Chapter 4
To be Whole Again
Last Time
Hearing this the librarian did calm down, before warning Harry once more and leaving.
Harry wasted no time in putting up a silencing ward the second she left. He then looked up at Susan, watching him with eyes comically wide.
As they stared at each other, they suddenly burst into laughter, holding their stomachs at the hilarity of the situation. And Harry was thankful for setting up the wards around them, otherwise, they surely would have been kicked out.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 17th December 1994
Harry was sitting with Luna again on the Ravenclaw table for breakfast, the excitement of the first task had diminished, and everything was back to normal, but the anticipation for the yule break was palpable in the students.
Harry was currently in his own thoughts, going through what had happened in the past few days after that conversation with Susan in the library. Once the hilarity of the situation had died down, Susan had tried to apologize for getting him in trouble, but Harry had just waved it off and said all was forgotten if Susan could help him crack the bloody egg.
Susan did try to come up with a few spells to reveal its secret, being raised by the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement did have some perks, one of them was that you get to learn many different kinds of spells to reveal the secret behind something, it was taught to Susan as a precaution, to verify each letter she got and to make sure that they were not spelled with hexes and curses to harm her.
Susan thought they would work, so after failing to find anything using the spells that she was taught by her aunt, she started researching different revealing spells in the library books. It wasn't long until they had to call it quits for the day after many failed attempts.
But Susan did promise to help him reveal the secret of the egg, and since that day they had been meeting almost daily for a few hours in the library, if not for finding the clue for the second task, then they would just sit in the quiet, do their assignments for the day, that led to Harry helping her understand many of the topics she found frustrating and difficult.
It was not long before they started to have casual conversations, about what they liked, which subject they liked the most, and how was it growing up with the head of the DMLE, they had quite a few discussions about the current condition in the Ministry after that Death Eater attack after the Quidditch World Cup, and they also discussed what it was like growing up in the muggle world.
Obviously, Harry did not share the emotional and physical abuse he had to endure, he talked more about the muggle world, the technology, the digital evolution the muggles had gone through, and the progress they were making in the field of science, health, and weapons.
Susan was more than intrigued about the fact that muggles could fly, and being a music lover she was, she was already in love with the idea of an mp3 player. She being not from a muggle-hating family, of course, knew of some of the inventions that the muggles had come up with, but was not aware of the amount of progress they had made.
The one thing Harry was very happy about, was that after spending all this time together with Susan, they had started to form a close friendship. They would be noticed walking together on the grounds, talking about casual things, and joking around with each other. Harry was having a great time, the only thing that was missing, was their third wheel. But Harry knew that it would take time for Daphne to come around.
' Now that I have been sorted in Ravenclaw, she should have an easier time with talking to me, but I am still the Boy Who Lived, many in her house would get angry if they saw her talking to the boy that killed their Lord, I understand she will have to be careful.' Harry thought to himself.
So instead of actively trying to approach her, he had decided to leave it to her to come to him in her own time. They did share glances every so often when they shared any class or during meal time. Harry noticed quite a few times her staring at him when she thought he did not notice her. She was trying to ' figure' him out as he had predicted.
But until she approached him, he was going to enjoy each moment that he had with Susan in the meantime. His friendship with Susan had caused quite a few rumors to go around. Which was not helped when Rita Skeeter printed an article about Harry trying to woo Susan only because her aunt was the head of the DMLE, and Harry wanted an escape plan when the Ministry tried to arrest him for the dark magic he performed in the first task.
' I really need to have a long talk with Rita, I might even have to use my political power, and if that was not enough, maybe I could just buy many of the shares to the Daily Prophet, and there is always the option to squash the bug accidentally.' Harry thought as he was trying to come up with a plan on how to deal with Skeeter.
While there was some respite for Harry that most of the students did not believe in the trash that Rita sprouted, that respite went out the window, when Harry decided to join Susan at her table a few days back during a meal.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 13th December 1994
Harry entered the Great Hall during dinner time, it was filled with students as expected, but when he walked to the Ravenclaw table to where his regular meal partner sat, Luna was nowhere to be seen, that's when he remembered what Luna had told him in the morning.
"Nargels are attracted to large bodies of water during the winter, I might go to the Black Lake to see them tonight." Luna had said.
Shrugging, he thought he would have to eat his meal alone today when he suddenly had an idea. Instead of walking towards the Ravenclaw table, and sitting in the regular place where he sat. He instead moved towards the Hufflepuff table where Susan and her friends were sitting. Noticing that Susan was not paying attention to him, he quietly walked towards her, asked a few of her housemates that were sitting on the side she was not looking at to scoot over, and sat beside Susan.
"Boo" Harry shouted in Susan's ear.
There was a scream that left Susan's lips before she jumped in her place and turned to Harry. Looking at him with wide eyes, a hand on her chest, taking deep breaths.
All the conversation around the Great Hall had stopped, looking towards where the scream had come from, only to notice a very sacred Susan Bones and an equally amused Harry Potter with a grin on his face, trying to hold in the laughter as much as he could.
Susan noticing that the culprit was Harry, started to calm down before glaring daggers at him.
"Harry James Potter! What do you think you are doing scaring me like that?!" Susan said in anger slapping Harry on his arm.
"What? I just came to say 'Hi'" Harry replied, trying to look innocent, but that did not fool anyone, and only caused Susan's glare towards him to intensify.
"'Boo' is not a form of greeting Harry! And do not lie to me!" Susan retorted
Harry heard a snort from behind Susan, and that was all he could do to not laugh before he started laughing uncontrollably.
"You should have seen the look on your face, you looked so cute!" Harry said, trying to stop laughing.
As expected, all anger left Susan, as soon as she heard what Harry said, she diverted her attention from Harry and everyone could see her cheeks were starting to get a red tinge to it.
Seeing this brought a smirk to Harry's face before he got close to Susan and whispered in her ear so that only she could hear it.
"You look beautiful when you blush too, you know".
All this achieved was making Susan blush a bit more before she mumbled 'Shut up' and playfully slapped Harry on his arm once more.
This caused quite a few students to point and whisper, as this was the first time any student from a different house had sat on another house table, even some of the teachers were shocked, while Professors Sprout and Flitwick were beaming at the interaction between their two charges, while Dumbledore was looking amused more than ever.
The Great Hall, Hogwarts, 17th December 1994
Harry still remembered the repercussions of his actions that day, he still winced when he thought about the stinging hexes he had to dodge when they were walking on the grounds and Susan thought it was the perfect time for some payback.
Today again they would be meeting in the library, and today being a Saturday, they would be free to do whatever they wanted.
Just as the breakfast was about to end, Dumbledore stood up and grabbed everyone's attention, that was in the Great Hall.
"A very Good Morning to all present! I hope all of you are doing well. Now I have an announcement to make. As you all know that the yule breaks are just around the corner, but as Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard tournament, according to traditions, we will also be hosting the Yule Ball, which is open for all students fourth year and upwards. Any of the lower-year students will only be permitted if they have been invited by a senior student as their partner to the Yule Ball, so you can either decide to go home for the break, or you can stay here at Hogwarts if you want to attend the Yule Ball which will be held on the 25th of December this year. Thank you" Dumbledore announced before walking out of the Great Hall.
That caused quite an excitement to go around in the Great Hall, the girls were excited with the prospect of having to attend a Ball, which meant dressing up and shopping, while most of the announcement caused most of the boys to groan, as now they would have to gather up the courage and ask a girl to be their date for the Ball.
Harry already knew whom he was going to ask to be his date to the Ball, and he was going to do it today, but first, he had a gift to retrieve from Salazar's chambers.
Library, Hogwarts, 17th December 1994
After politely declining many of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons girls after they tried to ask him to be their date for the Yule Ball, Harry finally made it to the library and went straight to the table where he and Susan usually occupied, and as promised by her, Susan was already there when he entered.
"Hey Susan, sorry I got late." Harry said as he took the seat opposite Susan.
"No issues Harry, got late asking a girl to be your date for the Yule Ball? After your performance in the first task, I think a lot of the girls would want you to be their date." Susan said teasingly, but Harry noticed her eyes were a bit dim while saying this.
"Why , did you want to be my date?" Harry responded teasingly, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face.
"Shut up! Let's focus on that egg, we have made no progress." Susan replied, trying to change the topic, but Harry did notice that she developed a bit of blush on her cheeks.
Not wanting to tease her more, Harry let the topic slide for now. But he certainly did not want to waste his time on the egg, today. He was going to ask her to be his date as soon as he could. Because if he remembered correctly, Susan went to the ball with Ernie, and the boy had wasted no time in asking her the first time around.
He wasn't particularly worried about Daphne as she had gone solo in the original timeline, not because of a lack of proposals from the boys, all boys from all three schools wanted her to be their date. But she was just not interested in any of them.
"I had a different thing in mind today, you know how you wanted me to teach you how to cast a Patronus?" Harry asked
Susan hearing this nodded enthusiastically, with a hopeful expression on her face.
"I think today I will teach you how to cast the Patronus, lets's go." Harry said as he stood up and waited for Susan to follow.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Harry!" Susan thanked Harry repeatedly, she had wanted to learn the Patronus ever since Harry had shown his to her during one of the walks on the grounds. And today he was finally going to teach her.
7th Floor, Hogwarts, 17th December 1994
Susan followed Harry as he led her through Hogwarts and to the 7th Floor. Before stopping in front of a portrait was a Troll learning how to dance.
This confused Susan a bit, as there was no classroom on this corridor, then why did Harry stop there, before she could ask Harry, he started to walk in front of the portrait a couple of times. And before Susan could question his sanity a door appeared in front of them, leaving Susan shocked.
Harry entered through the door and asked Susan to come in.
Going inside Susan saw a garden, with different exotic flowers, a massive pond in the middle, and a tree nearby, and even though she knew it was barely 11 am in the morning, she was thoroughly confused when she saw the setting sun.
It was beautiful. Unknown to her, Harry had asked the room of requirement to take the form of Susan's favorite spot on the grounds of Potter Manor. Seeing her here, though a bit younger, taking in the surrounding caused Harry to have a flashback to all the happy memories the three of them shared here.
A lone tear escaped Harry's eye before he could stop it, but he quickly rubbed it off by his sleeve before Susan could notice it. Harry after so many years of loneliness was starting to feel whole again. These were the things he missed the most.
Just being there with the people he loved, in the quiet landscape, sharing these moments of peace after the war all three of them had endured.
' All that is missing is Daphne.' Harry thought to himself as he came back after reminiscing the past.
"It's beautiful! But how Harry?" Susan asked, still looking around in wonder.
"'Room of Requirement' is what it is called, the elves call it the 'Come and Go Room', it basically turns into whatever the person wants it to be, I found it while trying to search for a training room to practice for the first task." Harry replied.
"This is amazing Harry! How does it work?" Susan asked.
"Just close your eyes, and think about something that you want." Harry replied
As instructed Susan closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she noticed that there were two chairs by the tree, exactly how she had imagined it.
"This is wonderful Harry!" Susan replied all excited, before turning to Harry. And noticing that he was suddenly a bit nervous, his hand was in his hair, scratching the back of his head. She knew after these few days of knowing him that he did that when he was nervous.
"What is it, Harry?" Susan insured.
"Susan, just after these few days of spending time with you, you have become a close friend of mine, I was feeling lonely after my own house abandoned me, and you were the only one to tell me that you believed in me. And even though most of your housemates were against me, you decided to be my friend. These past few days have been great, getting to know you. And I am not ashamed to say that I quite like you. So, with that in mind, I have to ask you something. Will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" Harry finally asked, while holding out a bouquet of lilies, which she was sure he did not have before
Susan was shocked, eyes wide open, while she did hope that Harry would ask her to the Yule ball, she thought that surely Harry would go with one of the more gorgeous girls from Beauxbatons, after all, she had seen the way the Beauxbatons girls were looking at him. And she knew that even though they had become quite close friends in the last few days, she was not sure that Harry was attracted to her.
She knew that she had a crush on Harry, and it was only growing as they spent more and more time together, and got to know each other, but it was a shock to hear that Harry reciprocated those feelings as well, when he had so many more beautiful girls than her pinning for him.
"Susan?" Harry asked hesitantly, noticing Susan was not answering.
' Maybe it was too soon, maybe she only saw me as a friend, did I ask a bit too early? After all it's only been 24 days since we started talking in this timeline.' Harry started to fret in his own mind, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong.
But before Harry could continue thinking the worst, Susan came back to her senses and saw Harry was getting more nervous and waiting for her response.
"Yes! I would love to Harry!" Susan replied while hugging Harry.
Now it was Harry's turn to be shocked, this was the first time Susan showed any physical affection toward Harry in this timeline. But once he came back to his sense, he was quick to hug Susan back too.
"This is for you Susan." Harry said while giving her the bouquet, and presenting her with the most beautiful necklace she had seen.
It was a simple yet elegant necklace made of platinum chains, and a pendant holding in a good-sized diamond in the middle. It was not too extravagant, and not too commonplace, it was just perfect, just the way she liked it.
"I cannot accept this, Harry. This is too expensive. It would have cost you so much!" Susan tried to give it back to Harry.
"Nonsense. I want you to have it. And the store owner said it was non-refundable anyways, and I don't fancy wearing female jewelry." While moving behind Susan to help her wear it.
Susan reluctantly agreed to keep the necklace. While she was also deeply touched that Harry went to so much trouble just to give her a gift.
"Thank you, Harry, this is the most beautiful necklace I have seen." Susan thanked Harry.
"Thank you for agreeing to be my date at the Yule Ball." Harry replied
Susan noticed that Harry now gained another one of his annoying smirks, like the one he gets when he is planning a prank. That made Susan sacred.
"I know that smirk, Harry Potter. What are you planning?" Susan decided to go straight to the point, and did not believe for a second when Harry tried looking innocent, she knew him well enough by now.
"Do not try acting all innocent, I know you well enough to know when you are acting Harry." Susan continued with her hands on her waist.
"Ok, Ok, so I might have forgotten to tell you that Champions are supposed to open the Dance?"
"What?!" came the reply.
"And that I do not know how to dance?" came the second blast for Susan.
"WHAT?!" this was a lit bit louder.
The shocked look on Susan's face, caused Harry to double over while laughing. Seeing this Susan glared at the boy, before taking out her wand and started firing stinging hexes.
"OUCH!"
Hogwarts Grounds, 18th December 1994
After those revelations and the hexes that followed, Susan finally calmed down enough to respond to Harry and start making plans on how to teach him to dance, once they had decided that since the Yule Ball was just a week away, they needed to first see how good Harry actually was at dancing, and then move forward.
Learning the Patronus was the last thing on Susan's mind now.
Turns out Harry was decent, he did not step on her toes, nor did he miss many steps, but he was very stiff when dancing, they needed to get him to loosen and practice a bit, as Susan had no desire to make a fool out of herself in front of the entire Hogwarts and the visiting school.
When they finally decided that they would meet in the Room of Requirements every day after classes and practice for half an hour, they started to go back to their respective dorm. That's when Harry mentioned another thing he had forgotten to say, he did not have any nice dress robes.
But instead of firing stinging hexes in his direction, he noticed that Susan's eyes had gotten a gleam in them once she realized what he said. Causing Harry to groan.
' Shopping. At least it's not with both Susan AND Daphne this time. I would be in the trial room all day changing clothes if that was the case.' Harry tried to look at the bright side of things.
But he did decide that he was NOT going to mention that he needed a complete wardrobe renewal. He was going to deal with it himself, he had gotten good enough after living with those two, to get a bit of a sense of clothes, and if he wanted to avoid spending the entire day shopping, that would have to do.
That is what brought Harry here today, waiting for Susan on the Hogwarts Grounds, from where the carriages took the students to Hogsmeade. The students were permitted to go to Hogsmeade due to the upcoming ball.
Harry did not have to wait any longer. He noticed Susan coming his way through the crowd of students leaving Hogwarts. As she approached, once again Harry was caused to go speechless. Susan was wearing form-fitting jeans, a white t-shirt, and a dark green sweater on top of it. Just some casual clothes and a hint of makeup. But to Harry she looked absolutely gorgeous, her hair flowing in the wind. Her cute button nose, a hint of blush on her cheeks, and her full pouty lips made her one of the most gorgeous girls in the world to Harry, and he knew who the other one was as well.
"Hi, Harry! You ready for the trip?" Susan said, her excitement visible to everyone.
"Hey, Susan! Yep, most excited about it. The shopping not so much." Harry mumbled the last part.
"Stop being a baby, we anyways have only till afternoon till you have to go for your meeting." Susan said while rolling her eyes at Harry.
Harry had told Susan that he had a meeting with his account manager from Gringotts, when in reality, Harry had received a mail from Sirius, and that he was here, near Hogsmeade, and wanted to meet up with him after lunch.
With no way of making Susan believe Sirius's innocence and not wanting to worry her much, Harry had decided to lie that he had a meeting with the goblins regarding his accounts in Gringotts.
"Come on, let's go." Susan said as she grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him along with her towards one of the empty carriages.
The ride to Hogsmeade was quiet, Susan was trying to come up with colors that would look good on Harry, and match the dress robes that she was planning to wear.
While Harry was thinking about how to help his godfather while keeping his secret to himself. He was thinking about sending his godfather to 12 Grimmauld Place, which would be the best place for Sirius to hide currently.
Once they reached their destination, Harry helped Susan get down and they started walking towards the village, not bothering to drop the other's hand.
"Where do you want to go?" Harry asked.
"Let's go get the robe shopping out of the way first." Susan replied.
"Fine by me." he replied.
They walked by the village and saw several students running their errands. Many noticed them, holding hands and several rumors began anew. They did not mind and ignored them, focusing on their conversation. They went into one of the best robes shops there in Hogsmeade and after a tiring hour of searching and trials, they, or rather Susan selected a black robe with borders made up of emerald color.
After making sure they had everything they needed for the Yule ball, they made their way towards any other shop to buy some chocolates, quills, inks, and parchment.
After finishing their shopping and shrinking their purchases, they placed the bags in their pockets.
Passing by Zonko's, they met Hannah, Ernie, and a few other of their friends, who were all shocked to see them. Of course, Harry was already familiar with them, having sat with them during some meals, and talked. While they knew Harry and Susan were friends, they did not expect to see them go out on a date.
"How's your date going?" Hannah asked Susan teasingly.
"Better than expected, now if you will excuse us, we need to go have a peaceful lunch." Harry replied, seeing Susan blushing red after being teased by Hannah.
After all that, all Harry and Susan did was walk around the village, talking about their classes, assignments, and friends, while also discussing the second task, and what could it be. Before long it was lunchtime.
"So, where do you want to go for lunch? The Three Broomsticks, or do you want to go somewhere on a picnic?" Harry questioned, which caused Susan to tilt her head and look at him a bit confused.
"It's winter Harry, there is snow everywhere." Susan stated flatly while gesturing towards the snow that surrounded them.
"Are you a witch or what?" Harry taunted with that smirk on his face.
"Picnic it is." Susan replied, while also playfully slapping Harry on his arm for that taunt, but not bothering to drop the arm that she was holding.
With that, Harry led her away from the village and towards a clearing where Susan noticed there was a patch that was not covered in snow, and once they entered it, she felt much warmer, the air giving no indication that it was wintertime. It was a pleasant atmosphere.
Harry removed a blanket and miniature-sized basket from his pockets before expanding them to their full size and laying the blanket down on the clearing and setting the basket on top of it.
"Do you like it?" Harry asked
"It's beautiful." Susan replied, before turning to Harry who was looking at her with a soft smile "How did you find it?"
"Used to come here whenever I have a lot on my mind." Harry replied.
As they sat down removing their sweaters and jackets as they were now in a warmer environment, Harry waved his wand, and all the contents all the basket came out of it and placed themselves on the blanket. All of them were either Harry's or Susan's favorite. Roasted meats, salads, apple juice, butterbeer, and chicken chili.
Both were seated with their back to the tree for support. They talked, they ate, and they laughed. Harry telling her stories of his accidental magic, how he one day caused their teacher's hair to turn blue, apparated on top of the school when they were playing hide and seek, and caused the glass in the zoo to disappear, obviously not telling about the beatings that followed, but hearing this did cause Susan to laugh endlessly, which did bring a genuine smile on Harry's face.
Susan was having the time of her life, spending the day with the boy she had come to like, going shopping, and having a picnic date with Harry. But one thing was still bugging her more than anything.
Harry noticed that Susan wanted to ask something but was hesitant, and took the first step.
"Something on your mind ? You know you can ask me anything right?" Harry asked, turning to face Susan fully.
Looking down, Susan weakly asked "Why me? I mean, there many girls that are more beautiful than me that probably would kill to be in my spot, would want the Boy Who Lived to ask them to be their date for the Yule Ball, then why me Harry?"
Harry saw the insecurity Susan was feeling, and while he had known of this issue, he and Daphne had made sure that Susan did not feel insecure about herself in the original timeline, he would need to make Susan see what he sees, a beautiful, kind, strong, and loving woman that she is.
Taking Susan's hand in his, and using the other to lift her head so that they were looking into each other's eye Harry said "You are a beautiful girl Susan, do not let anyone tell you otherwise, you are a kind girl, that showed faith in me, and believed in me while all turned their back against me, you are a powerful witch that anyone would be honored to have you as their date."
Seeing no deception in Harry's eyes, Susan lunged forward, hugging Harry.
"Thank you." Susan said, before hesitantly kissing Harry on his cheek.
And the rest of the lunch continued in silence, both content in just being there with the other, spending this time away from all the pointing and whispering students. Both would remember this day for many years to come.
But like all good things, this also had to come to an end, when it was time for Harry to meet Sirius, and he also planned to go to Gringotts post this to claim his lordships if he was eligible.
"I hate to bring this to end, but if I stay any longer, I will be late for my meeting." Harry said, breaking the comfortable silence that they shared.
"Yeah, if you don't mind me asking, what is the meeting about? As usually, a minor does not have to meet with the Goblins until they are of age." Susan asked, looking at Harry curiously.
"Oh, just a thought I want to run by them. The Ministry of Magic has forced me to compete in a tournament meant for adults, and the tournament has also been approved by the ICW, making me an emancipated minor, so I just want to see if I can indeed claim my Potter and Black lordships or not." Harry answered with a smirk on his face.
Susan sat there stunned, Harry was soon going to become the Lord of two of the most powerful houses in Wizarding Britain if what he said was correct.
After wrapping everything up with a wave of his wand, and vanishing the basket and blanket, both made their way back towards the Hogsmeade village, before saying their farewells, Harry left Susan at the Three Broomsticks where her friends were having their lunch, and made his way towards The Shrieking Shack to meet his godfather.
As soon as they were a safe distance away, he felt Salena manifest out of his tattoo and make her way up, and coiled herself on Harry's shoulder.
" I can feel how happy you are master; I have not seen you this alive for a long time. " Salena hissed
"That's because I am happy, happier than I have been in the last few decades, not only did Susan agree to be my date for the Yule Ball, but I can see she reciprocates my feelings for her, not as intensely but it's there all the same." Harry said with a soft smile on his face.
" You do know that your godfather is a canine, who has a sharp sense of smell? And right now, Master is covered with the scent of Mistress's perfume. " Salena hissed, laughing when she noticed the color drain from Harry's face.
"Ahh, maybe the shock of seeing you will cause him to overlook that particular detail." Harry hoped, not looking forward to enduring any of the teasing his godfather was sure to dish out if he noticed the foreign scent on him.
As he entered the shack, he noticed that there were two magical auras, but that should not be the case if Sirius was the only one there. Being on the cautious side, Harry decided to take out his wand and be on notice for any attacks.
Just as he was about to turn towards the room that he felt the magical auras from he saw a bucket on top of the door, filled with some liquid he presumed, and he now knew for sure, that this was his godfather's doing, trying to prank him. So, Harry decided to turn the tables on the mutt. He was the son of Prongs after all.
Instead of opening the door like a normal person, Harry chose to blast it off of its hinges, surprising both the occupants in the room. He smirked when he heard a surprised yelp coming from one of them, and the bucket filled with green paint landed on the floor harmlessly.
As he entered, he noticed the two occupants were on their feet wands drawn, one was his godfather, while the other was Remus, their wands aimed at the door, as they calmed down, they noticed it was Harry and put their wands away, glaring at him.
"Not cool Prongslet, not cool!" Sirius said
"And coloring your dear innocent godson is cool?" Harry retorted
This caused Remus to snort, and it was not long before all three started laughing.
Once Sirius stopped laughing enough to take a look at his godson, he noticed the snake around his godson's shoulders.
"Harrrry, what is that?" paling, while pointing towards the snake.
Harry noticing where Sirius was pointing, looked in the direction, and casually introduced Salena. As if there was not a massive Black Mamba around his shoulders.
"Oh this, this is Salena, she is my familiar, I bonded with her in the summer after my third year"
This caused Sirius and Remus to look more shocked, their pup/cub was bonded to a black mamba, a magical one at that, if the magical aura coming from the snake, was any indication.
"Oookay, so how about we move this discussion to the living room." Remus said, eyes still on Salena, who started hissing at them, making them look in Harry's direction.
But instead of getting any explanation, all Harry did was talk back to Salena using Parseltongue. Making Sirius and Remus shiver.
Once all three of them were seated on the sofa, Salena slithered off to go for a hunt. Remus started "So cub, about all that has been happening regarding the Triwizard tournament…" letting Harry take on from there.
Harry proceeded to tell them everything that happened since Halloween, both the Marauders were equally disgusted by the behavior of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students but were happy that McGonagall was taking care of the situation, and making sure that something like this does not happen again, Harry obviously did not bring out the topic of Susan for obvious reasons, otherwise, there would be no hearing the end of it.
"So, Harry, I hear there is a Yule Ball coming up next week, need any advice from your dashing Godfather?" Sirius asked with a mischievous tone, causing Harry to groan, he knew where this was going, and he was NOT ok with having ' The Talk' now or anytime in his life.
"Oh, I don't know Padfoot, can't you smell the perfume on Harry." Remus replied in the same mischievous tone. Hearing Remus, Sirius turned his face into that of Padfoot's, took a sniff, before turning back to his human form.
"Pup, you have been busy huh?" Sirius asked Harry, with an eyebrow raised.
"We are not having this discussion" Harry replied, emphasizing on the word 'not'.
After a long session of endless teasing and trying to get Harry to reveal his secret date. The trio moved to the Wizarding bank, where it was in deeded confirmed that Harry was an emancipated minor and could take up the Lordship of Houses Potter and Black.
With Sirius not having any interest in taking the Lordship of his house after the childhood he had, it was decided that even when Sirius was proven innocent Harry would remain the Lord Black.
And to make sure Sirius did not have to remain on the run, Harry made sure to pay the Goblins a surplus amount to ward the Black house with the best protections they had, making Sirius the secret keeper, and hence it was decided that Sirius and Remus would be staying there until Sirius was exonerated.
The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade Village, 18th December 1994
As Susan saw Harry walk away for his meeting she smiled, she had a wonderful time with the boy that she had admired from far for the last 3 years, and today, she had gone on a date with him, even if it was not said, she knew what it was. Shopping, walking around holding hands, and a wonderful picnic, where he had even made her feel special, and she could see any deception in his eyes.
She would not admit it to anyone if asked, but she was starting to fall for the boy.
She walked into the Three Broomsticks, trying to search for her friends. She was looking over the sea of students that had filled the place. Finally, she found Hannah and Su Li occupying one of the tables.
"Hi Girls! How's the trip going? And where are the boys?" Susan asked while sitting down and noticing that Ernie and Justin were nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Susan! Where have you been? How was the lunch with Harry?" Hannah questioned Susan for details as soon as she sat down.
"I was with Harry up until now, he had business to attend to, so dropped me off here." Susan replied, trying to avoid discussing the last question, but the girls did notice that before sharing a smirk between them.
"You still haven't told us how the lunch was Susan. Anything interesting happen?" Su Li questioned while emphasizing the word 'interesting', making Susan blush, and the girls more eager for details.
"It was nothing like that, Harry just took me to a nice clearing, near the Shrieking Shack for a picnic lunch, we just talked, ate, and then he had to go for his meeting." Susan replied.
"So, shall we assume you are going with Harry to the Yule Ball?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, he asked the day when the ball was announced." Susan replied.
That caused the two girls to squeal, and Susan to roll her eyes at their antics. She loved her friends obviously, they were with her since they started Hogwarts, and Hannah since they were born. But man did she get frustrated sometimes with all this girl talk.
She did enjoy their little talks and gossip, but she longed for a friend with whom she could talk in a more mature way. Until Harry came along, she could not discuss politics, the economy, or the inventions that the muggles were coming up with.
But even with Harry there, she still longed for a friend, with whom she could talk practically to, and have mature conversations and also talk things about girls with, and for that, she needed to befriend a girl, especially someone who could keep a secret, as she was sure that the two girls in front of her, would cause the whole of Hogwarts to know that she was going with Harry to the Yule in record time.
AN
Thanks for sticking around guys.
So, this chapter was mainly to build Harry/Susan's relation and give a bit more detail to it. With an added Harry, Sirius, and Remus interaction.
So, Harry is going with Susan to the ball. I mean who did not see that one coming?
Harry has also taken up his Lordships.
Sirius is safe, let's just pray he does not do anything stupid.
Next up, some Daphne's POVs, some conversations between Harry, Susan, and Daphne. And maybe the Yule Ball.