Normalcy
You can find more of this on by SubscribeStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it’s posted past FwB2 Ch. 30 there. You can find the same on my new Patreon (via Discord per their ToS), under /WildErotica. The DISCORD is at https://discord.gg/N9yDASt6Cw . If you prefer direct links, go to my Discord and follow the ‘links in general’ section to find the ones you want. All of my fics are well ahead of what I post here, often 10-30 chapters ahead.
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Chap. 24: Normalcy?
Harry relaxed between the group of girls and lovers that were friends and so much more, glad that the sun had gone behind one of the sparse clouds, for now. Breakfast had been a pleasant affair after it came out that the girls were moving ahead with some of his own plans without him, with Hermione, Fleur, Daphne, and Lilith making it clear that they were united in seeing him take a little less work on, to delegate more, in both what was probably to become both the family’s largest business and philanthropic project in Potter history- or perhaps in the magical world on the British Isles- and in taking care of the now twenty women who had been rescued by the Order of the Phoenix a few days earlier.
“This is pretty nice,” he murmured, listening to the birds chirp in the nearby trees and garden, and insects going about their way as they cared for themselves and the garden, the forest, and grass of The Crockery’s expansive property. “I haven’t just… laid down and been still since…” Harry stifled a yawn, “Well, I’m not sure if I ever have, to be honest.”
“You need more of it,” Parvati murmured sleepily, “It’s part of life, Harry. We all have to rest, and sometimes that means lazing around all morning on a picnic blanket.”
“It’s part of being normal, anyway,” Padma added from her twin’s other side.
“Maybe normal’s not all that bad,” Harry chuckled quietly. “Though… if we’re being perfectly honest…”
“We are,” Hermione answered, “Always.”
“Well… I kind of… as nice as this is, and it is nice, I feel like we should be doing something.”
“No helping the ladies, no fighting dark wizards, and no working on paperwork,” Susan commanded, sitting up and turning to glare at him from near Harry’s right knee, her brilliant orange hair like fire in the morning sun and light breeze. “You already agreed to that.”
“No, no, I did, and you’re right,” Harry told her, levering himself to his elbows and looking around the group of gorgeous ladies that had all-but promised to spend their lives with him in a solemn ceremony, “It’s just… well, it’s summer, but we’ve still got homework.”
For several seconds, he watched as a dozen pairs of eyes blinked.
“I mean, we could just get it out of the way in the next couple of days, and then have less to worry about for the rest of the break, right?”
Hermione nodded, one eye narrowed suspiciously, “Who are you and what have you done with Harry Potter?”
He laughed and finished sitting up, then prodded his first girlfriend in the ribs with a finger, making her giggle, “I’m not Ron, I always got my homework done as soon as I could, so I could have more time to relax in summer. This is the last year, so I don’t see any reason to break with tradition. It’s already been a week, and I’m getting antsy.”
“This isn’t just some excuse to hold a quill and touch parchment again, is it?” Daphne asked suspiciously too. “Because after you spent the last two days holed up in your study, I rather think you’ve had enough of that.”
“No,” Harry laughed, and stuck his tongue out at her childishly, “but I have lots of things I want to do this summer. Not all work. I’ve never been to the zoo, at least not properly. The one time I went, on Dudley’s eleventh birthday, well… it ended badly. I’ve only been to the sea once, and it was with my rel- with the- the Dursleys. Aside from meeting Hagrid, it was not a… a pleasant excursion. I’ve never been camping, or hiking, or sailing. But homework should come first.”
“Alright, I’m convinced,” Hermione shot back, sitting up herself and grabbing Harry’s wrist to stop him from tickling her again, “You aren’t the Harry I know at all, but this version’s better. Let’s go, we may’s well. Everyone, chop-chop! Get home, grab your school things, then head to the classroom on the ground floor.”
Thus, amid a series of good-natured, and more sour, groans, the lot of them split up for anywhere between ten and, in Susan’s case, fifty-nine minutes.
But when the busty red-head knocked on the open classroom door beyond the kitchen on the south wing of the Crockery and poked her head in, she had another person in tow: Hannah. Behind her was Neville, who gave everyone a sheepish wave before running a hand through his hair and lifting the bag from his shoulder, “Heard we’re doing a study group?”
Twenty minutes later, the last to return, Ginny came back with Ron grumbling behind her, though his mood quickly brightened when he saw who would be taking part in the group, and who would, in fact, be acting as a sort of teacher to help them out: Fleur.
As the oldest witch among them, and the only one to have finished schooling, it only made sense to Harry, Hermione, and most of the rest why she would be assisting them with research, or whatever other form of help. And, as a former Triwizard Champion, Fleur had proven herself to be a highly-capable witch, and more than up to the task.
“What’s first then?” Harry asked the group as they settled in and the gossipping quieted down.
He hadn’t even really had it sink in what the room they were in had been for until now, but as the desks had been moved from a more traditional, face-the-front setup to a wide circle facing inward where Fleur would, presumably, spend her time, it made perfect sense.
The orphanage would have its own rooms for education, but… he had sixteen women in his life. Just that morning, most of them had literally promised to spend their lives with him, and several of them had mentioned children either then, or in the past.
Reasonably, if he was looking at two children per ‘spouse’ on average, that was… Harry gulped.
Thirty-two kids. I… I didn’t mean that when I thought about having a large family… did I?
Across the room, Lilith, who was back as Lilian for now as she helped Ron dictate some of his notes into a more legible fashion, looked up at him and smiled, then nodded. A moment later, a single sentence floated over their bond. “You certainly did, Master. And this is assuming, of course, that you won’t add another lady or two. You never know. Men like you sometimes aren’t satisfied with a thirty-woman harem.”
Harry shuddered, though he felt his cock twitch at the thought of it. No… no, I think that would be too many. I wouldn’t be able to devote any time to any of you personally.
That made the Succubus beam over at him, though she didn’t respond verbally or mentally again, instead focusing her attention back on what she was helping Ron decipher.
“I think we should do Potions,” Hermione offered after no one else had said anything for a few seconds. Ignoring the round of groans that followed, Harry’s included, she reminded them, “Healer Tonks was a much better teacher than Snape, and every one of us did better in the class after she took over, so don’t complain now. Besides, if we get the hardest one out of the way, the rest will seem easier, right?”
Thus, though the grumbling did complain for a few minutes, textbooks were opened, and in the case of the incoming sixth-years, cauldrons brought out from the kitchen supplies. Those, Fleur committed to supervising, as no one wanted to risk a fire getting out of control, in a room full of witches and wizards or not. Still, Hermione’s now-famous bluebell flames were notoriously useful, as always, and soon had Luna, Ginny, and Romilda’s cauldrons bubbling away as they proceeded to dice Shrivelfig, crush Ashwinder eggs (unfertilized, of course, as the fertilized ones were far more dangerous and used for different potions than a Pepper-Up), and stir in the set patterns needed.
Meanwhile, the older students among them got to work on noting the various differences between the Draught of Living Death, and a far riskier potion than even that: Deathwight, a poison of such lethality that even inhaling the fumes without significant protections, muggle and magical, was almost always fatal. Actually drinking it or having it injected had never been observed to be survivable.
Of course, none of them were actually brewing it, they were only to report on the differences on six inches of parchment.
Andromeda Tonks, it seemed, preferred to make her students research rather than give hand cramps.
It took two hours before Harry was satisfied with his seven inches, because, frankly, he just hadn’t been able to spot many differences. The ingredients were the same. In fact, the only difference he had seen at all was that Deathwight’s Runespoor eggs were uncooked before being broken and added to the mix, while the Draught’s were not only cooked, but added whole, shell and all, to be broken up while inside the potion as it brewed.
Otherwise, even the order the various reagents and components were added, the stirring, the heat, were identical as far as he could tell. “Ugh… I’m done with this. I feel like my head’s coming loose. It isn’t that easy, though, is it?”
Hermione, a few seats away in the circle of desks, groaned as she pulled her hands from her now-frazzled hair, “It can’t be. But I don’t see any other reason why she would’ve assigned only six inches, because it’s fascinating how such a small change can alter the results so drastically. And with such profound effects, even if they seem identical at first.”
Daphne sniffed.
Pansy grinned.
And Fleur glanced over at them from where she was helping guide Romilda’s stirring motion to keep the sides of her cauldron from growing sticky with build-up, and smiled too.
“It’s a trick,” he whispered, “Or a clue, rather. It’s six inches to… well, as a hint. That it really is just that.”
“Damn,” Ron groaned, “’Cause I’ve already written like, ten inches. Nightmare, this assignment.”
A few minutes later, the Potions work completed for their year, at least, they moved on to Transfiguration.
Astronomy, for those that still took the course, which were limited now to Padma, Hannah, and Katie.
Care of Magical Creatures, which most of the non-Slytherins but including Daphne of all people.
Then Herbology, Charms, Defense (where Harry was surprised to find himself answering even more questions than Fleur or Hermione, though in retrospect he shouldn’t have been, having received one of the highest marks on the O.W.L.s in Hogwarts’ history). History (which only Luna still took) was combined with Muggle Studies, which Daphne and Tracey took alone out of the group now, two of only six students in the whole class during the previous year, and even Divination, which Fleur was quite knowledgeable about, and was able to converse easily with Parvati, Hannah, and when she dropped by at around two in the afternoon, Lavender.
Astoria showed up at a little after three, and was quickly caught up by the witches who had just finished the year she would be entering.
It was nearly five-thirty when Harry looked up with the last bit of his Charms homework, which had proven the most difficult if only because Professor Flitwick had assigned him, personally, an extra twelve inches on how Charms might be used in a combat situation.
And Defense, well…
Harry had swallowed as he picked up the parchment with the written instructions: It was Dumbledore’s. Dumbledore, who was dead, and would never grade the assignment.
He hadn’t been the only one misty-eyed as he added the finished work to the stack, before quickly moving on to the next.
But he was done, now. After about seven hours of intensive work, the entire summer’s homework was complete. He groaned, dropped his worn quill, and flexed his fingers.
And noticed someone standing in the doorway, watching them. Mostly, he thought, watching him. Harry tried to ignore the young woman for a minute, not wanting to embarrass her, though he’d caught her stiffening as he glanced over in her direction.
Over the next few minutes, more and more quills joined his on their desks, and, predictably, Hermione was the last one still working as she added a probably-unneccesary-but-you-never-know eight inches to the same Charms essay he had just finished.
“Dinner?” Ron groaned as his own quill bounced off the parchment to land an inch in the air, caught by Fleur’s levitation spell along with several droplets of ink. “Er, thanks, Fleur.”
The half-Veela only smiled at him tiredly, “I believe Winky iz close to done, yes. I will go check. You should clean up if you are done.”
“Come on in, Kennedy, no need to be shy,” Harry told the woman watching them before Fleur could startle her with walking by.
Still, she jumped at the sound of his voice, and blushed as she stepped in. “Sorry, I-”
Harry chuckled, “Hey, no. None of that. I’ve said before, there’s no place here off-limits to you, except maybe to respect the privacy of others and their bedrooms. We’re just doing homework.”
“I… I kind of figured that,” she said quietly, looking around the room nervously as Fleur slipped past her with a kind smile. “I’m not intruding? I don’t… well, I don’t know anything about…”
“Magic?” Hermione asked quietly.
Kennedy nodded.
“Half- well, some- of us didn’t either, until a few years ago,” Hermione told her. Then frowned as she looked around the room, “This isn’t the best representative group of our school, which is called Hogwarts. But my parents were muggles like you, and Harry’s relatives, who raised him- if you can call it that- are completely non-magical as well. Neither of us knew about the magical world at all until we turned eleven. My parents were most relieved to have an explanation for all the strange things I did as a child.”
Kennedy smiled softly, “Are… are you sure?”
“Of course,” Harry replied, “We’re mostly about finished anyway, Hermione just likes to write feet more than is necessary every summer, so don’t take her academic prowess as the norm. She’s the only one who’ll get straight O’s- that’s our top grade- in everything.”
“Not that the rest of us are slouches,” Daphne sniffed again, her nose in the air, “I fully expect to get an O in at least Ancient Runes, Charms, and perhaps Potions when our grades are reported.”
“Except me,” Ron replied with a laugh, “I’m definitely the least, ah, academically inclined.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Ron, you’re very intelligent,” Hermione frowned.
The ginger only shrugged as he stood up and stretched with his hands over his head, “Sure, I guess, but you and I both know school just never held my interest like it did you. Even Gin-gin likes it more than me. I’ll be glad to be shot of the place.”
Hermione could only huff, which made Harry grin. He knew why she was frustrated. Ron really was quite smart, but he chose not to apply it toward schooling whenever given the opportunity, which Hermione saw as wasteful. But it was also Ron’s life, and he was allowed, as far as Harry was concerned, to live it as he saw fit.
That’s one of the biggest reasons they wouldn’t work long-term, I think, and why… well, basically why she chose me, in the end. Even if I never asked her to.
“So what can I help you with?” Harry asked Kennedy as the others began to stand up, stretch, and put their homework away as well.
Kennedy shrugged, still watching the group, “I… nothing, I suppose. I just… well, I wasn’t questioned for very long, and since… since the case was pretty open-and-shut according to that man with the- with the glass eye, I… was brought back early. I’ve just been, well…”
“Bored?” Ginny asked.
Kennedy blushed, but nodded. “Not, um, not that I don’t appreciate the- the chance to stay, and the food, and bed, and everything… I’m not sure my flat would be very safe since I wasn’t far away when they t- took me. But… Well, I don’t mind reading, but I’ve never even heard of half the books in the library, and there’s only so much I…”
Hermione glanced at Harry, then smiled. “Well, I think my dad- Daniel Granger- might be able to help with that. He’s a bit of a cinema buff. Have you seen the theater upstairs?”
Kennedy nodded as a few of the witches looked her way.
“That’s free-reign, too. He or I, or Harry I think, could show you how it works if you need us to. The library of movies isn’t big yet, but it’s growing- that’s what Daddy was working on when we went on the rescue mission.”
“I wasn’t sure… we’d be allowed,” Kennedy said quietly, glancing warily towards Harry again. “I was wondering if maybe… some of the other girls had ever even seen a cinema. I didn’t know if your… if your people had them.”
Harry chuckled, “You can absolutely watch whatever you want, Kennedy. I mean that- I mean it when I say you should make yourself at home. I want you to be happy while you’re here, alright? At least as much as you can. And if you like watching movies, then that’s what you should do.”
She nodded.
He didn’t have to be an empath to suspect there was more to it, though. So he finished throwing his schoolwork into his bag and put it up on his shoulder, “Come on, walk with me, if you don’t mind. I have an idea.”
She smiled faintly, red-faced again for some reason, and followed alongside Harry as he headed out of the classroom ahead of the others and, with a moment’s hesitation, fell behind him as he stepped up toward the top floor.
Harry looked back, “I did say come with me, so you’ve got permission, you know.”
Kennedy swallowed, then nodded. With a hand on the railing and her eyes on Harry, she followed after, all the way to the master bedroom where he put the backpack down to find her standing nervously in the doorway once more. “Ah, this is my bedroom, by the way. You can come in if you want, or stay there. I’m…”
He exhaled slowly, then looked deeply into her gray-green eyes though they were now a dozen feet apart, “I am not like the men who kidnapped you, Kennedy. I have done things I’m not proud of in the past. Things I regret. Things, honestly, too much like those men for my comfort. If…. If you want to know more, ask Daphne, Pansy, or even Lavender, the blonde girl that was here the other day- the one that arrived this afternoon. The older one, I mean. Hell, ask Romilda. Tell them, if they ask, that I gave you full permission to hear it from their mouths. I’ll tell you myself, if you want, but prefer they do so you understand their side.
“This… thing that we have? It’s not normal even for witches and wizards. We’re very much like muggles in most ways, and like Hermione said, both she and I were raised that way, like you were, more or less. But I’m not going to turn my wand on you and make you do things. Not like those men. Not with other abilities I have, thanks to Lilith. In no way at all. You are safe with me: you have my solemn word.”
“I know,” she whispered, and he saw a single tear run down her cheek, though she ignored it, so Harry tried to as well. “That’s… that’s not…”
Kennedy shook her head, “I was just… I trust you. I trust your… women. That Neville bloke seemed alright, and even the ginger. Ron?”
Harry nodded, “Yeah, Ron’s my best mate, has been for years. He’s also Hermione’s boyfriend… though they’ve been drifting apart lately. Don’t think they’ve broken anything off, and I’ve no intention of asking them to.”
Kennedy took a deep shuddering breath, then stepped over the threshold. “I… I’ve… I wasn’t a- a virgin when they took me, but I’d never… never gone into a man’s room on… well, my Mum tried to teach me it wasn’t proper, and… I don’t know how she’d react, is all.”
“Your Dad?”
Kennedy shook her head, “Just me and Mum, and my little brother, Wally. Wallace, after our dad. He… he died when I was little, just a few years old. Wally’s about your age, I think, maybe a bit older.”
Harry nodded, “Well, I’m glad you feel safe with me, Kennedy. I know it… isn’t easy, having been through what you have. I will do my best to never betray that trust. Anyway, this is Hogwarts’ Crest, and above that, my family crest. I didn’t know what it was until this year, I’d never seen it. Those are the four Houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Some of each of us downstairs, and…”
Harry went on for a good twenty minutes, explaining much of what he’d learned about Hogwarts in his first few years, before he stopped, mid-sentence, with a blush. “-and then I- Oh, shite, sorry! I just realized I’ve been blathering for way too long, and you probably don’t even care about this.”
“No!” Kennedy cried, then blushed again and looked away, “No, I… it’s… it’s very interesting. I didn’t know magic was real, until… until I was taken, and I woke up. Knowing… knowing it’s… well, that there’s a school, and… and that it can be used for… for other things, is…” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “It helps. Helps to just know… it’s… normal. Not only a… a weapon. To hurt people.”
Harry nodded. “I… understand. At least, a little. My relatives, the Dursleys- Vernon, Aunt Petunia, who’s my mother’s sister, and my cousin, Dudley, were not… kind. The older I get, the more I realize they were… pretty terrible, actually. Dudley’s turned out half-decent, by some miracle, but I’d be just fine never seeing my aunt and uncle again. Magic, for me, was a wonderous escape. Still is, really. But yes, it can also be used to hurt. There’s… a man. If you can call him that. Name’s Voldemort, or at least that’s what he goes by. His actual name is Tom Marvolo Riddle.”
Kennedy nodded, her eyes wide.
“He killed my parents when I was about a year, year and a half, that’s why I went to live with my relatives. I didn’t know magic existed until I turned eleven. He’s after me, because of… well, I shouldn’t say, but he has his reasons. And I have my reasons for wanting him gone. He’s made my life hell in many ways, not least by murdering my parents. But there’s something else, too. I basically have to be the one to finish him off, or he just can’t die. Magic… it’s weird, fickle sometimes, but it does follow rules, and those rules are what… make it that way. Him or me, basically, in the end. It has to be that way.”
Harry wasn’t sure, exactly, why he was telling Kennedy this. Essentially telling her about the worst moments of his life, and of the prophecy, without using any of those words. But he knew she would understand, and her rapt attention stayed focused as he continued. “He goes by ‘the Dark Lord’ to his followers.”
Kennedy gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.
Harry nodded solemnly, “His followers were the ones that had you. We fought them, that day, to rescue you all, that was our foremost goal, but also just to fight back. There’s a secret war going on, and it’s one that I and my friends don’t want him to win.”
Another quiet nod followed as she processed all of that, or tried to.
Harry sighed, shrugged, “At least, some of my life is good. Great, even. There’s lots of good to counter the bad. And aside from my parents, I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. Anyway, sorry. Long-winded explanation of what could’ve been a quick few sentences. We should go eat… everyone else’s probably already done. I was going to show you the theater, but I guess that’ll have to wait.”
Dinner was quiet, just the two of them and Mrs. Weasley, who seemed exhausted but happy as she walked by with her own plate of food, bent to kiss Harry’s head and waved at Kennedy, then sat down at the far end of the table and began eating quietly, well out of ear-shot unless they started talking loudly.
Once the steak and potatoes were consumed, though, Harry stood back up and held out a hand, “Come on, let’s go check out the theater. Maybe spread the word to the others if we see them, we can have a right proper movie night.”
Kennedy smiled as she took his hand, the last remnants of food scraps vanished from her plate before it was pulled gently from her hand, and Harry’s from his, to float under Winky’s careful finger-waving toward the kitchen. “That’s… that might take some getting used to,” she said quietly, almost laughing, “Real elves…”
“Took me a while, too,” Harry grinned, “and I’m still not used to it. I like to cook, and every few days or weeks I have to basically fight with her to get a chance to do it. Between her, Fleur, and Dobby, the other elf- not sure if you’ve seen him, he’s a strange bloke even for House-Elves, but I like him- we’ll never want for good cooking, though.”
“Mm… never really got the knack, myself,” Kennedy chuckled. “I can cook a frozen pizza, but that’s about it. Lived on beans and noodles for most of my school years, really. Mum isn’t any good, either. Better than me, but she burns a lot.”
Harry smiled, unaware that he hadn’t yet let go of her hand, “You alright, Mrs. Weasley?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, dear, I’m fine. Long day, is all. Thanks for the meal. I’ll be heading home soon, Arthur’s been waiting. He’s perfectly capable of a fry-up himself, of course, but probably getting lonesome. Or lost in his shed.”
Harry chuckled, knowing it was probably the latter, and that he’d probably forgotten to even eat if so, despite having access to working muggle devices if he just asked. “Alright. Well, have a good night, and thanks again for the help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She smiled up at him, a bit misty-eyed, “You’d manage, I’m sure. Best be off, though, I need to finish, and you sound like you’ve got plans for the evening. Good night, Harry, Kennedy.”
“Good night, Mrs. Weasley,” they chimed together, and soon Harry was leading her back up the stairs to the second floor over the very room they’d just been in.
Only they had seen no one, and the theater was dark and cold.
“That’s odd,” Harry murmured, “Let me…”
“Lilith? Where is everyone?”
Her reply was both quick, and vague, “Keep climbing, Master. All the way up.”
Harry frowned, “Are they on the roof…?”
“What’s up there?” Kennedy asked, and again hesitated as she stepped onto the stairs to the third floor, though only for a moment before his insistent hand got her moving again.
“Well, it’s flat, so you can sit and chat. There’s a telescope in a little gazebo observatory, and some benches, cushions. Honestly, it’s kind of a brilliant idea, the night’s supposed to be warm and comfortable with a light breeze, but clear.”
“Good night for star-gazing, then?”
Harry grinned, “Yep. That sort of thing interest you?”
Kennedy smiled softly, “Yes. I… I have a telescope of my own, though it’s not very good. Only cost about twenty-five pounds when I got it a few years ago.”
Harry whistled, “If it’s muggle-made, it’s still probably better than most of them at the school- much of wizarding society is stuck in the Victorian era, or even earlier. Let’s stop by my room again on the way, I’ll show you my school one. It’s pretty average.”
Kennedy actually laughed as Harry lifted the telescope he had used for Astronomy from its case near the bottom of his school trunk, which was currently shoved into a corner of the bedroom, and until today for his homework, had been largely untouched since summer had started. “That really is an antique! How much did it cost?”
“I’m not sure on the conversion… maybe a hundred-twenty pounds? Glass is a bit easier to make with magic, but that kind of precision still takes grinding I think. And it’s made the old-fashioned way, like they’d have been when used on a sailing ship.”
“It looks like that’s what it is. May I?”
“Sure,” Harry grinned, handing it to her casually, “You can have it, in fact. I don’t mind Astronomy, but it was never my favorite subject. Too… well, too much like Astrology for me, and that’s one branch of Divination I just found very ‘wooly’, to borrow Hermione’s phrase.”
“Y- You’re just giving me this,” she gasped, “It’s…”
Harry shrugged, and looked around, “My house. I do alright. Giving away a telescope, at least to me, isn’t a big deal. I grew up with nothing, Kennedy, nothing at all, thanks to my relatives. My clothes were all worn-out cast-offs, every single one. Now I have more than most people can imagine. And I’ve found I enjoy being generous. So yes, you can have it, and yes, I’m serious, and no, I don’t expect anything in return. Here’s the case, and the care kit. They’re yours.”
The older woman was a bit wet in the eyes as she clutched the case to her chest with both hands, too, and followed him quietly out the bedroom door, and left toward the exterior stairs that led up to the roof on the south side of the manor.
There, they found not just his ladies, but Winky and Dobby now, too, blinking in and out as they served hot cocoa or tea to the ladies, his friends, and even Sirius and Orla, who Harry hadn’t even known had stopped by, as they shared a dozen or more quiet conversations, and Padma stood at the large telescope, her gaze looking, if Harry was correct, up toward Ophiucus, which should just be coming over the horizon with the early season.
“That’s Padma,” Harry told Kennedy quietly, “and she’s a fellow star-lover, too. Should I introduce you?”
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Kennedy replied.
Harry just laughed, and took her hand again, “She loves talking about them, trust me. She’ll be happy to be interrupted. Hey, Padma.”
“Oh, hey, Harry,” the gorgeous Hindi girl replied, “And… Kennedy, right? Kennedy Teasdale?”
“Y- Yes, that’s me. Padma… Patil?”
Padma beamed as she pronounced the word, “And said perfectly, no less! I like you already. Yep, that’s me. My ugly twin over there is Parvati.”
A distant, “Hey!” called out, but a few people chuckled still, including Padma herself, who grinned and stuck her tongue out at her twin. “At any rate, yes, I’m Padma. How’re you?”
“I’m fine,” Kennedy said too-quickly, then glanced at Harry nervously, “I- Harry just gave me his telescope. I… I’d mentioned that I like as- astronomy, and…”
“Too generous, isn’t he? Come on,” Padma laughed, glancing at Harry with a smile, “You’ll love this one- I’ve no idea how much it cost, Fleur said it came with the house, but it’s been heavily upgraded. Whoever installed it really, really liked star-gazing, too. Come take a look, I’ve put on a few minor spells, and you can see incredible detail now. Luna good for an example?”
The blonde raised her head from one of the bench-cushions nearby, where she had been laying on her back staring upward at the stars as she talked to Ginny, “Hmm?”
Padma laughed, “Nothing, Luna, sweetie, just meant the proper name for the moon.”
“Yes,” the blonde answered with a smile, “That’s why I answered.”
Of course, then she went back to her reading after sending a wink toward Harry and Kennedy.
A few minutes later, the conversation had moved on, leaving Harry himself quite alone, though surrounded by friends, and he settled in comfortably to let life happen around him for a change.
I could, in fact, get used to ‘normal’, I think.
Chap. 24: Normalcy?
Harry relaxed between the group of girls and lovers that were friends and so much more, glad that the sun had gone behind one of the sparse clouds, for now. Breakfast had been a pleasant affair after it came out that the girls were moving ahead with some of his own plans without him, with Hermione, Fleur, Daphne, and Lilith making it clear that they were united in seeing him take a little less work on, to delegate more, in both what was probably to become both the family’s largest business and philanthropic project in Potter history- or perhaps in the magical world on the British Isles- and in taking care of the now twenty women who had been rescued by the Order of the Phoenix a few days earlier.
“This is pretty nice,” he murmured, listening to the birds chirp in the nearby trees and garden, and insects going about their way as they cared for themselves and the garden, the forest, and grass of The Crockery’s expansive property. “I haven’t just… laid down and been still since…” Harry stifled a yawn, “Well, I’m not sure if I ever have, to be honest.”
“You need more of it,” Parvati murmured sleepily, “It’s part of life, Harry. We all have to rest, and sometimes that means lazing around all morning on a picnic blanket.”
“It’s part of being normal, anyway,” Padma added from her twin’s other side.
“Maybe normal’s not all that bad,” Harry chuckled quietly. “Though… if we’re being perfectly honest…”
“We are,” Hermione answered, “Always.”
“Well… I kind of… as nice as this is, and it is nice, I feel like we should be doing something.”
“No helping the ladies, no fighting dark wizards, and no working on paperwork,” Susan commanded, sitting up and turning to glare at him from near Harry’s right knee, her brilliant orange hair like fire in the morning sun and light breeze. “You already agreed to that.”
“No, no, I did, and you’re right,” Harry told her, levering himself to his elbows and looking around the group of gorgeous ladies that had all-but promised to spend their lives with him in a solemn ceremony, “It’s just… well, it’s summer, but we’ve still got homework.”
For several seconds, he watched as a dozen pairs of eyes blinked.
“I mean, we could just get it out of the way in the next couple of days, and then have less to worry about for the rest of the break, right?”
Hermione nodded, one eye narrowed suspiciously, “Who are you and what have you done with Harry Potter?”
He laughed and finished sitting up, then prodded his first girlfriend in the ribs with a finger, making her giggle, “I’m not Ron, I always got my homework done as soon as I could, so I could have more time to relax in summer. This is the last year, so I don’t see any reason to break with tradition. It’s already been a week, and I’m getting antsy.”
“This isn’t just some excuse to hold a quill and touch parchment again, is it?” Daphne asked suspiciously too. “Because after you spent the last two days holed up in your study, I rather think you’ve had enough of that.”
“No,” Harry laughed, and stuck his tongue out at her childishly, “but I have lots of things I want to do this summer. Not all work. I’ve never been to the zoo, at least not properly. The one time I went, on Dudley’s eleventh birthday, well… it ended badly. I’ve only been to the sea once, and it was with my rel- with the- the Dursleys. Aside from meeting Hagrid, it was not a… a pleasant excursion. I’ve never been camping, or hiking, or sailing. But homework should come first.”
“Alright, I’m convinced,” Hermione shot back, sitting up herself and grabbing Harry’s wrist to stop him from tickling her again, “You aren’t the Harry I know at all, but this version’s better. Let’s go, we may’s well. Everyone, chop-chop! Get home, grab your school things, then head to the classroom on the ground floor.”
Thus, amid a series of good-natured, and more sour, groans, the lot of them split up for anywhere between ten and, in Susan’s case, fifty-nine minutes.
But when the busty red-head knocked on the open classroom door beyond the kitchen on the south wing of the Crockery and poked her head in, she had another person in tow: Hannah. Behind her was Neville, who gave everyone a sheepish wave before running a hand through his hair and lifting the bag from his shoulder, “Heard we’re doing a study group?”
Twenty minutes later, the last to return, Ginny came back with Ron grumbling behind her, though his mood quickly brightened when he saw who would be taking part in the group, and who would, in fact, be acting as a sort of teacher to help them out: Fleur.
As the oldest witch among them, and the only one to have finished schooling, it only made sense to Harry, Hermione, and most of the rest why she would be assisting them with research, or whatever other form of help. And, as a former Triwizard Champion, Fleur had proven herself to be a highly-capable witch, and more than up to the task.
“What’s first then?” Harry asked the group as they settled in and the gossipping quieted down.
He hadn’t even really had it sink in what the room they were in had been for until now, but as the desks had been moved from a more traditional, face-the-front setup to a wide circle facing inward where Fleur would, presumably, spend her time, it made perfect sense.
The orphanage would have its own rooms for education, but… he had sixteen women in his life. Just that morning, most of them had literally promised to spend their lives with him, and several of them had mentioned children either then, or in the past.
Reasonably, if he was looking at two children per ‘spouse’ on average, that was… Harry gulped.
Thirty-two kids. I… I didn’t mean that when I thought about having a large family… did I?
Across the room, Lilith, who was back as Lilian for now as she helped Ron dictate some of his notes into a more legible fashion, looked up at him and smiled, then nodded. A moment later, a single sentence floated over their bond. “You certainly did, Master. And this is assuming, of course, that you won’t add another lady or two. You never know. Men like you sometimes aren’t satisfied with a thirty-woman harem.”
Harry shuddered, though he felt his cock twitch at the thought of it. No… no, I think that would be too many. I wouldn’t be able to devote any time to any of you personally.
That made the Succubus beam over at him, though she didn’t respond verbally or mentally again, instead focusing her attention back on what she was helping Ron decipher.
“I think we should do Potions,” Hermione offered after no one else had said anything for a few seconds. Ignoring the round of groans that followed, Harry’s included, she reminded them, “Healer Tonks was a much better teacher than Snape, and every one of us did better in the class after she took over, so don’t complain now. Besides, if we get the hardest one out of the way, the rest will seem easier, right?”
Thus, though the grumbling did complain for a few minutes, textbooks were opened, and in the case of the incoming sixth-years, cauldrons brought out from the kitchen supplies. Those, Fleur committed to supervising, as no one wanted to risk a fire getting out of control, in a room full of witches and wizards or not. Still, Hermione’s now-famous bluebell flames were notoriously useful, as always, and soon had Luna, Ginny, and Romilda’s cauldrons bubbling away as they proceeded to dice Shrivelfig, crush Ashwinder eggs (unfertilized, of course, as the fertilized ones were far more dangerous and used for different potions than a Pepper-Up), and stir in the set patterns needed.
Meanwhile, the older students among them got to work on noting the various differences between the Draught of Living Death, and a far riskier potion than even that: Deathwight, a poison of such lethality that even inhaling the fumes without significant protections, muggle and magical, was almost always fatal. Actually drinking it or having it injected had never been observed to be survivable.
Of course, none of them were actually brewing it, they were only to report on the differences on six inches of parchment.
Andromeda Tonks, it seemed, preferred to make her students research rather than give hand cramps.
It took two hours before Harry was satisfied with his seven inches, because, frankly, he just hadn’t been able to spot many differences. The ingredients were the same. In fact, the only difference he had seen at all was that Deathwight’s Runespoor eggs were uncooked before being broken and added to the mix, while the Draught’s were not only cooked, but added whole, shell and all, to be broken up while inside the potion as it brewed.
Otherwise, even the order the various reagents and components were added, the stirring, the heat, were identical as far as he could tell. “Ugh… I’m done with this. I feel like my head’s coming loose. It isn’t that easy, though, is it?”
Hermione, a few seats away in the circle of desks, groaned as she pulled her hands from her now-frazzled hair, “It can’t be. But I don’t see any other reason why she would’ve assigned only six inches, because it’s fascinating how such a small change can alter the results so drastically. And with such profound effects, even if they seem identical at first.”
Daphne sniffed.
Pansy grinned.
And Fleur glanced over at them from where she was helping guide Romilda’s stirring motion to keep the sides of her cauldron from growing sticky with build-up, and smiled too.
“It’s a trick,” he whispered, “Or a clue, rather. It’s six inches to… well, as a hint. That it really is just that.”
“Damn,” Ron groaned, “’Cause I’ve already written like, ten inches. Nightmare, this assignment.”
A few minutes later, the Potions work completed for their year, at least, they moved on to Transfiguration.
Astronomy, for those that still took the course, which were limited now to Padma, Hannah, and Katie.
Care of Magical Creatures, which most of the non-Slytherins but including Daphne of all people.
Then Herbology, Charms, Defense (where Harry was surprised to find himself answering even more questions than Fleur or Hermione, though in retrospect he shouldn’t have been, having received one of the highest marks on the O.W.L.s in Hogwarts’ history). History (which only Luna still took) was combined with Muggle Studies, which Daphne and Tracey took alone out of the group now, two of only six students in the whole class during the previous year, and even Divination, which Fleur was quite knowledgeable about, and was able to converse easily with Parvati, Hannah, and when she dropped by at around two in the afternoon, Lavender.
Astoria showed up at a little after three, and was quickly caught up by the witches who had just finished the year she would be entering.
It was nearly five-thirty when Harry looked up with the last bit of his Charms homework, which had proven the most difficult if only because Professor Flitwick had assigned him, personally, an extra twelve inches on how Charms might be used in a combat situation.
And Defense, well…
Harry had swallowed as he picked up the parchment with the written instructions: It was Dumbledore’s. Dumbledore, who was dead, and would never grade the assignment.
He hadn’t been the only one misty-eyed as he added the finished work to the stack, before quickly moving on to the next.
But he was done, now. After about seven hours of intensive work, the entire summer’s homework was complete. He groaned, dropped his worn quill, and flexed his fingers.
And noticed someone standing in the doorway, watching them. Mostly, he thought, watching him. Harry tried to ignore the young woman for a minute, not wanting to embarrass her, though he’d caught her stiffening as he glanced over in her direction.
Over the next few minutes, more and more quills joined his on their desks, and, predictably, Hermione was the last one still working as she added a probably-unneccesary-but-you-never-know eight inches to the same Charms essay he had just finished.
“Dinner?” Ron groaned as his own quill bounced off the parchment to land an inch in the air, caught by Fleur’s levitation spell along with several droplets of ink. “Er, thanks, Fleur.”
The half-Veela only smiled at him tiredly, “I believe Winky iz close to done, yes. I will go check. You should clean up if you are done.”
“Come on in, Kennedy, no need to be shy,” Harry told the woman watching them before Fleur could startle her with walking by.
Still, she jumped at the sound of his voice, and blushed as she stepped in. “Sorry, I-”
Harry chuckled, “Hey, no. None of that. I’ve said before, there’s no place here off-limits to you, except maybe to respect the privacy of others and their bedrooms. We’re just doing homework.”
“I… I kind of figured that,” she said quietly, looking around the room nervously as Fleur slipped past her with a kind smile. “I’m not intruding? I don’t… well, I don’t know anything about…”
“Magic?” Hermione asked quietly.
Kennedy nodded.
“Half- well, some- of us didn’t either, until a few years ago,” Hermione told her. Then frowned as she looked around the room, “This isn’t the best representative group of our school, which is called Hogwarts. But my parents were muggles like you, and Harry’s relatives, who raised him- if you can call it that- are completely non-magical as well. Neither of us knew about the magical world at all until we turned eleven. My parents were most relieved to have an explanation for all the strange things I did as a child.”
Kennedy smiled softly, “Are… are you sure?”
“Of course,” Harry replied, “We’re mostly about finished anyway, Hermione just likes to write feet more than is necessary every summer, so don’t take her academic prowess as the norm. She’s the only one who’ll get straight O’s- that’s our top grade- in everything.”
“Not that the rest of us are slouches,” Daphne sniffed again, her nose in the air, “I fully expect to get an O in at least Ancient Runes, Charms, and perhaps Potions when our grades are reported.”
“Except me,” Ron replied with a laugh, “I’m definitely the least, ah, academically inclined.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Ron, you’re very intelligent,” Hermione frowned.
The ginger only shrugged as he stood up and stretched with his hands over his head, “Sure, I guess, but you and I both know school just never held my interest like it did you. Even Gin-gin likes it more than me. I’ll be glad to be shot of the place.”
Hermione could only huff, which made Harry grin. He knew why she was frustrated. Ron really was quite smart, but he chose not to apply it toward schooling whenever given the opportunity, which Hermione saw as wasteful. But it was also Ron’s life, and he was allowed, as far as Harry was concerned, to live it as he saw fit.
That’s one of the biggest reasons they wouldn’t work long-term, I think, and why… well, basically why she chose me, in the end. Even if I never asked her to.
“So what can I help you with?” Harry asked Kennedy as the others began to stand up, stretch, and put their homework away as well.
Kennedy shrugged, still watching the group, “I… nothing, I suppose. I just… well, I wasn’t questioned for very long, and since… since the case was pretty open-and-shut according to that man with the- with the glass eye, I… was brought back early. I’ve just been, well…”
“Bored?” Ginny asked.
Kennedy blushed, but nodded. “Not, um, not that I don’t appreciate the- the chance to stay, and the food, and bed, and everything… I’m not sure my flat would be very safe since I wasn’t far away when they t- took me. But… Well, I don’t mind reading, but I’ve never even heard of half the books in the library, and there’s only so much I…”
Hermione glanced at Harry, then smiled. “Well, I think my dad- Daniel Granger- might be able to help with that. He’s a bit of a cinema buff. Have you seen the theater upstairs?”
Kennedy nodded as a few of the witches looked her way.
“That’s free-reign, too. He or I, or Harry I think, could show you how it works if you need us to. The library of movies isn’t big yet, but it’s growing- that’s what Daddy was working on when we went on the rescue mission.”
“I wasn’t sure… we’d be allowed,” Kennedy said quietly, glancing warily towards Harry again. “I was wondering if maybe… some of the other girls had ever even seen a cinema. I didn’t know if your… if your people had them.”
Harry chuckled, “You can absolutely watch whatever you want, Kennedy. I mean that- I mean it when I say you should make yourself at home. I want you to be happy while you’re here, alright? At least as much as you can. And if you like watching movies, then that’s what you should do.”
She nodded.
He didn’t have to be an empath to suspect there was more to it, though. So he finished throwing his schoolwork into his bag and put it up on his shoulder, “Come on, walk with me, if you don’t mind. I have an idea.”
She smiled faintly, red-faced again for some reason, and followed alongside Harry as he headed out of the classroom ahead of the others and, with a moment’s hesitation, fell behind him as he stepped up toward the top floor.
Harry looked back, “I did say come with me, so you’ve got permission, you know.”
Kennedy swallowed, then nodded. With a hand on the railing and her eyes on Harry, she followed after, all the way to the master bedroom where he put the backpack down to find her standing nervously in the doorway once more. “Ah, this is my bedroom, by the way. You can come in if you want, or stay there. I’m…”
He exhaled slowly, then looked deeply into her gray-green eyes though they were now a dozen feet apart, “I am not like the men who kidnapped you, Kennedy. I have done things I’m not proud of in the past. Things I regret. Things, honestly, too much like those men for my comfort. If…. If you want to know more, ask Daphne, Pansy, or even Lavender, the blonde girl that was here the other day- the one that arrived this afternoon. The older one, I mean. Hell, ask Romilda. Tell them, if they ask, that I gave you full permission to hear it from their mouths. I’ll tell you myself, if you want, but prefer they do so you understand their side.
“This… thing that we have? It’s not normal even for witches and wizards. We’re very much like muggles in most ways, and like Hermione said, both she and I were raised that way, like you were, more or less. But I’m not going to turn my wand on you and make you do things. Not like those men. Not with other abilities I have, thanks to Lilith. In no way at all. You are safe with me: you have my solemn word.”
“I know,” she whispered, and he saw a single tear run down her cheek, though she ignored it, so Harry tried to as well. “That’s… that’s not…”
Kennedy shook her head, “I was just… I trust you. I trust your… women. That Neville bloke seemed alright, and even the ginger. Ron?”
Harry nodded, “Yeah, Ron’s my best mate, has been for years. He’s also Hermione’s boyfriend… though they’ve been drifting apart lately. Don’t think they’ve broken anything off, and I’ve no intention of asking them to.”
Kennedy took a deep shuddering breath, then stepped over the threshold. “I… I’ve… I wasn’t a- a virgin when they took me, but I’d never… never gone into a man’s room on… well, my Mum tried to teach me it wasn’t proper, and… I don’t know how she’d react, is all.”
“Your Dad?”
Kennedy shook her head, “Just me and Mum, and my little brother, Wally. Wallace, after our dad. He… he died when I was little, just a few years old. Wally’s about your age, I think, maybe a bit older.”
Harry nodded, “Well, I’m glad you feel safe with me, Kennedy. I know it… isn’t easy, having been through what you have. I will do my best to never betray that trust. Anyway, this is Hogwarts’ Crest, and above that, my family crest. I didn’t know what it was until this year, I’d never seen it. Those are the four Houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Some of each of us downstairs, and…”
Harry went on for a good twenty minutes, explaining much of what he’d learned about Hogwarts in his first few years, before he stopped, mid-sentence, with a blush. “-and then I- Oh, shite, sorry! I just realized I’ve been blathering for way too long, and you probably don’t even care about this.”
“No!” Kennedy cried, then blushed again and looked away, “No, I… it’s… it’s very interesting. I didn’t know magic was real, until… until I was taken, and I woke up. Knowing… knowing it’s… well, that there’s a school, and… and that it can be used for… for other things, is…” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “It helps. Helps to just know… it’s… normal. Not only a… a weapon. To hurt people.”
Harry nodded. “I… understand. At least, a little. My relatives, the Dursleys- Vernon, Aunt Petunia, who’s my mother’s sister, and my cousin, Dudley, were not… kind. The older I get, the more I realize they were… pretty terrible, actually. Dudley’s turned out half-decent, by some miracle, but I’d be just fine never seeing my aunt and uncle again. Magic, for me, was a wonderous escape. Still is, really. But yes, it can also be used to hurt. There’s… a man. If you can call him that. Name’s Voldemort, or at least that’s what he goes by. His actual name is Tom Marvolo Riddle.”
Kennedy nodded, her eyes wide.
“He killed my parents when I was about a year, year and a half, that’s why I went to live with my relatives. I didn’t know magic existed until I turned eleven. He’s after me, because of… well, I shouldn’t say, but he has his reasons. And I have my reasons for wanting him gone. He’s made my life hell in many ways, not least by murdering my parents. But there’s something else, too. I basically have to be the one to finish him off, or he just can’t die. Magic… it’s weird, fickle sometimes, but it does follow rules, and those rules are what… make it that way. Him or me, basically, in the end. It has to be that way.”
Harry wasn’t sure, exactly, why he was telling Kennedy this. Essentially telling her about the worst moments of his life, and of the prophecy, without using any of those words. But he knew she would understand, and her rapt attention stayed focused as he continued. “He goes by ‘the Dark Lord’ to his followers.”
Kennedy gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.
Harry nodded solemnly, “His followers were the ones that had you. We fought them, that day, to rescue you all, that was our foremost goal, but also just to fight back. There’s a secret war going on, and it’s one that I and my friends don’t want him to win.”
Another quiet nod followed as she processed all of that, or tried to.
Harry sighed, shrugged, “At least, some of my life is good. Great, even. There’s lots of good to counter the bad. And aside from my parents, I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. Anyway, sorry. Long-winded explanation of what could’ve been a quick few sentences. We should go eat… everyone else’s probably already done. I was going to show you the theater, but I guess that’ll have to wait.”
Dinner was quiet, just the two of them and Mrs. Weasley, who seemed exhausted but happy as she walked by with her own plate of food, bent to kiss Harry’s head and waved at Kennedy, then sat down at the far end of the table and began eating quietly, well out of ear-shot unless they started talking loudly.
Once the steak and potatoes were consumed, though, Harry stood back up and held out a hand, “Come on, let’s go check out the theater. Maybe spread the word to the others if we see them, we can have a right proper movie night.”
Kennedy smiled as she took his hand, the last remnants of food scraps vanished from her plate before it was pulled gently from her hand, and Harry’s from his, to float under Winky’s careful finger-waving toward the kitchen. “That’s… that might take some getting used to,” she said quietly, almost laughing, “Real elves…”
“Took me a while, too,” Harry grinned, “and I’m still not used to it. I like to cook, and every few days or weeks I have to basically fight with her to get a chance to do it. Between her, Fleur, and Dobby, the other elf- not sure if you’ve seen him, he’s a strange bloke even for House-Elves, but I like him- we’ll never want for good cooking, though.”
“Mm… never really got the knack, myself,” Kennedy chuckled. “I can cook a frozen pizza, but that’s about it. Lived on beans and noodles for most of my school years, really. Mum isn’t any good, either. Better than me, but she burns a lot.”
Harry smiled, unaware that he hadn’t yet let go of her hand, “You alright, Mrs. Weasley?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, dear, I’m fine. Long day, is all. Thanks for the meal. I’ll be heading home soon, Arthur’s been waiting. He’s perfectly capable of a fry-up himself, of course, but probably getting lonesome. Or lost in his shed.”
Harry chuckled, knowing it was probably the latter, and that he’d probably forgotten to even eat if so, despite having access to working muggle devices if he just asked. “Alright. Well, have a good night, and thanks again for the help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She smiled up at him, a bit misty-eyed, “You’d manage, I’m sure. Best be off, though, I need to finish, and you sound like you’ve got plans for the evening. Good night, Harry, Kennedy.”
“Good night, Mrs. Weasley,” they chimed together, and soon Harry was leading her back up the stairs to the second floor over the very room they’d just been in.
Only they had seen no one, and the theater was dark and cold.
“That’s odd,” Harry murmured, “Let me…”
“Lilith? Where is everyone?”
Her reply was both quick, and vague, “Keep climbing, Master. All the way up.”
Harry frowned, “Are they on the roof…?”
“What’s up there?” Kennedy asked, and again hesitated as she stepped onto the stairs to the third floor, though only for a moment before his insistent hand got her moving again.
“Well, it’s flat, so you can sit and chat. There’s a telescope in a little gazebo observatory, and some benches, cushions. Honestly, it’s kind of a brilliant idea, the night’s supposed to be warm and comfortable with a light breeze, but clear.”
“Good night for star-gazing, then?”
Harry grinned, “Yep. That sort of thing interest you?”
Kennedy smiled softly, “Yes. I… I have a telescope of my own, though it’s not very good. Only cost about twenty-five pounds when I got it a few years ago.”
Harry whistled, “If it’s muggle-made, it’s still probably better than most of them at the school- much of wizarding society is stuck in the Victorian era, or even earlier. Let’s stop by my room again on the way, I’ll show you my school one. It’s pretty average.”
Kennedy actually laughed as Harry lifted the telescope he had used for Astronomy from its case near the bottom of his school trunk, which was currently shoved into a corner of the bedroom, and until today for his homework, had been largely untouched since summer had started. “That really is an antique! How much did it cost?”
“I’m not sure on the conversion… maybe a hundred-twenty pounds? Glass is a bit easier to make with magic, but that kind of precision still takes grinding I think. And it’s made the old-fashioned way, like they’d have been when used on a sailing ship.”
“It looks like that’s what it is. May I?”
“Sure,” Harry grinned, handing it to her casually, “You can have it, in fact. I don’t mind Astronomy, but it was never my favorite subject. Too… well, too much like Astrology for me, and that’s one branch of Divination I just found very ‘wooly’, to borrow Hermione’s phrase.”
“Y- You’re just giving me this,” she gasped, “It’s…”
Harry shrugged, and looked around, “My house. I do alright. Giving away a telescope, at least to me, isn’t a big deal. I grew up with nothing, Kennedy, nothing at all, thanks to my relatives. My clothes were all worn-out cast-offs, every single one. Now I have more than most people can imagine. And I’ve found I enjoy being generous. So yes, you can have it, and yes, I’m serious, and no, I don’t expect anything in return. Here’s the case, and the care kit. They’re yours.”
The older woman was a bit wet in the eyes as she clutched the case to her chest with both hands, too, and followed him quietly out the bedroom door, and left toward the exterior stairs that led up to the roof on the south side of the manor.
There, they found not just his ladies, but Winky and Dobby now, too, blinking in and out as they served hot cocoa or tea to the ladies, his friends, and even Sirius and Orla, who Harry hadn’t even known had stopped by, as they shared a dozen or more quiet conversations, and Padma stood at the large telescope, her gaze looking, if Harry was correct, up toward Ophiucus, which should just be coming over the horizon with the early season.
“That’s Padma,” Harry told Kennedy quietly, “and she’s a fellow star-lover, too. Should I introduce you?”
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Kennedy replied.
Harry just laughed, and took her hand again, “She loves talking about them, trust me. She’ll be happy to be interrupted. Hey, Padma.”
“Oh, hey, Harry,” the gorgeous Hindi girl replied, “And… Kennedy, right? Kennedy Teasdale?”
“Y- Yes, that’s me. Padma… Patil?”
Padma beamed as she pronounced the word, “And said perfectly, no less! I like you already. Yep, that’s me. My ugly twin over there is Parvati.”
A distant, “Hey!” called out, but a few people chuckled still, including Padma herself, who grinned and stuck her tongue out at her twin. “At any rate, yes, I’m Padma. How’re you?”
“I’m fine,” Kennedy said too-quickly, then glanced at Harry nervously, “I- Harry just gave me his telescope. I… I’d mentioned that I like as- astronomy, and…”
“Too generous, isn’t he? Come on,” Padma laughed, glancing at Harry with a smile, “You’ll love this one- I’ve no idea how much it cost, Fleur said it came with the house, but it’s been heavily upgraded. Whoever installed it really, really liked star-gazing, too. Come take a look, I’ve put on a few minor spells, and you can see incredible detail now. Luna good for an example?”
The blonde raised her head from one of the bench-cushions nearby, where she had been laying on her back staring upward at the stars as she talked to Ginny, “Hmm?”
Padma laughed, “Nothing, Luna, sweetie, just meant the proper name for the moon.”
“Yes,” the blonde answered with a smile, “That’s why I answered.”
Of course, then she went back to her reading after sending a wink toward Harry and Kennedy.
A few minutes later, the conversation had moved on, leaving Harry himself quite alone, though surrounded by friends, and he settled in comfortably to let life happen around him for a change.
I could, in fact, get used to ‘normal’, I think.