she was just not interested. She did mind the talk, though. The men said she was frigid or a homosexual or that they had slept with her, and the women just said she was frigid or that they had slept with her too.

Tartars might be barbarians but they had some honor, at least. If you said no they took the no and didn’t run around spreading lies.

So why did she suddenly have the almost undeniable urge to run over and leap on this man? And oh, by the way, where had he come from? Who was this girl she had wanted to give herself to?

Hey, wait—uh-oh.

Anastasia, who had been watching Zemfira watching Harry, sat up and guided her gently toward him.

Harry raised his head and reached out and grabbed Zemfira’s hand and pulled her in.

A very long, slow session ensued. Zemfira appreciated very much that Harry took his time, but at points she had reached her limit of a technique and he kept at it. This was the case when having fully explored him she was well ready for a bellyfull and he was still making her see things with whatever that was he was doing with his very talented mouth.

“Grrrr.”

“Ouch, ouch, ouch—easy, baby.”

Zemfira used the simple expedient of grabbing the hair on the sides of Harry’s head and dragging him up her body. “Less talking, more sexing.”

“Okay takmmmmph.”

She rolled Harry over after she silenced him by locking her lips to his and lined him up with her center. Harry tried to hold her hips to slow her down, but she slapped his hands and dropped herself onto him.

Harry never knew how to handle this. If he enhanced himself he was afraid of really hurting the girls; if he shrank himself he thought they might not like it. Besides, all those magazines of Seamus’s always had the stories with the guys being huge, but from experience he knew the girls all had different preferences. Harry compromised and left himself normal. He was a little smug that none of the girls had ever complained about the first time and they all seemed to enjoy it.

Harry’s attention snapped back to Zemfira, who was obviously in pain. Her little squeal had grabbed his attention and this time he did hold her still.

Slowly, after she moved, Harry worked with her to establish a rhythm. The mates watched, smiling. Aksinya was rummaging around in the bond and they were remembering their first times with Harry.

Zemfira leaned back and wrapped her legs around Harry’s waist and drove into the rhythm again. Soon she was leaping from peak to peak and as her largest yet hit her she growled and leant forward and bit Harry right over his clavicle. Harry, surprised and thrilled—and surprised that he was thrilled—filled her and the light flashed.

The surprised bonded suddenly found a very warm presence in the bond. The only way to describe Zemfira’s presence was warm. They relaxed in her glow.

Finally Nym and Sarah roused them.

“Breakfast! Come on, up and at ’em. Then we have to go to work. Up, up! Come on, it’s seven and class is at 8:10.”

It was a grumbling bond that roused and faded to the dining room.

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Potter Castle
Justice Hall
Saturday
28 Sept 1996
0830

Harry went over the procedure with Aksinya and Zemfira and then he waved. A cage full of Death Eaters and Dark supporters appeared and three appeared stuck to chairs at interrogation tables. The interrogations proceeded.

Michelle Woods, chief of the MLE, popped in at 9:30 and was appalled. “Harry, what the hell are you doing? I have two hundred Aurors for this.”

Harry slapped himself in the forehead. “I knew there was something.”

Michelle looked at him for a moment. “Harry, we really have to start having Ministry meetings again. You’re wasting your time on this stuff and I’ve got Aurors running around blasting pickpockets into pieces or turning them into toads. Now hold on a minute and I’ll get the Aurors. When do you want to sentence these?”

“Court tomorrow, if we can get through all of them.”

Michelle nodded. “Go sit over there, Harry. Be dukely.” Michelle looked at Aksinya and Zemfira. “Harry, where did you get these? They’re very nice.”

“Hey, they have names, Michelle.”

“Well introduce us then, Harry.”

“Errrh, Aurors?”

Michelle scowled at Harry and shot a messenger out of her wand. “Now quit stalling, Harry. On to the important things.”

Harry rolled his eyes and made the introductions

Alastor Moody received the messenger and went to the dispatch office.

Moody and seventy-four Aurors arrived at Potter Castle to find Chief Woods apparently engaged in a game of Charades with two new women in Regimental robes. Aksinya and Zemfira knew English as well as several other languages from the bond, but they were still getting used to speaking it while a bemused Harry looked on.

Alastor looked around. “Geoffrey?”

“Yes, Master Auror Moody?”

“I have seventy-four Aurors and myself. Could you set up seventy-five interrogation stations?”

“Of course, Master Auror Moody.”

“Alastor, Geoffrey—please.”

Geoffrey seemed to think a moment, then he smiled. They were, after all, Duke’s men. “Of course, Alastor.”

He got a truly horrifyingly wicked smile for his trouble. “All right, then, let me see what Harry’s caught for us today.”

“The Division, actually, Alastor. The Duke didn’t actually take prisoners.”

The wicked smile made the transition to feral grin. “I love that boy.”

Geoffrey smiled and turned. He waved his hand and the Justice Hall was set. Alastor was poking at the Death Eaters through their bars like he was baiting dogs.

“There you are, Alastor.”

“Thanks, Geoffrey. Well, let me go talk to the children and we’ll get started. Oh—how many, Geoffrey?”

“Two hundred thirty-four, Alastor.”

“Girls been busy, have they? Well, that should be the last of them. Hamlish done the objects yet?”

“The Unspeakables are in the secure storage area with Duchess Emmeline and the DADA Master’s candidates.”

Moody nodded as he walked over to the cluster of Aurors.

When they had landed the Aurors had looked around and seen the smiling Duke sitting with two women in Potter tartan robes—new women, at least the males thought so.

Bill Hendricks looked at Cindy Wallace. “Mates?”

Cindy looked at the new girls critically. The green eyes were a dead giveaway. “Yep, fully bonded.”

“We’ll need pictures for the books.”

“I’ll talk to Imelda, Bill.”

“Why?”

“She’ll have both their pictures by tonight.”

Bill laughed. “And it’s JV tonight. I should start a pool as to what they do to her.”

“I’m in for the new mates Petrifying her and Harry having to release her because they haven’t figured out their new power levels yet. Hmm, maybe Transfiguring her into an animal. How much a square?”

Bill looked at Cindy. “Oooh, that’s good. Here, help me with the blocks and we’ll collect the money, Galleon a square.”

“I’ll take her and two Aurors GETTING SKINNED ALIVE IF INTERROGATIONS DON’T START IN FIVE MINUTES!”

Every Auror in the hall flinched, and Michelle did too. Alastor looked around. “Now that I have your attention?” He gave his instructions and the interrogations began.

Harry was vaguely dissatisfied with the whole thing. Sure, he could sample all of them at once using Legilimency, but he didn’t get the mates’ feelings that way.

By lunch they were finished. Alastor left copies of the interrogations with Aksinya and Zemfira. The mates would all read them later, looking for correlation and who was owed what money. All of these would be executed.

Nym picked up Aksinya and Zemfira after lunch and took them with her.

As the bonded spent the day in class, Harry did some thinking. Mostly he did this while going about his daily routine of playing with the children or just being with various mates at different times. His best thinking was done while his Hell Stallion spent some time with the Nightmares.

The Russians were a real problem. He would have to find a way to figure out their magical births and get those kids in school. Then as they graduated he would have to use those graduates to form a government and eventually turn over the reins to them, as he intended to do in Great Britain, and just maintain oversight. Even with no setbacks they were forty-five years away from that.

The Chinese were the same, but he really had no standing there. That would have to be a pure conquest. If he misplayed this he would be at war with the Chinese wizarding population.

The key to control was the snatch stones. They kept down the population of people who were outside the norm in dangerous ways. Morgana, that was a clumsy way to say that, but it was exactly what the stones did. They didn’t capture all lawbreakers, just the ones that intended to harm others. Of course his idea of harm was a little more defined than the law’s,or maybe it was society’s.

Harry scowled to himself. Whatever it was, the perfect example was prostitution. His mates who had been forced into that were the perfect example. They were harmed and somehow the people who paid for their use seemed to be harmed too, but in even more subtle ways, ways that led to other acts. It was anything but the—what was it...ah that’s it—victimless crime some countries claimed. How could you have a victimless crime, anyway? If there was no victim, where was the crime?

Besides which the girls had been forced, some by brute force and some by other factors, but it was still force. None had wanted to participate and some had been seriously disturbed. It would be interesting to see, when they got the governments to actually function, whether or not the practice died out.

Father Jozef (His Holiness) had chuckled over that and said while he hoped so, he doubted it as prostitution had been around since before recorded history. Oldest profession indeed! Janet calling professional soldiering the second oldest profession with that cynical tone made sense now; prostitutes and professional soldiers were both selling their bodies, but it was impossible to tell who was more damaged. But that brought up the whole was he doing anything different to the girls thing again. Father Jozef (why was he more comfortable thinking of the Pope as Father Jozef?) said he was, as did Elizabeth.

The only difference he could see was the fact that he would cheerfully support the girls in whatever they wanted and they were free to come and go as they pleased—well, except for that one thing. It was very clear they were either with him or not: monogamy? polyamoury? Whatever this was, it was exclusive of more than one male at a time.

It didn’t make sense, though. The contract girls, errrh, Veela and Goblins, Mermaids, Centaurs—bah! all the non fully bonded girls and women—pursued other relationships freely. Lorelei and Jean-Paul were a perfect example. They were busily raising a full-blooded Veela daughter out of Lorelei by Harry and were as much in love as ever, maybe more. Lorelei kept making those comments about having another of Harry’s girls if Jean-Paul ran down again. Of course they had not experienced a mate-bonded human witch yet.

“They’re your harem, Harry. Quit worrying. Now change to human and come over here and rub me with that brush thing.”

“Yes, Melinda. Hey, wait a minute.”

“Hehehe.”

Harry still changed and spent a pleasant couple of hours brushing the Nightmares as they talked in the bond.

“Harry, are you going to the games? If so, it’s time, sweetie.”

“Okay, Nym, Melinda. Ladies, see you later.”

“Okay, Harry.”

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Potter Castle
Sports Grounds
Saturday
28 Sept 1996
1503

Harry faded into the Ducal box and sat surrounded by mates and children. Aksinya and Zemfira, still acclimating to the bond, were spending as much time near Harry, Nym, and Sarah as possible and Andrew had shown up. “Andrew, good to see you.”

“You too, Harry. Been busy then?” Andrew nodded at the new mates.

Harry blushed and they smiled. “Well, yes. We had a little set-to with the Russians during the Chita operation. Xi Shi stepped in with her Dragons, too.”

Andrew nodded. He and Sarah had been communicating better and better across the bond and he had seen most of it. “Jack all right, then?”

“Hoot.”

“Well hello, Jack.”

“Hoot!”

Ginny laughed. “Jack says hello back, Andrew.”

Imelda appeared from nowhere and pointed her camera but found it impossible to operate with her claws. She hissed in frustration and slapped her tail on the ground while chittering from under her bill.

The frozen bonded blinked and looked between Imelda and the outstretched hands of Aksinya and Zemfira and the formerly human and now apparently platypus Imelda.

Luna scooped Imelda up and petted her as she cooed over her. “Luna, be carefu. Those are poisonous.”

Looking right in Imelda’s eye, Luna returned, “Imelda won’t spur me, not if she ever wants to be human again, Hermione.”

Luna flipped the indignantly thrashing Imelda over. “See. No spurs. She stayed true to gender.”

The burgeoning discussion of causality in combined spells and its unpredictable outcome in the bond was interrupted by Alastor’s indignant shout, “IT DOES TOO COUNT AS A DANGEROUS ANIMAL, HENDRICKS. NOW GIVE ME MY GALLEONS!”

The attention of those in the Ducal box was focused on Alastor and Bill Hendricks at the front edge of the box.

“What’s the problem, Alastor?”

“I won the Imelda pool, Harry, and Hendricks is trying to weasel out on a technicality.”

“Your Grace, there are two people who picked transmutation to an animal but Master Aurora Moody added dangerous in parenthesis to his entry.”

Bill Hendricks held up the parchment.

“There’s a pool? How much?”

“Yes, Duchess Narcissa, and a Galleon a square, 1400 for a win.”

“Damn big pool that. We’ll need to be in on the next one, Auror Hendricks.”

Auror Hendricks replied, “That’s a conflict of interest, ma’am,” over Imelda’s indignant chittering hiss.

Harry studied the problem with all the focus of his court mien. “Are you asking for a ruling, Auror Hendricks?”

Cindy Wallace, who had been standing with them, shook her head furiously. Harry’s rulings had an unfortunate tendency to the permanent and hot.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Cindy groaned.

“Sixty-forty split, Auror Wallace gets the sixty percent.”

“Your Grace!”

Amelia Bones rolled her eyes. “Hush, Alastor, before I remember gambling on duty is unauthorized.”

“Shhh, Harry, let them have this one.”

“Okay, Amelia.”

“Alastor, Imelda is not extremely dangerous, but as all true beasts she has the weapons Gaia gave her so is at least a little dangerous.”

Auror Wallace immediately acceded. “Yes, Your Grace.”

Alastor grumbled and went along.

Harry turned back to find Imelda wearing a pink collar and a very put-out expression. Luna had conjured the collar and a matching lead. “Luna, shouldn’t we change Imelda back?”

While nodding her head behind Imelda’s back, Luna replied, “I always wanted a platypus, Harry. We can put her in the roof garden and find her a mate.”

Imelda’s dark bill blanched gray.

“In a few minutes, Harry.”

“Okay, Luna, but don’t torture her too much.”

“Well, if you think so, Luna, but we’ll have to go to New Zealand. She’s pretty big.”

“Harry, the games are starting.”

“Okay, Beatrice.” Harry turned his attention to the Warg JV as Imelda made with the puppy-dog eyes at Luna.

Luna sat contentedly feeding Imelda small fish, slugs, crayfish, and insects from a small pail she had conjured.

Imelda tried to resist eating them but her instincts took over.

“Well, how are you going to get the pictures now, Cindy?”

Auror Wallace rolled her eyes. Bill was good-looking but he was a little thick sometimes, “They won’t leave her changed forever, Bill, probably only a few more minutes.”

Cindy was right. After the Warg victory Imelda was changed back and went to buy a drink to wash the taste of her—errrh—dinner, yes, dinner, just like everyone else was having—out of her mouth.

Harry wandered to the dueling stages with Andrew. “Anything new, Harry?”

“We just did the interrogations. Same stuff: murderers and rapists, a few child abusers. The last of Riddle’s and some just evil gits, we think. We’ll do court tomorrow.”

“I’ll get a list from Mopsy and take it to Mother tonight.”

“I had one sent with Chief Hamlish.”

“Thanks. How about Xi Shi, Harry?”

Harry shrugged. “Well, the girls have just about convinced me to take her instead of killing her, but I don’t really know what to do with the Chinese government. I mean, one mistake and I could end up in a war with a billion Chinese.”

Remus and Sirius strolled up to the pair. “Chan Li and Hu Chang are working on it, Harry.”

“Hello, Sirius. I was wondering where you two had gotten off to. You’d better be careful, Sirius, Andromeda was looking for you with blood in her eye. Something about a semi-literate note and cowardice.”

Remus glared at Sirius. “Yes, Harry, we know. Rose already found us and Andromeda was not far behind—Molly and Esmeralda, too.”

Harry blinked. “Uh, Sirius, I find it’s better not to piss them off if you can avoid it.”

“Oh, really? We didn’t do it on purpose—well, okay, maybe we did, but it was important. The Order didn’t have contacts in China, and no matter what you decide to do with her we’re going to need to know where this Dark Lady lives. Chan and Hu are helping us with that.”

Harry and Andrew nodded. Sirius was struck, not for the first time, with how well these two got along.

“Any ideas on the Chinese, Harry?

“None I like. Seriously, Sirius, I’ve been thinking about the size of the opposition. If we use the standard one percent of population and there are a billion Chinese, that leaves us with what—a hundred million wizarding Chinese? Say one percent of them are bad enough actors to warrant our attention, so a million we’ll have to deal with eventually. But we never hear much about them, so what’s really going on?”

“Really, Harry, you have to stop stealing my lines. Chu, Su, Cho, or none of the other mates know?”

Harry shook his head. “Chu is nationalist Chinese, really bad blood with the mainland Chinese. Su and Cho are pretty anglicized, born here and all. You’ve actually struck at the right source, Remus. Cho and Su can tell us secondhand stories, but Chan and Hu lived it as young men. The other factor complicating the issue is that I have no claim on China at all. Any action there will be expansion of the Realm by conquest, something I’m loathe to do.”

Andrew nodded. “So we’re stuck until our intelligence gathering picks up pace. What about the Russians, Harry?”

“European Russia is mine—well, part of the Realm—and Anastasia is the last remaining member of the previous dynasty. Her father was Robert Bourbon-Parma, Princess Marguerite Bourbon Parma’s second son. Makes the Queen, Phillip, you, her, and Zsuzsa all related, Andrew. I’ll install her as ruler of the Russias if I have to. She would much prefer that a democratic form of government take hold, but she’s running out of patience. We’re going to mine the crap out of it and let the evil gits’ nature bring them to us.

“We desperately need to find the magical beings being born and get them in the school system. If we can educate them thoroughly and fairly they can improve their situation, and that plus the stones should lead to improving conditions eventually. However, using our planning factor of .31 for children, we’ll have thirty-one million children in school. I’ll have to build schools in China and Russia.”

“Just copy the magical births registry’s enchantments, Harry, and tie it to whatever the one here is tied to. And building your own schools is probably the best way to go. That way you can swear the kids.”

Harry had to sit down as the bond went absolutely mad with theorizing and self-recrimination.

“All right there then, Harry?”

“Fine, Andrew. The girls just got a little carried away at Sirius’s suggestion. I suspect we’ll have worked it out by tomorrow.”

“I’m glad it’s only the two for me, then.”

The bond screeched to a halt so fast Harry thought he would be ill.

“What did Sirius just say? What two? Oooooh, two? Who, I wonder? Lauren, what aren’t you telling? Me? I don’t know who. Shelia, Susan, you’ve been keeping secrets. Not me. Me either.”

“Shhhh. Harry, ask him who.”

“Okay, Daphne. Everybody be quiet, now. I can’t do this with all of you running crazy in my head.”

“Errrh, two, Sirius?”

Sirius blushed. “I said that out loud. then?”

Remus picked up the lead now. “Why yes, yes you did.”

“You might as well spill it, Sirius. We aren’t going to let you go otherwise.”

“Well, Harry scooped up Emmy and Tia along with most of the unbonded our age, so I doubt you know them and we’re just intent-bonded so far.”

“Good God, man you are a coward! Who?”

Sirius looked affronted. “Well, if you must know, Remus—Melinda Wieland and Vicki Jacob. We met when they found out about Harry and their daughters and, well, things just led to things.”

“Oooh, I’ll kill the slapper.”

“Why that lying cow! I asked her who she was seeing and she told me nobody.”

The bonded cracked up, not over the comments but over the feelings Melissa and Irene were projecting. They were mortified that their mothers, Melinda and Victoria, were having sex. Minerva and some of the older women in the bond were very, very amused. It didn’t help that Harry was projecting another of his Minerva fantasies into the bond.

“Harry, Morgana! Take Minerva and get a room.”

“Excuse me, gentlemen, got to go.”

Phillip, who had been talking to Harry when he got a faraway look, asked, “What the hell got into him and where did he go?”

Minerva struggled slightly. “Harry, what are you...mmmmmm...doing hmmmmmmhmm! Where are we? Harry, someone will seeeeeeee!”

Minerva didn’t even have time to figure out where they were before Harry had her buttons open and a hardening nipple in his mouth and both hands very busy.

Nym shook her head. “Eugenie, don’t suggest things like that. Oh Morgana, here we go.”

Nym flicked a hand and the shield around the box blurred to outside view.

The mates shuddered gently. Irene and Melissa were still upset.

“Here, let’s do this then.”

Harry locked onto Melissa and Irene and pulled them in tight through the bond as he slowed down with Minerva and started giving her his concentrated dead level best efforts. Minerva was so glad it was Sunday tomorrow. She let herself go. Harry ended up fading Melissa and Irene to him in the master suite. And all three women were well pleased by the time the rest of their mates arrived. Minerva was shattered.