Chapter 46
"I can't, I can't!" Akeno babbled, clawing at the sheets in front of her as she felt another orgasm building inside her. "It's too much!"
"Too much?" Harry asked, grinning wolfishly down at her sweat-soaked form, his hips a blur as he pounded into her tight, quivering pussy again and again.
She'd long since collapsed onto her belly, too tired to keep herself up on her hands and knees, and he'd continued to fuck her prone, driving her from orgasm to screaming orgasm. Her long, silky black hair was matted to her back, her ponytail having come undone earlier when he accidentally broke the clasp that she'd been holding it with, and he had to take a moment to gather all the wet hair into his hand before pulling her head back, making her shriek.
"Fuck!" Akeno screamed, her face beet red.
He pulled her back until her massive breasts were free to start bouncing on her chest again and looked around to see if anyone was still awake enough to play with them, but they were all passed out, dripping his cum from their gaping pussies. They'd been at it for hours, looking to give him as much of a boost to his power as they could, and the evidence of that was all around them. The bed itself was a soaked wreck, but that wasn't all. There were puddles of fluids all around that he'd need to vanish before he fell asleep, and numerous pieces of furniture had been moved about in their marathon orgy. One was a lamp that had been knocked and fallen to lean against the wall, and as the light emanating from it shone on the bed, it made the bejeweled plug sticking out of Hermione's ass shine, and he chuckled at the sight of the large sapphire glittering in the light.
"You've taken me so well tonight," he grinned, brushing his fingers over the ruby at the end of Akeno's butt plug. "You're such a good girl."
"Harry, I...gah, yes!" Akeno squealed, feeling the plug in her ass start pulsating at his command.
"Cum for me, Akeno," Harry commanded. "Be a good girl and cum."
"HARRY!" the raven-haired beauty shrieked, cumming so hard she squirted all over his cock, soaking his balls.
Harry let go with a groan, filling her up with rope after thick rope of his cum and painting her inner walls white yet again. His copious fluids splashed against the back of her tunnel, filling her up and overflowing back around him when there was no more room to fill. He focused on her spirit, having already made use of the master-servant pact to empower her further and, as she'd requested, siphoned every bit of that extra energy as the two of them writhed together in ecstasy. The feeling of having him drain her enhanced her pleasure further, and her eyes rolled back into her head, imagining that she was drowning in the maelstrom of sensation. When Harry pulled out of her and rolled onto his back, she immediately dragged herself over so she could rest her head on his chest.
"Love...you," she whimpered, barely conscious, and he kissed her head softly.
"Love you too," Harry replied, hugging her to him.
The others, though asleep, seemed to sense that the fun was finally over, as they usually did, and flew over to him so that they could all cuddle together. As he lay buried in the pile of sweaty, seemingly boneless flesh, Harry sighed happily, drifting off to sleep and recalling how these particularly intense orgies became their norm a few weeks earlier.
"Wait, it can get better?" Akeno asked, staring down at the image of Leviathan in shock. "I came so hard last night, I honestly thought for a moment that I might die."
"Oh, child," Leviathan purred, her pink eyes gleaming as she stared up at her. "What you know of pleasure is merely a shadow of what I can train Harry here to drown you in. I made my incubi and succubi to help with our fertility problems, but as I realized just what they were capable of, I came to see a future where every single angel had been seduced and corrupted by them. I swear that that, rather than the threat of our increased population, was why the Tyrant moved to exterminate them as he did."
"And the more intense the pleasure we feel, the more we can feed Harry power?" Luna asked.
"The more he can draw from you," Leviathan replied. "The act of drawing energy from you is also intensely pleasurable, so it ends up being a bit of a feedback loop. That isn't the only way that you can intensify things, though. Your tail, Harry, will eventually be quite useful to you."
"My tail?" Harry asked, bringing it around to look at it. As had been the case since it first grew out of him, it was pale, long, and thin, almost whip-like, with a heart-shaped tip.
"As an incubus, you'll eventually gain the ability to alter the shape of your cock, your tongue, and the end of your tail," Leviathan explained. "I can't describe how incredible it feels to be double-penetrated by a man while he takes you on all fours, filling your pussy and asshole over and over again."
"So I could make it a replica of my cock?" Harry asked, feeling his own shaft twitch as every girl in the room shuddered and looked at him with lust-darkened eyes.
"Indeed," Leviathan grinned. "You're going to need to feed a great deal more before you'll be able to do that, though. What I want to work on today, though, will sort of mimic that. My form here is me wearing the gown that I was in when I died, and that means that I can show off everything that I was wearing that day. Observe."
Without another word, she bent over and hiked up her dress, giving them all a tantalizing view of her long, shapely legs and her incredibly round bum. Leviathan had been a very beautiful woman, with a body made for sin, and Harry felt his cock harden rapidly as she revealed more of herself. She hadn't been wearing any panties that fateful day, but that didn't mean she was completely bare below. Sticking out of her tight little asshole was a glittering diamond-jeweled plug, and Fleur snorted at the sight.
"You wore a butt plug into battle?" she asked. "I'm honestly impressed by your nerve."
"I was ambushed the day that I died," Leviathan replied, standing back up and looking at them, "but I did often wear this thing into battle. I enchanted it heavily to be more useful to me in various ways, and it wasn't at all uncomfortable."
"Enchanted how?" Hermione asked, intrigued, and the devil grinned.
"It vanished waste automatically, exercised my inner muscles for at least an hour every day, vibrated on command, and did a few other things that I'd rather you learn on your own," Leviathan grinned.
"Can they come in other colors?" Luna asked. "I've always thought diamonds looked rather boring on me."
"You can use any jewel you like," Leviathan grinned.
"You want us all to wear them?" Hermione asked.
"You don't really need to, since Harry's not feeding on you, but you'd enjoy it anyway," Leviathan replied. "As big as he is and as much as he fills you up, he'll feel so much bigger if he fucks you while you're wearing a plug, trust me there."
"Are there any other things you could teach us to make?" Luna asked, and Leviathan grinned and pulled her gown open to reveal her large, full breasts, and the distinct rings poked through her rosy nipples.
"No," Rias said flatly, palming her breasts defensively as Akeno looked contemplatively down at the little pieces of jewelry.
He woke the next morning to find that the girls were still clinging to him, deep asleep, and he felt a little guilty about how far he'd gone with them the previous night. They'd all begged him to fuck them as much as he physically could, to keep going even if they begged him to stop, knowing full well that this would be their last chance to empower him at all before he faced Riser, and he'd agreed, but he knew damn well that they were all going to be pretty sore when they woke up.
"Ugh," Rias groaned, shaking him out of his guilty reverie. "I swear you could put a whole herd of horses to shame."
"Sorry, baby," Harry whispered, and she rolled her eyes up at him.
"Don't be; not for a moment," Rias said firmly. "I loved every minute of last night, and I won't have you apologizing for that just because I'm a little sore right now."
"What she said," Luna yawned, stretching as she woke up. "A little soreness is a small price to pay, Harry."
"Especially since we heal so much faster now," Fleur sighed. Smiling up at him, she added, "I really never thought that I'd find a man who could truly satisfy, much less exhaust me."
"You are rather insatiable," Harry rumbled, and she grinned.
"I was until I met you," Fleur replied, cupping his face and kissing him softly.
"Oh, fuck," Akeno moaned, rolling onto her back and reaching down to feel her very pink, swollen pussy. "I am so glad we learned we can talk to Leviathan."
"I'm just glad I can fly," Hermione muttered, floating off of the bed and towards the bathroom. "My legs just don't work properly in the mornings anymore."
"We don't have to go so overboard every night," Harry sighed.
"Not after today anyway," Rias replied, looking at him warily, though with a slight smile she couldn't suppress. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm the luckiest man in the world," Harry smiled, and she blushed.
"Aww," Akeno cooed, sitting up and stretching her arms over her head. Harry's eyes were drawn to her spectacular breasts, and she smirked, saying, "It's poor manners to stare at another woman's tits on your wedding day."
"I'd buy that more if my lovely bride wasn't equally entranced," he chuckled.
"What can I say?" Rias grinned. "We both have very good taste."
She reached out and cupped one of Akeno's breasts, brushing her hand over a faint bruise that hadn't fully healed in the night. The masochist hissed and squirmed as she pressed on it gently, rubbing her thighs together and moaning at how sore her aching cunt was.
"Do I even want to know how battered your ass is?" Rias asked.
"I can rub bruise paste on it later if you'd like," Luna volunteered, and Akeno chuckled.
"No, I want to feel every blow," she replied. "As I sit today and watch you two get married, I want to feel the aftermath of last night through every moment."
"Back to what I was actually asking before, how do you feel about the other thing you're doing today?" Rias asked, her tone darkening with every word.
"I'm as prepared as I can be," Harry replied. "I'm stronger than I was a month ago, a lot stronger, and Grayfia has been nothing but complimentary lately."
"That's a good sign, surely," Hermione said, forcing herself to sound more confident than she was as she flew back in. "She's not one to praise people lightly."
"No, she isn't," Rias admitted, pulling her legs up until her knees were under her chin. "I just hate that you're going to fight that bastard because of me."
"You're more than worth it, love," Harry smiled, kissing her forehead, and she sighed.
"I love you," Rias whispered. "Just promise me that you'll do everything you can to stay safe. The idea of you getting hurt on my account…"
"Sirzechs and Ajuka will have made sure neither of us can actually kill the other," Harry pointed out. "Neither one would be willing to risk my life, and you know it. Between that, Grayfia's training, and everything else she's put me through over the past several weeks, I should be able to hold my own against Riser."
"We know you know how to handle fire," Luna said, rubbing his shoulder reassuringly, and Harry chuckled, remembering how his first 'fire lesson' had gone.
"Okay, so who exactly am I meeting with today?" Harry asked as he followed Grayfia out into a forested region of the Gremory territory.
"That would be telling," the silver-haired woman replied, and Harry furrowed his brow.
She didn't sound amused or like she was enjoying this in any unusual way, but he couldn't shake the sense that this was somehow akin to following the Weasley twins into a prank. She began descending towards the ground near a sizable clearing, and Harry smiled when he saw the waterfall there. A vast river snaked its way through the forest above them and continued downward below, but there was a sharp, possibly unnatural decline in the elevation of the land, and the water rushed down over the cliff.
"I always wanted to see a waterfall up close as a boy," Harry murmured, looking at it.
"Never got the chance?" Grayfia asked.
"Goodness no," Harry chuckled. "My relatives are exceptionally boring people, and the idea of going off to some nature scene like this would have been dreadful to them. It's as beautiful as I imagined. My new training partner is on their way?"
"He's already here," Grayfia replied, and he turned to look at her in confusion.
"I don't sense anyone," Harry said.
"That is your first failing," a deep, rumbling voice bellowed from behind him, and Harry jumped, whipping around just in time to see a massive head poke out from behind the waterfall.
His jaw dropped, and he took a step back, wondering if he'd been slipped some kind of hallucinogen. The creature continued to emerge from the cave hidden by the flowing water, passing through it as though the immense weight of the fall was meaningless to him. Tall and massive, the dragon's scales were a dark purple, and his glowing eyes were a shade of red that reminded Harry unpleasantly of Voldemort. His face tapered inward towards his chin, and two massive horns jutted out of his head, curling outward. As he grinned, his razor-sharp teeth were revealed, making Harry gulp.
"You must hone your senses, boy, both natural and magical," the dragon said, and he wondered again if he'd hit his head or something.
"You can talk," he spluttered, and the dragon sneered.
"Is that so surprising?" he asked.
"Harry here was a mortal magician not long ago," Grayfia explained. "He's had some experience with lesser dragons."
"Ah, the lowest of my kin," the dragon nodded. "You'll find I'm quite different. I am Tannin, at one time, a great dragon king, though I am now a devil."
"You're the one that Mephisto Pheles reincarnated," Harry breathed, recalling that Agrippa had mentioned that before. "Sorry for my surprise earlier. I've met two dragons before, and neither could speak a word."
"You can apologize by putting in effort during our training sessions," Tannin boomed. "My master sent me here as a favor to Lord Sirzechs, to train you to counter a foe whose primary weapon is fire, and so I will. Ready yourself, boy."
"Try not to get fried to a crisp," Grayfia called out, having already flown away while Harry was distracted by his new teacher.
"Oh, shit," Harry thought to himself as he saw Tannin open his maw wide to reveal a ball of fire already forming in the back of his throat. He had started down this journey towards devilry because he sought a way to avoid being killed by a dragon and couldn't help but think that it would be somewhat funny if he ended up meeting that fate anyway.
"It's been a bit of a trial by fire," he quipped.
"I still can't believe Grayfia and Sirzechs threw you against one of the great dragon kings as training," Hermione muttered, having read up on them after Harry returned home that day, exhausted and slightly singed.
"If it helps me beat Riser, I won't exactly complain," Harry said, "and besides, Tannin's proven to be rather pleasant if somewhat obsessed with fighting."
"According to my mother, the whole reason he agreed to become a devil was to fight in the Rating Games," Rias said.
"I've learned a lot from him, and I'm a lot more confident now than I was when your brother first sprung this little duel on me," Harry replied, checking the time. "Now, we should probably shower and get ready. If we aren't at the castle within the next couple hours, Lady Venelana's going to send someone to collect us."
"Probably best to avoid that, yeah," Rias sighed, flying out of bed and wincing as she stepped foot on the floor.
As she saw her limping, Akeno smirked and said, "You know, Rias, if you're too sore for your wedding tonight, I'd be more than happy to fill in."
The redhead glared at her, saying, "You got filled in plenty last night, you little pain slut."
"We all agreed that their wedding night would be for them," Luna reminded Akeno, wrapping her arms around her neck. "If you're feeling lonely tonight, though, I'd be more than happy to let you do whatever you want to me."
"Whatever I want?" Akeno purred, cupping one of Luna's sizeable breasts, making her gasp when she jolted her lightly.
"Mmhmm," the blonde replied.
"I'm sure the four of us will find all kinds of ways to amuse ourselves tonight," Fleur purred.
She got out of bed and happily strutted towards the bathroom, her wide hips swaying with her every limping step, and her round bum drawing all their eyes. The glittering sapphire of her butt plug was obvious, and despite the marathon session he'd had with them all the night before, Harry felt his cock twitch at the sight.
"The more the merrier," Luna beamed, flying after in a way that made the large emerald attached to her plug glaringly obvious.
"It's not like I don't have a lot to fight for," Harry thought to himself as he joined them.
The sound of metal being hammered echoed through the workshop, and Hermione found, as she had in each previous attempt, that she enjoyed the rhythm of it. In her previous life, she wouldn't have been nearly strong enough to operate a forge like this, but devils were naturally quite a bit stronger than humans, and so though she lacked the physicality of the average smith, she was more than capable of hammering metal into the shape she wanted. Of course, she was doing far more than that as she brought her hammer down again and again. Each blow against the heated white gold band did more than alter its shape somewhat; it infused it with her magic.
"Little by little," she thought to herself. "That's it. Easy does it, just empower the runes a little bit more and you'll be."
BANG
The sound of the ring exploding went off like a gunshot and would have deafened her temporarily if she hadn't cast spells to protect her ears. Of course, that would have been the least of her problems as bits of golden shrapnel went everywhere, but the pieces bounced harmlessly off her magic shield that covered her entire body, and so the only damage done was to her patience, and she growled in frustration.
"What am I doing wrong?!" she roared, throwing the hammer away in disgust and running her hands over her face.
Her right arm tingled, and only as she took in the sight of her latest failure did she realize just how numb it had gotten while she worked.
"Another bomb?" Luna called out from outside, able to sense that her friend wasn't hurt.
"Oh, it bombed alright," Hermione muttered, levitating the shattered pieces over to her workbench so they could be melted down again later.
Marching out, she pulled her protective mask off and shook her head, letting her sweaty hair fall around her shoulders.
"I don't know what I'm doing wrong," she muttered.
"Did it at least take longer to fail this time?" Luna asked.
"No," Hermione said. "Every time I try to empower a ring, it gets right to the point where I'm sure it's nearly done and then shatters. The protections I layer on it fail, the strengthening runes do nothing at all, and it just doesn't take. I've tried multiple metals, I've tried stopping just short of where I think it's done, and it just never bloody works."
"I'm sorry," Luna sighed. "Maybe we should try something else. I mean, Gnarl's pretty sure that the bracelet idea would work."
"I'm not ready to give up just yet," Hermione said. "Speaking of Gnarl, have you seen him today?"
"I'm pretty sure he went over to the manor to do a headcount," Luna replied. "Apparently, a big group of minions came in last night."
"The Beauxbatons deal went through," Hermione replied. "They had sixty-eight house elves before our raid on Inchmore, and that was the biggest group of them still outside the fold. With that done, I think the only remaining holdouts are some of the more stubborn pureblood families, but they generally only have one to four minions at most."
"I grabbed the Prophet this morning before we came here, and you might want to read this," Luna murmured, handing her the paper and pointing to a specific article she'd highlighted.
"Nott Family Tragedy: Murderous Elf Goes on Spree?" Hermione asked. "Oh, damn it."
"It's not like this wasn't really inevitable," Luna sighed. "We had to imagine that Dobby wouldn't be the only minion out there who was quite mistreated by his family."
"Theodore Nott, who was just about to enter his fifth year at Hogwarts, was found slain by his family's house elf," Hermione read aloud. "The elf's skin had turned green, and it had begun to emit a foul odor when his mother, Lady Violet Nott, found him hovering over the body of her son. The Lady Nott happened to be hosting a party at the time, which two aurors had attended, and they swiftly put down the murderous elf. This latest elf-related tragedy comes in the wake of the Diarmid Lynch case, which readers will know we at the Daily Prophet have been covering extensively. Whether the Dark Lord Lynch personally ordered this murder or, as the DMLE Director, Rufus Scrimgeour, claims, his control over them has truly slipped and it was unrelated, we won't know for certain until he's finally caught. As of today, he remains at large."
"We should probably dump his body at this point," Luna murmured.
"Yeah, I think it's time," Hermione sighed, setting the paper down and leaning against the door to the workshop Zeoticus had let her use. "At this point, most of the minions have either been traded in for automatons or killed by their owners, and if this doesn't convince the rest of them to let them go, I don't know what will. We'll take care of it after the wedding."
The two of them flew over to the manor currently housing the minions, and Hermione noticed Gnarl hitting what looked like the last of a long line of them in the head with his stick as she descended. He grinned, watching the minion's skin turn green, and spotted Hermione and Luna a moment later.
"Ah, Dark One, Mistress Luna," he greeted them. "We're up to just shy of eight hundred minions."
"I never really realized how few of them there were," Luna said.
"Well, at a hundred and two, Hogwarts had more of them than anyone," Hermione murmured. "Beauxbatons came in second with their bunch, and then some of the smaller schools had a dozen or so. The goblins didn't bother, and most ministries didn't trust them with official matters, so that just leaves the noble families in Britain, the Commonwealth, and parts of the continent. All together, there just weren't that many of them active at any one time. Lynch wasn't that good of a businessman either, so his efforts to break into other markets were generally haphazard at best and laughable at worst. I doubt there are even a hundred of them still out there."
"We learned this morning that the remaining ones are starting to change on their own," Luna added, and Gnarl chuckled.
"Ah, that will lead to some spectacular mayhem, I'm sure," he said. "I will miss hitting them all over the head, though in truth, I don't actually need to stop doing that."
Hermione rolled her eyes at that but said nothing, knowing well by then that arguing with Gnarl was often pointless.
"Put this on," she ordered, handing a charm to the newly changed green minion, and he stared at it curiously before putting the chain around his neck.
"Yes, Mistress," he grinned, though his face quickly fell when he realized what the charm had done. He sniffed at the air around him, wondering where the smell had gone.
"I must say, Dark One, while I had my doubts about this little ingenuity of yours at first, it is nice having the greens smell like something other than rancid dung for a change," Gnarl commented.
"Go join the others," Hermione commanded, and the green minion left. "Is there anything to report?"
"They're continuing to settle in well," Gnarl replied. "Lady Venelana sent someone over to make the renovations you asked of her, and the blues have benefited from the indoor grotto installed in the basement."
"Don't you mean indoor pool?" Hermione asked, and he grinned.
"We may have done a little...decorating since then," Gnarl grinned, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Between that, the indoor jungle for the greens, and the tunnel the reds managed to dig to the molten core of the Underworld, they're all rather happy. Once you finish your ring of command, we'll be able to really get going."
"That's hit another snag, but I'm still confident I can pull it off," Hermione replied.
"Dark One, there is one thing that might help," Gnarl grinned. "Mistress Luna here mentioned the person who you were taking inspiration from the other day, and as I was looking through that library, I found something."
"Found what?" Hermione asked, furrowing her brow in concern, and her eyes widened as Gnarl went into a nearby chest and pulled out a thick tome.
"I can practically feel the evil oozing out of this book, Ma'am," he grinned, holding it up for her to take. "It's as though the very words it's written in are as dark as my old heart."
"I know you said you wanted to try doing this using Celebrimbor's work alone, but...well, Sauron was the true master of this sort of thing, wasn't he?" Luna asked, and Hermione scowled as she took the book from Gnarl's hands and flipped it open.
"I can see why Tolkien disliked this particular creation of his," she thought to herself as she looked at the guttural words scrawled in the tome in her hands. Black Speech was a particularly unpleasant language, made that way intentionally by the old author, and even reading it in her head was a chore.
"What language is that, Dark One?" Gnarl asked, curious. "I hadn't seen its like before, but it fit the description Mistress Luna gave me, and it seems almost inherently evil."
"A language made up by the Dark Lord Sauron in the world of Arda," Hermione replied. "This seems like a collection of notes he made himself while he was tricking Celebrimbor and the other elf smiths into making the rings for him, though if…"
"Elf?" Gnarl asked, and she chuckled.
"Quite unlike the ones you've described, I assure you," Hermione replied. "To be honest, from your descriptions, the elves of your world seem almost like a parody of the elves of Arda. I had hoped to pull this off without actually having to take directly from Sauron, mostly because I wanted to see how well he taught the others, but given the difficulties I've been having, perhaps it is time to give in and see what I can glean from this."
"Keep in mind that Harry became as powerful as he did because he openly stole knowledge from an evil wizard," Luna murmured.
"Ah, but I do love a challenge," Gnarl thought to himself, grinning as he looked up at his conflicted mistress. "Little by little, bit by bit, I'll make a proper evil Overlady out of her. It would have been simpler to choose one of the others, as even this doe-eyed blonde is a little more evil, but corruption is half the fun in cases like this. It will be difficult, of course, but evil always finds a way."
"If you need anything else, Dark One, just let me know," Gnarl said. "Today's that ceremony, right?"
"Yes, and we should probably get to it," Hermione nodded, shoving the book in her mokeskin pouch.
"Well, I'll make a point of avoiding the castle for the day," Gnarl said. "I imagine it will be a touch cheerful for my tastes."
"There will be a big fight after the wedding," Luna murmured, and he perked up a bit, tapping his chin contemplatively.
"If you could send me one of those disgustingly cute glowing rabbits to let me know when it's starting, I might stop by," Gnarl said.
"Will do," Luna beamed.
"Mistress?" a brown minion asked, poking his head out from the manor's door.
"Dobby?" Hermione asked.
"Does Harry Potter need any help today with his fight?" Dobby asked, and Gnarl glared at him.
"No," Hermione replied before the minion master could say anything. "He's got it well sorted."
"Ah," Dobby replied. "Please wish him well for me."
"I will," Hermione replied.
"He is the strangest minion, that one," Gnarl muttered, shaking his head. "I swear he was more affected by what the wizard did to them than any of them."
"He was unusually independent as a house-elf, so maybe it's just something about him in particular," Hermione suggested, and Gnarl shrugged.
"Either way, it's weird," the old minion replied. "Anyway, I won't keep your magnificence any longer. I hope you find that book helpful."
"I just might," Hermione replied. "Thank you for it."
"I live to serve," Gnarl tittered before heading inside.
Hermione and Luna flew off towards Castle Gremory and spotted a fiery magic circle opening up by the main gate as they approached, making them wary. When Fleur appeared in the middle of it a moment later, they both relaxed and landed next to her.
"Hey," Luna beamed. "Did you only just get back here?"
"Yeah, I lost track of time," Fleur replied. "Maman and Papa seem to have settled in well enough, though they're obviously still adjusting. Gabrielle seems genuinely excited about Mahoutokoro, and mostly they seem well, but there was one thing that came up."
"What is it?" Hermione asked, and Fleur sighed.
"You're walking better," Fleur smiled as she saw her father approach her from upstairs.
"Every day I feel a little stronger," Sebastian replied, and while he was smiling, she noticed he looked oddly tense too. Fleur could sense something coming from upstairs that she figured was the answer to her question, but she decided to make sure.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"As much as I feel stronger and I'm increasingly fond of the healers I've been meeting with, certain aspects of my recovery are taking a little longer than I'd like," Sebastian replied.
"Papa! Are you ready?" Gabrielle asked.
"On my way, little bird," Sebastian replied. "Remember to wear your hat."
"I've got it," Gabrielle muttered, walking into the sitting room.
She was dressed in a simple blue dress that complemented her eyes and had a wide-brimmed hat of the same color on her head. Fleur cocked an eyebrow at her father, who just sighed.
"The last time we went to this park, your sister got a little too much sun," Sebastian replied.
"I still say that blonde girl had fox ears," Gabrielle muttered.
"I didn't see anything of the sort," Sebastian pointed out, and she glared.
"That's because she ran away as you drew close," Gabrielle sighed. "She was cute and seemed nice enough."
"Well, maybe we'll run into her again," Sebastian said. "Anyway, she and I should be back in a little while."
"I'll probably be gone by then," Fleur remarked. "Today's the wedding."
"I still can't believe 'Arry is already getting married," Gabrielle scowled.
"I'm surprised he legally can," Sebastian muttered, and Fleur rolled her eyes.
"As I've explained, it's devil business and devil laws," she replied. "It changes nothing where he and I are concerned."
"Something that will mystify me for years to come, I'm sure," Sebastian replied, "but so long as you are happy..."
"I am," Fleur smiled.
"Then that is that," Sebastian nodded. "Let Apolline know that we left. She's still upstairs."
"I will," Fleur replied. "Take care, you two."
She watched them leave and sighed, knowing full well why her father had elected to take her sister out for a trip to a park just as she arrived. Anyone who knew enough about Veela would have been able to guess what was going on, but as Fleur was one and could sense the maelstrom of lust swirling upstairs, the answer was unmistakable. She flew upstairs as quickly as her bat-like wings could take her and shook her head when she threw open the door to the main bedroom and saw her mother lying on the bed, utterly nude and glistening with sweat. Between her creamy parted thighs, she saw her soaked pink folds and shook her head.
"Do I even need to ask how bad it's gotten?" Fleur asked, flying over and sitting on the side of the bed, making her mother gasp and twitch.
"I need help, Fleur," Apolline whimpered, looking over at her.
"You look like you've needed help for weeks," Fleur chided, ghosting a hand over her mother's thigh and resting it just above her hairless mound. "Merde! Maman!?"
"I thought he'd get better more quickly," Apolline replied defensively. "After his first few meetings with the healers at the Taiyo Institute, he seemed so hopeful and upbeat that I figured they were making progress, but his sex drive is still non-existent, and I...I need more. He's been trying to please me, trying until his jaw goes stiff, but it's just not the same."
"What are you going to do?" Fleur asked.
"Your papa and I spoke earlier, and...he's willing to let me take a lover," Apolline replied, and Fleur nodded, closing her eyes and swallowing thickly. She'd known it would very likely come to this, but she'd still hoped that it wouldn't.
"I see," Fleur replied. "I'm afraid I can't help you there. There's only one man I know who's worthwhile and…"
"Actually, Fleur, you can help," Apolline replied, giving her a pointed look, and Fleur reared back in shock.
"'Arry?" she asked, catching on to what her mother was suggesting.
"He's the one man that Sebastian wouldn't have to fear me running off with," Apolline replied, "and it isn't as though you aren't already sharing him."
"Maman, 'Arry is...different," Fleur said, a shiver going through her as she got out that last word. "You don't know what you're asking of me."
"I am asking you to ask your boyfriend to help your poor maman before she goes mad," Apolline whimpered.
Fleur took a deep breath and ran a hand down her face.
"Maman, 'Arry is an incubus," Fleur sighed. As her mother went to interject, she held up a hand and added, "No, hear me out. You have no idea how good he is in bed, how utterly cosmic the sex is. He's the kindest, most loving man in the world, and I'm glad he is because I'd stay with him if he was the biggest asshole I'd ever met. I honestly can't think of any sort of abuse I wouldn't put up with if the alternative was never knowing his touch again; it's that good. If you start fucking him, even if Papa recovers, you will not want to stop."
Apolline was practically drooling as she finished what she'd wanted to say, her overheated cunt pulsating with need as fantasies wilder than any she'd ever known consumed her mind.
"Fleur, please," she begged, and Fleur sighed.
"If it is what you truly want, and so long as I get confirmation that you and Papa are both on the same page here, I will let him fuck you," she said. "I am going to tell Papa that I think this is a bad idea, though."
"It was his idea," Apolline breathed. "He's such a dear man, and he knows how this prolonged stint of abstinence is starting to drive me mad."
"In the meantime, I can help out a little," Fleur offered, and Apolline spread her legs wider.
"I love you, mon ange," she smiled, crying out as Fleur buried her face between her legs, devouring the very pussy she'd come out of.
"I'm far from an angel," Fleur thought to herself, figuring that she could eat her mother out for an hour or so to tide her over.
"Mmm," Luna sighed as she kissed Fleur deeply. "Your mother tastes as delicious as you, Fleur."
"You and she…" Hermione went to ask, and the Veela sighed.
"Incest is not altogether uncommon among Veela," Fleur replied. "Our needs can be pretty overwhelming, and there's never been a single one of us born who wasn't bisexual."
"You're really going to ask Harry to take care of her?" Hermione asked, and she sighed.
"I spoke with Papa when I got back and warned him, with less detail, that I worried what might come of his idea," Fleur replied. "He loves her though and knows how much she's suffered during the last couple months. Sex isn't just a pleasant release for us; it's a need on par with food and water, and she's been parched for a very, very long time."
"Parched isn't the word I'd use, given how covered in her fluids you seem to be," Luna quipped, and Fleur smiled despite her mood. "You know Harry will take care of her if you ask, and it's not like he'll try out any of the things he's learned from Leviathan."
"Shh," Hermione shushed her, and Luna winced, mouthing 'sorry.'
The fact that they could summon and speak to ancient dead devils was something that they'd decided to keep to themselves for the time being, not knowing how the rest of them would react to it. They were seemingly alone but had learned the value of keeping a degree of paranoia and decided to go inside, figuring that it was likely high time that they joined with Akeno and changed into their dresses.
"Merlin's balls, I don't think there's an ugly woman in this entire world!" Sirius exclaimed as he entered Harry's quarters. "I don't even think there are any middling ones."
"A devil's desires can influence their appearance to an extent," Harry replied. "That's why Hermione and Luna are both more buxom than they used to be."
"I'll take your word for that, kid," Sirius chuckled. "My days of paying close attention to the breasts of schoolgirls are long behind me."
"You could have gone with Hermione's hair as an example," Kiba piped up, having decided to hang out there as Harry changed into his suit in his bathroom. "It was a barely tamed mane when I first met her, and it's all soft, flowing waves now."
"That I had noticed actually, but I thought you just got her some Sleekeazy," Sirius said. "Wait, so if I became a devil, I'd change physically."
"The effects wouldn't be too extreme, but yes, you would be changed somewhat by your innate desires," Kiba replied. "That's why this one has such perfect skin, actually."
He pointed at the cardboard box next to him, and Sirius looked at him in confusion.
"Gasper's in there," Kiba clarified.
"Ah, right," Sirius nodded. "So about these changes…"
The bathroom door opened before he could finish that, and Harry walked out, dressed in his suit. It was an exceptionally well-made thing that he'd visited a tailor in Lilith for a couple weeks ago. The jacket, vest, and pants were all dark black and made of some type of wool he'd never heard of called vicuna that his tailor talked him into going with, while his simple shirt was white silk. It fit perfectly, and as he looked in the full-length mirror Rias had insisted on placing in the corner of the room, he had to admit that he looked good.
"Is that why you got so bloody tall?" Sirius asked, and Harry chuckled.
"Yes, though my circumstances were quite unique," he replied, looking at him. "Why all the questions about devilry? Because if it's something that you're seriously considering, I have to warn you that Rias doesn't have any spare pieces that would suit you."
"No, no, it's fine," Sirius chuckled. "I'm perfectly happy being mortal. I just couldn't help but drool a little at the sights downstairs, and it made me a curious. You look good, Harry; I can't imagine what James and Lily would say if they were here."
"Well, considering that Dad's first reaction to seeing me was to high-five me for seeing Rias and the others, I'm sure he'd have had a remark of some sort," Harry chuckled.
"For which Lily would elbow him in the ribs," Sirius sighed, looking down. He had yet to take Harry up on his offer to let him see James, finding he hadn't quite mustered up the courage to speak to his old friend. "Listen, there's something that James would have wanted you to have."
"What is it?" Harry asked, furrowing his brow as Sirius reached into his pocket.
"Just after we graduated from Hogwarts, I met this gorgeous muggle girl," Sirius replied. "Blonde hair, green eyes, the cutest face, and an absolutely drool-worthy...the point is I thought she was gorgeous, asked her out, and then freaked out hard, having no idea how to date a muggle girl. Your mum gave me the idea to take her to the symphony, as I pegged her as a pretty sophisticated sort, and helped me transfigure my finest dress robes into a suit, and then your dad gave me these."
He pulled a pair of gold cufflinks out of his pocket and handed them to Harry, who took them reverently. They had some weight to them, being rather solid, and he smiled when he saw the design on them. They both bore the images of lions standing up on their hind legs as though about to strike, and he chuckled at the sheer Gryffindorness of them.
"The day after that date, there was a massive Death Eater attack, and the entire Order of the Phoenix, the organization Dumbledore founded to counteract Voldemort, got called in to help defend against them," Sirius continued. "I meant to give them back, but things only got worse from there and I never got the chance. I'd completely forgotten about them, but as I was looking through my Gringotts vault the other day, I came across them in an old mokeskin pouch I'd stored there for safekeeping."
"Thank you," Harry whispered, not trusting his voice as he grew emotional. "Really, thank you, Sirius."
"He'd have been so proud of you, Harry," Sirius smiled, his eyes growing misty, "and not just because you're getting married to a smoking hot redhead."
Harry burst out laughing at that and hugged him.
"Aww," Gasper murmured, poking his head out of the box. "So you're Harry's godfather?"
"I am indeed, or dogfather as I tend to say," Sirius replied, stepping back and letting Harry put on the cufflinks.
"Why?" Gasper asked, and Sirius transformed into Padfoot, startling him so much he fell back into the box.
"I should have seen that coming, honestly," Sirius muttered, as Kiba facepalmed.
The young knight managed to drag Gasper out of his box after a couple minutes of trying, and the four of them went downstairs, looking for Venelana. Harry couldn't help but notice the host of devils they passed and nodded politely to the few who bothered to acknowledge him. From the first time he mounted a broom in a Quidditch match, he'd had no trouble performing for an audience and the same was true here. Knowing that he was going to be fighting Riser in front of all these devils later, instead of making him nervous, actually made him more excited. This would be a chance for him to show them that he was worthy of Rias, to take his first step in making a name for himself in the Underworld and he knew that he was going to give it his all.
As he entered the great hall of the keep, he gazed around and noted that it looked great. Venelana had handled the décor herself, something Rias trusted her with completely, and he could see why. The great hall was beautiful generally, a large, imposing room whose black marble floors and high, vaulted ceiling screamed wealth and splendor. It had been filled with chairs lined with crimson silk here, and the walls were covered in murals depicting various figures he recognized as Baels and Gremorys crushing various foes. Venelana stood at the front of the room, barking orders at servants to handle last-minute adjustments, and he figured she didn't want to see him just yet. Spotting Akeno, Fleur, Luna, and Hermione huddled together with Koneko in a corner, he made his way over, his curiosity being piqued when he sensed a silencing barrier around them.
"Harry, wow," Akeno purred. "With you looking like that, we'll be lucky if Rias doesn't decide to mount you right here in the hall."
"After last night, I'd be extremely surprised if she managed that," Koneko muttered, scowling, and Harry looked at her in confusion.
"Shit, did we forget to silence our room?" he asked.
"No, I'm just a little more sensitive to certain things than most," Koneko replied. "Ignore me. These four have spent the past five minutes confusing me with something Luna found."
"I found a ritual that I think might let us build a momentary connection to another world, but I'm struggling to figure out how it would work," Luna replied.
"Another world?" Sirius asked. "Why? Are you looking to send Gnarl and the others back where they came from?"
"Other than Gnarl, they all came from Earth," Hermione replied, "and no."
"There's something we'd like to recreate, but doing so would require us to find our way to another world," Harry replied, giving Sirius a pointed look. Silencing charms were useful, but he refused to trust that they were foolproof and didn't want anyone knowing that they were trying to create a Philosopher's Stone just yet. Looking down at the book in Luna's hands, he tapped his finger on his chin, saying, "So it requires three offerings of energy, whatever that means, arranged at equidistant triangular points."
"I have no idea what these offerings could be, or even what whoever wrote this was trying to get at," Luna said, sounding confused.
"It doesn't make much more sense to me," Hermione replied. "I'll need to go over it more thoroughly when I have the time and maybe cross-reference it with something else written in whatever language this is."
"What language is it?" Sirius asked. "I don't even recognize the script."
"Something not from around here," Harry replied. "Even the diagram is odd. Those floating crystals are bizarrely shaped, and I have no idea what the almost liquid-looking lines of energy all converging at the center are meant to be."
"I think those are hearts," Sirius murmured, pointing to one. "It looks vaguely like a human heart; don't ask how I know that, and if that's the case…"
"Blood," Harry breathed. "This requires sacrifices."
"That's...possible," Hermione allowed.
"Why not just say that, then?" Fleur muttered, crossing her arms and huffing in annoyance.
"It seems to be written in some kind of code," Hermione said. "Devilry lets us translate words from any language, but it won't help us derive the meaning of something the writer intentionally left vague. Luna, leave this with me, and I'll see if I can make heads or tails of it later."
"I suppose we should find out if it actually requires living sacrifices or not," Akeno replied. "When did you find it, Luna?"
"This morning while I was in the library," Luna replied. "It's what I meant to talk to you about earlier, Hermione, but we got distracted by your ring issues."
"Still no luck?" Harry asked.
"I don't want to even think about that right now," Hermione muttered. "I'm standing here, wearing a beautiful dress, about to watch two of my dearest friends in the world get married. Even I think we can put books away for the moment."
"Works for me," Koneko yawned. "Gasper, they managed to convince you to join us after all?"
"Rias would be mad if I didn't," Gasper replied, looking around nervously. "Your dresses are really beautiful, by the way."
He eyed the lavender-colored silk gown Koneko was wearing almost covetously, and Akeno giggled.
"Rias was kinder to her bridesmaids than some that I've seen," she grinned, looking down at the plunging neckline of her dress and the veritable sea of cleavage she had on display.
"When I heard that it's a muggle tradition to dress your bridesmaids in clown suits so you look better by comparison, I got really excited," Luna piped up. "Sadly, Rias didn't find the idea as fun as I did."
"Whoever you heard that from was exaggerating, but we are more beautifully dressed than most bridesmaids I've seen," Hermione chuckled.
"I've never understood the idea of that," Fleur said, shaking her head.
"Because you're stunning," Koneko said flatly. "If you were getting married today, your bridesmaids could wear copies of your own dress, and you'd still stand out."
They all turned to look at her in surprise, and she rolled her eyes, adding, "Am I wrong?"
"Non, but you're also very sweet," Fleur smiled. "The same could be said for Rias."
"Harry," Venelana said sharply, destroying the silencing charm around them with a flick of her finger. "We're about to begin."
"Right," Harry replied, following her as the others sat down.
"You haven't, by chance, forgotten everything we told you about how this is going to go, have you?" Zeoticus asked with an amused smile as he reached him at the end of the hall. "I ask because that actually happened to me when I married this one. My parents had prepared me for everything that I should expect; I felt fully confident. Then the day came, and it was like it all slipped out of my mind."
"Well, unlike you, Harry didn't spend last night getting blackout drunk," Venelana teased and Zeoticus chuckled.
"Hey, it was your uncle who took me drinking," Zeoticus argued, and Venelana rolled her eyes.
"No, I remember it," Harry smiled. "There's no reverend, since we're not about to sanctify this in the eyes of the Tyrant…"
"Just two people, gathered before witnesses…" Venelana went to say.
"The number of which is pretty much always determined by the rank and status of the devils involved," Zeoticus added.
That Harry couldn't deny as he looked out at the large assembly. It seemed like there were representatives from every major house in the Underworld here. He recognized most of them from the Agares ball, including the Agareses themselves, who were seated pretty close to the front, signifying their close relation to the Gremory family, but there were others that he didn't recognize at all, who he'd need Rias to name for him later during the dance.
"You two say your vows, Sirius and Akeno give you your rings, and you bind yourselves together with them," Venelana finished. "So much simpler than the other sort of ceremonies I've seen."
"Then the real spectacle begins," Harry muttered, eyeing Riser, who was seated with the other Phenexes close to the front.
He didn't know if it was coincidence that all four Satans were seated in front of them, but he doubted it, not knowing how one could make it clearer to them that they weren't to cause trouble than having Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, Serafall Leviathan, and Falbium Asmodeus all seated right by them. Of course, the chance of doing anything was pretty slim, given that they were going to get their chance to express their displeasure right after the ceremony.
"Grayfia is most confident about you," Zeoticus assured him. "She's not one to bestow praise lightly, and she has been nothing but complimentary about your progress."
"I'll fight him with everything I have," Harry replied, and the older devil grinned.
"Excuse me," Zeoticus said. "I have a very beautiful girl to retrieve."
"Do I want to know what you and the others were discussing earlier?" Venelana asked as they waited, creating a barrier between them, which he knew would destroy all sound waves that reached it.
"Just a side project we're working on," Harry replied. "Nothing worth reporting yet."
"Your side projects have a habit of benefiting my family," Venelana grinned. "Zeoticus has been most pleased with the little automaton business. It's turned a tidy little profit."
"Alas, the immediate sales are likely coming close to drying up," Harry said. "Nearly all of the minions have been acquired."
"Yes, but unlike that fool you took down, we understand the value of marketing," Venelana replied. "Within ten years, I predict that all the magicians in the world will be making use of the automatons, meaning that they'll all be stuck turning to us whenever they need new runic batteries. The upkeep for it is honestly minimal, which means that it will be a not insignificant source of revenue."
"I…" Harry went to say when he heard the band start to play and the tall doors leading to the great hall open.
He turned, and his heart skipped a beat at the absolute vision that walked in, accompanied by Zeoticus. The rest of the room seemed to fade away for a moment, and all thoughts of Riser and the fight to come fled his mind. She was stunningly beautiful, a vision of perfection in white silk. The bodice clung to her like a second skin, showing off her narrow waist and her flat, toned stomach, while cupping her breasts like it was holding on for dear life. It had no sleeves and left her shoulders bare, revealing much of her creamy skin, and Harry felt his cock stir in his pants as he watched her walk, her every step making her breasts jiggle. The skirt flowed in waves from her waist, hiding her long, gorgeous legs, but her wide hips still pressed against the silk, letting it hint at more of her perfect figure than it actually showed. Her crimson hair she'd worn mostly loose, letting it fall across her back like a waterfall, and the contrast between it and her deep blue eyes seemed to only enhance both.
"I know Akeno joked about me wanting to fuck her right here in front of everyone, but I didn't think I'd be this tempted," Harry thought to himself.
"I know every word for beautiful ever invented, and I don't think any of them do you justice," he said softly as she reached him, and Rias smiled widely.
"Careful, Harry," the redhead whispered. "I'm tempted enough already to tear that lovely suit right off of you."
"We've gathered you all here today to witness the wedding of my daughter, Rias, and Harry Potter, the man she's chosen to marry," Zeoticus called out. "The wedding of their heir to a pillar house is always a special, deeply important thing, and as the father of the bride, I must say that I am very pleased with my heiress' choice. Before us all, Rias, Harry, I call you to bind yourselves together by your will, acting as devils should and taking what you desire."
That last sentence was the only truly required part of the ceremony, as Harry had learned, where the father of the highest-ranking person getting married that day reminded them of what they were and what they were doing. That would have stung particularly, he knew, if Rias hadn't managed to get out of marrying Riser, but he'd learned enough about devils and their customs by now to know that they were expected to be cunning and capable and to force their will where they needed to.
He hadn't understood how Zeoticus and Venelana could push her as they had back when he first met them all, but now he knew. The point of the test had been to see if Rias could handle herself, if she could, as true devils should, connive her way out of the predicament they put her in. If she hadn't, it would have been proof that she needed the protection of a more capable devil. She could have sat back and accepted her fate meekly, but she didn't, choosing to be bold and escape, and while her mother had chided her initially for choosing a solution so unsubtle, she couldn't find fault in the results.
"I…" Rias went to say, meaning to go first, as her rank dictated she should, when she was interrupted.
"You know, I just had a thought," Riser called out, and everyone in the room turned to look at him, several of them glaring. He avoided Sirzechs' eye, keeping his gaze on a stone-faced Zeoticus as his parents both looked at him warningly. "Rias here has made her choice and been admittedly bold in doing so. It is rare for the heir or heiress of a pillar house to choose to wed a complete unknown, and we all still know so very little about her groom to-be here."
"That, Riser, is why you and he volunteered to duel each other afterward," Sirzechs said coolly, "so that Harry here can show exactly what he's capable of."
"Oh, yes, indeed, my Lord," Riser nodded, a faint grin on his face. "I was just wondering, since, as your noble father said, a wedding such as this is a greatly important thing to all of us devils, if it might not be better to have that demonstration...first."
Harry glared at the man, seated there in a red suit, and as he looked around the room, seeing so many devils sitting there with querying, curious looks in their eyes, only one thought occurred to him.
"Before, after, it makes little difference to me," he said. "Eager as I am to marry the woman I love, I am also eager to fight you."
"Such fire in you, boy," Riser spat, fury clear in his dark blue eyes. "I can't wait to show you what true fire is."
"If the bride and her parents agree, I see no reason why we couldn't change the schedule a little," Ajuka said, sounding bored, and Harry turned to Rias, seeing her look up at him nervously.
"Why not?" Venelana asked, keeping her voice neutral and her face blank even as anger welled within her purple eyes.
"Indeed," Zeoticus nodded.
"Then it's settled," Sirzechs said. "Harry, Riser, give Ajuka and me a moment, and your duel can begin."
Harry glared at Riser, who had given up on appearing anything but downright wrathful, and felt his heartbeat quicken with excitement. He'd wanted to punch the man in the face since he first laid eyes on him and had been training for weeks to fight him.
"I don't actually have to kick his ass here, but man, do I want to," he thought to himself, hoping that he truly was up to this particular challenge.