Chapter 22 - Moving
Harry and his bond-mates walked from the Three Broomsticks to Hogwarts together with the Delacours. Harry's mind was spinning with what needed to be done and he hoped it would all work out. However, it felt like there were many parts that could go wrong, and most of them revolved around Albus Dumbledore.
Harry had decided that he really did not hate the Headmaster, but he wanted to do as little as possible with the man. Dumbledore had made too many mistakes with Harry and their cost had been higher than Harry cared to pay. Also, he was not sure about the man's motives. What was driving his strange actions?
As they walked past the end of the lake, Apolline Delacour cleared her throat. "It is time to let go," she said to her daughter. Gabrielle looked unhappy, but she complied. Apolline looked at Harry and raised her eyebrows.
"Yes," he answered the implied question, "our need to touch is over and has been for an hour or so." Gabrielle gave him a brief look of betrayal but did not say anything.
Jean-Aimé looked resigned, but a lot more accepting then he had been yesterday. "You only need to call us if you have trouble," said Apolline, looking pleased.
"We will," he assured her. "I guess we'll see you in about two hours. If you don't hear from Sirius by then, I suppose you'll need to come find us." The bond-mates left the Delacour parents and continued to the castle. Gabrielle instantly grabbed Harry's hand again after her mother had left. Harry chuckled but did not let go, which pleased the little Veela.
"Perhaps we should search the greenhouses first, while we're out here," Hermione suggested, reminding Harry of their first task.
"That's reasonable," he agreed. Unfortunately, the greenhouses did not have who they were looking for, so they continued together until they reached the Entrance Hall, where Ginny split off for Ravenclaw Tower while Hermione took Gabrielle with her to the library. Harry headed to Gryffindor Tower.
In his dorm room, Harry threw his shrunken overnight bag into his trunk, and with several waves of his wand floated all of his belongings on top of it. As he finished, Neville came out of the bathroom.
"Ah, Neville, just the person I was looking for…"
Neville stopped and looked at Harry suspiciously. "Why?" he asked after a moment's pause.
"We need to talk because you need to know some things that are happening." At Neville's blank stare, Harry continued. "Look, you're probably my best friend here and you deserve to know."
"What about Ron?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure what Ron is. We're sort of friends, same as I am with Dean and Seamus. Even though I know Ron better than them, I would say that Ron hasn't been my best friend for some time. But you … well, I know we haven't spent a huge amount of time together in past years, but I feel like we've become a lot better friends this year. I tend to think of you as my best male friend at this point."
Neville slowly nodded. "I suppose we have, although I haven't really thought about it. I guess I've enjoyed the time we do things together without considering it."
"I still want to talk to you about something, if you'll join me? Ginny has gone to get Luna, who's her best friend, and we'll all talk together in a secure place. Uh, do you know where Ron is? I do need to talk to him later, even though I don't really want to very much." Harry was quite concerned about what Ron's reaction to the news would be.
"I think he mentioned something about flying. You know he really wants to be Keeper," Neville pointed out.
Harry winced at the mention of the Quidditch team and was glad his back was towards Neville so as not to give away his feelings. They were going to be ruining so many plans. Angelina was going to be really, really upset with him and Ginny, as they would miss the last Gryffindor game of the year. Crap! he thought, that game against Krum probably won't happen now either.
As he came down the stairs, Harry slowed down a little to search the common room. There, over to the side, was the other set of people he needed to find. "I need just a moment to deliver a message, Neville."
"Sure, no problem, Harry. I'll wait for you by the portrait."
Harry walked up to the Weasley twins, who were quietly talking with Lee Jordan. They were planning a prank of some kind he was sure. "Hey, Lee, Fred, George."
"Harry," Lee returned, while the twins gave him two identical calculating grins in greeting.
"Fred, George, can you do me a big favour and find Ron and then bring him to my training room in about half an hour? Neville said he mentioned flying, probably to practice at Keeper for tryouts." Harry watched them immediately look at each other for a moment.
"I suppose…"
"If it's important enough."
"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't, and this is a family matter," Harry assured them. "I could also say that if you don't, Ginny will be coming after you and will be happy to drag you there personally … wand in hand."
A small shudder went through each twin, and even Lee looked uncomfortable at hearing that, making Harry wonder what stories Lee had heard.
"That locked room you took us to once?" the one Harry had labelled 'Fred' asked.
"Yeah, that one. Half an hour from now, and we should be done before dinner."
"Right, we'll be there with Ron," 'George' agreed.
"Thanks!" he said brightly and left them to it. Harry joined Neville and led his friend out of the Tower.
"Where are we going?" Neville asked.
"We're going to the training room that McGonagall gave me to use during the Tournament. You once said you'd like to see it," Harry told him with a grin.
When they arrived at the room, Hermione was standing in the open doorway. "Ginny and Luna are already here," she said in response to Harry's questioning look.
"Good. I'm already packed, too," he told her.
She nodded in acknowledgement and closed the door after the two boys. She also put a privacy charm over the door.
Neville looked around. "I expected more for some reason."
Harry chuckled and his two older bond-mates smiled in their amusement. "Sorry, mate. It's just a room to practice spells where no one else will get hurt if something goes wrong. Take a seat." He waved his friend to a chair and took the middle seat of the couch between Gabrielle and Ginny. He noticed that Luna was looking at them a little more attentively than normal.
"So," Harry drawled and looked at his bond-mates.
"I think you should explain what we're about to do, then the rest of us can share our parts," Hermione suggested.
"Right, good idea as usual." Harry took a deep breath. "Well, we don't have many truly good friends here, but you are the two we consider our closest friends, so we thought we'd tell you our news. We think you deserve to know."
"You know you can't really run away from Nargles, don't you, Harry?" Luna suddenly asked.
After a brief pause, Harry replied, "I don't think I've ever given that any thought, Luna, but thanks for the warning."
"Any time," the Ravenclaw said airily.
"We, err, well, we're about to leave Hogwarts permanently - all of us," Harry blurted out.
"What?" Neville shouted, not embarrassed at all by his outburst. He was not sure he had ever heard of anyone voluntarily leaving Hogwarts.
"My parents … well, my and Hermione's parents … have been trying to get us away from Hogwarts since the end of our second year because of all the danger, after what happened to both Hermione and me," Harry explained. "We've not been ready to leave before now. But, well, something else has happened and we have a real offer that allows us to leave and our parents are insisting on it. And to be honest, like I said, we think of you two as our only real friends and that's not enough for our parents to let us stay when they think we could be killed at Hogwarts."
Neville opened his mouth to reply and then shut it; Harry wondered what his friend had been about to say.
"You four have a secret, and it is that secret that is making you leave," Luna said, stating it as fact, not a question.
"How did you know?" Ginny asked a little fearfully.
Luna looked at each of the bond-mates. "I watch things. It seems like I should know, but I can't say for some reason. It must be the Limprechauns."
"You mean Leprechauns?" Hermione supplied helpfully.
"No, the Limprechauns. They're a distant cousin of the Leprechauns, but they like to hoard information. I believe the Ministry stole the knowledge of how to do Obliviation from them."
Ginny shrugged and did her best not to smirk or otherwise make fun of her best non-bonded friend at school. "I don't know if that's the answer, Luna, but we've hidden the knowledge of our secret under a Fidelius charm. When we tell you our secret, you'll know, but you won't be able to tell anyone."
"Are you serious? You can do that?" Neville asked.
"Yes," Hermione replied. "That's how the magic works. You will be able to talk about it with Luna or with us, as long as no one else can hear you. The magic protects the secret. Only the Secret Keeper can give the knowledge away."
"That sounds useful. Hmm," Luna took on a more dreamily look than normal for a brief second, "maybe the knowledge of where Snorkacks really live has been put under a Fidelius charm. I'll have to ask Daddy next time I see him."
"Hermione, I think you should go first," Ginny quickly said, so they did not start talking about Luna's special creatures. The latter returned to her previous state of alertness.
"All right." Hermione pulled out her secret note after a sceptical glance at Ginny.
"We need to hide those tonight," Harry quietly said to Hermione.
She nodded in agreement. In a serious voice, she read out her secret about being magically bonded to Harry.
Luna's expression did not change, but Neville's turned to surprise. His surprise increased when Ginny read her secret, and Gabrielle read hers, with Hermione whispering the English in her ear again.
Neville looked from Harry to each of the girls, a stunned expression frozen on his face.
Luna had no such problem. She looked directly at Ginny. "Are you happy?"
A big grin broke out slowly across Ginny's face. "Very."
Neville's response was simpler than Luna's. "How?"
Harry shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Neville, but I can't answer that. All I can say right now is that it was a surprise in each case, but we're learning to deal with it and we're happy so far."
"That's … that's…" Words failed Harry's friend.
"Yeah, it's pretty overwhelming. We just told our parents this morning, and they were…" Harry looked at Hermione.
"Shocked," she answered succinctly.
Ginny snorted. "That might work for yours, and maybe my father. My mother was livid."
Neville shook his head. "If that happened to me, I think my Gran would have a heart attack." He looked at Luna.
"I don't think my Daddy would mind, but I'm not sure I'd want to be a part. I mean, you'd have to schedule everything with Harry. Privacy and spontaneity would be as hard to find as a Crumpled-Horn Snorkack, not to mention that competition could wear Harry out trying to keep up with you," Luna commented, looking at each of the girls. Hermione and Ginny both blushed, while the two boys and Gabrielle looked confused.
"Yes, well, we're still coming to grips with it ourselves since Gabrielle only joined us yesterday," Hermione said quickly, trying to take the conversation a different way. "We'll be leaving school this evening and won't be back until the third task. In fact, we'll only return to school for the third task."
Luna looked a little confused, but Neville nodded in understanding and looked at Harry. "Your life hasn't been easy here, has it? And this year, you got thrown into the Tournament."
"And they still haven't found out why," Harry said, answering the implied question.
"I'll be sorry to see you go," Neville told him sincerely. "I've felt like we've been becoming much better friends this year." He quickly added, "You too, Hermione and Ginny."
"Thanks, Neville. We can still write and I will come back to England from time to time. I'd like to invite you to visit during the summer, too," Harry promised.
"I'd like that," Neville said with a grateful look.
"I'll write you too, Luna, and maybe you can visit too," Ginny quickly said.
Luna got up and hugged Ginny. That prompted a round of hugs between the friends. Not to be left out Gabrielle hugged Luna and Neville, causing the boy to blush greatly. They all talked about keeping in touch until a knock interrupted them.
Harry looked at Hermione.
"I made it so we could hear sounds from the outside, but they couldn't hear us," she explained as she walked to the door and opened it.
The three Weasley boys were standing there. The twins looked curious while Ron looked uncomfortable and could not stand still, shuffling from foot to foot.
Neville saw the new arrivals and immediately turned to Luna. "I think our time is up. Can I walk you back to your Tower?"
Luna cocked her head to the left and smiled. "I think that would be lovely." She grabbed onto Neville's arm and started walking him out of the room, ignoring his blushes. The twins moved aside and each gave the couple an amused grin before looking to the other.
"That has potential…" one twin said.
"But should we encourage or discourage it?"
"You should leave them alone, brothers!" Ginny said.
"Neutral could work…"
"But it's so boring…"
"Yet so much safer," Ginny said intensely.
"Why don't you come in?" Harry gestured with a wave, trying to get things back on track. They did have a schedule after all.
Hermione closed the door behind the brothers while Harry floated another chair from the side of the room over for Ron. The bond-mates took the couch again after Hermione recast the privacy spells.
"Why are we here?" Ron asked, as he looked around. He turned back to the others and pointed at Gabrielle. "Why is she still here?"
Harry looked at Ginny.
Her mouth turned down into a frown, but she took a deep breath and started anyway. "We have some news for you, some family news."
Ron's brow furrowed. "Then why are they here? No offense, Harry."
Harry understood, but still had to suppress irritation at Hermione being overlooked.
"Because they're a part of it," Ginny said a little sarcastically because of the obviousness of the answer. "Listen and please don't interrupt, it will go a lot faster this way. There are three things you need to know.
"First of all, some time back, and I'm not going to say when - so don't ask - something unusual happened that you need to know about. It's unusual enough that we've hidden the secret with magic because we don't want everyone to know. When we tell you the secret, you'll know what's happened, but magic won't let you tell it to anyone else. Do you understand?"
"There's magic like that?" George asked.
Fred grinned, "Can you imagine what we could do with that?"
"Hem, hem!" Ginny cleared her throat loudly, which shut the twins up. She looked at Ron. "Do you understand too?" she asked normally.
"So, you're going to tell me something, and I won't forget it, but I can't tell anyone else?"
"Right." Ginny confirmed with a nod. "Though I suppose you could forget it if you don't think it's important enough to remember, just like History of Magic."
"I can't ever talk to anyone else about it?"
"You can," Hermione answered, "but only to those who already know, such as your brothers and your parents."
"Except that Bill, Charlie, and Percy probably won't know until summer," Ginny added.
"OK," Ron said uncertainly, which was how he looked.
With a deep breath, Ginny told the secret of her bond. Her three brothers just blinked at her for a moment. In a way, she was happy to have stunned them into silence, as it allowed her to say, "Hermione?" without having to shout at them to be quiet.
Hermione told her secret and then coaxed Gabrielle through her secret as well.
Ron was looking puzzled while the twins were looking at the four bond-mates with incredulous looks.
Hermione stood and held out her hand. "Come Gabrielle, our part is done for the moment. We'll get ready for the next part and meet you in the Common Room," she told Harry and Ginny before walking out with their newest bond-mate.
Harry put the privacy spells back up. He knew what Hermione had to go and do, having agreed to the plan, but he wished she had stayed to help keep things from exploding.
"Well?" Ginny asked. "Do you have questions or can I move to the next piece of information?"
The twins started to laugh. "Good one, Ginny."
"I'm impressed you got Hermione to go along with it."
With a look to match her comment, Ginny said, "I'm totally serious. I am magically bonded to Harry and everything else I said."
"Right, pull the other one," George said with a laugh.
"I could give you a magical oath since I don't know the Bond Revealing charm," Ginny said, still serious.
Fred paled, as did George. "Please don't joke about that."
"Yeah, it was bad enough Harry did that earlier in the year."
"Then understand that I really mean it. It's also the reason I spend so much time with them, including over the summers," she explained.
"It's hard to argue with that," Ron agreed, surprising his brothers. "Well, it is! She's always with them."
Fred and George stopped their comments and looked thoughtfully at each other.
"To help you understand this is real, I also need to tell you that today is my last day at Hogwarts…"
"What?" Ron yelled. "You can't do that! Dad and Mum would never let you leave school."
"And that takes me to my last bit of news, as of today…" she looked at Harry for strength. He gave her a caring smile and grabbed her hand. She gave him a grateful smile back. "I can change schools because as of today, Dad and Mum have no say over where I go to school."
"But … wait, that makes no sense." Ron looked at her with even more confusion.
George suddenly sat up very straight and looked at Harry. "You didn't?" Fred's posture changed too as he came to the same conclusion.
Harry sighed. "We really are bonded, so she must go with me as I change schools. Your parents, well, your mother really, didn't want to allow that so your father agreed this way was for the best."
"What?" Ron said urgently, looking between all the others, trying to figure it out.
George looked at Fred. "He has a point."
"Definitely, I wouldn't have wanted to have been there and told them any of that."
"Damn it! Will one of you please tell me what going on!" Ron yelled.
Ginny sighed and wet her lips for an extra moment of silence, knowing there would be no peace for the next few minutes. "Ron, because Harry saved my life from the diary and the basilisk…"
Fear flashed over Ron's face as the memory of that day returned.
"…and because he is head of the Potter family, that created a Life Debt between our families. Harry didn't call it in as long as I was allowed to be around him. But when he and Hermione, and Gabrielle too, leave this school to go somewhere else, I need to go, too. So when Mum didn't want to let me go, Dad said it was best if Harry called in the Life Debt. That made me a part of Harry's family and … and my name is now Ginevra Emma Potter."
Ron looked between her and Harry, struggling to understand. "But, but…" He trailed off as words escaped him.
"And you're happy?"
"And you want this?"
She smiled at the twins as she knew they would understand. "I'm very happy to be with Harry, as well as Hermione and Gabrielle. I wished I didn't have to make Dad so unhappy, as I could tell it hurt him, but I could also tell he understood and wanted me to be happy."
Fred and George moved over and pulled Ginny into a three-way hug. When they let go, grins sprouted and they hugged Harry. "Brother!" they shouted before one started to tickle him and the other rubbed his head with his knuckles.
Harry howled in laughter and wiggled his way out of the hug. Ginny was giving them all a goofy grin, happy at the twins' acceptance.
"No, I don't believe it," Ron said emphatically. "Dad wouldn't do that." He looked furtively between the others, lingering a bit longer on the twins. "You're having on me, aren't you?" The other four sighed.
"What happened, George? Was he dropped on his head when he was born?"
"Maybe Bill or Charlie did something. We didn't do our first prank on him until he was five, and he was already this way by then."
"Hey!" Ron objected.
"Yeah, be fair to him," Harry said. Ron gave him an appreciative look.
"He doesn't understand the family's dirty secret," Ginny reminded them.
"What dirty secret?" Ron asked, causing the twins to shake their heads at each other.
"I'll leave you two to explain it to him, but do you have any more questions for me or Harry?" Ginny asked them.
"So, are you going to Beauxbatons?" George asked.
"That's to be decided," Harry answered vaguely, so no one could get the information from them. "For the rest of this term, we're going to be tutored; but don't worry, we'll be back. I have to return for the third task of the Tournament, and we'll visit during the summer too."
"And I'll write," Ginny promised.
"Ginny? Are you really a Potter now? Like … are you married?" Ron asked hesitantly.
She gave him a smile, as she thought this was his way of showing he cared about her. "Yes, I'm really Ginny Potter. No, I'm not legally married, that won't happen until I turn seventeen." When he gave a dirty look to Harry, she hurriedly said, "Ron, please don't blame Harry. He didn't purposefully do this. It was an accident. I'm glad it happened, but it really was an accident."
"I just don't understand why…" Ron still sounded lost.
"Ginny, we can tell that you need to go, so go ahead…"
"Yeah, we'll explain it to him."
"Thank you!" Ginny got up and gave each of her brothers a hug. "Talk to Dad, maybe he can explain it better, or at least from his point of view."
The twins each pulled Harry in for a hug, and he gave Ron a brief hug while the latter just stood there still looking like he was trying to understand what was going on.
"I'll write soon!" Ginny called as she and Harry headed for the door.
"That went better than I thought it would," Harry said as they hurried down the corridor.
"I was never worried about the twins, but Ron surprised me. He may be starting to grow up, but I think the more important reason was because he didn't really understand what was going on. Hopefully, we'll have left before he does and explodes," she said with a teasing grin.
As they reached the bottom of the last set of stairs to the Gryffindor Tower, they saw Hermione and Gabrielle.
Hermione looked at her watch as they started walking hurriedly. "We're cutting it close. Dinner will be starting soon." She handed one fist-sized trunk to Ginny and another to Harry. "Dean gave me a strange look when I took your trunk, but he didn't stop me."
"I can imagine," Harry said with a grin as they approached McGonagall's door, which Harry immediately knocked on, not giving anyone time to catch their breath after the fast walk.
When the door opened, McGonagall gave them all a look of surprise. "May I help you?"
"Yes, Professor. We need to speak to you as our Head of House, and perhaps as Deputy Headmistress," Harry said solemnly.
She raised an eyebrow but stepped back to allow them to pass. "Please come in then." They walked in and crowded together on her couch for visitors. Taking her own seat, McGonagall asked, "Now, what seems to be the problem?" She scrutinized the little Veela, giving her a look that said she should not be there.
"Professor," Harry took the lead, "our parents are requesting that we leave Hogwarts; therefore, we need the forms for them to sign and the latest copy of our school records."
The professor blinked once in silence before she responded, her Scottish brogue unusually thick. "Mr Potter, you can't leave now. We're in the middle of term … and you have the Triwizard Tournament."
"I'll return for the third task of the Tournament, but we are withdrawing now anyway. My parents have arranged for tutors," he replied calmly, deliberately using "my parents" to be vague.
She sat there flabbergasted for a moment. "But your parents' agreement with the Headmaster states that you are to remain here."
"Unless Harry has to save someone else's life," Hermione said, as if completing the Professor's sentence. "Harry had to rescue Gabrielle from a life-and-death situation yesterday," she indicated toward the young girl with a tilt of her head, "thereby nullifying the agreement."
"But that was the point of the second task," McGonagall countered.
"I'm sorry to disagree, Professor, but the point of the task was to retrieve a specific someone. For Harry, that was Ron, but while doing so, he found Gabrielle was drowning and if he had not rescued her, she would have died."
"Harry … saved … me," the little girl said to back up Hermione's statement.
McGonagall wilted slightly, understanding exactly what Hermione was referring to. "Very well, I shall have to get the Headmaster's approval on this and it is time for dinner. We can continue this conversation in his office after that."
"Professor," Harry said, "if someone like Colin Creevey came to you and asked to be withdrawn from school, would you have to go to the Headmaster?"
She sighed. "No, Mr Potter, I wouldn't; but Mr Creevey is not in the Triwizard Tournament. I can understand why you might not want to talk to the Headmaster, but he is the Headmaster of the school and your leaving does directly affect the school."
"Perhaps we can get the forms and get them signed first? I know my parents would appreciate that since you do not allow them to come here," Hermione said.
"Since there is no direct way to reach them…"
"Actually, they're at Sirius Black's house at the moment, waiting for us, so you can use your Floo connection," Hermione responded neatly.
McGonagall frowned but it was obvious she understood what was happening. She looked at each of them for a moment. "I almost hate to ask this, but if I do not?"
"We'll simply walk out the front door and use the school records we have from the end of last term," Harry answered.
McGonagall did not show surprise at the answer, acting as if she had expected that. Instead, she turned to the quietest member. "Ms Weasley, are you asking to be withdrawn too? I would not expect your parents to support this."
The redhead smiled slightly. "Actually, my Head of Family is very supportive of a change in schools."
The professor furrowed her brow slightly at the strange wording of the answer. "Very well," she finally said. "Wait here for a moment and I shall retrieve what you need and we can adjourn to Mr Black's house." She left the room through a side door.
Harry looked at Hermione. "How are we doing on time?"
"We're cutting it close, but we'll make it."
They waited a few minutes for Professor McGonagall to return. She had several folders in hand. Drawing her wand, she cast a spell on her Floo and said, "House of Black". She turned to the students. "I assume Ms Delacour will need to return to her family?"
"Her family will be meeting us there, so she'll be coming with us," Harry answered as he stood and pulled Gabrielle over by the hand. He grabbed some Floo Powder and put it into the fireplace.
"No need to say the name, Mr Potter; I've locked the destination in," McGonagall told him.
He nodded and said slowly, "Gabrielle, follow me." He tossed the Floo Powder in and stepped into the green flames.
After several long seconds of spinning, he rolled out of a fireplace and landed on his back. Sitting up, he saw Sirius grinning at him and his parents chuckling. As he was about to get up, a little blonde witch came out of the fireplace and knocked him over, with her on top. She giggled and quickly kissed him before scrambling up. As he was about to get up again, Ginny came out of the fireplace and tripped over his feet, landing on top of him. Harry heard twin giggles this time, right before Ginny quickly kissed him and rolled away to get up. Before he could get up, Hermione came out and also landed on him. With an impish look, she also kissed him and rolled off to stand up.
The fireplace turned green one last time and Professor McGonagall came out and ended up standing over his legs. "Mr Potter, it is not wise to lie in front of the fireplace when people are using it. You can get trampled that way."
Giggles and laughter came from the rest of the room as the professor reached down and helped the boy up.
"Here are the forms you need to sign for your children, Mr and Mrs Granger." McGonagall held two out to them. "And…" she paused as she looked around the room. "Where are the Weasleys?"
"I will sign for Ginny, since she is now a member of the House of Potter," Harry told her, standing up as straight as he could to look more official.
"Mr Potter…" she started sternly.
"Minerva," Sirius gently interjected, stopping her. "I witnessed the ceremony that transferred Ginny into the House of Potter. Harry is indeed responsible for her. However, if you must have an adult sign, then I think it would be appropriate for Harry to sign and then for Dan to co-sign."
"This is most unusual."
"Yes, it is, but it is also all legal and the current state of affairs, with Arthur Weasley's full cooperation," Sirius replied, showing a side of him that he had never displayed at school before: one of leadership and seriousness. When she did not argue and simply handed the last form to Harry, Sirius smiled and called, "Zoot!" as he lightly clapped his hands.
A small house-elf popped in.
"Please go to the Beauxbatons carriage at Hogwarts and tell Mr and Madam Delacour that we are ready for them."
The elf acknowledged her instructions and popped back out.
"So they are in on this too?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.
"Yes," Sirius said with his Marauder grin. "It's a conspiracy between the Grangers, Potters, Delacours, and the House of Black."
"I notice you did not name the Weasleys," she said stiffly.
Sirius shrugged as he continued to grin. "While not directly involved, they did play their part before they withdrew recently."
When the Grangers handed the three forms to her, McGonagall looked them over. Seeing a Potter and a Granger signature on the last form, she looked at the young man. "Mr Potter, to make this valid, I need to see proof that you have responsibility for this student."
Harry nodded and pulled out the form in his pocket and handed it over.
McGonagall paled and gasped as she saw it. "You called in a Life Debt?"
At that moment, the fireplace turned green and Albus Dumbledore stepped into the room. "Minerva, you mentioned there was a problem with Mr Potter and his friends?"
The Transfiguration professor wordlessly handed over the three withdrawal forms and the Life Debt form.
Dumbledore frowned momentarily as he saw what they were before looking at the Grangers, his grandfatherly smile once more fixed firmly on his face. "I believe we had an agreement that Harry and your daughter would continue their education at Hogwarts."
"Headmaster," Dan calmly addressed him. "Our agreement had several conditions and if any one of them was violated, we were free to withdraw our children. At least one of them has already been broken."
"Oh?"
"Headmaster, you know very well that one of the conditions was that my son did not have to save anyone's life."
"Mr Granger, we were also quite specific that there was some danger inherent in the Triwizard Tournament and that did not count in our agreement," Dumbledore argued, still with his grandfatherly smile in place, although it was beginning to wear a little thin.
"If the problem had been with Ron Weasley - Harry's assigned person - we would concede your point, Headmaster. However," Dan's expression tightened, "the person he had to save was not his assigned person and if he had not done so - at risk to his own life - this young lady would have died." He held out his hand to indicate Gabrielle.
At that moment, the Delacours Flooed into the room, bringing a sharp stop to all conversation for a moment. Apolline smiled when she saw the children and moved over to stand behind Harry and Gabrielle. Her husband went with her and stood next to her and behind Ginny.
"Our apologies for being late," Jean-Aimé said genially with a slight nod. "We had to say good-bye to our other daughter. What did we miss?"
Sirius quickly spoke up. "We have the withdrawal forms signed, but the Headmaster is protesting that the agreement with the Grangers is not broken and that Gabrielle's rescue was a normal part of the Triwizard Tournament and not something extra Harry had to do."
Apolline gave the Headmaster a blazing glare. "Are you trying to be," she waved her hand for a moment as she searched for the right word, "obstinate, or are you merely stupid?"
The Headmaster stood there and blinked at being called that, his smile now gone completely, while McGonagall looked shocked.
"My daughter would have died had not Harry been so quick to get there. He took it upon himself to rescue her because it was the right thing to do, something he would not have had to do if you had cast your spell correctly. So do not try to get away from your mistake, Headmaster." She spat his title out.
"And there was the condition that Harry would end the year like he started it," Emma continued heaping trouble on the old man. "Because of your mistake, this little girl will not leave my son alone." She indicated the little Veela who was still holding Harry's hand.
"Harry, stay!" Gabrielle cried and threw arms around Harry's waist tightly, burying her face on his chest, not letting go - just as she had been instructed hours earlier.
"I don't know how much therapy we're going to have to go through to help her and my son deal with this problem - one he did not have at the beginning of the year," Emma explained. "You did not hold up your end of the bargain, Headmaster."
"But Harry must be in the Tournament or he'll lose his magic…"
"I'll return for the third task at the end of June, Headmaster. In the meantime, I'll attend the school that was on my entry into the Goblet of Fire - which was none," Harry told him confidently.
Dumbledore closed his eyes and slowly sighed. One of the forms in his hand suddenly left him, causing him to hastily look up. He saw Harry catch the paper.
"I'll take my form showing the transfer of Ginny to my family back, thank you," Harry said smugly as he put his wand and the form away.
"You don't need a copy," Sirius slipped in with a pleasant smile, "you only needed to see it to verify it. Now that everything is in order and all the questions have been cleared up, I believe this meeting is over. Thank you for coming and bringing the students, Minerva. Oh, and we'll expect you to refund the remainder of this term's tuition fees for Harry and Hermione to the Grangers. The fees for Ginny can be returned to the Weasleys as they originally paid them."
Minerva nodded at everyone before quietly wishing them a good evening and using the Floo Network to return to school.
Everyone looked at Albus, who was still standing there deep in thought.
"Albus? The Floo Powder is in the blue dish on the mantle if you're not sure where to look," Sirius said helpfully.
"Harry," Dumbledore said suddenly. "You must remember our other project we are working on. Surely you would not abandon your friends in our time of need?"
Harry squared his shoulders and lifted his head a little higher. "I have not forgotten nor is it being abandoned. I am merely changing schools while I prepare for that. I am leaving Hogwarts because you didn't make it safe enough." When Dumbledore started to object, Harry added, "You are the Headmaster. As Sirius has taught me, a Head of House is responsible for his family and all of its members. In the same way, you are responsible for the school and all of its students."
"Well said, Harry, you remember your traditions well," Sirius said with a grave nod and then a look at Dumbledore, daring him to disagree.
"It is difficult, but it is the right way," Jean-Aimé said.
"And I stand behind my son and daughter," Dan Granger said unexpectedly.
Dumbledore looked around and saw a wall of solidarity. "Very well." He looked at Harry with disappointment. "In addition to the third task, there will be a short meeting about a month before it, which you will need to attend."
"If you will owl me via Sirius, I will be there," Harry agreed.
With a grim look and a nod, Dumbledore turned and left through the Floo Network.
"We did it; we're free," Harry breathed more than said, but everyone heard him. Gabrielle was still hugging him, but everyone else crowded around for a hug or pat on the back.
When they broke apart, Sirius shot a spell at the fireplace. "There, no more visitors tonight. Let's have dinner and celebrate a successful plan and, dare I say, prank on a meddling old man." Everyone laughed and headed for the dining room.
After dinner and several hours of talking, Sirius assigned everyone a bedroom for the night. Harry's bond-mates had been assigned separate rooms, and he joined each of them in turn.
With Gabrielle, it was merely a few minutes for her to sit on his lap and for a hug. He wondered what she would be like as he got to know her, and she him. The idea of having a bond-mate that he knew not at all before bonding was more than just a little awkward. Her younger age and looks did not help either. He was going to have to be very careful around her for some time while they got to know one another. He truly hoped she worked out as well as Hermione and Ginny, as he hoped he could make them all happy.
With Ginny, he spent the better part of fifteen minutes snuggling and snogging. He wanted to give her some time alone since they had been afforded none since the bonding with Gabrielle.
He liked Ginny and knew she honestly liked him. She had been a bit intimidated at first, with how much she idolized him as The-Boy-Who-Lived, but she had quickly outgrown that as they had gotten to know each other. Now, she was a fun person who liked to give hugs, snuggle up to him on the couch, give him kisses from time to time, and she liked to tease him. She also liked to fly and could talk Quidditch, not to mention that she struck him as being above average in intelligence. He did not quite understand her desire to exercise so much: she was practically a fanatic about it at times, but he did have to admit that he liked how the exercises made her look. Her hair was certainly the first thing that grabbed his attention, and she was cute. The fact that her breasts were small did not bother him at all; he thought her great-looking legs more than made up for her small bustline, and the years might change her body further. She was growing up to be pretty, or so he thought, and a person he enjoyed being around.
Hermione received the same sort of time as Ginny did, alone time just for the two of them, though she preferred to snuggle and talk with a dash of snogging, rather than snuggle and snog with a dash of talking.
He knew that Hermione doubted herself on her looks, but he thought she was turning out to be very pretty. Of course, the first thing anyone thought about when they considered Hermione, assuming they knew her at all, was her incredible intelligence. He wondered if she might be borderline genius. She was also so self-disciplined that he was envious of her at times. Her eidetic memory was something else that stood out about her. Despite all of that which made many call her a "bookworm," Hermione was also a very caring person. She was not as demonstrative as Ginny, but Hermione did like to snuggle - usually leaning against him while reading a good book. There was no doubt in his mind that she cared about all of her true friends greatly. He was very grateful for her level-headedness and desire for everyone to get along. He also had not failed to notice her growing breasts. Her shape was more "womanly" he thought, and overall very pleasing to look at. He was glad she was around him, not only because of how attractive she was becoming, but because of everything they had shared and how much he enjoyed her company.
After Hermione's time, Harry brought Gabrielle and Ginny to Hermione's room and the brunette cast the Fidelius charm on each parchment that held the girl's secret, making Harry the Secret Keeper. The secrets were small to hide, but three of the charms exhausted Hermione. The girls shooed Harry to his room and helped Hermione get undressed and into bed. Everyone in the House of Black slept well that night.
At Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall had spent a very contemplative evening. Her old friends Filius and Pomona had listened attentively as they shared most of a bottle of single-malt Scotch. They assured Minerva that she could have done very little to have prevented this latest change at the school.
In the second tallest tower of the castle, Albus Dumbledore paced in his office. So many plans ruined and now Potter had left the school as well. Even if he was still Chief Warlock, he doubted that he could pass a law forcing all students, and Harry in particular, to stay in school until their normal course-work was finished; nor did he think Harry would obey it. He thought it quite possible that the Grangers would simply move out of England and Sirius, being on the Wizengamot, would warn them well ahead of time.
Harry Potter was simply out of his control unless he could find something to bring Harry back by the end of the Tournament, but he had no idea what. Hermione Granger was the only enticement he could think of, and she was going with him, as was the Weasley/Potter girl.
He sighed yet again during his long mental debate. He had almost certainly lost the support of the Weasleys with the loss of their daughter. Damn Sirius for telling Harry about the traditions. He needed an ignorant and compliant Harry - all of his plans always had required that.
Then there was the problem of Voldemort. Severus had indicated that his Dark Mark was slowly growing darker, more easily seen, indicating that the Dark Wizard was slowly gaining strength. In addition, Croaker was being most meddlesome. The man had found a Horcrux in this very castle just before Christmas.
Dumbledore dropped into his chair and sighed. Looking up, he saw his phoenix staring back. "Do you have any advice or perhaps a song of comfort?"
The immortal bird chirped once and shook its head, indicating he had no answer to give.
Harry slowly woke, feeling very warm and comfortable. As he blinked, he heard a giggle and realized there was someone sitting on the side of his bed. Without the need to look for them, he reached for his glasses and put them on. Gabrielle came into view and he could now see that she was watching him with interest. Glancing around, he saw Hermione and Ginny on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. All the girls were fully dressed.
«You're very cute when you sleep,» Gabrielle told him, sitting next to him on the bed.
«Thanks,» he croaked, eliciting another giggle from the girl. He looked at her for a moment. «You should be using English.»
She gave him a cute pout. "English speak hard," she slowly said.
«You are doing better. Has listening to English for the last day helped you?»
"Some."
«Come, Gabrielle,» Ginny said. «Harry must get up and get dressed. You have awakened him.»
"I help him," she said slowly and with an enthusiastic smile. The older girls chuckled while Harry blushed.
«That is not a good idea. I will not help him in that way,» Hermione said slowly, making no attept to hide her amused expression.
«Yet,» Ginny smugly answered, earning her a playful shove from her friend. She walked over to Gabrielle and pulled the lightly protesting little girl along, while Hermione strolled out. As Ginny was about to close the door, she turned back to Harry. "Don't take too long or I'll come back and help you get dressed, no matter what state you're in." She left with a wink, which caused Harry to gulp.
When he was truly alone, Harry jumped out of bed and threw yesterday's jeans on before he found some clothes and hurried to the bathroom. He figured that as long as he had a locked door, he was safe and could shower and get dressed at his leisure. A long hot shower sounded wonderful.
However, when he got out of the shower, he found all of his clothes gone. He groaned in exasperation. At least they had left him his towel this time.
Peeking out the door, he saw that the hallway was clear. Hoping for the best, he dashed for his room at the other end of the hallway with a hand on the towel wrapped around his waist. He made it safely and locked his door, only to turn around and find Ginny sitting on his bed, with his clothes beside her.
"You were taking too long, so I thought I would help." When he sputtered in embarrassment, she laughed lightly and got up. "Hurry down, Harry, or I'll send Gabrielle up." She winked at him again and left him alone.
She is such a tease, he thought, although he was grinning largely. Wasting no time, he got dressed and went downstairs to find breakfast. He hoped every morning was not going to be like this one, although a small part of him had enjoyed the playful behaviour. A time with … family, he decided.
In the dining room, he found everyone else already there and they were starting to serve the food.
"Nice of you to join us, Harry," Sirius joked with him. "I thought maybe the girls had failed and I'd have to come up next."
"You sent them up?"
"Well, let's say that I didn't stop them when I knew what they were about to do."
Harry glanced at his parents and the Delacours. All four of them were looking at him with amusement. "Oh Merlin…" Everyone chuckled.
Jean-Aimé lightly cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "To matters at hand… Yesterday, I secured a Portkey for you." He pulled a small silver goblet about three inches tall out of a pocket and set it in front of Dan. "You can use this, even though you have no magic, because the magic in the Portkey will do the work. However, because of that, you must wait about four hours between uses. If a magical person, such as your daughter or son is using it with you, then it can draw magic from them and it is usable again in a couple of minutes. Because you are travelling between countries, I had to anchor it at both ends, so it will only work in the living room of your home and in the entry way of my home, obviously, taking you to the other place."
Dan and Emma looked at it carefully. "How do you make it work?" she asked curiously.
"Once everyone who is going is touching it - and you are limited to eight people at the most - you say 'Take us to the other home', and you will be transported. The trip will take about ten or fifteen seconds. I will say that it is generally not a good idea to show up in the middle of the night, unless there is an emergency, as the guardians of our home tend to be a little more … aggressive at night. Otherwise, you are welcome to come whenever you like," Jean-Aimé finished with a smile.
"Thank you very much," Dan told him.
"Yes, thank you. We'll make sure we owl ahead," Emma said mischievously, enjoying using Wizarding slang. Her daughter rolled her eyes. "Unless you have a phone?"
"I do at the office, but not at home. I'll give you the number later in case you want to leave a message there," Jean-Aimé replied.
"Thank you," Emma said with a smile. "It's nice to find magical people who understand some of our conveniences."
Jean-Aimé chuckled. "I don't understand all of your cultural references, but I can function in your world reasonably well. You have the day off from work, yes?"
"We do, but we must be back at work tomorrow," Dan answered.
"Then let's journey to your home, you can pack a bag, and come visit us for the day. You will have a chance to see where your children are staying. You can return tomorrow morning, or this evening if you prefer."
"Yes, please come and visit," Apolline echoed her husband's invitation. "I know I would want to see where my children were staying if they were going to another country."
Emma looked happier. Not that she had been exactly unhappy before, but this did increase her comfort level. "Thank you, we'd like that very much." Dan agreed too.
"You are welcome too, Sirius," Jean-Aimé said, looking at their host.
"In that case, let me pack some clothes and we can be off," Sirius agreed jovially. He left the dining room to pack, as did everyone else.
Twenty minutes later, Sirius took the Delacours to the Grangers' house so they could see where it was. The three adults then returned and Side-Along-Apparated the Grangers and four children. The Grangers quickly repacked their bags for another night away and everyone gathered in the Grangers' living room.
"Wait a minute," Sirius said suddenly. "There are nine of us here and the Portkey only takes eight. I guess I'll have to visit another time." He looked disappointed.
"Nonsense," Jean-Aimé stopped him. "I still have my original return Portkey. I will take it and let the rest of you use the other." He pulled out a small wooden figurine, tapped his wand to it, and left.
"Everyone gather around and touch the goblet," Apolline directed. "Very good, Dan, say the activation phrase."
"Take us to the other home." Dan felt a jerk behind his navel and found he could not remove his finger from the goblet. He felt a slow spinning sensation as they were carried along. He looked at Emma and saw that she was looking slightly unwell, but then she had never liked the wilder rides at amusement parks.
Eventually, everyone but Apolline landed in a heap. Dan assumed it was a matter of experience. This was a lot faster and cheaper than going to Heathrow and taking a plane, but he wondered if Emma would want to do this again. He did not mind the trip, but then again he did not feel as green as she looked.
"Are you all right, dear," Dan asked as he helped his wife up.
"Yes, I'll be fine shortly. However, I'm not sure I want to make that trip very often." She nor her husband saw the pleased looks from their children at hearing that.
"Ah, good, you have arrived," Jean-Aimé said as he walked into the entry way and over to his wife. "Let me show you Chateau Delacour."
Emma took a good look around for the first time and her mouth nearly fell open. The elegance floored her. There was marble, fine wood panelling and trim, not to mention the large mirror with a golden frame that shone as if made of real gold. Then she caught sight of the large chandelier above her. She had always thought they were well off and lived in a nice neighbourhood, but this was several levels above them.
"Chateau Delacour was started nearly sixteen hundred years ago when my ancestors settled this area, or more realistically removed the Moor barbarians that inhabited this region," Jean-Aimé said as he led them into the rest of the house.
"Where are we?" Hermione asked.
"The Chateau and our nearly ten thousand acres are in the western foothills of the southern range of the French Alps," he answered easily as he guided them into a large and richly decorated room, which included a fireplace large enough for several men to stand side-by-side in it, at least as long as they were not overly tall. The back wall was entirely windows and glass doors and he beckoned them over. "Come, the balcony will give you a good view of most of the land."
"What do you do with ten thousand acres?" Dan asked as Emma gasped when she got her first look out the windows. Everyone slowly moved out onto the balcony in awe, looking at the rows upon rows of grapevines over low rolling hills. "I suppose that answers my question," he said in a quiet voice.
"Should we have heard of your label?" Emma asked.