“Mrs. Abbott has arrived,” Grisha the Goblin said, “she asks for a meeting before the ritual.”
Harry nodded from his place at the conference table. “Is her daughter with her?”
“She is.”
“Send them both in.”
“Sir? She requests a private meeting!”
“Did that yesterday and it caused some minor problems with the Bride. Nothing I can’t handle, but I’d rather not go through that again, Sir. Send them in!”
“Sir!”
Harry recognized one of the two who entered. She was Hannah Abbott, no doubt about that. The other blond haired and older woman must be her mother he thought. He bade them each to take a seat across the table from him.
“Emily Abbott,” Mrs. Abbott said. “And this is my daughter Hannah, Mr. Potter.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Abbott. It’s good to see you too, Hannah.”
Hannah nodded and gave Harry a slight smile and deep blush.
“I really appreciate what you did earlier this year, Hannah, even if it didn’t make a difference.”
“Oh?” she said.
“After that incident with Justin and the snake and all the school thinking I was the one out trying to snuff the Muggle Borns, I walked by your table in the Library when you and your other Puffs couldn’t see me and heard you. You stood up for me when all the other Puffs were convinced I was the one who was setting a monster loose, or at least not saying it wasn’t me. Thank you.”
“You’re - you’re welcome?”
“I hope it was not about this contract…”
“I do know about it, H-Harry. I’ve known since I was seven or eight. Also didn’t think it would ever come to pass. You are my betrothed and yet you’re not seeing as there’re conditions and such that… well that are more likely not to come to pass than to do so. I said what I said because it was what I believed and the evidence to the contrary was unconvincing. It was not out of some sense of loyalty by a contract which might never be enforced.”
“I appreciate that and your honesty,” Harry continued. “You know why we are here?”
Hannah nodded. “Something about the contract. It’s what the Summons said. You’re - you’re trying to break it, aren’t you?” There was a hint of pain in her voice.
“Is that what you told her?” he asked the mother calmly.
“It’s the logical explanation given how young you two are. I was hoping to talk you out of it… breaking it, I mean.”
“Too late,” Harry said. “The deal is done. Give these two ladies their folders,” he said to a Goblin in the room. The Goblin put two leather bound folders before the two Abbotts. “First document is a Certificate of Marriage between myself and the former Miss Hermione Granger, validated given our age because of a forming Soul Bond. We married here at Gringotts two days ago. The second is another Certificate of Marriage between myself and the former Miss Luna Lovegood, also by way of a forming Soul Bond. We married the same day. Third is a Certificate of Marriage between myself and the former Miss Daphne Greengrass. All three were by contract between the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and their families and Daphne’s was conditioned upon my soul bonding with both of them. That soul bond, and the plural marriage it allowed was the condition for enforcement of the contract between the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and the Ancient and Noble House of Abbott. Well, that and the fact that Hannah and I were the only two left from those lines when the conditions were met. I’m not here to break the contract. I’m here to see it carried out… today!”
Hannah gasped and her mother paled.
“I had a choice,” Harry continued. “The conditions of enforcement were highly unusual and there was not real way to say if they ever would come to pass, unless they did. But they did. My choices were to either wait until the soul bonds and those marriages became known to you - which I could delay until September First, at which time House Greengrass and Abbott could demand execution of the contracts or, or I could demand it now. I choose now, rather than later.”
“Why?” Mrs. Abbott asked.
“Timing is everything, don’t you think?” Harry replied. “I can keep all this secret from the magical world ‘til September First when the Headmaster and staff must be informed. That would also be as long as I could keep the fact that the preconditions in our family contract have been fulfilled. After that time, you could demand enforcement which, I am told, would be in the papers. I have reason to suspect there are those who’d wish these contracts can be annulled or worse. I’d prefer to keep all of this as quiet as I can. Easiest way for me to do that is to walk out of here today with Hannah as my wife and I as her husband and consort. We have a limited degree of emancipation, you know. The secret of our marriage and of my other marriages will be under the protection of my House and, I hope, hers.”
“Surely this could wait,” Hannah’s mother said. “You’re both so young. If you’re not trying to avoid enforcement, then there’s no rush for me to demand it.”
Harry nodded. “However the contract does require enforcement as soon as practical following the completion of the preconditions. To delay, even if we agree, would incur penalties to the Houses or to the House seeking the delay. Or did I misunderstand that part of it?”
“No. You are correct. My concerns are naturally for my daughter. When Stan and I entered into this agreement, we knew it could happen as soon as this summer and knew what it meant. But that was before your parents were killed. Had they lived, you would be living at the Potter Estate which was acceptable to us. Now… well now we have no idea where you live, who you live with and what your living conditions are like. I know that you’re fairly well set financially, but do you have the room for all of you? Will Hannah be comfortable there? Will the people you’re living with accept this or would this be a problem?”
Harry laughed. “They don’t accept anything out of their view of the ordinary which includes me. If it was at all necessary for me or my ladies to have any interaction with them at all, we probably would not be here right now. I doubt I would have been able to start the bonds that set this whole thing in motion if I hadn’t found a way to stay at their house and yet stay completely out of their way.”
“So how can you…?” Mrs. Abbott began.
Harry then launched into a description of the wards about his relatives house, why he had to be there and how he could keep himself and his ladies there without dealing with the relatives. This included a lengthy discussion of his trunk - without too many details - and the access trunks he was already using.
“You’re saying you haven’t even seen those relatives of yours since you went home?”
“No Ma'am. I haven’t. My other ladies haven’t. I doubt I will anytime before I can leave that place. I doubt my ladies will either… although they do want to meet…”
“Why?”
“If I gave my other ladies that boon, my relatives would probably be hexed into the next century and we’ll leave it at that, thank you. I haven’t asked for details, but I understand my Head Elf did a real number on them before I left Hogwarts. I get the feeling anything more would just be cruel.”
“So she won’t have to deal with them?”
“I won’t say that,” Harry grinned. It was almost feral. “What I would like to do is impose on their hospitality with all my ladies in tow and in such a way that they have to behave themselves and watch the lot of them squirm for a few hours. Whether I can do that in a way that keeps them in line is another question. But that’s beside the point, isn’t it? Hannah will have no contact with them whatsoever. That’s what matters.”
Mrs. Abbott nodded. “My next question, given your youth and Hannah’s as well, is… is what do you expect from her in terms of physical intimacy?”
“You’re talking about sex, right?” Harry asked almost cheekily.
She nodded.
“Let me answer with a few questions of my own,” Harry said almost blushing. “First, although I think I know the answer to this, is Hannah of Bonding Age?”
“I am,” Hannah said blushing. “I… I was a bit of a late bloomer but not too much. My thirteenth Summer Solstice was last June but my sixth monthly cycle wasn’t until this last February.”
“Been through your Mentorship then?”
Hannah gasped. “How do you know about that?”
“The others told me about it. Well, Hermione and Daphne did. Luna’s going through it with them now.”
“Y-yes. Yes I have. It finished a few weeks before I came home for the summer Hols.”
“What you went through with that and maybe since with girls, is what we call Stage Three Intimacy. I’m only at Stage Two with the other three and probably will be for some months at least and maybe longer. It seems the Bond that’s forming between Hermione, Luna and me keeps that part of my teenaged self in check… at least until it’s formed or so the books say.”
“What’s Stage Two or Stage One for that matter?” Mrs. Abbott asked.
“Stage one includes hugs, kissing on the cheek and holding hands if we walk together side by side,” Harry said. “It’s the only Stage I do insist upon from my ladies. Stage Two includes kissing on the lips - no tongues - snuggles and cuddles including sitting on my lap and that’s it. Each Stage is an increased degree of physical intimacy and aside from Stage One and the last Stage, if Hermione and I are not there yet, I won’t be there with anyone else. Aside from Stage One, all stages will only happen between any of us if one: Hermione and I are there and, two: each girl of their own free will decides to go there as well. I’m not going to force any of them to do something they’re not ready to do.”
“And the other stages?” Mrs. Abbott asked.
“Stage Three includes sexual intimacy short of intercourse, basically what girls are familiar with when the go through Mentorship although I’m told the mechanics on their end for me are different. But the mechanics for me on their end should be substantially similar. Stage Four - well, that may be the hard one ‘cause it’s permanent in a way. That’s consummation and full on intercourse. We hit Stage Four and there can be no annulment. It probably will happen between Hermione and Luna and I. That’s the Bond. As for Daphne and Hannah, it will be up to them if and when that happens and again, it won’t happen until I’ve been at Stage Four with Hermione. Stage Five is the last one and the only one where you can skip from One straight to Five. It’s also the only one where you don’t have to wait for Hermione to take that step before you can provided it’s what you want, Hannah.”
“What’s that Stage?” Hannah asked.
“It has preconditions,” Harry replied avoiding the direct answer. “First one is a proper wedding. While what will happen here today at Gringotts means we’re married… well, I’ve been through it three times now. Hermione’s Dad put it best when he said it was more like a business meeting than a wedding, although never having been to a real wedding I can’t say that for certain. Luna’s Grammy and Grampy said that without a killer business deal, beheading or dismemberment Goblins don’t find things romantic even amongst themselves. So, first precondition is a proper Wedding between us, whatever you think that is. That means that we each have to be at least sixteen, seeing as we can marry properly at that age in Scotland without a parent’s consent and considering my parents are dead… Second condition, and it’s not negotiable, is that we’ve taken our O.W.L.s. That’s mainly for Luna as the rest of you are older than me and I’ll still be fifteen when I sit for my O.W.L.s and Luna’s only a little over a month younger than me but a year behind us and it’s only because the law allows you to leave school with your wand at that time. Preferably, Stage Five will not occur until you’ve taken your N.E.W.T.s
“Stage Five is sexual intercourse without protections. It means trying to have a baby.”
“Oh?” two voices asked.
“Stage Five is my ladies' choice and not based upon Hermione’s choice. My marriage to Hannah is to perpetuate her Ancient and Noble House. Basically, I’m just breeding material since I have no other rights to House Abbott. Not that I’m complaining, just stating the facts. When they are old enough, they will decide when and how many. The question of ‘if’ is mainly for Hannah and Daphne. If we don’t consummate the marriage before I’m twenty-one, as we know it can be annulled. If we do, it’s final. And that means they will have children by me one day. But if that happens and when that happens and how often that happens is up to them. That is the agreement I made with them about this and that is the agreement I’m offering to Hannah about this. The marriage today is required by the contract between our families. Beyond that whether we consummate it or not and how many and when there are any children by it is more her decision than mine.”
“I hate to bring this up,” Mrs. Abbott said, “but since we’re on the subject of intimacy and you know - goodness knows why - about young witches and their needs, how will Hannah’s be met in that regard? I mean, if you’re not - um - fulfilling the needs of your ladies yet…”
“My ladies told me about it this morning,” Harry said and technically that was true. “Their needs in that regard are being met with each other. Now as I understand it, the intimacy I can provide may be enough provided they do the other bits by themselves, but they decided it was best to be intimate with each other as well. They say it will strengthen their relationship with each other which they say will make things easier down the road given that a plural marriage is hardly something that most witches have to deal with. I agree. I want them to be friends with each other. It’ll make things easier for them, I think. So if being intimate with each other helps the family, then it’s a good idea. As for Hannah, I would now hope that they offer to be her girlfriends and that she accepts. Her needs in that regard would then be met even if I’m not yet ready to meet them for her.”
“You don’t sound like a twelve year old,” Mrs. Abbott began.
“I’m not sure if I am,” Harry replied. “You know what my first clear memory is?”
She shook her head.
Harry didn’t tell her his true first memory which was of his closet and a hiding for something. “Scrubbing floors. Scrubbing floors. Later it was weeding in the garden, cooking meals, dusting, doing laundry. I have no memories of games or friends - not before Hogwarts at least - or anything most children had. I worked. If I wasn’t at school, I worked. If I didn’t do the job well enough… well… I don’t want to talk about it.”
The two on the other side of the table remained silent for a time, both either surprised or shocked at this revelation. Hannah remained silent. Her mother, after regaining her composure spoke.
“Will I see my daughter again?”
“Yes. That is the plan. I mentioned access trunks, didn’t I?”
She nodded.
“You’ll be keyed into one as well as Hannah. When we’re done here, you’ll take it with you. Hannah will come with me. The access trunk will allow you to come and visit or Hannah to come to visit you. There will be days when this is not possible, but you will receive a schedule. After we’re done here, you will be allowed to visit your daughter on Saturday. Sunday, and we’re off to France for a month or so. But there will be days even then when you can visit her or she can visit you. They’re ten such days on the schedule so far, but there may be more. When we return, she can visit you or you visit her every day until September First with perhaps two exceptions. Naturally, if you wish to see her off from Kings Cross, that is acceptable as well. Once we’re at Hogwarts, due to the connection between the trunks you can visit her throughout the year although I think it would be best to do that on weekends.”
“She could come home too?” Mrs. Abbott asked.
“She could. But we think it best that she does not. Not sure about the rules about that and we don’t want to push them… or force them to make new ones.”
“This is… well you didn’t have to…”
“The contract means that she is to be my wife and I her husband. Doesn’t mean you’re not her Mum any more. The one thing my girls hate about Hogwarts is that they’re stuck there for nine months of the year - or more if they can’t or don’t go home on the inter-term Hols - and their only contact with their families is by post. I have the means to see another way and I am going to use it!”
There was another long silence.
“Thank you Harry,” Hannah said with a smile, one mirrored on her mother’s face. “Even for that.”
Harry shrugged. “Should we move on?”
Hannah arrived at Harry’s trunk alone after they were married. Harry had told her he had some errands to run in Diagon Alley and should be along in an hour or so. He quipped that it was hard to get all romantic about a Gringotts marriage, that at least one of the fathers said it was more like a business transaction. She had that feeling as well. She knew he was going to give her time to get used to this, he had said so and she believed him, still this was not what she envisioned as a girl when she thought of her wedding day. Harry told her not to truly think of it that way. This was their marriage day by prior arrangement. The wedding day - perhaps the one of her dreams - that would come one day when they were older.
She entered the Hall, and looked around at the tapestries and portraits on the wall, none of which were moving at all or asleep as she was used to. When she finished, an elf in a pink dress of all things was standing before her. The elf curtsied.
“Miss Hannah?” the elf said. “It is an honour to meet you. My name is Marigold. I’ve been assigned as your handmaiden, responsible for your rooms, your things and you, of course. The others are waiting for you in the Ladies' Parlour, if you will follow me.”
“What are these tapestries and such?” Hannah asked.
“Master Harry’s ancestor Potters, Miss,” Marigold replied.
“Why aren’t they moving?”
“Tapestries don’t move, Miss. The portraits are magical, Miss, but they need time to absorb enough magic to animate properly. When they fall asleep, that means they have enough magic to begin the transformation although it may be weeks before they’re awake and able to talk. This way, Miss Hannah.”
She was led through a great room that seemed to stretch on forever, although it did not. It was filled with places to sit and relax and the walls that were not windows had more tapestries and portraits. The elf did not explain this room but led her to a door on the right which she did say was called the Ladies Parlour. Hannah entered and saw three girls seated in chairs with either a cup of what was probably tea or a bowl of something. There was a blonde she did not know at all mashing whatever was in her bowl while the other two were sipping their tea.
“Ladies?” Marigold said, “may I present Lady Hannah, Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Abbott, wife and consort of Master Harry, Baroness of Tinworth.”
The Elf Maiden bowed and a chestnut haired young woman in a blue summer dress stood. Hannah sort of recognized her. She kind of looked like Hermione Granger from Gryffindor except her hair was all wrong. It looked too nice for Hermione. The girl walked up to her and curtsied.
“Milady Abbott,” she said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” When she stood she continued. “Formally, I am Lady Hermione, wife by soul bond of our husband Harry, Countess designate of Finchley. Otherwise you can call me Hermione.”
Hannah knew this drill. She curtsied herself. “Your Grace,” she said. When she stood, Hermione gave her a gentle hug and whispered in her ear: “Welcome to this family.”
This formality continued with the necessary curtsies and such as she was introduced to Harry’s other two wives: Luna, the Countess designate of Hwicca and Daphne the Countess designate of Abengale. Each of them welcomed her too.
“Have a seat,” Daphne said when they were done.
“Would you like some tea, Miss?” Marigold asked when Hannah was seated. “The ladies here prefer the home tea which we grow here at the estate. It’s best with a little honey and lemon. But if you have another choice…”
“The home tea sounds nice,” Hannah said nervously.
They spent time chatting about Hannah’s day and Gringotts and what Harry had told her before the very anticlimactic marriage rite itself. Hannah wasn’t nearly as talkative as Daphne had been when she had arrived, but Daphne had also been just a little put out by it all seeing as the first thing she had known about why she was there was when she was led in for the rite itself. Then there was the discussion of the stages of physical intimacy.
“As Harry should have told you, the bond is preventing us from moving towards true sexual intimacy with him,” Hermione said.
“He did,” Hannah replied.
“Naturally, it follows that Stage Three cannot occur anytime before our soul bonds are finalized,” Hermione continued. “As you and Daphne do not have such a bond with Harry, in theory at least you could move to that Stage sooner, but the bonding process also prevents him from being truly receptive. As he should have told you, the Bonding should be complete by around Christmas although given our ages it might take even longer than that.”
Hannah nodded.
“What he probably didn’t tell you or your Mum is that the three of us here think it will take longer and that even when it’s complete, he won’t be ready for Stage Three.”
“Why?” Hannah asked. Not that she was disappointed to hear that.
“Harry has intimacy issues,” Luna said. “Oh, it may not seem like it when you see him with us and when you’re with him, but you will sense it just like we do.”
“Intimacy issues? Is he… what’s the word?”
“Impotent?” Hermione replied.
“That’s it.”
“Um, well he often has a tent pole in his pants,” Luna said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s truly working yet.”
“Oh? But he’s of bonding age! We couldn’t marry if he was not.”
“Magical bonding age,” Daphne said. “It doesn’t mean he’s sexually mature only old enough to begin a magical bond. It does not mean he’s old enough to magically consummate one and neither are the others probably.”
“Wizards mature differently than witches,” Hermione said. “First off, on average they enter puberty later than we do. More importantly, their raging boy hormones have little effect on their magic. They don’t enter puberty needing sexual release to mature. They certainly don’t need physical intimacy. It might be some time before Harry even feels a need to do something about that tent pole in his pants. And, unless he gets used to things such as physical intimacy, he might not do it even then. Whatever you heard or may have heard about Harry’s home life is a lie! The only physical contact he had with the people raising him was usually violent. They never loved him. They never truly cared about him at all. Physical contact for him was pain and humiliation. He has no memory of being hugged or comforted. He has no memory on anyone caring whether he was hurt or sad or lonely. The first hug he remembers was from me at the end of our First Year and he seemed like he wanted to run away then. Stage Two may be for a while. It is to teach him that there are those of us who do care about him, that he can be loved. It is to teach him that he can love too. And finally, it’s to teach us all to share. This Plural Marriage cannot work if any of us think we’re more important to Harry than any of the rest of us. This includes Luna and I who have a bond with him that the two of you don’t. We must all be an equal part of this. We must be that way for our sake, for each other’s sake and for Harry’s sake.”
“So what are you saying?” Hannah asked. “He’s not physically mature enough or what?”
“We’re pretty sure he’s not physically mature enough to reproduce,” Luna said. “Having sex with him would be pointless in that regard and you can’t consummate, soul bond or not, until both are mature enough to have children. Just ‘cause we’ve had monthlies does not mean we're… what’s the word, Hermione?”
“Ovulating. At least not with any consistency. According to the books, it might be a year or two before we’re truly ready that way.”
“And until Harry has reached the same level as a boy, it’s pretty pointless. We can’t consummate unless we’re both capable of producing a child even if we don’t actually do so. Throw in his emotional situation and… well… this will take some time.”
“Emotional situation?” Hannah asked.
Hermione then told her about what Harry had told them about his life before Hogwarts, with help from both Luna and Daphne as he had told them of other incidents. Hermione then went on to explain his adventures over their first two years at Hogwarts, none of which were what Hannah expected.
“But he’s such a nice boy,” Hannah said. “If what you say is true he should be… I don’t know…”
“He should be totally closed off,” Hermione said. “That or he should make Malfoy look like Prince Charming or something.”
“Prince Charming?” three voices asked.
“Sorry,” Hermione replied. “Muggle reference. Make Malfoy look like the perfect boy…”
“Eew!” Daphne said. “Sorry, but I don’t see that!”
“Then how…?” Hannah began.
Hermione shrugged. “Can’t say why he’s not that way. He just isn’t. But he still has issues and until he’s through those issues…”
“Through enough, at least,” Luna added.
“He can’t be trusted with,” Hermione blushed, “with sex.”
“Many boys not much older than him who get a girl into a broom closet assumed they’re entitled to such things,” Daphne said. “They shag one, dump her, and move on to the next. Or they shag her and others as well. We’re his wives! We’re his I guess intendeds for lack of a better word. Hermione and Luna are soul bonding with him. You and I are his wives too. Do we want a husband who only cares about the notches in his wand or one who cares about us?”
“There is the issue that now that he is in a Plural Marriage, there’s no legal upper limit to the number of wives he can have,” Hermione added. “We want to keep it small. We want him to think of us and have no reason to look elsewhere. He has issues. We need to make sure that when we move to the next stage with him he doesn’t start… start…”
“Shagging any girl who’ll let him,” Daphne added. “He is The Boy-Who-Lived, you know. In a couple of years or less, many of the girls at Hogwarts would let him into their knickers given half the chance and we don’t want that. We need him to see us as the only notches his wand will ever need. That’s certainly true for Hermione and Luna given their bond. I want to think it’s true for me too. I definitely don’t want to find myself stuck in the Slytherin dating pool when I’m older. Or any dating pool come to think of it. I am Lady Potter, not some tart who’ll drop her knickers to try and snag The Boy-Who-Lived. I’ve already snagged him even if he doesn’t know it yet and more importantly, I don’t see him that way at all. And I’d rather he did not as well.”
“Don’t misunderstand,” Luna said, “Harry is really nice. He really is and we all think he’s a wonderful boyfriend or husband or whatever you’re comfortable calling this for now. We are still concerned about him. His upbringing couldn’t have prepared him for this and he’s still young. When he starts getting the urges… well, we just hope he doesn’t change too much. It’s our job to help see that he doesn’t, after all we are kind of stuck with him.”
“We’re not saying Harry’s a git or that he ever will be,” Daphne said. “We just understand that under the wrong circumstances his upbringing could… well, he could become one and we’ve all talked about it and know it’s our role in this to help him overcome that upbringing and remain as nice as he is now.”
“And a little more open,” Luna concluded.
Harry returned just in time for supper.
“And what were your errands?” Hermione asked a little cross at him. After all, this was his marriage day to Hannah and he hadn’t treated her nearly as well as he had Hermione or Luna or Daphne for that matter so she was a little put out with his errands.
“It’s a surprise,” Harry said with a smile as he kissed all the others, including Hannah. “Don’t ask me what, ‘cause then it wouldn’t be. And aside from some things which I will give to the lot of you after dinner, the rest of the surprise I’m picking up tomorrow. I think each of you will like two thirds of it and maybe all of it. As for the other third, I hope you all appreciate the intent. Dinner?”
“Harry… ,” Hermione growled.
“Don’t,” Daphne whispered. “If it’s a good surprise getting angry with him before he shows us is silly. If it’s a bad surprise, then we can get angry with him.”
Hermione seemed to relax. “You’re right.”
The dinner conversation was far more relaxed than it had been on Daphne’s first day. Hannah wasn’t as talkative, for one, but they realized that she was far more aware of this than Daphne had been so she wasn’t asking question after question. It was more that they were asking her to get her to engage and open up even if just a little. Harry knew it would take time to get to know her as he was still getting to know Daphne and Luna to a large degree. That she seemed accepting of this made it easier for him to open up a little. All in all, it was a successful dinner in his opinion.
Afterwards, he led his four ladies to the Great Hall and took a seat on one of the couches.
“And now, for your first surprise,” he said to all of them. “I ordered them yesterday just before meeting with Daphne and her parents. They were ready today so that was one of my errands. Dobby?”
Dobby appeared with a small shopping bag. Harry reached in and pulled out four small boxes. He seemed to inspect them for a moment before he handed each box to each of the girls with a mild admonition not to open them until he said so. He did. They each opened the small, glossy, probably cardboard box and in side was what at least two of them knew was a ring box. All four pulled their red or blue boxes out and opened them and gasped. Harry just smiled.
“H-Harry,” Hermione began, “this… this is…”
“Wow!” Daphne and Hannah said.
“It’s really pretty,” Luna added.
“Harry? What?” Hermione began as she slipped a ring upon her finger and the others did as well.
“They’re betrothal rings, of course,” Harry said with a smile. “Got them from a jeweller in Diagon Alley. The main stone - at least two carats he said or the equivalent, is your birth stone. Now as Hermione and Luna share the same birth month, I gave Hermione the sapphire one and Luna the deep, blue opal as they’re both September stones. On either side is a three quarter carat diamond and then beside them a small, ruby chip as apparently ruby is my birthstone. Until we have the proper wedding as our contracts allow, I decided a wedding band is not appropriate. That’s the ring I insist I’m allowed to place on your fingers.”
“It’s too much, Harry!” Hermione exclaimed.
“Don’t you like it?”
She nodded. “It’s totally beautiful. But it must’ve cost a fortune! Not just mine,” she said as she admired hers, “all of them!”
“About three thousand for the lot,” Harry said. “But I believe you all are worth far more than that. I want you all to wear them. I want all the world to know you are my girls and will be forever.”
“Th-thanks, Harry,” Hannah said. The other three practically leapt at him and took their turns trying to snog him senseless.
Daphne sat back and admired her ring after a good Harry snog. “Well, don’t know ‘bout you Hermione, but he’s one third of the way towards the perfect gift or surprise for me. He misses on the other two, this one alone is worth it!”
Hermione could only nod in reply. They were, after all, rings meant for a princess or some such.
The next morning dawned and Hannah, wearing her ring, walked down to breakfast following her new elf Marigold. She saw the green cards on her door but had not asked about them. As Daphne had, she walked in wearing summer clothes and found Luna and Daphne already there wearing nothing at all. As Daphne had been, she was taken aback at this. Daphne explained to her about time compression and how the green cards told them what they had to wear or not wear as the case may be. She explained that attire - or lack of any for that matter - was purely a matter of choice. Being naked was by choice and not a requirement.
“But it is so fun,” Luna added as Harry entered. He was dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt as he sat down for breakfast. Hermione arrived a few minutes later dressed in a skirt and blouse which she removed slowly as if for Harry’s entertainment and then her undergarments as well before she walked over and kissed Harry before taking her seat. It was explained to Hannah that the wives could choose if and when to bare it all. It was explained as she stood to undress - she was a Hufflepuff after all and loyalty was a huge part of her character and she liked and trusted Harry - that the first undressing was always in the gardens for the wives. Hannah was naked within minutes of entering the gardens. She didn’t want to seem disloyal. She was Harry’s forever after all. She knew she was blushing furiously. But Harry did say she was beautiful and she got a toe curling kiss from him moments later. Add to it that he didn’t try anything more… how did she get this lucky?
“That was wonderful!” Hannah said a few days later into time compression. She had just been thoroughly ravished by Daphne after she had done the same to her. She had already had girl time with both Hermione and Luna, but that was the other two days.
“It’s always best with… with a sister of sorts,” Daphne replied. “I left mentorship and had a choice, go Slytherin or go to the school club. The only girl in Slytherin I was willing to be with was my best friend Tracy, but she had only just started mentorship so it was the school club for me. I was with a lot girls over that time. None were true girlfriend material. Tracy got done and she and I were together for the rest of the year but… I don’t know. We’re better off as friends than lovers I should think. We talked about it. I wasn’t then willing to go back to the club and she… well she’d prefer that for then we remained exclusive in that way, but said come next year she'd… she’d want to find her true girlfriend if there was one out there…”
“Must’ve hurt,” Hannah said stroking Daphne’s hair.
“Not really. We both knew we weren’t ‘it’ for each other that way and to be exclusive would only hurt our friendship. Then I came here. Hermione, Luna and now you. Maybe it’s the fact we’re married to Harry, I don’t know. But I feel this is special. Harry knows and doesn’t ask. We don’t do it in front of him, you know. But for some reason, this feels right and when he’s ready for us and we for him I’m certain that will feel right as well. And you?”
“Sent to the Upper Year girl’s dorm once my time with my mentor was up,” Hannah said. “We all were, those of us who’ve been through it. Basically, I slept with whoever wanted me to there. My best friend Susan was there as well and we were allowed a bed from time to time. I guess it’s a Hufflepuff thing as we’re not allowed to join the school club until Fourth Year. Until then, it’s just Puffs. This is better, I think. I’d rather know who my bedmates are then find out that night, you know?”
“You’re all in, you know?” Daphne said. “Tonight and for the foreseeable future, you share Harry’s bed with the rest of us. It’s so cuddly! You’re going to love it!”
And Hannah found that she did.
A/N: You do not need to read this to follow the story. If you don’t, you will miss absolutely nothing from the standpoint of this tale. That being said (or written as the case may be…)
I suspected when I wrote the last chapter, it would be controversial in some ways.
The fallacy of the “harem” or polyamorous story is that it truly cannot succeed or be realistic in reality - unless it devolves into endless cat fights and struggles for dominance or attention within the group or an effectively dictatorial dominance by one over the group (with the associated resentments). The vehicle I used is unrealistic in our world and experience. (I suppose it might work if all but one of the participants are doormats, but that would never work here ‘cause Harry needs help, not docile doormats). The explanations or justifications expressed by the characters was used to explain how this could work and could only work in a magical context (this is fantasy after all). Hermione and Luna share a magical bond with Harry that helps, but Daphne does not and we know that one who has not yet been brought in is Regent for and Ancient and Noble House. She cannot be viewed as truly subordinate to any of the others, especially if the group’s activities are in conflict with the best and future interests of her House.
For varying reasons, none of Harry’s girls are docile types. Daphne is a true Slytherin: ambitious and cunning. This will be a benefit to Harry if used to support the Family, but it could be a real problem if used to advance Daphne within the Family - which could well have happened without some kind of work around. Hermione is not inclined to be held back by gender or anything. She is logical, studious and, were she “just a Muggle,” would probably not grow up to be “taken care of.” She is one who would only accept limitations imposed upon her if those limitations were ones of education and ability - although even then her acceptance might well be grudgingly so. Luna will be Luna regardless of any external pressures. No one can tell her what and how to think and what to believe. This combination of personalities, without more, could become a nightmare.
Each of the girls has something to offer that Harry lacks to a degree and each will bring talents and perspective he will need. I don’t plan to spend inordinate amounts of time dealing with the internal politicking of the collective, which would be most of this story without a way for them to come together and set their places where they each are important in their own right but not threatening the others positions within the group. Likewise, Daphne is not fixed in this the way the others are. She can opt out in time. (Whether that happens is another matter.)
The other problem I’ve had (and had with JKR’s books) is understanding what kind of society could produce Voldemort. Any kind can produce a Tom Riddle. But there’s a significant difference between Tom and his later incarnation. Hitler without the Nazi Party is a bitter, loud mouthed outlier. In this regard Tom without Pure-bloods and Death Eaters is worse since he was a cold blooded killer all by himself but it does not follow that he could become what he became and charisma alone does not explain it either. The eventual rise of Nazi Party could not have come about without some kind of underlying hatred or fear of others and could not have risen as it did in a country that was politically and economically stable where the vast majority who might otherwise have raised a fuss respected their national institutions and were not practically terrified about their futures. Such was anything but the case in Germany following WWI. There are no such obvious political or economic stresses in JKR’s work that could explain the Death Eaters and lack of a broad response.
Why was it that there had to be an Order of the Phoenix? Was it not little more than a counterinsurgency insurgency? Was it not an extralegal organization operating without the approval of the “legitimate” government? Were they not taking the law in their own hands, assuming they were not declaring the law as they saw it? Again, this sort of thing is “foreign” to us today in many countries. You may find such situations today in such nice places to live as the Middle East or the Balkans where age old resentments continue to fester for various reasons. Other countries have had a taste of it in their pasts. But to really find a historical basis for the problems in the magical world, you have to look back a lot further than the 1990’s. 1920’s Germany was one of the most recent and obvious Western models. Russia in the decades prior to and following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 is another. The society that lead to the French Revolution of 1789 (and the hell that followed) is a third. This list is not intended to be all inclusive. The English Civil Wars and religious wars that were part and parcel with the Protestant Reformation is another. In fact, I think fictional Wizarding Britain is more like that much, much earlier period for reasons far too numerous to list.
Pure-blood = Aryan and Muggle Born = Jews may have been in the back of JKRs mind, but it was not what led the Nazi’s to power. There were a lot of other things bothering the average German in the 1920’s, many of whom could care less about a supposed Jewish conspiracy at first. Their economy was a wreck. They were under enemy occupation. One must also include that “Germany” was never really a nation before the 1860’s. What became Germany was a vast collection of smaller Kingdoms and Principalities and such; many of which did not like their other “German” neighbors and certainly were not entirely thrilled with becoming a part of a Prussian dominated nation state. The only thing that they generally had in common was language which is hardly much of anything. (George Bernard Shaw once remarked - not entirely in jest - that the British and Americans are two peoples divided by a common language.)
After their almost comic attempt at a coups in 1923, the Nazis changed tactics and tried to become popular, preying on whatever fear garnered them mass appeal and support. This did not mean they played nice. They certainly did not. They just didn’t go to a beer hall and think they took over the government any more. And even when they won enough seats in the government to put the former Communist Party hack Hitler in as Chancellor (and he was one for a bit), and even after they set fire to the Reichstag then blamed on the aforesaid Communists to justify taking over everything, it took years for them to move from that to the Final Solution. It’s doubtful anyone thought they were not anti-Semitic at any time, but the real nightmare did not happen over night.
The Death Eaters pogrom against the Muggle Borns, however, did explode into being. In Wizarding Britain, the rise of the Death Eaters brought with it the wholesale (if not organized and state sponsored) murder of Muggle Borns and opponents, something that did not truly come to pass until well after the Nazis took power (that’s not to say that the Nazis played nice until then, but neither were they running about killing left and right and bragging about it like it seems Voldemort and his ilk were). In this regard, while both are undeniably evil, the two situations are very, very different.
(Disclaimer: the above is a very quick, simplistic and certainly incomplete summary far from a complete analysis and should not be taken in any way as any kind of sympathy for anything the Nazis did or stood for…)
The Wizengamot and magical society were divided almost from the beginning. The situation that necessitated an extralegal organization like the Order was a government that would not allow Voldemort to take power legitimately but was too divided to crush his movement for its temerity; in other words one where the ideas had enough support and votes to paralyse meaningful response but not enough to allow the Death Eaters to walk through the front door. As there is no evidence that any of those in power were there through popular election… We are left with an archaic form of governance lacking only a true monarch. We are left with a minority governing class (even if they are not all Pure-bloods) and a vast majority who have no say in government. (Either that, or the majority of all adults work for the Government. All you need to do is look at the problems in modern day Greece to see why this cannot work.)
Another issue is the role of women (here witches) in society. Harry’s group is intended to be exceptional not just because of their rather unique relationship. In the books the role of women is somewhat ambiguous and certainly by no means clear. Amelia Bones is a Department Head. Minerva McGonagall a Deputy Headmistress, but we see few others who are both in a position of power and respectable. (Dolores Umbridge is a dangerous, loose cannon at best and there’s nothing to suggest anyone truly respects her - feared maybe, respectable…?) In the government, we have Madam Bones and are told of three others (aside from aforesaid Pink Toad): Mafalda Hopkirk who signed the letters regarding Harry’s illegal use of underage magic, Marietta Edgecombe’s mother who works for the Ministry which could mean anything and Tonks.
In Canon, Muggle Studies is at least fifty years off - (according to Hermione, I think) in other words no later than 1943 and is probably closer to a century off or 1893 since it seems to be silent about the automobile and aeroplane - then again there is the Wizarding Wireless and the Nights Bus to further confuse things. We do not know whether and to what extent Muggle Studies addresses Muggle history and politics much less if it does how recently. This is critical because their education could well fail to note the success of woman’s suffrage and their subsequent participation in the political process.
Prior to 1893, women were excluded from politics generally throughout the world. The handful of historic exceptions were monarchs (and they were truly exceptions of this exception), brief periods of time in one place or another, or small localities and not countries. In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to extend the vote to women (France had done so briefly following the Revolution, but that died with Napoleon and did not see the light of day again until after WWII. In the United States Wyoming and Colorado allowed women to vote at that time - 1893 - and New Jersey had when it became a state in 1790, but repealed that right for its women after a vote fraud scandal in 1807.) Between 1893 and the outbreak of WWI, only Australia and Norway joined this Club. The U.S. granted women the right to vote in 1920, something at least some women had been advocating since before the American Revolution. Britain granted limited suffrage in 1918 (30 yrs old and landowner or the wife of a landowner whereas the right for males was now age 21 without regard to land ownership), structured such that the vast number of women did not enjoy the same right as their male peers. Voting equality between men and women did not occur until 1928. The point is that 100 years before the story, women were not part of the body politic.
The archaic view (that in varying degrees was common globally) was that woman either lacked the ability to participate in governance or should be excluded because their role was to deal with family. This is highly simplistic and a great generalization, but I’m not writing a dissertation here. The point is, historically women’s true participation in governance is connected to the rise of democracy, although not always contemporaneous with it. Democracy in a somewhat rigid class society has usually been restricted to a class (for example ancient Athens where the majority of residents could not participate and even then women of that participating class were excluded and Britain where originally it was limited to the nobility and later limited to landowners thereby excluding most of the population and this statement is without regard to various religious exclusions in many places). To the extent this work seems to relegate witches to the back bench (or outside the hall) of the body politic, it is not inconsistent with what was the case throughout the world a century earlier. To the extent that female characters are politically savvy is not inconsistent with that as many women throughout history have been even if they were not in true political positions (and could not be).
Back to the original point:
The “disturbing” suggestions also arise from the old European attitudes towards witchcraft which were themselves contradictory in many ways. These aspersions and the resultant persecutions fell upon woman almost without exception (except where they became an excuse for a pogrom against Jews). A woman who chose to behave contrary to societal (male) expectations might well find herself subject to a witch burning. Likewise, in a society where divorce was impossible… “Witches” were accused of just what Hermione said they were accused of perhaps not individually, but it was believed to be true of the whole. This story assumes that such accusations were not entirely without a basis in fact, as Hermione explained but further assumes that it was not necessarily a permanent thing.
As for why it continues in an era where they do have effective birth control… societal custom can have its own momentum and will not change easily without a much greater need for change. Effective birth control does not create a need for such change, merely a practical possibility. Girls having sexual relationships out of a magical/physiological need for it (as opposed to true promiscuity) does not mean that as a group they will change long standing custom and practice just because they can, particularly where their options are between those who understand what is required and those who do not. As for why boys are not so indoctrinated… Maybe they should have been but for whatever reason (desire for supposedly virginal wives being one possibility) they have not been so educated.
I don’t expect everyone to like what I write or even agree with it. The only way to achieve that for any author is to write and publish nothing (in which case they can hardly be considered an author.)