In Pursuit of the Unknown Power

They got up and headed down the stairs and found four people in the sitting room instead of two. Rather than joyfully greeting him he found Molly holding Susan Bones in her arms crying, and Hannah Abbot trying to comfort the poor girl. And Amelia Bones holding the invitation to his party and covered in spell burns.

"What the hell?" Harry asked, receiving a glare from Hermione and Molly.

"Harry!" Susan cried and flew across the room into his arms. He fell onto the couch with a thump with her sitting in his lap.

"Susan what's going on?" He asked the still crying girl.

"They… They attacked our house, they were after Aunty, your Portkey saved us…" She stammered out through her sobs. Not knowing what else to do but having plenty of practice with weepy women he spoke up.

"The others will be arriving soon. Lets take this into the dining room." And with that he stood up, still supporting Susan, and walked across the hall with the others following. Sitting down in one of the chairs he was only a little surprised when the girl crawled back into his lap.

He looked up at Susan's Aunt. "Madame Bones?"

Amelia sized up the young man in front of her. The only time she had seen him before had been on trial at the Ministry this time last year. But she had seen what Susan could do in person, and knew she owed it all to him. "Please Mr. Potter, call me Amelia." She said.

"Only if you call me Harry, now what's going on here?"

She began her recitation, with the efficiency of a Senior Auror; "I was supposed to be home alone today, but Hannah and Susan decided to leave from our house. The Floo was knocked out and Apparation Wards went up before I could do anything. The Death Eaters entered and attacked us at approximately 10:50am, the girls and I were able to fend them off until your Portkey invitation activated at 11:00." She finished before her face softened. "Harry Susan told me about the training you gave last year while Delores was teaching . I saw the two of them in action today and I know we three owe you our lives. Sorry to crash your party." She smiled down at him.

Susan pulled away before quickly kissing him on the lips, earning her a scowl from Molly and a soft look from Amelia. "Harry thank you so much, between the training and the Portkey you saved us all today." She smiled at him before realizing the compromising situation she was in. Getting up quickly she got up and hugged her aunt tightly before turning to face him.

Just then Dumbledore entered and looked surprised to see them, especially Amelia, his eyes went wide as they landed on her. "Madame Bones, I am very happy to see you alive, we just received information that your home was attacked."

Getting a hard look to her eyes she approached him. "Albus, how pray tell did you know there has been an attack when we have only just arrived here and not notified anyone?"

He looked surprised for the smallest fraction of a second before he answered. "As you well know Severus has always been my spy, he informed us a mere 10 minutes prior to the impending attack. As I said I am most pleased to see you and yours alive. Now if you will excuse me it seems that everyone here has already received the information. Happy Birthday Harry, I regret that I will not be able to attend your party."

Harry nodded and the old man left the room. "He knew." Amelia said to no one.

"Excuse me?" Molly asked.

"I have years of experience interviewing guilty men Mrs. Weasley…" She was interrupted.

"Molly Please."

Amelia smiled at the Weasley Matriarch, "Molly, he is guilty. If I find out he knew about an attack on me an my family, and did nothing for his Greater Good or to protect his spy, I swear I will toss him in Azkaban." She said with steel in her eyes. Molly dared not argue and simply looked away.

She turned back to Harry as he spoke. "What can we do for you Amelia?"

"First let me apologize again for crashing your party," He waved that off. "I would like to use your Floo if possible. And Susan, I would like you two to stay here for the party. I am in no immediate danger, but as I don't even know where here is I am guessing this is the safest place for you at the moment."

Harry nodded. "The Floo connection is in the kitchen through that door. And Amelia?" He said as she turned away.

She turned back before him and he looked her in the eye. "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and incidentally my home, is located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London." He watched comprehension dawn in her eyes.

"Of course, this is the Black place right?" She asked and he nodded. "Fidelus Charm and you are the secret keeper?" He nodded again. "Very smart of you Harry, and thank you for trusting me with your safety."

"Amelia, if I cannot trust the Head of the DMLE who can I trust? Certainly not Fudge…" He trailed off before she interrupted him.

"I would not worry about the Minister for much longer Harry. A petition has been circulated and I expect the actual vote of no confidence to take place this week." She smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you before you go?" She asked.

"Actually there is, you saw how my friends handled themselves in a fight. I would like to get you a list of people I think should have permission to practice defensive magic outside of school, beginning with those in this room." He said nodding to the girls.

"And Mr. Ron Weasley as well, I assume." She said noting the absence of his known associate.

"Oh, yeah I suppose. Can I get you that list later then?" He asked.

"On the condition that you let Susan, and if her parents agree Hannah stay with you the rest of the Summer. I have a war to fight and I can't be worrying about her safety every day."

Harry looked at Susan who smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, and you are welcome in my home as well."

"Thank you Harry, I will keep in touch." She hugged Susan before heading to the kitchen and out the Floo to the Ministry.

"Harry, do you realize you are on a first name basis with the possible next Minister for Magic?" Susan asked him.

"What?" Harry half shouted.

She smiled at him as she explained. "Aunty is the one that started that petition. Tradition dictates that if the vote passes, she be the first Nominee. And in my unbiased opinion she would be the best choice we have to replace Fudge."

Harry just stared at her for a few moments before Ginny and Hermione wrapped him in a hug. "Don't worry about it Harry. This is just how you work. You did the right thing, and good things might happen because of it." Hermione said. "Now if I am not mistaken you have more guests arriving any moment now." His eyes flicked across the hall as he felt the wards flair again. And Luna arrived along with Neville.

"Hey guys!" Harry said getting up and crossing the hall. He pulled Neville into a quick manly hug, which was returned with a back slap, and then was pulled into an embrace by Luna.

"Hello Harry, thank you for inviting me. I do hope it was okay to hug you, it looked very nice when you did it to Neville." As usual Luna left him at a loss for words.

After a few seconds he regained the ability to speak. "Of course its alright Luna." He said smiling at her and returning the hug, noting that she felt rather lovely pressed against him. "What are friends for?"

She looked up at him and kissed the corner of his mouth causing him to blush and Neville to cough nervously. "Thank you Harry, I was worried that the DA would not reform this year. I have missed you all this summer, the DA was almost like having friends." She finished and drifted off to hug everyone else. Harry shook his head to clear it and looked at Neville.

"Don't look at me mate, she's pretty but sometimes I think she's a few peas short of a pod."

Harry shook his head, "She has no social skills, and she seems to see things others don't, but I don't think she's really barmy, just out there, ya know?"

Neville nodded before shrugging. "Happy Birthday Harry."

Harry nodded and smiled at him, "Happy Birthday Nev, did you do anything special yesterday?"

"Nah, we had cake during tea with Gran and her old ladies group. But I did get a new plant from my Uncle Algie. My greenhouse at home is going great."

"That's wonderful Neville glad you at least got something nice for your birthday." Harry said.

"How 'bout you? Get anything nice for your birthday?" Neville asked.

Harry's eyes flicked over to Gabrielle quickly and back before he blushed. Neville followed the path of his eyes and had taken three steps forward before catching himself. Harry was polite enough to only chuckle. "No. No way? Harry Potter what did you get from… from..her?" He seemed to have lost the ability to speak coherently.

Harry blushed again and decided not to answer. "Don't worry about that Nev, lets go back to the dining room and socialize." And he walked back in that direction, listening as the others talked idly.

"Excuse me, if you wouldn't mind, Hermione can show you the way to the party room upstairs. There simply isn't enough room to receive everyone in here. I will be up shortly, but I want to greet all of my guests as the arrive." Everyone nodded and he smiled at Hermione as she left the room leaving Ginny and Gabrielle alone with him.

"Did you enjoy your kiss from Luna?" Ginny asked him as she kissed the place her lips had been.

"It was nice, but nothing compared to this." He said dipping her quickly and kissing her deeply.

"Gods Harry, how do you expect to make it through this party un-shagged if you do that?" She asked him breathlessly.

"Who said anything about that?" He asked, and Gabrielle got a very hungry look in her eyes "Down girl." He said softly but with his commanding tone and she quickly complied sending him a dazzling smile.

Once again he felt the new arrivals before he saw them. "Dean! Seamus!" He called out as he crossed the hall once again. "How's it been?" he asked.

"Stiff and to the left as usual," Seamus replied earning a smack on the shoulder from Dean.

"Hey Harry is Ginny…" Dean began before he saw her walk up behind him and drape an arm over his shoulder. "Oh… Hey Ginny, I guess Harry got his head out of his arse before us regular blokes got a chance huh?"

Ginny nodded before kissing Harry. She then turned back to the guests. "It's only a summer thing, but I love him. Come Hogwarts I am going to be too busy with OWLs to worry about a boyfriend so he is free to date all he wants. If he is available next summer we will pick back up where we left off. So don't you two go guilt tripping him in your dorm room." She said giving each of them the evil eye.

"Whoa lass, no worries here, I ain't 'xactly the proper gentleman meself." Seamus said holding his hands up.

"Yeah Gin, that's real great of you to let him off the hook. You really love him?" Dean asked. To which she nodded happily with a dopey grin. "So much that you want him to date other girls this year?" She nodded again and her smile grew wider. "Mate, you are one lucky sonofa witch. You know that?" He asked turning back to Harry.

"Yeah mate, I am the luckiest unlucky man in the world. But she keeps insisting I shag half of Hogwarts so I know how to treat her proper next summer." Harry said causing the girl to blush, He felt bad for a moment giving out details like that, but she started it.

"Nothing wrong with wanting my lover to be world class now is there?" She said predatorily earning an appreciative look from both of the other males.

Harry shook his head and dipped her again with a passionate kiss. Her eyes clouded over before she moaned. "Harry, what did I tell you about getting through this party un-shagged?" She asked forgetting about the other boys in the room.

"Guess asking you out is really useless this year then eh?" Dean said after clearing his throat.

Harry was still holding her in the dip, so she looked at him upside down and nodded with a Grin. "Mate I dunno what you did to her, but good on you." He said before turning into the Hall. "Now where is the party?"

"Gabrielle." Harry said and the little girl was instantly at his side. Both boys' eyes bugged out and they began fighting each other to get to her first. Harry snapped his fingers in their faces and they looked at him for a moment before looking contrite. "Will you take these two to the Party? You can come back down right after you drop them off to Mione." She nodded and kissed his cheek as chastely as she could manage before flouncing out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. And both boys followed her like hungry puppies.

Laughing Harry pulled Ginny up into a hug. "Harry that was mean, and how dare you reveal so much to them!" Ginny said playfully beating his chest.

"You started it, and it will be much easier having them on my side, especially as Seamus is known to flirt with anything that is remotely female. Better if he is on my side, than hunting me down."

"That's my boyfriend, always planning ahead." She giggled and he kissed her again before the next two people arrived. "Hey Gred, Hey Forge!" Harry called out.

"Hello lovebirds," Gred said.

"Just so you know Harry, Ron tried to get us to talk to you,"

"About taking care of our baby sister,"

"but we both let him know,"

"To butt out!" They finished in unison.

"Thanks guys, Party is all the way up the stairs. I'll see you up there in a few. Oh and you can prank any of the males at the party, leave the girls alone yeah?"

They nodded smiling and headed off up the stairs. "Now where were we?" Harry said pushing Ginny back against the Dining room table. She sat down and wrapped her legs around his thighs as he deepened the kiss.

"Gods Harry, this isn't fair. You realize I am going to be dripping wet the entire time?" She asked him.

"That's the plan anyway." He shrugged. "Besides, you were probably going to end up like that after your little meeting later anyway. I know how you get when you think of me with another woman."

She growled and pulled him to her once again. Kissing him as hard as she could, wanting to mark him as her territory somehow, just so those other girls would know who to thank as they lay in a puddle of post-orgasmic goo.

"I see you are getting comfortable, zis is the real Party, Non?" Gabrielle asked. He held out a hand to her and as she took it, he pulled her into a three-way hug. "This is the real party, but we have to head upstairs at some point pet." He kissed her quickly causing her to grin. The wards flared again and he pulled away from both girls to see who was arriving next.

Mandy Brockelhurst and Katie Bell. "Hey Harry, thanks for the invite." Katie said as she winked at Ginny. Harry gulped but pretended he was not nervous as hell at the prospect of dating whom he considered his hottest teammate, well excluding Ginny.

"No problem Katie, but Hermione and Ginny here put together the guest lists. I just get to enjoy all of you." Suddenly his face colored darkly with a blush. "I meant enjoy seeing all of you!" He almost shouted trying to cover his Freudian slip.

She giggled and leaned in to kiss his him quickly. "No problem Harry Happy Birthday." She pulled back. Mandy looked extremely lost, and Harry was equally as uncomfortable. She was a Ravenclaw in his year but until now, she had been about as social as Hermione was her first year.

He looked at her for a moment as he thought of what to say. She was tall, about his height, and thin. With wavy black hair, and equally black eyes. She had a light smattering of freckles across her nose reminding him of Ginny a bit, and overall she was very pretty. But she looked more nervous than Hermione after a test. "Hey Mandy, you know as much about why you are here as I do. But I promise if you want, we can get to know each other better. Alright?" He asked and she nodded shyly without speaking.

"Gin, I think you better take this lot upstairs before we get into something we can't stop." He said looking at her with a smile. She kissed him quickly and walked out the door with the girls following behind leaving him alone with Gabrielle who promptly attacked him.

She pushed him against the table and her hands went to his zipper before he stopped her. "Pet, settle down." He whispered.

"Sorry Master, but all of zees girls want you, I want you first." She said with a pout.

"What did I say pet?"

Gabrielle sighed, as she wrapped her arms behind his neck and leaned in so that he could feel her breath wash against his lips. "Let you set ze pace?" She asked.

"That's right pet, and you know what?" He asked, not pulling away. She shook her head without looking up at him. "You're being a good girl, and good girls get treats later." He said against her lips and then kissed her quickly. She moaned in anticipation of what her Master referred to as treats. The wards flared and Harry pulled away from her. "Later." He whispered.

"Padma, Parvati welcome to my birthday party." Harry said to the most beautiful set of twins he had ever seen. They had only gotten more exotic and more beautiful in the past month. Either that, or he had simply failed to notice them last year beneath the school robes. "Lavender, I didn't know you were invited. But I'm glad you came. To be honest, you are welcome to my celebration, but I did not think either of you girls would consider what Mione and Gin came up with." He said quizzically.

"Hi Harry, um I was with Parvati when she got the invite and asked to tag along, I hope you don't mind me crashing." Lavender said.

"Not at all Lav, the more the merrier, it was less about who and more about the restrictions on how you get here. Dumbledore thought 10 invites were enough, but with you it looks like we managed to snag thirteen." He smiled at her and then a thought hit him. "Um, so you saw the whole invitation then?" He asked tentatively.

She winked at him, "I did, and I would love to give it a go, but I'm not waiting for you, and I can't guarantee I will be available when my chance comes up." She finished with a smile.

Breathing a sigh of relief he answered her, "No, that's a wonderful Idea, I don't want every guy at Hogwarts after me for stealing the girls either." She smiled and walked back into the sitting room looking at the painting. Obviously giving the other girls time to chat with him.

Padma began, "Harry, we saw your family on the platform last year. It's no wonder you didn't know the first thing about how to treat a girl. Ron has no excuse, so I don't blame you just because you asked me to go out with him."

Parvati picked up the conversation, slightly reminiscent of the Weasley Twins, but these two had distinct personalities he would never confuse. Despite the fact they were currently dressed exactly alike. "And the same goes for how you treated me, you at least danced with me, and not just for the first dance. I know your best mate was having a dreadful time and you were both pining after Hermione. She took hours that night making herself up and even I had the urge to shag her, you shouldn't feel bad for having issues after seeing her like that for the first time." She finished.

Harry smiled at them and opened his arms shyly; both girls hugged him at the same time and kissed him on opposite cheeks. Padma whispered in his ear, "I only went on that date with Ron to be closer to you anyway." He looked at her in shock before Parvati whispered in his other ear. "If you had asked we both would have gone with you, I don't have any problem sharing everything with my sister."

Harry nearly fainted, but Gabrielle walked up to him and politely coughed. "Uh, um, Lavender, Padma and Parvati this is Gabrielle Delacour, you might remember me pulling her from the Black Lake along with Ron." He stammered out. The girls looked dumfounded.

"A Veela?" Padma asked her sister with a raised eyebrow.

"An of age Veela?" Parvati asked back with a small grin starting.

"Is Harry your Master then?" Padma asked the girl, surprising her with this insight, she simply nodded dumbly. Padma looked back at Parvati, "That could be fun." She said licking her lips. Parvati nodded, "Really fun." She replied then looked back to the little girl. Harry just stared back and forth between them.

"Uh, Gabrielle, why don't you show these three the way upstairs, I will bring our last guest up in a few minutes." Harry said for lack of anything else to say at the moment. Gabrielle smiled at him and led the girls off.

"Bye Harry." They said in unison with identical evil smiles on their faces. Oh boy he was in trouble…

For some reason this last guest made him the most nervous. He was over her, he was sure of it, but there was unresolved tension, as well as unresolved feelings mixed together. The girls had talked him into seeing her and giving her another chance. He had agreed but that meant opening up some wounds that he would rather have left buried. Besides the fact that his fondest memory of her was a wet kiss in the Room of Requirement. The wards flared and there stood his crush from fourth year, his girlfriend from the last. "Hey Cho." He said nervously closing the distance across the hall, and entering the sitting room.

To his relief she smiled and seemed just as nervous as he did. "Hey Harry…" She trailed off leaving a bit of an awkward silence behind.

"Look Cho, I wanted to apologize for a couple of things." He began but she cut him off.

"Wait Harry, let me go first, and you can decide if you still feel like you need to apologize alright?" He nodded in confusion. "Look, in fifth year I really liked you, but Cedric asked me first… I felt really really bad that I couldn't go to the ball with you. I think I fell in love with him, but we had so little time together. She took a deep breath and tried to move past the pain. But he knew that was not what she needed. Sighing for what he was about to do he sat down on the couch and pulled her down with him.

"Cho, you need to talk through this, I am the king of guilt, so I know what is going on. Please just talk to me. You needed to do this last year, why not try again now?" He asked and she broke down crying on his shoulder.

"Harry you brought him back, and he was gone." She cried. He soon gave it up as a bad job, unable to resist pulling her onto his lap as he did with Ginny or Hermione when they were sad. He wrapped his arms around her and idly ran a hand through her black silken hair. "Shhhh, its alright Cho, just let it out and then we can talk about it." He whispered in her ear. His suppressed feelings for her returning full force as he felt her small athletic body press into his own, and her lips so very near to his.

She sobbed quietly for a few moments more before speaking. "I'm so sorry Harry, You brought him back, I thought I loved him, but then I moved on to you so fast the next year, I felt like I was betraying him, even though I had feelings for you first." She let out another sob, "Harry what if I didn't really love him? How do I know?" She asked with tears running down her cheeks.

"I am the last person to ask about love Cho, I am still trying to figure it out, you got the note from the girls right?" She nodded. "Tell you what, maybe you and I can learn together what it really is alright? But right now you need to stop feeling bad. Cedric was a great guy, and I can see why you liked, maybe even loved him. But there is nothing wrong with moving on now that he's gone, I know he would have wanted you to love again." He was very proud of himself for that explanation. Apparently hanging out with girls so much was rubbing off on him and he now had the emotional range of a teacup rather than a teaspoon.

She sniffed. "And then I went and complained about you wanting to see Hermione on Valentines day. I understand now that must have been when you did that interview. But Harry, I should not have accused you of having anything with her. That wasn't fair to either of you."

Harry pulled her back into a hug. "You weren't all that far off though, Hermione and I are special friends now, things have changed over the summer hols this year. So you were not entirely wrong, you just saw it before I did." He said trying to soothe her.

She shook her head. "And then I sided with Marietta even though I knew she was wrong. I'm so sorry for that too Harry."

"But you know it was wrong, so I forgive you. Do you forgive me for going to see Hermione on our first real date?" She nodded. "Do you forgive yourself for possibly loving Cedric?" She nodded again and surprising him she kissed him. It was wet again, just like the last time. But it was nice in comparison. These were tears of relief, not tears of sadness or tears of frustration.

"You know, I don't think I have ever kissed you when you weren't crying?" He asked her with a smile. She smacked him on the shoulder but smiled shyly. "Now clean yourself up, we have a party to get to, and my summer girlfriend is probably being hit on by all the guys… well except her brothers." He said.

"Are you worried about her? If it's a summer thing then it must not be serious?" She asked a little hopefully.

"It's serious enough, but it's her OWL year… Speaking of which, its your NEWT year, are you sure you want to try dating at all this year?" In response she kissed him again, no tears this time and it was surprisingly everything he had dreamed about in his fourth year. He kissed her back for a minute before pulling back and smiling at her. "See, that was so much better, don't you agree?" She nodded and smiled shyly at him. "I guess that answered my question. The girls are going to have some sort of union meeting later and explain the rules to you or whatever." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Honestly, I have no idea what they are going to tell you lot, I have an honest to god reason to learn all I can about love. They are just trying to help me." He said with a shrug.

She thought for a moment and then shrugged. After standing up from his lap she offered him a hand. "Well then, lets go have a party, and find out what I am getting myself into."

"Sounds like your going to go along with it no matter what?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I think you're worth a shot, not matter what stipulations they wish to apply."

Harry pulled her into another quick kiss, "Stop that, sexy intelligent witches are my weakness." And then grabbing her hand he pulled her up the stairs and into the party.

*************************SFTP************************

When they got upstairs the party was going well. Seamus was making a fool out himself, not realizing that every girl in the room was interested in only one guy in attendance. They had brought the Wizard Wireless up and it was now setup in the corner of the room playing Weird Sisters songs. Harry wasn't really keen on the band, or Wizard music in general. But it was much better than Celestina Warbeck at any rate. As soon as they noticed him his trio of girls swarmed him and gave him hugs, though once again Hermione had to restrain the little Veela from simply taking him on the floor.

Ron sat in the corner of the room on a short backed couch, sulking and nursing a Butterbeer. Not only had the git stolen his girlfriend after promising not to. He now had a Veela trying to get into his pants, and owned Ron by way of a life debt. He didn't think things could get much worse, then Harry walked in with Cho and all the girls in the room turned their eyes on him. He smacked his head back against the wall and groaned.

"You know Ron, if you get a head injury before the Quidditch season even starts I might have to hurt you." He heard a familiar voice say.

"Lavender?" Ron asked looking up at the vivacious blonde.

"The one and only, now what has you drinking alone and beating your own head in?" She asked him as she sat down next to him on the couch. A little closer than he thought was proper, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Hermione and I broke up." Ron told her flat out. He watched as her eyes flicked to the three girls standing closest to Harry and groaned when comprehension dawned in her eyes.

"I see." Was all she said for a few moments. "How long were you two dating? I only saw the invite that mentioned you two were together yesterday." She asked.

"Only a week, but I have fancied her for years. And we had this really strange relationship, she was always all over Harry, and then she ends up breaking it off with me after I'm pretty sure she shagged him." He said taking another swig of his bottle.

"Did you love her then?" Lavender asked.

That brought him up short; any thoughts of love had gone out of his head when he told her she could sleep with Harry as long as she shagged him. No it had turned into lust and jealousy. It didn't make him feel any better, or hate Harry any less for stealing her. But he didn't dislike her anymore.

"I suppose not. It still hurts though, ya know?" He asked.

She pulled him into a hug, surprising him. He knew she was a huge flirt from Dean and Seamus, but had never been on the receiving end having always been hanging out with Hermione. She was rather soft and cuddly and made him feel nice. "Feel better?" She asked him smiling.

"Yeah, thanks." He said smiling back, she noted the Butterbeer in his hand.

"You know," She said slipping it from his grasp. "You should really drink less of this stuff, juice is much better for you."

She didn't realize he knew exactly what she was talking about and grinned at her. "Dobby?" He called and the elf popped in next to his elbow.

"Yous called Mr. Ron?"

"Can you bring me one of my smoothies please?" Dobby nodded and popped out.

"Smoothie?" Lavender asked him.

"Yeah, new favorite. Pineapple, Banana and a bunch of other stuff. I hear it has side effects as well when taken in large doses." He said attempting to flirt with her as the elf dropped off his drink and popped away again.

Her eyes lit up, "Well then, maybe you will just have to explain it all to me sometime?" She asked him. Ron was feeling much better.

Hermione cleared her throat as she turned down the music. "Excuse me ladies? Anyone who would like to is welcome into our room for a quick tour. The bathroom and the closet are to die for."

All of the girls nodded and quickly followed her into the bedroom closing the door behind them, leaving just the guys in the huge room. Seamus was the first to ask, "What the hell was that?"

Ron looked disgusted again as Lavender abandoned him for the meeting, and spoke up. "Probably sorting out who gets to shag Harry first!" Harry saw red.

"Ron, what is your problem? So you and Hermione didn't work out, honestly we used to think you two fought to get express suppressed feelings. But now I can see you two are only friends because of me. Now will you please stop sulking and making accusations? I want my damned friend back!"

"Bugger off!" Ron growled as he stormed out of the room. Fred and George excused themselves and followed closely behind him.

"We'll take care of him Harry,"

"Don't you worry about it." They told him with devilish grins.

Harry watched them go before turning back to the other three occupants of the room. "Do you three have something to say as well?" He asked before losing some of his steam and apologizing quickly. "Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you."

Dean nodded. "He's always been a jealous git, and he always comes 'round in the end."

Seamus nodded in agreement, Neville looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "Did you really steal Hermione from him? I thought you were with Gabrielle?" Seamus and Dean looked at each other and then scrutinized him closely.

"We thought you were with Ginny…" Dean said looking a little dark.

"You heard what Ginny told you right? She loves me, and I feel for her, but she can't handle a boyfriend and OWLs so she wants me to date. Gabrielle sort of fell in my lap…"

"Literally." Neville interrupted then promptly blushed.

"Not quite, but close," Harry continued. "And I have always been close to Mione, Ron can think whatever he wants but I didn't steal her from him. He was a selfish, jealous lazy git and she decided he wasn't worth the fuss." He finished with a shrug. "Now are you three gonna cause trouble for me this year? There are reasons I am suddenly going to start dating that I can't go into, but I'm looking for love, not trying to shag every girl at school alright?" He didn't tell them that was Ginny's idea not his.

"Fine mate, don't worry 'bout us, guess we been lucky you stayed outta the game this long eh?" Seamus asked.

Harry grinned as he got up and clasped hands with the Irish boy, "Oh Aye, 'tis been a long time comin. But I 'spect 'tis going to be a long time goin' as well." Seamus punched him playfully for his extremely bad attempt at an Irish accent.

"Whatever Harry, you know you can count on me." Neville said with a shrug. Harry nodded and smiled sincerely at him.

"That I do Nev, speaking of which you and I need to have conversation with Luna sometime."

Dean looked at him for a long moment. "Well, Gin and I didn't really have anything going on anyway so it isn't like you stole her is it? I just hope the female population doesn't pine away for you this year. Give us other blokes a chance yeah?" He finished with a grin.

"Thanks guys, Oh I almost forgot. I think I just got permission for the DA to practice magic over the summer." Harry said changing the subject to something he felt was not only more important, but a lot less awkward.

"Honestly? How'd you swing that one?" Dean asked.

"Susan and her Aunt showed up with the first Portkey. They escaped because of the DA training and my invitation." Harry said.

"Wait, what does Susie's Aunt got to do with anything?" Seamus asked.

Neville surprised them by interjecting himself. "Susan Bones, as in Amelia Bones, as in Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." He finished looking at the other two.

"Right in one Nev." Harry stated. "Guess you could say she thinks she owes me one." Harry said with a shrug.

"Well I'm all for getting to use Magic over the hols, thanks Harry." Dean said and the other two agreed quickly.

"Well don't start until you get something from me or the DMLE." Harry said as they sat down again and went quiet; occasionally throwing glances at the door to the girls' room.

"How longs it take to look at a bleedin' bathroom?" Seamus asked.

*************************SFTP************************

Once inside the girls all stood about looking in awe at the size of the bedroom. "You two share this? This has to be at least the size of our Dorm!" Lavender commented. Both girls nodded smiling.

"And that's not the best part." Ginny said as she pushed against the wall exposing the secret passageway. Half of the girls gasped, the other half looked a little leery.

"So you and Hermione have full access to him at all times then? How do you ever stop shagging?" Susan asked. That finally got the whole group giggling.

Hermione jumped up on the bed and cleared her throat again. "Alright ladies, things have changed slightly since you received your invites. Ginny and I are both in love with the git, but because of how he was raised he doesn't know what real love is supposed to feel like." She said as a tear ran down her cheek.

There were a flurry of questions as to what she meant by that. And between her and Ginny they answered most of them, the atmosphere in the room was heading toward depression until Luna spoke up. "Well I suppose we will just have to clear all the gimlets out of his system then."

They all turned and stared at her, Hermione holding her face in her hand shaking her head. "Luna, what are Gimlets?" She asked not really wanting an answer.

"Oh, Gimlets eat feelings, especially love. Professor Snape has been infected since my first year at least. Looks like Harry picked them up somewhere as well." Luna said without blinking.

Ginny smiled at her friend, "And please Luna, how do we get rid of them?"

Luna smiled dreamily and answered in a huskier voice than normal. "Well the easiest way is through ejaculation." This got gasps and giggles from the room but she continued as if she didn't hear them. "But any vigorous activity will do it eventually."

Lavender considered Hermione for a moment, "So then I take it you have removed most of the infection already?" Hermione blushed very prettily before replying. "Not entirely I'm sure." Before blushing even deeper.

Ginny saw that this was getting nowhere so she began speaking once again. "We two want him to learn to love properly. And we have no problem sharing him in the meantime." She licked her lips involuntarily which only a few of the girls noticed. Some reacted with contemplation, some with fear.

"Now Hermione has a schedule set-up already but you can feel free to swap your time as long as both parties agree. You can try to fall in love with him or shag him sideways for all we care, hopefully we can give him the jolt he needs." Ginny said.

"What happens if he falls in love with one of us?" Cho asked shyly, still not entirely comfortable surrounded by DA members once more.

Hermione looked at the girl speculatively. "We are willing to share if you are, if not, we really just want Harry to be happy, even if it isn't with us." She finished quietly.

"So you really want us to shag him?" Parvati asked in disbelief.

"If he will let you. He hasn't even slept with Gabrielle yet and she has been throwing herself at him. The little girl blushed, but stood defiantly as the group examined her with awed eyes.

"He refused a Veela?" Padma asked in disbelief. Gabrielle dropped her gaze to the floor in shame.

"Oui, he tells me he does no want a sex slave. He eez looking for l'amore." She sniffed and Ginny pulled her into a hug.

Katie spoke up quickly. "Looks like we definitely have our work cut out for us then." Hermione nodded in complete agreement, remembering how he reacted to taking her and Ginny's virginity.

"It has absolutely no bearing on whether you are allowed to date him, but just to be curious, how many of you are Virgins?" Hermione asked.

Hesitantly Luna, Cho, Susan, Hannah, Padma, Mandy, and most surprisingly Lavender held up their hands. All of the other girls stared at Lavender. "What?" She asked incredulously. "There are a lot of things you can do without losing your virginity. I am not a saint, but I haven't given that up just yet." She stated firmly, waiting for anyone to contradict her. When no one did she nodded and looked back to Hermione. "And I don't plan to sleep with him just to get him to fall for me. Is that a problem?"

Both of the ringleaders shook their heads. Ginny spoke up, "I didn't until I knew I was in love. Even if he couldn't tell me back." She said, "We don't expect everyone to just drop your knickers and…" She trailed off as her eyes rolled back in her head and she caught her breath. Gabrielle caught her and sat her on the bed eliciting chuckles from a few girls and strange looks from the others. Hermione picked up where she left off.

"No one is required to sleep with him, even if you decide you want to you might have an uphill battle to fight. Now… if you need help convincing him, either one of us would be willing to uh…" She blushed and lost the use of her voice. This time all of the girls chuckled.

"So you two swing both ways then?" Lavender asked with a hungry look at Hermione.

Ginny had come back around by this time and shook her head still trying to catch her breath. "Uh, only Harry, and anyone with Harry. God it's the hottest thing ever to watch him get another girl off." She surprised herself with the outburst and she appeared to nearly glow with the force of her blush.

"In any case," Hermione began trying to bring a little order back to the issue at hand. "Are we all in agreement then?" There were nods all around except Cho who had a speculative look.

"And how are we supposed to get him to fall in love with us with you two hanging all over him?" The other girls hadn't thought about that.

Ginny sniffed a little but held back the tears. "Hermione and I have decided that in public at least, we are not going to advertise our relationship with Harry. That means that as far as the rest of the school is concerned, he is only dating whoever he is currently with."

Hermione nodded, it had been her idea after all. "Both of us might still want to be with him, and in between you lot we may have to drag him into a broom closet and shag him senseless." She just couldn't stop blushing during this meeting, and it didn't help that being a Prefect, shagging Harry in a broom closet was doubly as dirty a thought.

She continued on, "That being said, if you want an actual shot at dating him. We will back off completely while you are together. We really do want him to find love, even if it is with one of you." She finished quietly, the atmosphere in the room was getting rather sappy and though all of the girls wanted to at least try to build a relationship with him, they had a pretty good idea that after this experiment was over, Harry would have at least two witches already picked out.

Mandy finally spoke up quietly. "Uh, what about other girls? Is he allowed to date anyone that isn't in here right now?" She asked feeling rather insignificant in comparison to the rest of the flesh in the room with her.

Ginny smiled at her, "We do not own Harry, in fact he actually owns one of us." She threw a look at Gabrielle who grinned and nodded looking for all the world like a puppy who was being offered a treat. The other girls laughed as one, even if they were thinking of the complications it would cause having a sex slave in the relationship. Especially if it got serious.

Ginny continued on, "That being understood, then even though we have a schedule written up. If Harry decides to continue dating one of you, it will be considered a queue. If he wants to date someone that isn't in this room that is his choice as well. This is about what is best for Harry, not what is best for us. Do we all agree to these terms?"

Everyone nodded and voiced their agreement. "Now we do have some suggestions." Hermione said getting their attention once more. "If you want a chance to learn the secret to why all of this is necessary you will need to learn Occlumency. The easiest way for Ginny and I to relax enough to meditate is funny enough in the nude." The other girls giggled.

"Harry was reluctant at first, but he now works on his Occlumency in the nude as well. The distraction that a naked witch provides helps him develop better concentration, and honestly, the distraction a naked Harry provides made it nearly impossible for me to improve my technique for the first few days." She smiled at the memories.

"But the end result of you learning Occlumency from Harry might be that you get to spend a few hours alone with him, with a perfectly good excuse to be naked." She grinned as all of their eyes lit up, and then a few promptly blushed at feeling so randy.

"Is Harry really the Chosen One?" Hannah asked quietly.

Ginny and Hermione shared a look. "The short answer is yes, Voldemort…" The room shuddered. "Honestly people, use his damn name!"

Ginny grinned, "Language Hermione!" getting a nervous giggle from the gaggle.

"Anyway, Voldemort," She paused as they reacted, though less strongly this time. "Knows that much of the Prophecy. If you want to know more, you will have to be able to protect the secret, and you will have to convince Harry to tell you."

All of them nodded in agreement before a pounding on the door startled them. "Hermione Open up, we need to speak with you!"

Hermione looked at the door strangely for a moment. "Dad?"

*************************SFTP************************

The boys were still sitting in silence when Harry felt the wards flare. Wondering who else was arriving. He got up and headed downstairs after excusing himself. When he got to the kitchen he found Dumbledore speaking quietly to two people.

The woman had straight blonde hair that curled at the ends, but her face was all Hermione, the man had bushy brown hair that screamed that he was Hermione's father. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger I assume?" Harry asked startling the old man.

"Ah Harry, I went to check on the Grangers after the attack on Amelia and they insisted on seeing their daughter." Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling. Harry was immediately on his guard.

"Thank you for checking on them, but what led you to believe they might be in danger as well?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I simply did a routine check, knowing how valuable Ms. Granger is to you, I am certain Voldemort would have placed them near the top of his list." Dumbledore answered calmly. Harry decided he would think on that explanation later.

"Is there anything I can do for you at the moment Sir? Ma'am?" He asked looking at each of them in turn.

Mrs. Granger spoke up, "Harry. Hermione has told us enough about you, as well as the fact that you are legally an adult today. Please call me Emma and this is Dan." She said elbowing her husband in the ribs. He grunted and extended his hand giving the boy the 'I hate anyone who might touch my baby girl' look.

"Now Harry, where is our daughter? She has some explaining to do about all of this. She has been downplaying the significance of the events that she has related, and after speaking with the Headmaster she has neglected to inform us of other things."

Harry couldn't hide his shock, not only that Hermione had been lying to her parents. But that Dumbledore had told them the truth of what had happened at the school in the past few years. Not even the Ministry or the Prophet seemed to know the real story behind half of what happened.

"She's upstairs at the party, showing off her room to the other girls. Follow me." He said stunned.

When they reached to top of the stairs Dan looked at the doors and then at Harry. Understanding the unspoken question Harry pointed at the one on the left. At least Dan had the decency not to walk into his daughter's room unannounced, as he knocked and called out.

"Hermione Open up, we need to speak with you!"