Rita Skeeter was quite happy. It turned out that her new employers and her vow didn't stop her from finding all the dirt some 'upstanding citizens' were trying to hide. She only needed to be more factual in her writing and not insinuate things she didn't know for fact. It was a slight bother, but she actually liked the resulting reports much better than before.
And now, with that anonymous information about Dumbledore's misdeeds, she was having a Ball! Unfortunately, she wasn't the only reporter investigating this, but each had a different area of research, so it wasn't too bad, And then, she had already found quite a bit of dirt.
First — Dumbledore and Grindelwald had been lovers. That alone was quite a scandal. It also put his heroic fight with that dark lord in question. The fact that there were no witnesses made it even more suspicious.
Then — the way he had acted during the war against Voldemort was also quite suspicious. How could he even think he could win the war when only using stunners while the enemy was freely using lethal spells? Was he secretly supporting Voldemort, or was he too delusional to even understand the situation correctly?
Third — the Potters. They were known to have many houses, manors, palaces and castles, all heavily warded. Why had he made them choose to hide in a house protected by Fidelius only? And how had he done that? Had he only talked to them until they were too exhausted to listen, as he sometimes did, or had he used some less benign methods? And how had he known when they were attacked? If he put a ward there, why not something that could really help, not merely inform him? And then he had sent Hagrid there, the man who isn't allowed a wand. What had been going on in his senile old mind at the time?
There was more, much more, but she couldn't check it all at once. She didn't need to, either. It was easier to destroy Albus bit by bit than all at once. She was patient enough for that.
–..–
The curse breakers of French Gringotts took their time analysing the soul shard taken from Harry's scar. They even had ways to interrogate it and spells that forced the truth just like Veritaserum, but better.
They quickly learned about all the Horcruxes and their hiding places. They didn't quite need that information, though. With that shard accessible to them, they could destroy them all remotely, without putting anybody in danger. The items would still be as dangerous as before, though, since none of their protections would be affected.
They also found out that the Dark Mark could only be obtained after torturing and killing an innocent. That meant everybody who bore that mark was a criminal. Unfortunately, it was very clear that the British Ministry was too corrupt to ever act on that information. Bribes were used there almost openly, and justice was bought by gold. It was useless to inform it.
They had several rituals they could use to rid the world of that soul shard and all its other parts. Some would remove only the parts not residing in a living body. One version could also get rid of other souls connected to the malicious one. It was only useful during the equinox, but that was close enough to not be a problem. Besides, most of those affected were not even in France.
–..–
The Davies' party had a more varied audience. There were many guests from 'light' families, like the Potters, but also from neutral families and even a few known 'dark' ones, like Malfoy.
Draco was there, of course, but he kept his distance from the Potters. They didn't know why he acted that way but were thankful not to have a public confrontation with him. There was no doubt they'd have one on the Hogwarts Express, as usual.
Harry was content to see that Susan Bones was there, along with her aunt, and was not looking as pale as the previous evening. Neville and his grandmother were also present. Hannah Abbott came as Neville's date. Harry had a feeling it was going to turn into much more, but not very soon.
A tap on his shoulder attracted his attention. A beautiful blonde talked to him. "Lord Potter, I'd appreciate it if you spare a dance for me. I've already asked for your lady's permission."
Indeed, Hermione was smiling encouragingly. Harry wondered when they had spoken. Had he been so immersed in his thoughts that he failed to notice? He still answered politely. "Sure, miss… Sorry, I don't remember if we've been ever introduced."
She smiled. "No formal introductions were ever made, but we've been sharing classes since the first year. I'm Daphne Greengrass, Heiress Greengrass if you prefer."
He nodded agreeably. "Sure, Miss Greengrass. I'll try to find you after the first few dances. I must first dance with my wife and then the hostess and her eldest daughter, you know."
Daphne smiled some more. "Sure! Tracey is looking forward to that. Shouldn't disappoint her, you know."
Harry kept gazing at her as she walked away. He wasn't too surprised that he hadn't recognized her. With the makeup, the hairdo and the elegant robes, she looked nothing like he'd seen her at school. And she was smiling! He also noticed that the smile disappeared as soon as she turned away from him, replaced by the infamous "Ice Queen" mask. He wasn't sure what it could mean.
"It looks like the 'Ice Queen' is thawing, when near you," Hermione said teasingly.
"But why?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I can't be sure. Maybe she saw something interesting in you. I know I did. She may want to become your lady with one of your other titles."
"Is that even legal?"
She smiled, not quite happily. "A lord of multiple houses may legally take a different wife for each title, to keep the lines separate. Some even consider it his obligation."
"But I want nobody but you!" he insisted.
She smiled understandingly. "I know, dear, and I appreciate this, but circumstances may dictate a different way of action. You shouldn't close your options just yet."
He frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
She sighed. "Since you may have to get more wives, it's wise not to antagonize any that you might like in the future. You've seen how stunningly beautiful Daphne is."
"You're more beautiful!" he insisted.
She smiled. "Maybe, but in a different way. You may want her to stay a friend and hope for more until you can be sure what you need to do. Keep her hopes low, though, so as not to disappoint her too much if you choose differently. The same may be true of other girls, like Susan."
He shook his head in disbelief. "That's a way of thinking I may find very difficult to accept." He then smiled. "Well, they're starting the music. Shall we dance?"
She willingly stepped into his arms.
He then danced with Mrs Davies and then with Tracey, followed by Daphne.
"You should also dance with Miss Bones and Miss Lovegood, at least. They're on your side, politically," Daphne told him while dancing. "Besides, you dance much better than most of the boys our age." She was looking at Draco who was dancing on Pansy's toes, not even paying attention to her not-so-quiet protests.
"I would have also told you to dance with the Weaslette, but she's not here, fortunately," she added.
"You don't like her very much," he noted.
"What's there to like? She looks nice, much nicer than most redheads, I admit, but she's a rabid fangirl, just like her mother is when Dumbledore is concerned. And her brother seems to think that he should keep his mind unused, judging by his performance in class and out of it. He only uses his mouth. Doesn't he fear it may wear off too?" Daphne was not one to spare her criticism.
Unfortunately, Harry couldn't say he disagreed, although he wouldn't have said it so blatantly. "Aren't you supposed to be more subtle, being a Slytherin?" he asked.
She shrugged. "The hat seriously considered Ravenclaw, but Dad wanted me in Slytherin. My loyalty to Dad almost made it sort me to Hufflepuff instead."
He felt his lips rise in an amused smile. "How did you make it sort you this way, then?"
She smiled with evident mischief. "I started thinking of a wandless fire charm I learned just for that occasion. That did the trick!"
"That's something I'd like to learn, and Hermione too," he blurted.
"I'll make sure to teach her when we return to school. Now, she looks anxious to return to your arms. I shouldn't keep you any longer." She pointed at Hermione who stood aside. Harry directed them closer and then released Daphne and bowed slightly before Hermione stepped into his arms.
"Should I also dance with others, as Daphne suggested?" he asked.
Hermione sighed. "It's the right thing to do, both politically and socially — you should dance with all the girls you know, even with Pansy. I don't like it, not at all, but her advice is sound."
He chuckled. "I won't ask Pansy for a dance, certainly not after Draco destroyed her feet. We wanted to cooperate with Susan, so it would be wise to start that by dancing. Maybe Luna too. She seems very lonely."
Hermione nodded but cuddled closer into his embrace until the song ended. She then pointed at Susan and whispered, "Good luck!"
–..–
Susan wasn't as good a dancer as Daphne (or Hermione) but was good enough. Harry also found that her ample bosom kept the rest of his body a bit farther from her than he liked. She still was a very pleasant dance partner and quite pretty, although nowhere near Hermione or Daphne.
"Have you bought the books for school already?" he asked.
"All but the DADA one. It's rubbish!" She was also fierce, as expected of a redhead, although her colour was nothing like a Weasley.
"Yes, it's rubbish. Who assigned it, though?"
"Our new rubbish DADA teacher, of course," she spat.
"Do you know who's the new teacher?"
"Not quite, but I heard rumours that the Minister intends to send one of his lackeys. Can't expect much from such a person." She didn't like the minister either, so it seemed.
"We shouldn't allow this," he said forcefully.
"What can we do? As students, we have no real power, you know, and nobody even asks for our opinions, or Snape would have been sacked during our first year, if not earlier."
He nodded. "That's true, but as Lady Hufflepuff…"
She talked over him. "That title means nothing. Without the heir of Slytherin cooperating, we can do nothing. I already know you're the heir of Gryffindor and Hermione is the heiress of Ravenclaw, as surprising as that turned out."
He shook his head. "Your information is outdated. When Gringotts tested my ancestry, they found that I was the heir of Slytherin from my mother's side. The Gaunt had never been heirs, which makes the Dark Lord even more of a fraud."
Susan seemed to freeze in mid-dance. She quickly resumed moving but her mind seemed to be busy processing the new information. She then smiled. "Well, we may not be ready to take over, but it looks like we may need to act sooner than we'd like. We may talk during the train ride, Now, let's dance as we should!"
–..–
They didn't just dance, though. Both had too much on their minds to allow that.
"Do you know why The Prophet stopped lying about you?" Susan asked.
"I made it realise that I have the majority of shareholders at my side, dismissing the old board of directors and replacing it with a group of honest people who want the media to show the truth, not propaganda."
She smiled. "A wise act, although the Minister didn't like it when his 'articles' were marked as 'propaganda'. I think he also tried to harm you in other ways."
Harry raised a brow. She understood. "There was a dementor attack somewhere, presumably near your last known residence. Some muggles were kissed. The ministry hushed it all very quickly."
Harry felt the need to learn some more. "Do you know who got kissed?"
"I don't recall the names, but Auntie said none of them had any connection to you. There were three victims, all roughly our age, but two were completely drunk at the time and another was high on some drugs, whatever that means. The way Auntie talked about them, I doubt the dementors found the equivalent of even one soul in them all combined."
It sounded like Dudley's gang, without their leader. Well, it couldn't have happened to nicer guys. He wasn't going to mourn them.
"Did she find who sent them?" he asked.
She shrugged. "The Minister declared that these were rouge dementors and prevented any investigation, or so he thinks. Auntie already has the full information, but she didn't share it with me. I'm not sure how she intends to act about it."
Harry was finally able to enjoy just dancing, not that he had much left of that dance. He still liked the way her breasts pressed to his chest, moving slightly as she danced. Although big, they were still firm enough and looked very nice, when clad in her dress, or was it some kind of robes? He wasn't sure. Her neckline, although appropriate for her age, still showed more cleavage than most, and Harry could only appreciate the views, although he'd seen much more on the beaches just a few days earlier.