Chapter 32
"So, in summation, the devil government is divided into three branches, not unlike some governments on Earth," Agrippa said. "The executive branch is controlled by the Four Great Satans: Lord Sirzechs, Lord Ajuka, Lady Serafall, and Lord Falbium. The Council of Lords, on which sit the ruling lords and ladies of every remaining Pillar House, serves as the legislative branch, while the Elder Council serves as the judicial branch. The lion's share of power is held by the executive branch, of which Lord Sirzechs is the most active member in the government, but a two-thirds majority in both of the other branches can overrule them."
"Makes more sense than the wizarding government," Harry murmured, "given that the Wizengamot seemed to be both of the latter branches while the minister did whatever the hell Fudge did other than make trouble."
"Why does the executive branch hold so much more power than the others?" Hermione asked. "I can't imagine that they're often overruled at all, given how many people would need to band together to do so."
"Good question, Miss Granger," Agrippa replied. "One thing that you'll need to learn quickly is that devils respect, above all else, power. The Four Great Satans hold the roles that they do in large part because they're the most powerful devils in the Underworld. Lady Grayfia nearly took the position of Leviathan, but Lady Serafall managed to just barely best her."
"She and Lord Sirzechs would have essentially been the royal family of the Underworld at that point," Fleur pointed out, and Agrippa chuckled.
"They pretty much are," he replied. "Lord Ajuka's primary focus is on his research and he often goes weeks or even months without venturing outside of Agreas. Lord Falbium controls the military and spends most of his time overseeing the ongoing conflict with the angels, so that leaves him with very little time for the day to day operations."
"What about Lady Serafall?" Luna asked, curious.
"She's in charge of our foreign affairs," Agrippa replied, looking somewhat strained. "Most of her time is spent on her acting pursuits, though."
"Acting?" Harry asked.
"Lady Serafall stars in and produces a television series called Magical Girl Levia-tan," Agrippa replied, wincing only slightly. "It is, for reasons I am clearly far too old to understand, highly popular."
"Magical girl?" Luna asked, and a chill went down Harry's spine, as though something terrible was about to happen.
"It's an entire genre of television in Japan, from what I understand," Agrippa replied. "Lady Rias could explain more."
"I'll have to ask her," Luna mused.
"Harry?" Grayfia asked, poking her head in the small room they were using as a classroom. "It's time."
"Alright," Harry nodded.
"Just go over the maps I assigned to you," Agrippa called out. "You'll be expected to fill in each clan's territory on the test tomorrow."
"I will," Harry nodded as he stood up.
"Good luck," Luna murmured, and he saw Hermione and Fleur look at him hopefully.
He took flight, following Grayfia outside. The past couple days had been filled with basic lessons on how the Underworld operated as well as the history of the devils. It would be some time before any of them, even Hermione, were particularly knowledgeable on the subjects at hand, but time was something that they had in great abundance. Rias was planning to take over and bring them up to speed on what they'd need to know to go to attend Kuoh after her term ended, which meant that they had a few weeks of underworld lessons left.
School had barely been a concern of his since he met her, having to come to focus so thoroughly on training for the tournament, and he'd pilfered so much knowledge from the Horcrux that he didn't need his Hogwarts classes anyway. The dead Dark Lord's knowledge couldn't help him in Japan or with the devils, though, so he ended up having to actually pay attention to lessons again, which was almost novel.
There was still a need for training, though.
"Alright," Grayfia said flatly as they reached the training yard on the castle's grounds. "I'll be upfront with you; you have no hope against me. Landing even a single hit would be impressive, so I don't want you sulking and moping about because I thoroughly outclassed you, got it?"
"I trained with Rias and Akeno…" Harry went to say.
"Neither of them are anywhere near as powerful as I am," Grayfia pointed out.
"...as a middling fourth-year wizard student," Harry continued, looking at her flatly. "I spent months getting my ass kicked by them before I improved at all, so trust me, I can handle that."
"Good," Grayfia replied approvingly. "Hit me with everything you have. I want to see what I'm dealing with."
"Alright," Harry replied, calling forth his magic.
He had been reading some of the spellbooks that Luna had become so fond of, the ones from another world, and had just the spell in mind to test the waters. He lobbed a magic missile at her, wanting to see what she'd do, and she flicked it away almost lazily.
"You have better control over your magic than some new devils," Grayfia commented, "something that your background guarantees, but you'll need to do better than that."
He flew around her, continuing to send missile after missile at her from every direction, and she blocked each one, looking increasingly confused by what he thought he was going to accomplish. In truth, he wanted to get a basic sense of how she fought, wondering if she'd take advantage of the speed that her evil piece afforded her, the brute strength, or the magical enhancement. He'd already gotten a more complete explanation of how Evil Pieces worked than Rias had ever given him and knew that as a queen, Grayfia was enhanced in virtually every way. She seemed to favor magical solutions, choosing to stand almost still as she batted away his every spell.
"What exactly do you think you're…" Grayfia went to ask, only to go silent as she felt something far more powerful headed her way.
The organ-melting curse she chose to dodge, and she smiled just slightly. "I was wondering when you'd try something real."
"I wanted to see how you'd react to basic attacks," Harry replied, "before I used anything of value."
He put his hands together and sent a large ball of fire in her direction, only for her to disappear and reappear right in front of him, making him gasp.
"Careful now," she chuckled. "If you set the grounds on fire, Lady Venelana will be most upset, and trust me when I say you don't want that."
"Did you teleport?" Harry asked, flying back a few feet.
"No, I just flew," Grayfia replied, putting out the fire he'd set with a snap of her fingers. "My speed is greatly enhanced by my queen piece, and I move quickly enough to look like I'm teleporting when I want to. Agrippa did tell you how the evil pieces work, yes?"
"The knight pieces are made faster than they were, the rook's stronger and more durable, and the bishops more magically capable," Harry replied. "The queen pieces get a mix of all three, while the pawns…"
"Can take on the traits of any of them, provided they're in the right circumstances," Grayfia finished for him. "In time you'll learn to promote yourself to any of the other four options, though you'll most often take on the queen traits, for obvious reasons. Your magical control is impressive, as I said, but we're going to need to broaden your thinking."
"Hmm?" Harry asked.
"The type of magic you've learned so far has been quite regimented and strict, since descendants of the fallen are somewhat limited in what they can and can't do," Grayfia explained. "What you're drawing on now is demonic power, of which you seem to have an impressive amount for one just turned. It is far less limited, and in time you'll learn to do truly extraordinary things, but for now, I think we'll focus on your stamina."
"My stamina is the least of my problems, trust me," Harry chuckled, only to freeze as she glared at him.
"Towards the end of the war, I fought Serafall for ten days and ten nights," Grayfia explained. "That cute story Lady Venelana insisted I tell last night, we left out the part where Sirzechs showed up and spotted me after that. Now, I wouldn't have beaten him either way, but I was tired when we fought, and I still went after him for the better part of an hour before I exhausted myself. Now, you're going to try to hit me for real, with actual attacks, and every fifty times you fail, I'll hit you...like this."
She backhanded him, and Harry flew right into the ground, his ears ringing as he crashed. The Harry-sized dent he made in the ground would have made him laugh if he wasn't groaning in pain as he picked himself back up and shook his head. He needed no further proof than that that he was far stronger now than he was before he became a devil, because he doubted that he'd have survived that as a human, and he suspected that she was holding back too.
"Holy shit," he thought to himself as he flew back up to the murder maid regarding him with cold red eyes.
"Shall we begin seriously?" she asked and he spat down on the ground and grinned at her.
He was under no illusions about whether or not he'd manage to beat or even hit Grayfia just now, but he knew that she was very close to the level of one of the Great Satans and that he'd need to far exceed her to meet his goal.
"Let's," Harry replied, extending his right hand and hurling a bolt of lightning at her that she shielded against.
"What in the world?" Hermione asked as she spotted the small factory on the edge of the Gremory territory that she was almost certain wasn't there a couple days ago.
Having to learn about a whole other world was exhilarating, and she was thrilled to know that, even if she'd left Hogwarts, she would still be attending classes on other subjects, but somewhere in the middle of memorizing the map of the devil territory, she'd started to get a bit of a headache and decided to fly around. She'd never cared of flying as a witch, not particularly liking the idea of using brooms for it. She didn't find them entirely comfortable, and she'd always been afraid of falling off and plummeting to her death. Now that she could do it under her own power, though, she finally understood what Harry liked so much about it.
"It wouldn't hurt to take a look," she thought to herself, flying over to get a better look.
As she drew close, she spotted a familiar head of crimson hair and landed in front of Zeoticus, whose eyebrows raised quickly as he noticed her.
"Oh, this is the Atlantean factory!" she exclaimed as she finally recognized the odd architecture.
It was a stepped pyramid of sorts, made of a dark stone with a slight bluish tinge, each level lined with glowing teal stones that she assumed had to be magical.
"It is indeed," Zeoticus chuckled, gesturing for the servants who had stopped to look at her to get back to work.
"How did you build it so quickly, my lord?" Hermione asked. "I thought you only started reading about them recently."
"You'll find that, with demonic power, plenty of things can be done more quickly and efficiently," Zeoticus chuckled. "Come inside. The work is nearly done, and I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."
Hermione nodded and followed along as he led her into the factory. The doors were all of an unusual design, featuring two parts clearly designed to fit together. They split in the middle, revealing that the one on the right jutted out about a foot in the middle and actually slotted into an opening in the left side. They were built like giant seatbelt buckles, and she wondered why in the world they worked that way.
"How many examples of Atlantean architecture did you find in the library?" she asked, and Zeoticus chuckled.
"The doors seemed odd to you too?" he asked. "That was actually quite common, and I have no idea why. Every door in this place works the same way, and they're all opened and closed exclusively by magic.
"I guess that's no weirder than the moving staircases at Hogwarts," Hermione commented as he led her further in. "Wow, this actually looks like a proper factory."
There was a large assembly line that went all the way around the square room, feeding into one mechanical-looking station after another.
"The basic process seems to be the same," Zeoticus replied. "The magicians of Atlantis just happened to figure it out thousands of years before the regular humans did. This particular factory was operated entirely by automatons, though my servants will be able to fill in for their roles. A dozen of them would work all day, manning their respective stations and ensuring that more and more of them were constructed. I'll admit that I'm mostly doing this to see how they work, but I would love to find a way to turn this into something more substantial."
"Do you think there'd be much of a market for it in the Underworld?" Hermione asked.
"Probably not," Zeoticus replied. "We have all the servants we need, and, thanks to the evil pieces, we can recruit humans if we need to. These things, if they worked, would be superfluous at best and a hazard to the economy at worst."
"They were meant to take the place of slaves, after all," Hermione nodded, "and slavery is, among other horrible things, a dreadfully stupid economic model. Even the magical world is smart enough to leave most tasks to employ…"
She trailed off, her eyes going wide as an odd thought occurred to her.
"What is it?" Zeoticus asked, eyeing her curiously.
"The Atlantean automatons were magical constructs," Hermione replied. "Could they perform magical acts?"
"They could perform basic magical tasks, yes," Zeoticus replied. "They were meant to serve the locals, after all, and that often meant taking care of things that they were too busy and/or lazy to. They're powered by heavily charged runic stones that sit in their chests and last for about thirty years before needing to be replaced."
Hermione thought to herself, wondering if she was about to suggest something stupid. From what she'd seen in her brief look at the book the Gremory lord had been reading the first time she met him, the automatons were just shy of four feet tall, vaguely humanoid, and utterly obedient. If they could perform all of the basic tasks that wizards and witches needed done…
"What if you sold them to the magical world?" she asked, earning a curious look from him.
"They already have those elves, though," Zeoticus pointed out, and she smiled.
"Yes, that's it," Hermione said. "They have house elves, who are generally loyal, fanatically so, but who come with some drawbacks. They draw on the magic of the one they're bound to to survive, and it isn't unheard of for them to fail or even betray their masters, even with how terribly bonded they are. If the automatons turn out to be capable of everything that they are, it might be possible to advertise them as a superior alternative."
"Hmm, curious," Zeoticus replied, looking around the factory. "I suppose I could make a fair bit of money there, though the enterprise would make me a fair few enemies."
"Elf breeders would despise it, of course, but…" Hermione went to say.
"Breeder," Zeoticus corrected her, and she looked at him in confusion. "I did a bit of reading on the subject after you raised it when we last spoke. It turns out that every house elf on Earth comes from the same source, the Lynch family in Ireland."
"You're serious?" Hermione asked, cringing as she realized just how little research she had actually done when she tried to start up her crusade for the elves earlier that year.
"They hold a complete global monopoly," Zeoticus confirmed. "Every elf sold throughout the world comes from their manor on the island of Inchmore. If I'm not mistaken, they're the only ones who live on the island."
"Even for the wizarding world, a place where things often don't make sense, a global monopoly is decidedly weird," Hermione pointed out.
"I was a little confused myself by that, but I didn't find anything explaining why," Zeoticus chuckled. "What would be your plan for the elves, should we manage to replace them?"
"I would ask very nicely that you give everyone willing to...trade in their elf a bit of a discount," Hermione replied awkwardly. "They're an entire species of slaves who have, presumably for generations beyond remembrance, been raised to believe that serving wizards and witches is their only purpose in life. I want to see if they could come to do anything else, given the option, and this world is clearly rich enough in magical energy to sustain them if Hogwarts can. The whole thing feels even more magical than the castle did. With nothing suggesting that they'd be harmed by coming here like I initially thought, it could make for an intriguing experiment."
"An entire species raised for centuries to serve would find someone else to serve," Zeoticus assured her. "Teaching them to do anything else would take centuries, need to stretch across multiple generations, and even then might well fail completely."
"I know it's unlikely, but I think it would be fascinating to attempt it, and if House Gremory could profit from it…" Hermione trailed off, enjoying the genuine interest in the older man's eyes. "If the stones last thirty years, you would have the entire magical world on a subscription plan to you. The potential profit would be significant."
"Hmm, well, you've given me something to consider," Zeoticus replied. "How go your studies?"
"Agrippa was telling us about the basic structure of the government earlier and then went into the early years of Lucifer's reign," Hermione replied. "I need to fill Harry in on that last part, as Grayfia showed up to take him away for training before we got to it."
"Yes, I saw her batting him through the skies earlier," Zeoticus chuckled. When Hermione looked concerned, he added, "Oh, he was quite alright. Devils are rather more durable than humans."
"As I'm sure I'll learn soon enough," Hermione muttered. "I was surprised that she volunteered to even start his training. Rias had intimated that that wouldn't be the best idea."
"She'll not be his primary trainer, at least for a while, but she's better than most at assessing where one is, power-wise," Zeoticus replied. "From her recommendations, it will be easy to figure out who would be best to handle his early training, other than Rias."
"Right," Hermione nodded. "Anyway, I'll leave you to this. Thank you for showing it to me and for considering my idea."
"You're quite welcome," Zeoticus replied.
With that, she flew off, her mind racing as she contemplated an idea that she'd set aside but never truly lost.
"Mama?" Fleur asked as she stepped through the floo port from the Rookery.
She could have teleported there outright, but that would have raised questions that she didn't feel like answering just yet. Eventually, she would need to fess up to her family about what she'd done, but this conversation was going to be difficult enough without adding that in.
"Fleur, thank...what in the world are you wearing?" Apolline asked, and Fleur blanched as she looked down and saw that she was still in her skimpy maid uniform.
She'd worn nothing else since Harry first gave it to her, owing him as much for the bet, and gotten so used to it that she completely forgot. Sirius hadn't been in when she popped over to the Rookery, and neither elf had noticed, so this was her first time coming across anyone who might point it out.
"'Arry and I had a bet on who would win the third task," Fleur replied, making her mother laugh. "I've been wearing this damn thing for days and forgot to change."
"How is 'Arry?" Apolline asked. "You were so worried the last time you were here I don't think you even realized that you were speaking English."
"I was a mess," Fleur admitted, "but they're doing well, all things considered. The attack was pretty bad, but Harry managed to fend off the dark lord until Dumbledore could return."
"So the papers have said," Apolline murmured, sounding impressed. "Such power for a boy his age is unheard of."
"He is no boy," Fleur grinned, "something that was true even before I got my hands on him."
Apolline laughed at that and sat down, beckoning Fleur to do the same as she summoned a pair of teacups over and filled them, whatever she had steeping in the pot. Fleur smiled and nodded as she took hers, realizing at once that it was rose petals in the pot.
"Are Papa and Gabbie out?" she asked after a moment, furrowing her brow as her mother tensed.
"Gabrielle is out visiting a friend," Apolline replied. "As for your papa, he has an appointment with a healer."
"What's wrong?" Fleur asked.
"He's been increasingly weary and fatigued for the past few months," Apolline replied. "The ministry's been driving him mad, and he blamed it on that, but it doesn't seem to matter how well he sleeps or for how long. Finally, I put my foot down and demanded that he speak to someone, to set my mind at ease if nothing else."
"He seemed fine when I saw him," Fleur insisted, instantly anxious.
"You know your Papa," Apolline sighed. "That man could lose a limb, and he'd still act like nothing was wrong. He's probably just overworked, and I'm thinking of insisting on a vacation somewhere in the Riviera once we hear more from the healer. Do you think you could look after Gabrielle for a few days if we needed you to?"
"I...could," Fleur replied slowly, setting her tea down. "There's something that I need to tell you."
"You are moving to Britain, aren't you?" Apolline sighed. "Fleur, I know zat you and 'Arry have been seeing each other for a while, but..."
"I love him, Mama," Fleur smiled, and despite her reservations, Apolline smiled back. "I want to be with him for life, and I'm ready to move in with him."
"And there's no chance that he'd agree to move to France?" Apolline asked. "From what I've read in the papers, things in Britain sound utterly chaotic at the moment. One of the two students who were initially listed as casualties of the Death Eater attack is now suspected of having been their accomplice. The government is in chaos and some are wondering if they will even reopen the school, which leads in to another issue you're going to have. 'Arry is still in school and will spend most of the next year away at 'Ogwarts..."
"He's not returning there," Fleur replied, and Apolline went silent.
"He's had enough then," she nodded. "I can't say I'm surprised, given what you told me in your letters of his past. Where will he go then?"
"He doesn't really need further magical education," Fleur replied. "He could go toe-to-toe with the most powerful dark wizard since Grindelwald. He knows more about magic than I do, and his godfather is really interested in Japan…"
"Japan!?" Apolline exclaimed. "Why in the world would they go there?"
"Like I say, Sirius has long been intrigued by it," Fleur replied, giving her mother the lie they all agreed on, "and those three need a fresh start. 'Ermione's parents were murdered this year, as was Luna's father, and 'Arry was targeted yet again by Voldemort. With the dark prick dead, all three of them want a chance to go somewhere where they aren't known and try to live a normal life."
"Do any of you even speak Japanese?" Apolline asked, sounding exasperated.
"Language charms," Fleur replied, and her mother just blinked at her.
"Those are highly regulated and quite expensive," she pointed out, and Fleur just chuckled.
"It pays to have a government owe you," she replied, "not that Sirius would consider this worth what he went through. We're all fluent in the language by now."
"You really do mean to leave then," Apolline sulked, and Fleur hugged her.
"Hey, I'll still be but a floo trip away," she assured her. "It's not like we're muggles."
"You'll still be on the other side of the world," Apolline complained. "The difference in time zones alone will be a nightmare."
"I'll still come by often, I promise," Fleur sighed, and her mother hugged her more tightly, only to freeze.
"Oh my," she breathed, pulling back and looking at Fleur in surprise.
"What?" Fleur asked.
"It took a minute, but I finally noticed your man's essence on you," Apolline purred. "No wonder you're willing to follow him across the globe."
Fleur giggled at that and said, "He is extraordinary, Mama. Powerful, dominant, and an utter god in bed."
"We will have to discuss that at length," Apolline grinned, "or at girth."
Fleur cackled at that just as the door opened and a little blonde missile ran inside.
"Mam...Fleur!" Gabrielle exclaimed, rushing over and giving her sister a hug. "Where have...why do you smell so good?"
"Oh dear," Apolline muttered, looking up at Sebastian, who walked in behind their energetic youngest daughter.
"It's not smell you're sensing, ma petite," Fleur chuckled, "and I think you just might be getting older."
"What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked, "And why are you dressed up for Halloween?"
"I'm wondering that myself, Fleur," Sebastian chuckled, giving her a pointed look that made her blush.
"It's a long story, Papa," Fleur replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Better already," Sebastian replied, making Apolline narrow her eyes at him. "I think I just needed a day away from that Gordian Knot we call a government. How were things in Britain?"
"Chaotic," Fleur replied. "There's something that I need to discuss with you all."
"I take it Grayfia hits really hard," Luna winced as she rubbed Harry's sore muscles.
"Like a bloody truck," he groaned. "Where are the others?"
"Hermione went flying and Fleur returned to France to speak to her family," Luna replied. "She does need to inform them about the whole 'moving to another continent' thing."
"She's sure that they won't sense the change in her?" Harry asked.
"She didn't sense just what Rias and Akeno were when all she knew about them was that you were sleeping with them," Luna pointed out. "Veela's senses are pretty great, but she's sure that her mother won't sense that she's a devil. She'll need to tell her at some point, but she figures one bombshell will be enough for now."
"I hate that we might end up being a source of tension between them," Harry muttered. Fleur was the only one among them other than Rias who still had any family, so the idea of parting them was deeply unpleasant.
"I'm sure it will all work out," Luna smiled, leaning down and kissing his bare back. "How are you feeling?"
"Infinitely better," Harry smiled. "Your hands are magical, Luna."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to try out another massage technique I've been reading about," Luna suggested and Harry shrugged.
"Have at it," he sighed. "I trust you."
Luna smiled at that, and her wings sprung out of her back as she took flight. "When this is done by muggles, they balance on things to help regulate their weight distribution, but I figure flying will make that even easier."
"Do wha...ugh," Harry groaned as he felt her feet press down on his back.
"How's that?" Luna asked, walking slowly over to him as the books she'd read on the subject suggested.
"Weird but not bad," Harry replied, groaning as she pressed more of her weight on him, massaging more deeply than she could by hand.
"If I'd known you were willing to try being stepped on, I'd have happily volunteered," Rias purred, and he laughed, nearly throwing Luna off her balance.
"Are we all set?" Luna asked, looking over at the crimson-haired beauty.
"We are," Rias nodded. "I have everything set up in the ritual room, and Akeno's already there. We're still waiting for Fleur, but I figured she'd be a little late, given everything. Could you pop over to the Rookery? I wanted to speak with Harry alone."
"Okay," Luna replied, flying off of him and landing softly next to the bed. "I wish I could be part of this too."
"Next month," Rias promised. "Looking over the ritual, I figured that it would be easy enough for the master to take on two servants at once, but I'm wary of trying three."
"It's okay," Luna smiled. "It's not like I don't already submit to Harry and his magic incubus penis nightly anyway. I don't mind waiting another month to make it official. See you in the orgy room."
She left with that, and Harry sat up, chuckling at her.
"I already read through Grayfia's report," Rias nodded. "By power alone, you're already pretty much as close as Akeno is to being considered a middle-class devil. There's a lot more that goes into that, and it will be quite some time before you can take the tests, but that's still extraordinary for one so recently turned."
"I did spend most of last year training with you two," Harry smiled. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Us," Rias replied, climbing into his lap and running her nails through his hair. He'd grown it out over the course of the year, and it was nearly to his shoulders by now, something that all of his girls seemed to really enjoy.
"Should I be worried?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her softly.
"I hope not," Rias replied. "Where do you see things going between us?"
Harry furrowed his brow in confusion at that and said, "Where...things would go, I suppose. I love you, and I want to spend my life with you."
"I love you too," Rias sighed happily.
"I'll be honest, I didn't grow up with the healthiest example of a romantic relationship," Harry muttered. "My aunt and uncle cared about the perception of those around them and very little else. They got along, I suppose, but their marriage had all the passion and warmth of a corpse."
"That's...actually why I was asking," Rias replied. "Where would you like us to be in five years?"
"Living peacefully, I hope," Harry replied softly. "I want Rizevim dealt with, our battles behind us, and the lot of us living together in peace and bliss. As for marriage, how do the laws here work, exactly?"
"There are certain regulations that must be followed," Rias replied. "The person of higher rank and status in the relationship is traditionally the one who proposes."
"Well, you have always looked good on your knees, luv," Harry rumbled, and Rias looked at him in shock for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"What happened to that innocent boy whose virginity I took?" she asked, sounding scandalized.
"You thoroughly corrupted him, and then he became an incubus," Harry grinned, brushing her hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek. "Did you think I'd be scared at the idea of marriage?"
"We are still really young," Rias replied, and he just chuckled.
"I don't think I've ever been young," Harry sighed. "Voldemort orphaned me when I was a year old. I spent ten years living with people who openly scorned me, and then upon learning that there was an entire world out there where people theoretically liked me, I was put into one life-threatening situation after another, ultimately turning to the devils for help with a particularly bad one. Now, having dealt with the psycho prick who tried to kill me as a baby, I've learned that, as a consequence of his actions, I'm going to need to become strong enough to challenge the fucking devil's son. I don't know how long my life is going to be, but I know that I want to spend it with you. How could I fear that?"
"Oh, Harry!" Rias exclaimed, kissing him deeply and trying to pour every ounce of love and affection she had into it. "I swear, I'll spend our entire life making up for all of that."
"Just being with you does that," Harry smiled. "Um, I do have to ask, though, are your parents truly okay with the idea of us being together for good? At the moment, we could just be written off as a passing affair, but if we're talking about marriage…"
"I haven't spoken to Father about this yet, but Mother would be happy to see us wed today," Rias replied, and his jaw dropped.
"What? Why?" he asked, genuinely surprised, and she just sighed.
"As an incubus, you're going to be the subject of great interest throughout the Underworld," Rias replied, and Harry chuckled.
"I'm rather used to that, trust me," he replied. "From the moment I arrived in the magical world, I was gawked at openly."
"Yes, but women weren't throwing themselves, their daughters, or both at you," Rias replied, "though if you returned to Hogwarts this year, that would probably change."
"Wait, what?" Harry asked.
"You're an incubus, Harry," Rias explained, "the only one in existence. You hold the key to fixing the greatest flaw in our people, and there isn't a noble family in the Underworld who won't want to take advantage of that. We're keeping it quiet for the time being, but word will spread, and when it does, so will the legs of every unwed noble girl among the devils."
"You...you make it sound like they're going to be trying to beat down our door," Harry spluttered.
"They won't be that overt, but they will be about as desperate," Rias sighed. "Mother listed off half a dozen women likely to be sent our way off the top of her head, and there will likely be more than that."
"But the sperm samples that Ajuka took…" Harry went to argue.
"Are an insurance policy, little more," Rias replied. "Having little incubi and succubi that way would be helpful for the species, but the noble families will want the political connections that could come from putting their daughters in our bed as well, and he did promise not to use what you gave him unless you died without children, something that I'm absolutely not having until after I've graduated, by the way."
"I asked for that because I didn't want a bunch of my children running around without me knowing about them," Harry sighed. "Wait, is polygamy even legal in the underworld?"
"It is," Rias replied. "It's not all that common, since noblemen usually keep harems to give them a better shot at having children anyway, but we're not exactly sticklers for the biblical definition of marriage, for obvious reasons."
"I suppose not," Harry chuckled before smiling at her. "If we got married, I wouldn't want it to be because of this."
"You know it wouldn't be," Rias whispered, tracing her hands softly along his horns. "When we met, you saved me from ending up stuck in a marriage I detested the idea of, one that I didn't choose and didn't want. If I were to propose to you, it would be because I chose to, and you know damn well how much I want you. Speaking of desires, I think we're probably keeping a pair of very beautiful women, who want nothing more than to submit to you and declare themselves your willing little fuck-pets, waiting."
"If this wasn't time sensitive, I'd keep them waiting them longer so I could fuck your brains out right here," Harry growled, and Rias gasped as he started kissing her neck.
"We...oh, fuck, need to stop," Rias moaned reluctantly. "Tomorrow, after class, I'll come back here and we can go out, just the two of us. There's this gorgeous little restaurant in Lilith that I think you'll quite enjoy."
"I owe all of you dates, now that I think about it," Harry chuckled, "but that does sound great."
"Excellent, then I'll make the arrangements," Rias smiled. "Now come, we have a ritual to get to."
She took his hand and led him a couple feet away from the bed before opening a teleportation circle. In a flash of crimson light, they were gone, reappearing in the Rookery. Looking around the ritual room, he saw that it was already set up like the ritual room in the Room of Requirement had been, with the circle set up and Akeno and Fleur already standing in their spots. Both of them lit up as they spotted him, and he rushed over.
"Harry," Akeno purred, sounding like she wanted nothing more than to get started, "I've been looking forward to this for weeks."
"I promise that I won't disappoint," Harry grinned.
"You haven't yet," Fleur purred.
"How did things go with your family?" Harry asked, and her smile faded a little.
"They were as surprised and unhappy as I expected," Fleur sighed. "They want to get to know you better and were hoping that you could make it for dinner some weekend."
"Of course," Harry replied. "It's high time that I spent time with them. Did anything else happen, though? You looked tense."
"Papa seemed to be a little under the weather," Fleur replied, "and I think Gabbie is hitting puberty."
"Oh?" Rias asked.
"When Veela reach that age, the first sign is always that they begin to notice the magic of powerful men," Fleur explained. "She hugged me and asked why I smelled so good because she was sensing Harry's essence on me."
"He usually puts his essence in you," Luna piped up, and Fleur grinned as Hermione rolled her eyes affectionately.
"I think it's time we began," Fleur grinned. "The moon is full and beautiful just now."
"Indeed," Akeno purred, and Harry pulled her in for a searing, hot kiss.
"Good girls know when to be patient, Akeno," he whispered, and she shivered.
"When have I ever claimed to be a good girl?" she asked, and he gave her a smoldering look that promised spankings in her near future, much to her delight, before taking his place in the circle.
"Alright," Fleur said, standing next to Akeno in the circle by the window, "so just in case any of us need a refresher from last time, we begin by feeding our magic into the ritual circle below, and then I conduct the binding and ask us to formally declare our intentions. Do either of you have any questions?"
"No," Harry and Akeno replied in unison, and Fleur smiled.
"Then we can begin," she replied, activating the ritual circle. Her control over her magic was already vastly improved now that she was a devil and she knew that the ritual was going to be simpler than it was the first time.
"How was your day?" Rias asked as she sat down with Luna and Hermione, watching the swirling vortex of magic spring up from the circle.
"It was okay," Luna replied. "What's a magical girl?"
"Who told you that term?" Rias asked, watching as red light sprung from Harry and Akeno's hands, while energy that looked like fire sprung from Fleur's.
"Agrippa was telling us about the Four Great Satans and mentioned what Lady Serafall does," Hermione replied.
"Oh, that makes sense," Rias chuckled. "Magical girl refers to a genre of Japanese manga and anime. Lady Serafall has written, produced, and starred in a live-action series of that nature for many years now. It's the most popular program in the Underworld."
"I'll have to check it out," Luna smiled, and Harry tried to ignore the spine-chilling sensation that he developed again, wanting to focus on the ritual.
"Harry, Akeno, do you both wish to form this Master-Servant Contract and thereby bind your souls together?" Fleur asked.
"I do," Akeno smiled, her purple eyes beaming with joy as she looked at Harry.
"I do," Harry nodded, feeling once again like this reminded, of marriage vows, something made all the more prevalent in his mind by his conversation with Rias.
"And 'Arry, do you wish to form this Master-Servant Contract and thereby bind our souls together? Fleur asked.
"I do," Harry vowed.
"I do as well," Fleur smiled.
"Take my hands," Fleur murmured, extending her arms towards them and shivering as Harry moved first to take it.
The first time they did this, Fleur had to learn the chant syllable by syllable, not speaking the strange language, which they'd since learned came from another world. They'd had to rely on Rias and Akeno's ability to speak in tongues, and so they'd translated out, what the characters meant into phonetic sounds in Roman characters. This time, though, Fleur could actually read and speak the language and so needed no such help.
Akeno joined in with the chanting when she gave her signal, and the ritual circle began to glow more brightly, becoming a blinding golden color. Their red and fiery orange energy blended together and enveloped Harry, who once again felt the warmth and joy that he knew at once came from his newly bound lovers. There was no mischievousness this time, as Fleur wasn't secretly messing with them, but there was even more lust. He heard Rias gasp as she felt new connections reach to Harry and put it out of his mind as she shivered on the sofa.
Fleur and Akeno finished the chant in unison, and the blonde turned to Harry once it was done.
"We know what to do in this next part," she grinned, her eyes darkening as a magic circle appeared on the back of his right hand.
Rias had skipped this part last time and was immediately hit with a punishment for doing so, and though neither of them objected to the kind of punishments that came with using Veela magic as the binder in this ritual, they were each eager to submit anyway. For Akeno, it was a simple matter of her finding a perfect dom she loved and adored.
A consummate switch, she liked dominating and submitting in equal measure, but most of her lovers were submissive, and while she loved it when Rias dominated her, there was something about submitting to a man that made her gush even more. Just thinking about their last sexual encounter would have been enough to make her ruin her panties if she were wearing any. He was so confident, so in control, and so damn rough, she lost herself in a haze of orgasmic bliss that still racked her body even after he stopped. She had to stop herself from drooling as she kissed his hand, wondering what kinky delights he might subject her to next.
For Fleur, it was even simpler. She loved him, adored him, and could barely look at him when he was hard without feeling the desire to beg him to ruin all of her holes. Her attraction to him had been extreme before he became an incubus, but since, she felt like she was on fire around him and would have been worried about how her mother was going to handle herself during their upcoming dinner if she wasn't so in love with her father. She was mostly convinced that the incident with his allure spiking as it had came from just how he was fucking Akeno at the time, so she wasn't too worried about that being a problem.
She stepped forward and kissed his hand as Akeno stepped back, gasping as she felt the sheer heat and lust at the core of his being.
"Oh, 'Arry," she breathed as the ritual ended. "You are extraordinary."
"He really is, isn't he?" Akeno grinned. "So much so that I think we should give him a little...show of our devotion."
"Oh, she's beautiful!" Luna exclaimed, looking down at the promotional image Rias had summoned to give the blonde an idea of what Serafall's show was like.
"She is," Rias chuckled, amused by her enthusiasm. "She's, as I've said, my best friend's older sister. Sona came by earlier to gawk at the Rookery."
"I think she's more than a little jealous," Akeno laughed as she sank to her knees and vanished Harry's clothes. "Mmm, such a gorgeous master I have."
"We have," Fleur purred, kneeling with her.
"Serve me," Harry commanded, and they both shivered, as did Rias. "Fuck."
He hissed as the pair of them moved in unison, peppering his length with wet, warm kisses. Placing his hands on their heads lovingly, he smirked when he saw their purplish-red collars flicker around their slender throats. They worshiped his cock together, nearly making out around his girth and when Fleur wrapped her lips around the head, Akeno pulled back and pouted.
"Fleur," she whined, and the Veela giggled around his length, making him groan.
"Wait your turn, Akeno," Harry instructed firmly, giving her a pointed look, and she grinned as she caught his meaning.
"No!" she exclaimed petulantly. "I don't want to...ahh!"
Her collar appeared around her throat, and she gasped at the sudden wave of all-consuming arousal that overtook her.
"Oh, fuck, this is amazing," she moaned, lying back as she took a moment to enjoy the sheer extent of her painful arousal.
"Not exactly the word I'd use to describe it, but it is intense," Rias chuckled, watching her first servant endure what she had multiple times by now.
She'd learned to avoid triggering punishments accidentally by now and was usually good with that. Part of the reason why she'd been looking forward to this was to get a chance to see what she'd only felt before, and she shuddered at the sheer look of desperation on Akeno's face. She had teased her queen for hours before, torturing her by bringing her to the edge of ecstasy again and again only to deny her, and she knew what the raven-haired woman looked like when she was desperate to cum.
"Akeno's never looked that desperate, though," she thought to herself, shuddering at the thought that what she'd endured was beyond anything she'd ever done to her very willing queen.
"Oh, fuck me, Harry," Akeno begged, rolling onto her belly and pushing her arse up towards him. "Please!"
"Luna," Hermione whimpered, and the blonde immediately moved to kiss her.
Rias looked over at the pair and chuckled, moving in and peppering Luna's neck with kisses. Harry watched the three of them start to make out frenziedly, turned on by the show he, Akeno, and Fleur were putting on, all while the former begged for his touch and the latter practically tried to inhale his cock, and thought once more that, for all the trouble he went through, he did still enjoy his life.
"That's not what good little servants call me if they want rewards," Harry teased, and Akeno mewled.
"I said before, Harry, I'm not a good girl," she breathed, reaching behind her and pulling her plump arse cheeks wide. "You can have either hole, be as rough as you want, I can take it, just please fuck me."
Fleur let his cock slip from her lips with an audible pop and glared at the dark-haired woman, hissing, "He's already made his choice. We all know Harry prefers me anyway."
Harry was about to say something about that when he saw a glint in her nearly black eyes and paused, grinning as her collar appeared a moment later. She cried out, her feathers coming in as arousal flooded her entire body. Akeno, realizing what happened, moved to rush towards him when he reached out and stopped her with a wave of his hand.
"You two already know what you need to do to make this stop," he rumbled, making both of them shiver. "If you're going to fight, then clearly I need to help you learn to get along again."
His magic blanketed over them, and the two were telekinetically moved towards each other, drawn as though they were magnets. Their clothes disappeared as they slid along the floor, moaning at how he was controlling them, and he noticed that Luna, Hermione, and Rias had all stripped naked too.
"Let's lie on our sides and form a triangle," Luna suggested. "I always love giving and receiving at the same time."
"That works for me," Hermione grinned as Rias moved into position.
Akeno lay on her back as Fleur slid onto her, their large breasts pressing into each other as Harry moved to line their dripping wet pussies up. He moved to them slowly, watching them squirm in torment, that they'd both chosen. Not only had they agreed to bind themselves to him like this, but each one knew what to say if they wanted to end the maddening arousal. He knew that Akeno was doing this deliberately, the kinky pain slut wanting to see how much fun she could have with the process, but Fleur was a bit of a surprise. Of course, Fleur had been surprising in a few ways since he became an incubus.
"'Arry, please!" she cried. "Fuck me like a whore. Make me your little Veela whore and ruin me for all other me…"
He cut her off by grabbing her throat, and he leaned in, whispering, "I already have."
"Fuck, I love when you're like this," Akeno whimpered, and if the way that Fleur shuddered in his grasp was any indication, so did she.
He plunged his cock into Akeno's pussy, sinking inside her to the hilt in one thrust, and she screamed in joy. She was wetter than he'd ever seen her, and he didn't need to wait at all, quickly working his way up to a bruising pace.
"Yes, yes, yes!" she shrieked, writhing in pleasure already as she felt herself soaring towards her peak.
He fucked her hard and fast, splitting her in half again and again as she shrieked and squealed for more. Fleur was drooling as she looked down at the sheer ecstasy on the face of the other woman, unable to do more than whimper as Harry continued to hold her throat, not tightly enough to stop her from speaking, but enough to remind her that she was there to submit to him. Akeno felt the pressure building inside her rapidly, sure that she was going to cum like a freight train soon enough, and just as her inner walls started to flutter around Harry's length, he pulled out of her and sank to the hilt inside Fleur.
"FUCK!" she squealed as he let her throat go and grabbed her hips, pounding into her hard.
"Neither one of you is going to cum until you call me master, and the one who holds out the longest will get my first load tonight," Harry grinned, and both women froze.
In the haze of the lust that the pact binding them brought on as punishment, their ability to understand things was somewhat limited, but they each knew exactly what sort of challenge he'd just put forth. This would be an endurance match to see who could take the terrible arousal the longest without breaking. It wouldn't be a matter of making one of them cum over and over again until she was too exhausted to fight on, like what Rias usually went through, but rather a matter of willpower. Akeno and Fleur both looked at each other, one of them a half-angel pain slut who reveled in this kind of kinky fun, and the other a creature of sex who most humans couldn't even hope to please. They each grinned and leaned in to kiss the other.
Harry laughed as he saw them make out, knowing that they'd each come to the conclusion that they couldn't call him master if their lips were occupied. He brought his hand down on Fleur's perfect ass hard, making her scream, and picked up his pace, his hips becoming a blur as he fucked her even harder. He looked over as he heard Hermione cry and saw that she was on her hands and knees with her head buried between Luna's thighs, while Rias fingered her. His eyes widened when he saw just how many fingers were inside her.
"Mmm, such a good girl with such a stretchy little pussy," Rias purred. "Do you think you can take the thumb?"
"I don't...oh fuck," Hermione moaned, her legs shaking.
"That was...great," Luna panted, clearly having cum while he was distracted. "I think...you can do it...Hermione."
"D...do it, oh fuck!" Hermione moaned loudly as Rias added her thumb and slowly worked most of her hand into her.
Looking over at Harry, she grinned and, turning back to Hermione, said, "You really must thank Harry. If he hadn't stretched you out with his giant cock so many times over the past few months, this would have been a lot harder."
"Th...thank you...oh, shit!" she screamed as she came, her legs shaking hard, something he figured they'd be doing for a while if Rias intended to keep fisting her.
He felt Fleur's inner walls starting to quiver around his cock and pulled out of her, switching back to Akeno, who cried out in joy. His stamina had been extraordinary when he was human, and as an incubus, it was only heightened. There was no risk of his cumming too soon, and even if he had, he could have kept going, so the pair of them had only one recourse if they wanted to cum. He kept switching back and forth between them each time the one he was fucking got close, occasionally looking over to enjoy the other threesome happening next to him, while the pair of them got more and more desperate.
"Pl...please...oh no!" Fleur wailed over an hour later as he pulled out of her again. "Master!"
Harry grinned and slipped back inside her, changing the angle of his thrusts slightly and hitting a spot deep inside her that he knew would make her go off like a rocket. She squealed in pleasure a second later as she came hard, squirting all over him and soaking the floor under them. He fucked her through her mind-melting orgasm, groaning in pleasure at the way her spasming walls massaged him, and saw Akeno give him a look of surrender that felt nearly as good as the blonde.
"Please fuck me, master," she whimpered, only to scream as he did so.
Fleur had gone utterly limp, drenched in sweat and shaking like a leaf on top of Akeno as she began to shudder and quiver in pleasure. She was right on the edge, as she had been for the last hour, and in mere moments she was squealing.
"MASTER!" she shrieked as she came hard.
"Fuck," Harry groaned as he came inside her, painting her inner walls white as he flooded her womb with cum.
He'd had to start using contraceptive spells to keep them from getting pregnant, something that wasn't all that new to him, as most of his lovers hadn't been devils before, but was definitely new to them. When their mutual orgasm finally ended, he pulled out of Akeno, and wrapped his arms around them both, cuddling the shaking, babbling women as they came down from their highs. He saw that their collars had disappeared and he smiled, hoping that they would end up getting stronger because of that as Rias thought they would.
"Harry?" Luna asked as she crawled over to him. "Rias and Hermione are sixty-nining. Could I ride your penis?"
Harry snorted at how innocent she managed to sound as she asked that and rolled onto his back, saying, "By all means."
"I can't wait until next month," she smiled, moaning as she sank down onto him in one smooth motion. "It'll be near enough to your birthday for me to consider becoming your servant an early birthday gift."
"So long as it's what you want, Luna," Harry replied softly, cupping her cheek, and she smiled.
"Please," Akeno scoffed, sounding exhausted. "She's nearly as into submitting to you as I am."
"She...oh wow, you feel amazing...has a point," Luna moaned.
"Speaking of your...fuck, right there...birthday," Rias moaned, lifting her head up from between Hermione's legs. "I found a book in the omnilibrary that gave me a great idea. It's a cookbook from Buckingham Palace. Apparently the queen of England has has the same cake every year on her birthday since she was a kid and we have the recipe."
"It must be good," Harry chuckled, and she smiled.
"Chocolate on chocolate with more chocolate," Rias replied. "I'll have the servants bake it if you like."
"Sounds great," Harry smiled, and Rias beamed at him before returning to eating Hermione out. "Maybe Luna's right, and this is what having family is like."
"Ugh," Koneko groaned a while later as she woke up.
She was still getting used to the new house Rias had moved her and Kiba into, and not just because it was so weirdly shaped. It was nice, all in all, kept pleasantly warm, and quite large, being even larger on the inside than it was on the outside, and though it did come with a weird old man, even he seemed pretty tolerable, though he smelled oddly dog-like for a man who didn't own one. She'd successfully made a contract earlier, and arrived home just as her master and all of her lovers piled into the ritual room downstairs, including the big one.
"Ugh, what is wrong with me?" she whispered to herself, recalling how she'd reacted to seeing Harry the other day.
He just smelled so good, like power and sex. She could tell that he bathed and that she wasn't actually smelling the aftermath of his couplings on him, but there was something about him that made her brain tingle when she breathed around him. It hadn't been that way when they first met in his school, and she knew that she was actually smelling what he was, but it had completely stunned her, and she'd made a fool of herself in the aftermath. The worst part was that she didn't even get a chance to smooth things over since the others monopolized his time completely.
"Well, they are all going at it like cats in heat," she thought to herself, feeling uniquely qualified to make that comparison.
Shaking her head and realizing that she wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, she got out of bed and went to get a drink of water when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and cast a quick spell to turn herself invisible. She might have thought that Sirius was tolerable, but she didn't want to have to deal with him, though she quickly remembered that he lived on a different floor of the tower and realized that it was actually the others.
"Shit," she thought to herself at the sheer wall of sex that washed over her as Harry flew towards his bedroom, levitating the others behind him.
They were all unconscious, clearly having been fucked into stupors, and Koneko clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in a moan at that, flying off in the other direction to put some distance between them. She could admit that he was a ridiculously good-looking man, but she found her overall reaction to him irritating.
"I'm not a damn animal," she thought to herself as he continued flying further. "I'm not like...her."
She shook her head and was about to return to her bedroom when, like a siren's call, she felt it. The ritual room utterly reeked of sex, probably covered in all manner of fluids not yet cleaned up. Even though the door was closed, she could still smell it, and it called to her, drawing her in like a mirage in the desert, though it was terribly real. She knew that she should turn around and go get her drink, or better yet, go crawl into bed and try to ignore the growing heat in her core, but she found herself flying towards it anyway. Opening the door, she slipped inside and moaned at what she found.
A blacklight would have revealed a mess that would make the average hotel room look sterilized, but one didn't need such a thing when one had a nekomara's sense of smell. It was everywhere: vaginal fluids, sweat, and pints of semen, and Koneko shuddered as she landed on the floor, sinking to her knees as her legs shook. She felt like she was on fire, her core churning with need like nothing she'd ever felt.
"Am I in heat?" she wondered to herself as she lowered her face towards the floor, her ass shaking of its own accord, as though her body was begging someone, anyone, to fuck it.
She huffed in the scent she found there and felt her pussy spasm, flooding her panties. This was what she was made for, this was her purpose: to bend over and be bred by the biggest, strongest, most virile…
"No!" she cried, flying up and out of the room as fast as she could.
She was up the stairs, in her room, and under her covers in seconds, willing the door shut behind her as she tried to calm her racing heart. Lying on her back, she pressed a hand between her legs, feeling how ruined her panties were through her nightgown, and whimpered.
"What the fuck?" she thought to herself, hiking up her gown and sliding a hand under her panties, peeling the fabric off of her skin.
She shoved her knuckles into her mouth to muffle her cry and hoped that a quick orgasm would be enough to get her head back on straight. Figuring out what exactly was wrong with her could come later, but first she needed to cum before she went nuts.
"Harry's fucking dangerous," she thought to herself, whimpering as she realized that that thought only added to her lust.