A Talk

“Miss Daphne?” a voice called. “Miss Daphne? It’s time to be getting up.”

Daphne opened her eyes. She was so sure that Harry would come to her that night and ravish her and yet it had not happened. The morning light streamed in through the windows of her admittedly very nice bedroom and she turned towards the voice and saw a House Elf in a blue dress. Her family had two such elves and they wore what they pieced together. This one was in a proper dress.

“And you are?” Daphne began.

“My name is Flower,” the Elf said. “I’ve been chosen to be your Handmaiden, Miss Daphne.”

“Handmaiden?”

“I have duties about the house, but my primary duties are to you. I take care of your room, make sure there’s always fresh flowers about and that. I take care of your clothes and your possessions. I take care of you, Miss Daphne. I can be doing your hair if you want among other things. It’s time to be getting up, Miss. Do you bathe in the mornings or shower?”

“Shower’s fine,” Daphne said. “I prefer baths later in the day… Um…”

“Flower, Miss Daphne.”

“Flower.”

“Your personal things are all arranged in the bath,” the elf said pointing to a door. “You can rearrange them as you see fit. But that’s for later. You need to be doing you morning things. Breakfast is in forty-five minutes, Miss. While you’re doing such, I’ll lay out your clothes for the day if you’d like?”

“That’s fine, Flower. Is there a reason you call me Miss?”

“I know you being married to Lord Harry, Miss. I can call you Lady, if you like. But I sense for now you would prefer Miss Daphne.”

Daphne nodded. “Miss Daphne is fine. Married or not, I don’t feel Lady is right. Not between us at least.”

“You’ll be spending the day with Master Harry and Miss Hermione and Miss Luna. I’ll have your rooms arranged the way you want them…”

“How do you know…” Daphne began.

“You’ve thought about it, yes? You thought about where you want your pictures, dollies and such? You reserve the right to change your mind, but while I am a House Potter Elf, I am your Elf as well and it’s my job to make your thoughts a reality. Now, get up. The day awaits you, Miss.”

“Do the other girls…?”

“Have their Handmaidens?”

Daphne nodded.

“They do indeed. Miss Hermione’s is named Petal and Miss Luna’s is Blossom. Many of us girl elves have flower names, Miss, if you’re wondering. Our Harry named us all. We’re Potter elves and are just starting out as it were. As are you in a way, Miss. Now the day begins, so Miss needs to be getting ready for it.”

Daphne came out of her bathroom sometime later. She had dried herself and her hair with magic, not even thinking about the fact that Harry lived in the Muggle world. Not that it would have mattered with the trunk. She saw that Flower had laid out her clothes, which were to be a sundress over her under garments and a comfortable pair of sandals, all of which had been the fruits of her shopping trip with her mother the week before as she had truly outgrown her clothes from last summer. She debated about cosmetics and then decided against any makeup or such as she put on the clothes laid out for her. Ready for this day, at least in terms of attire, she walked towards her bedroom door. There were three green spots on the door and she soon saw they were just cards, each in a labelled holder: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. She wondered what that was about as she left her bedroom and entered her sitting room. Flower was there and offered to escort her to the Informal Dining Room where breakfast would be served and Daphne accepted the offer. The truth was she wasn’t truly sure how to get there as the last night had been a blur to her.

She didn’t know how long she had been asleep or even when she went to sleep the past night. Despite what Harry and the others had told her she was certain Harry was going to exercise his husband privileges with her that night. Despite their ages, most of the wizards she knew would have taken her. Most probably would not have waited at all. But Harry never came. She was somewhat relieved but also to her surprise a little hurt. It was, after all, her wedding night. That was when most marriages were consummated, or at least that was what she was taught to believe. After all, the duty of a wife was to bear the next generation of the family and this was particularly true in arranged marriages with venerable Houses such as House Potter. She was only thirteen, but she was apparently old enough to conceive. Harry probably knew this. It was true as to Daphne and Daphne was sure it was also true with Hermione and Luna. He was neither required nor expected to wait, but that was exactly what he seemed willing to do and Daphne did not know what to think about that.

She soon found herself in the Informal Dining Room. She was the first to arrive and took the same seat she had been in the night before. There was a card at the place and a pencil. She had not seen a pencil since her mother began teaching her to write with a quill. The card listed what were obviously breakfast selections and she was surprised at the variety. She was surprised to see that while there were seven different kinds of juice except that there was no pumpkin juice. It was obvious to her what the card was for and she placed an “x” beside what she wanted and signed her name at the bottom. The card and pencil disappeared and a plate with toast, a glass of milk, a glass of juice and a fruit salad appeared. There were several jars of jams and marmalades on the table. She was spreading orange marmalade on her toast when the next person arrived.

“Good morning, Daphne,” the blonde haired girl said.

Daphne looked up to see Luna. Luna’s hair was longer than she had thought, easily reaching down to the middle of her back. Luna was wearing what looked like red knickers and nothing else. She sat at one of the chairs closest to Daphne and began looking at her card.

“Did you forget something… um,” Daphne began.

“Luna,” Luna replied. “It’s possible. Then again if I forgot something, how would I know?”

“You’re not wearing anything!”

“Don’t be silly. I’m wearing knickers, not that I want to. Monthlies, you see. I just don’t want to leave any kind of mess on the furniture.” Luna went back to filling out her card as Harry arrived.

“I… um… I’m pretty sure Harry wouldn’t want to…”

“Of course he wouldn’t. He’s a boy. No sense in letting him notice that sort of thing too much, is there?”

Harry was dressed and Daphne was at least a little relieved by that. He told them good morning then kissed Luna briefly on the lips. He kissed Daphne on the cheek before she even had the time to think about it and then took the seat across from Luna. Daphne watched and it seemed as if Harry was unaware of Luna’s state of undress.

Hermione came in wearing what looked like her Hogwarts skirt and blouse which seemed inappropriate to Daphne somehow. She too said good morning and then began unbuttoning the blouse. The skirt came off followed by her blouse revealing deep blue undergarments which soon joined the skirt and blouse on the floor as well. Not wearing anything at all, she walked over to Harry and gave him a kiss before taking her seat.

“What’s going on here?” Daphne all but demanded. “You don’t seriously expect me to… to…”

“Walk about the place naked?” Harry asked.

“You don't…”

“No I don’t. They dress that way ‘cause they want to, not because I ask them to.”

“But why?”

“It’s a triple green card day,” Luna said. “Green card for breakfast means you can wear what you want to breakfast and until lunch. Green card for lunch means you can wear what you want until dinner time and green card for dinner means you can wear what you want to dinner and for the rest of the evening. Now if there were any red cards, that means we’re to dress appropriately.”

“We’re under time compression now,” Hermione said and then explained what that was and what it meant.

“So,” Daphne said, “one hour outside is…?”

“A hundred sixty-eight in here on our current setting,” Harry finished. “Well, about a hundred sixty-six and a half now,” he added after consulting his watch.

“While we’re under time compression, we can’t leave the trunk and no one can enter,” Luna said. “It’s just the four of us for now. It’s nice and warm here so we don’t need clothes to keep us warm. The daylight in the garden isn’t real. It’s good enough to keep the plants healthy, but it won’t burn your skin so we don’t need clothes to protect us from the sun. It usually doesn’t rain during the day, so we don’t need clothes to keep dry, and if it’s scheduled to rain, we’re told when and where it will fall. Harry thinks we’re very pretty so we don’t need clothes to impress him. And since we are well and truly alone, we don’t need to worry about societal conventions or modesty.”

“It’s actually kind of nice,” Hermione added.

“But you’re dressed,” Daphne added looking at Harry.

He shrugged. “I’m not as pretty. Besides, this attire of mine might not be considered appropriate either.” He was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. “Don’t think it would be appreciated at Gringotts or would make a good impression on your parents, for example. Red cards apply to me as well to dress appropriately for that day.”

“So you don’t expect me to…?”

“Green card means wear what makes you comfortable,” Harry said. “If you’re comfortable wearing nothing at all, that’s fine. If you’re not that’s fine as well.”

Daphne thought about that as her eggs and bacon arrived before her. She watched Harry and the others and nothing indicated Harry was ogling the two girls at all. Obviously, he was used to seeing them like this. Still, she was not at all comfortable about the idea of joining them in their choice of comfortable attire.

“So, what do you do with all this time?”

“Well,” Luna said, “we spend the mornings exploring the gardens. They’re quite extensive, enough so that after three weeks here we still haven’t seen most of it.”

“How extensive?”

“About forty square miles under cultivation,” Harry said.

“Miles?”

Harry nodded. “The flower garden’s the smallest, only a couple hundred acres or so. The fruit garden’s pretty big what with all the orchards and such. We usually have a picnic lunch in there down by the lake amongst the cherry trees. Don’t know how big the other three are. We have a magical plant garden but we need to be with an elf there as many of the plants haven’t been covered in Herbology yet and some are dangerous. We have a Herb Garden that’s supposed to be even bigger than the fruit garden and the same’s supposed to be true with the vegetable garden. And we’re not even at full capacity yet.”

“We’re not?” three voices asked.

“I was speaking with Dobby about it when I was cooking yesterday. Apparently we can almost add to the size of the gardens to about sixty-two and a half square miles. We don’t really need to, but we can. Pity we can’t have a quidditch pitch.”

“Why not?” Daphne asked.

“Not enough headroom apparently. The average height in the gardens is around two hundred feet, high enough for the trees. There are some valleys with more height, mainly in the herb garden and the magical plant gardens. The only place large enough with enough headroom is a lake in the magical plant garden. It’s at the bottom of the water system. All the water in the gardens flow into that lake, I’m told. The idea place for a pitch would be higher up where water would flow away from it and that would mean not enough headroom. I could add one maybe, but it would cost a few thousand Galleons and, to be honest, it’s not all that important.”

“Why do you need so much land?” Daphne asked.

“It came with the trunk,” Harry shrugged. “Don’t really need it, but it’ll make 10,000 Galleons a year at least. All of the fruits, vegetables and herbs you’ll eat here came from here as do most of the spices. The one crop we don’t grow is wheat, so with the additional acreage, we may also be self-sufficient in flour and bread and the like. Even then, we’d still have a lot of land so I’m thinking oats, barley and hay.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, feed for livestock although I’d also like plenty of pasture as well. I think we could easily raise our own milk cows, beef cows, pigs, chicken and sheep; maybe even ducks and geese. That way the only foods we would need to buy would be fish and such.”

“So you’re thinking of becoming a farmer?” Hermione chided.

“A gentleman farmer, thank you,” Harry quipped nastily. “The Elves will manage the farm. We just walk through our dominion and enjoy the view… and the profits.”

“What about horses?”

“What would I need horses for?”

“Riding of course! Can’t be a proper gentleman farmer without horses to ride.”

“I don’t ride.”

“I do,” Hermione and Daphne said in unison.

“I ride with my parents,” Hermione said. “It was either horses or golf and my Mum and I don’t like golf.”

“My family rides as well,” Daphne said. “Same reason. Daddy’s into golf and Mum isn’t. Astoria and Jenna also ride and Cynthia’s taking lessons this summer. Michelle will as well when she’s older.”

“Might want to think about a golf course,” Hermione said.

“I have,” Harry replied. “That thought crossed my mind for certain after I met Daphne’s father. Seeing as your father is insisting on taking me out for a game, I wouldn’t be surprised if Daphne’s father is thinking on similar lines. Might as well have a place to practice.”

“The one problem is, how much will this cost?”

“The landscaping won’t cost a thing. Dobby said maybe 500 Galleons for the seeds for trees, grass and crops and such. About 2,000 for building supplies…”

“For what?”

“Barns, fences, a mill to grind flower, a dairy and a place to slaughter livestock. Probably need a few more elves, come to think of it. The big expense will be the livestock. Dobby figures that could run as much as 20,000.”

“You have that kind of money?” Daphne asked.

“‘Bout 100,000 right now with the additions to my account on account of you three lovelies.”

“Still, Harry,” Hermione said, “just ‘cause you have the money doesn’t mean you should spend it. It has to last us until you come into you’re full inheritance which isn’t for another eight years.”

“I know. It’s why it’s only a thought for now. We’ll see how much the basilisk brings in.”

“Excuse me?”

“I killed it and it’s considered a top end threat type creature. It means it’s mine to dispose of as I see fit and Dobby says it’s worth more pound for pound than a dragon. It could be worth a million or more although I’m not thinking of keeping all of it.”

“You’re not?”

“I was thinking of keeping about half. The rest would be split into shares and distributed among the families of the victims and you and Ron, of course. I was thinking one share each to Colin, Justin and that Clearwater girl ‘cause they were petrified, three shares to you Hermione.”

“For what? I don’t need the money, you know.”

“First, because you missed seven weeks of classes due to that thing, three of which because it almost killed you. And it was you who figured out what it was and left me with enough information to figure out where and how to get into the Chamber.

“Three shares to Ginny or her parents depending upon what happens Friday. Four shares to Ron ‘cause he went with me into the acromantula colony and down into the Chamber. Were it not for that cave in, he would have been with me at the end as you would have been if you had not been petrified. Finally, I think I’d give six shares to the school’s scholarship fund. Now if that thing really is worth a million, that mean’s I’d be keeping 500,000 and each share would be about 26,000 Galleons. I think I can make up for the expansion with that.”

“Any other grandiose plans?” Daphne asked.

“Near term, we’re adding a new bedroom suite to the upper floor…”

“Why? You have five and one’s not being used.”

“It will be beginning the real tomorrow night,” Harry said.

“You have another contract out there?”

“Two actually. I have a line continuation contract with House Abbott and another contract with House Weasley to deal with. I will also add a sitting room to that floor. Long term, well that would fill up all the floors I currently have but Dobby tells me I can add two more. One will be for guest rooms - I’m figuring and even dozen, maybe fourteen to be safe and a lounge. The other, well that’s for much later.”

“What’s it for?”

“Sooner or later, probably later, there will be children to consider and they’ll need rooms too.”

“You expect us to live here… forever?”

Harry looked at Daphne and shrugged. “I don’t know what properties my family had or has, Daphne. What I do know is I can’t access them until I turn twenty-one. My living choices outside of this trunk are somewhat limited and not… um… not right for the lot of us. The trunk is currently in my bedroom at my relatives. I can tell you, it’s small. It’d be a tight fit for the four of us and that’s without taking into account sleeping arrangements. When I’m not here… well it’s my dorm room at Hogwarts mostly. Again, not ideal. Ron snores like a pig, if you must know. That and I’m pretty sure I can’t fit you three into my bed. So, for now this is my home. I truly feel like it is.”

“Why do you say that?”

“A house is where you live. A home is where you live too, but a home means family and ones that you love and they love you too.”

“Are you saying that…?”

“In time, Daphne. That is my hope anyway. Hermione, Luna and I are bound by a bond that’s forming. You’re bound to me and I to you by a contract. I want to make the best of this. I want you to one day see this as… well… as what you would’ve wanted had you thought about it as a girl. I don’t want you to have any regrets about what has happened and I don’t want to have any either. What I’m trying to say is this: I will not take you away from your parents or sisters. I know I could do that, but it’s not the right thing to do. But I want the four of us to see each other as family as well one day. One day, I hope we will see yesterday as one of the best days in our lives so far just as I hope to see the day before when I married Hermione and Luna as just such a wonderful day. Then again, considering my life until now, that bit is almost easy for me. But I want it to be that way for you too.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you want to live here forever…”

“Wait ‘til you see the gardens,” Luna said.

The gardens, as they were called, were far more than Daphne expected. Gentleman farmer, it was said. He had a bloody domain of his own. What shocked her was how understated he was about all of this. Over the days in time compression, he seemed to take it all in stride as they walked through a portion of the gardens each morning. Harry seemed more interested in watching “his girls” than taking in the sights and now that included her. She was surprised at how that made her feel, even if the closest she came to what Hermione and Luna wore was her new bathing suit which she wore for Harry’s swimming lessons. She could see the look on his face and it was not reserved for Hermione or Luna. He truly thought all three of them were beautiful and he was the luckiest bloke on earth because they were with him. It made him easy to talk to, and her ‘sister wives’ as well. It was a wonderful time with them and she felt more open than she had since she started Hogwarts. She felt safe here with them. She could be herself here with them, something she only felt with her best friend - her only friend outside of her sisters really - Tracy.

True, she still was reticent about baring it all as it were. True, her new family expected her to finish her summer assignments as soon as she could. Truly, she would have preferred to put them off to later. True, she didn’t have all that much in common with Hermione and even less with Luna it seemed. But she was beginning to feel she had finally found true friends at Hogwarts, after all she had known Tracy since she was five. She went to bed every night, and each night she was happier to be here in this special place with her new friends. She knew, one day, and it was a day that would come, she knew she would let Harry go all the way with her as it were. No boy she had ever met had deserved that thought but Harry had and did and the best thing was that day was never today. She still had time to get used to the idea she was well and truly married to him. She knew that Hermione and Luna had already decided the main issue. They would consummate their bond one day and bear Harry’s children in time. Daphne now knew she would follow them in that regard. She loved it here. Maybe she was beginning to love him as well. Maybe she would have the same kind of arranged marriage her mother had. Maybe this was for the best.

But that was in some distant future, Daphne knew. She had no bond with Harry, unlike Hermione and Luna. She could still avoid a full on marriage to him. He said that was her choice and she appreciated that; far more than she could ever say to him yet. Until he turned twenty-one, she was his girl and could have no other boyfriend really. She understood that. He wasn't… he wasn’t like the other boys in Slytherin who would most certainly have taken advantage of this situation. He was making this her choice, not his. Merlin’s Beard, that made him desirable. A husband who respected his wife? She knew her father was that way with Mum, but she also knew that seemed to be the exception in the Wizarding World and not the norm, especially in arranged marriages.

He was the head of an Ancient and Noble House and by being his wife for now that meant House Protection for her, her parents and her younger sisters. As tempting as it was, she still wasn’t sure if she’d one day take the final and irreversible step and consummate their marriage and be a Lady Potter, Countess of Abengale for the rest of her days. But he was offering her that choice, wasn’t he? She had eight years to figure this all out before she or he could seek an annulment. And he was not pushing it at all. Merlin, how special that made her feel. She wasn’t just some trollop, some bint bound to a wizard by some contract she had no part in really agreeing to. He was letting her decide the issue in her own time. How could you not respect that?

But there was something on her mind, something she couldn’t talk to Harry about. Normally, she would have talked to her Mum about it, but her Mum wasn’t here. She would see her family again on Saturday. Harry had promised that and she now believed he kept those kinds of promises. But this couldn’t wait until then. She felt it. She needed to know. She watched the dynamic and knew that she needed to talk with Hermione alone. While both Hermione and Luna were soul bonding with Harry, Hermione was the older one and the one most likely to understand.

It was her fifth morning in this place when, as they walked out into the gardens again, she approached the naked witch.

“Hermione?” she asked. “We need to talk, I think.”

Hermione gave her a surprisingly knowing look. “Privately, I assume?”

“That would be best,” Daphne said.

“Harry?” Hermione said. “Daphne and I are going off for a girl talk, if that’s okay with you.”

Daphne saw Luna giving her a knowing look. “That’s fine by me,” Harry said. “Luna and I will just head off.”

“Thanks Harry,” Hermione replied. “We’ll find you when we’re done.”

Harry smiled and took Luna’s hand and led her off somewhere. Hermione took Daphne’s and led her into the Fruit Garden.

Sometime later Hermione said: “Well, was our talk what you wanted?”

“Yes,” Daphne sighed. “Most definitely.”

“We could go back now, you know. Unless you want to talk with Luna.”

“I think that would be best - a talk with Luna, I mean.”

“She’ll be pleased. Wait here and I’ll send her,” Hermione said and then seemed to skip away into the distance. Some minutes later, Luna appeared.

“Hermione said you want a girl talk with me?” she began.

“Yes,” Daphne said with a smile.

“Oh goodie!” Luna practically squealed.

Sometime later Daphne said: “I’m in.”

“In?” Luna asked.

“Yes in, all the way or at least when the time comes, I’m in.”

“We figured it would take much longer, if ever,” Luna replied. “Harry's…”

“Not expecting me to… well, you know. I know. But… well after these last few days… how can I do better really? He… well, he’s fanciful and all that but… he actually respects me! He respects you and Hermione too. You know how rare that is in our world? Especially in an arranged marriage? My Mum and Dad are exceptions, not the rule and I know that. Yes, I know I will be but one of his wives and yes, I know that I don’t have the bond you two do have with him, but I’m a Snake and see and opportunity before me all but handed to me on a silver platter. I’m in!”

“Glad to hear that,” Luna replied. “Truly, I am. So what now?”

“Um… well… should I leave my clothes here or strip before him to show Harry I’m in?”

“You’re choice on that,” Luna said. “He does like watching us undress and he is a total bloke in that regard. You leave your clothes here and the Elves will deal with them. Or you can take them off for Harry. I’m sure he’d appreciate that. Truth is, he’s used to seeing me and Hermione starkers so…”

“The three of us will have to tell him, don’t you think?”

“Yes. Yes we will. Hermione and I thought to wait… at least until Hannah was here with us and in progressed to this point. But maybe now is for the best.”

Daphne nodded. She stood up. “Into the den of lions, I suppose…”

Luna laughed. “Oh he can be that against You-Know-Who and nasty, dark creatures, but he’s more a pussy cat otherwise, don’t you think?”

Daphne smiled. “It’s why I’m all in now. Perfect boyfriend material or, I suppose, husband material.”

“Perfect indeed,” Luna agreed.

Daphne left her clothes behind.

Harry had definitely enjoyed Daphne’s new attire, but was being teased mercilessly by Luna about it. After Daphne had kissed him full on the lips, their first mutual kiss of any kind since Gringotts, and after she insisted upon having a snuggle with him during their picnic lunch, Luna had begun the light-hearted teasing. Harry had not shot back in anyway. After all, he now had three beautiful girls who were his and his alone. Daphne was getting a reputation as being cold, an Ice Princess Harry had heard and yet now she was anything but that, at least with him and his other “girls.” As they ate lunch, and as Luna chided him, he could care less about such things. He knew he was in love with Hermione and was certainly going to be that way with Luna, sooner rather than later, and now he knew it could be similar with Daphne.

“Don’t listen to this, Daphne,” Harry said at one point.

“I know,” she said leaning into him closer. “She’s just being… I guess… herself. She doesn’t really mean it and is actually happy I’m now fully a part of this even though we don’t have the bond. I don’t mind, really.”

“Um… well that’s good, right?”

“It is. But the three of us need to talk to you about something… after lunch.”

“What?”

“After lunch, Harry.”

Lunch ended after a bit with Daphne sitting in Harry’s lap and kissing him for no reason whatsoever and often at that. The other two girls moved much closer once their picnic was done. They were practically touching each other as Daphne remained on Harry’s lap.

“What do you know about witches,” Hermione asked.

“Um… what I can see, what Madam Pomfrey taught us blokes first year. You have monthlies and all that.”

“Indeed we do,” Hermione began.

“Rather annoying that bit,” Luna added. Hers had ended and she seemed ecstatic to get out of knickers again. Although Luna and Hermione suspected it, all three girls were relieved that Time Compression did not extend one’s discomfort. Even though less than an hour had passed Outside, Luna’s time was no longer for her than it would’ve been outside. “It’s a girl thing, really. Actually it’s a woman thing. We’re girls until our first monthlies and women at least of a sort after that. But they are annoying.”

“We are, when we’re old enough,” Daphne said, “the two halves of a necessary whole. We young women are one half, you boys or young men are the other. It takes to two make a baby, but it’s we women who must bear them and raise them.”

“It’s what boobies are for,” Luna added. “You boys have part of that but not all. Girl boobies are for feeding babies!”

“That and the blokes like them,” Daphne added. “When we have them, at least.”

“Jobs and careers and such,” Hermione said, “that’s what we can do. But nature designed us girls to have children. It’s our biological role. It’s why girls exist and why, in time, boys find us fascinating and not icky as you may have when you were younger. Nature intends us to mate and have babies one day. The lot of us are now going through what’s called ‘puberty,’ which is the transition from boys who think girls are icky… and mental… to men who want to be with girls and girls from that to wanting men and such. We are growing to have children and find men to be their fathers. Nature makes us all this way, but it’s not perfect. A woman might grow to be a bad mother and a man to be a bad father… you understand?”

Harry nodded.

“We all hope we won’t be,” Luna said. “We all hope that and the better one’s of us try to be the best possible parents when our time for children arises. Just ‘cause out real parents weren’t there - well my Daddy is, but he’s not really been since Mum died - it doesn’t mean we can’t be. You’re life before now does not mean you can’t be a good Daddy to your children. My life without my Mum doesn’t mean I can’t be a good mother to our children when the time comes. I’m your soul mate, Harry, just like Hermione and we promise to be the best Mummys around for our babies when they come and we hope you promise to be the best Daddy too. And we know Daphne hopes this of you as her husband and Daddy to her babies as she hopes this as your wife and Mum to your children as well.”

“I… ,” Harry began.

“We’re years away from that, Harry,” Hermione said. “Plenty of time to get used to the idea and such, right?”

“I… I suppose.”

“Good,” Hermione said. “Now all three of us here are women, females of the human species, right?”

Harry nodded.

“Biologically the four of us exist for but one purpose - to reproduce. You, as the male, to mate with your females and we as the females to mate with you and bear your young and raise them. Doesn’t really matter whether we’re humans or not, does it? Every living thing exists to reproduce, doesn’t it? We just are smart enough to understand what that means. But biologically, that is our function as a man and as women, right?”

Harry shrugged.

“But biology isn’t all that’s going on here - or at least not that kind, Harry. As humans we have some sense of morals and just don’t rut about just ‘cause we’re in heat or some such.”

“Add to that that the female orgasm is almost uniquely a human trait,” Daphne added. “That means unlike most animals, we don’t have sex with you lads because we’re in heat. We barely know when we are and you lot certainly don’t. We don’t suddenly go from unattractive to irresistible just ‘cause it’s the right time of the month for us to conceive. We can have sex with you lads just because we enjoy it, and not just to procreate. And we can enjoy it.”

“And as young witches, we actually need that enjoyment,” Luna added.

“Um… ,” Harry began.

“The Muggles burned witches, you know,” Hermione said. “Not wizards. Not really wizards, but witches. They thought we were evil, not magicals, just us witches, Harry. They thought we were seductresses who would steal their husbands. They thought we danced about naked in the wilder places in evil rituals and engaged in unnatural acts with each other. They were partly right…”

“Partly?” Harry asked.

“Well, we’re no more seductress than any other woman, not really. True, we can use potions, but those potions were available to muggle women before the Statute of Secrecy as in back when they sought to burn us. We’re no more evil than other women, and arguable just as good or bad. And there’s no evidence of sexual rituals of any kind, really. But the last bit about engaging in what they considered and still consider unnatural sexual acts? Yes, we’re probably guilty as charged. It’s our nature to be that way when we’re young for certain.”

“Excuse me?”

“Physically, we’re no different than any girls, Muggle or otherwise. Puberty starts for us some months and maybe a year or more before we go through menarche. Our bodies begin producing hormones and such we never had before or never in such quantities. We begin to develop as women and not girls any more…”

“We begin getting boobies, Harry,” Luna said. “We know how you like them.”

“Um… ,” Harry began.

“But we’re witches, Harry,” Hermione said. “We enter puberty as does any other girl, but Muggle girls are not magical and they don’t have to contend with the physical changes and magical changes that are going on. Physically what we witches are going though is no different. Magically it is. You wizards face a similar problem, but it is by no means as extreme as it is with us. Our changes can create an imbalance between our maturing bodies and magic. If we don’t deal with the imbalance, we can suffer magically, even lose our magic altogether. Fortunately, nature provided us young witches with an answer…”

“Orgasms,” Luna said.

“Wh-what?” Harry asked.

“Sexual release,” Hermione continued. “Once puberty sets in we are so tempted to do things to… to fix whatever is going on. I can’t speak for Luna or Daphne. They were magically raised after all. For me, a few months after my tenth birthday I had these urges. I needed to do something about them and then… then found out what. At the time it was so embarrassing and humiliating in a way. I couldn’t tell my Mum about it. Masturbation is just not something excepted as an open topic in the Muggle World. Yet I couldn’t help it. Every day I… um… did it to orgasm and often more than once a day. I felt dirty. I felt there was something wrong with me. I felt… then I got my Hogwarts letter and a part of me thought maybe this was a witch thing…”

“My Mum told me about the change, as it’s called, before she died,” Luna said. “When the urges came, I accepted them.”

“My Mum was waiting for the signs before giving me the talk about the change,” Daphne added. “Caught me humping a chair’s armrest she did. She let me get off before talking with me about what was happening to me and told me a better way of getting off alone. Told me how to diddle myself, she did. It was embarrassing as hell, but I thank her for it.”

“I didn’t learn about any of this ‘til my first week at Hogwarts when we had our talk with Madam Pomfrey,” Hermione continued. “I actually felt better after that knowing I as a witch needed to… um… diddle myself practically daily. Wasn’t embarrassed by it any more. Could care less if my room-mates saw me doing it in the dorms, after all they were doing it too and didn’t bother to hide it from me. That was stage one, as it were.”

“Stage one?” Harry asked.

“Yes. Pre-bonding age stage. Diddling every day or almost every day is that stage. We hit bonding age and within a few months or so, simply diddling yourself is not going to be enough. We need physical intimacy with another person. Don’t need it as much as orgasms. We can go weeks and even months without it, but we do need it all the same. Beginning the term after we hit bonding age, or as soon as we do - after all Daphne and I hit our bonding ages during our summer before Second Year - anyway, once that happens, we’re assigned a mentor. Madam Pomfrey assigns them…”

“A mentor?” Harry asked.

“Upper Year girl,” Hermione replied. “We move to their dorm, sleep in their bed with them. They teach us about intimacy and sex. Yes Harry, that means we have sex with them and they have sex with us. Practically every night except when we’re both having our monthlies. Mine was a Fifth Year so I lived in her dorm and slept in her bed for the two months she was my Mentor. Once that time is over, we can become their girlfriend - their lover, Harry. More often than not this doesn’t happen. Just ‘cause they’re good with us in bed and we with them doesn’t mean we have to like them as friends and girlfriends are that first and lovers second - friends. I never truly became friends with her so when our time was up I went back to the Second Year dorms and she took another of my room-mates as her apprentice.”

“Far fewer than half of the Mentors and Apprentices remain together after their time is over,” Daphne said. “Really never liked mine at all even if she was a good lay. Once that relationship ends, we girls are on our own so to speak. We can either find a Girlfriend to sleep with or join a Girl’s Club. I had a girlfriend, my best friend, and we had agreed to be together that way, but I was the first to get through mentorship and she hadn’t even started yet so until she was through, I joined a Club. They’re five at Hogwarts. There’s one in each House and a Fifth open to all post mentorship girls. I chose the school Club. Didn’t really want to be with other Snakes aside from my best friend, you see. In the Clubs, we have sex with whoever is available. Must’ve shagged fifty girls before my friend finished her term as apprentice and we could share a bed together. But in time, she finished and I left the Club behind for our bed.”

“Um… and you, Hermione?” Harry asked.

“Oh. I was approached the day after my mentorship ended by another upper year girl I knew. She had two other girlfriends and wanted a third so we could share beds together. I had to agree to become their girlfriend too, of course. I did. Spent the rest of the year in the Fourth Year girls dorm in one of those two beds with one of those three girls. I also got to shag them following Quidditch practices and matches…”

“You mean Katie and Alicia and Angelina?” Harry asked.

“Only way into the girls locker room,” Hermione giggled. “It was a lot of fun.”

“So where does this leave me?” Harry asked in a hurt tone of voice.

“Girl sex is girl sex,” Luna said. “Until we’re older, we need it. There are always a few slags out there who’ll shag any boy, anytime and anywhere. They’re the exception. Girl sex is safe for us. Girls know how to give us our jollies and know they have to and why. Boys usually don’t. But girl sex is not love, Harry. Girlfriends remain girlfriends, but it’s not love and does not lead to families and we know that. We need the sex and intimacy for our magic for now. When we’re older we can take it or leave it, although we’d always be friends with our girlfriends if we had any. We don’t fall in love with them, Harry. The vast majority of us do not. We still fall in love - and for us lucky, lucky ones, that one is you, Harry. Accept what we are and what we need and accept that it does not change what you mean to us…”

“Or are coming to mean for us, as the case may be,” Daphne added.

“I love you, Harry,” Hermione said. “I love you with all my heart, all my soul and all my magic. This changes nothing for me. I’m a witch. This is what I am. But it changes nothing for me.”

“I’m falling into that kind of love too, Harry,” Luna said.

“And I know I can and want to,” Daphne added. “We need what you’re too young to offer truly, Harry. We talked about it. We’re your wives and when Hermione decides to consummate the bond, you can bet Luna and I will be standing in line to do so right after…”

“Assuming you’re up for it, Mr. Tent Pole Trousers,” Luna quipped.

“But until then - and then will be sometime soon after our Soul Bond in finalized - we need witch time,” Hermione said. “We’ve decided to keep it within the family, as it were. I’ve been Luna’s mentor and girlfriend since our first week in Time Compression and this morning Daphne has joined us. We tell you this because we think you should know and you should know that this doesn’t change a thing between us.”

“Not so fast,” Daphne said. “Some changes. First off, Harry, if they’re naked then I am too from now on. Second, my limits are Hermione’s limits so I want cuddle time and long, slow kisses on the lips with you and third, they’ve agreed that from now on can I sleep with the lot of you if and when I want to. Have a problem with this?”

“Um… no, not really… ,” Harry began.

Daphne leapt upon him.

“Remember,” Hermione said, “no tongue kissing and he behaves himself with his hands!”

“You’re no fun!” Daphne giggled breaking a kiss before diving in for another round.