The weather was quite cold but dry, so they just walked around after lunch, finally stopping in a small public park overlooking the port. They sat on a bench. Hermione put her head on Harry's shoulder as they cuddled closer for comfort and for warmth.
"I think we should change our appearance," Hermione told him. "If anybody notices a spectacled boy with black unruly hair beside a bushy-haired brunette, they might just reach the right conclusions. That can be quite dangerous for us, you know."
"What do you suggest we do? We'd rather not use magic for this, you know."
She shrugged. "There are many alternatives for dyeing one's hair. We could make your hair blond or red and I'm sure we can find a way to make it behave. I could dye my hair the same colours as you and shorten or lengthen it. We could even use some different colours, like pink, blue, violet or even green. That will disguise you alright, but may be too prominent to let you stay unnoticed, as we'd like."
Harry sighed. "That's fine. We can do whatever you find appropriate, but what can we do about my scar? I can still get occasional glimpses into Vo… that man's mind and I fear he might be able to read my mind. I don't think there's a Muggle way to deal with it. Do you?"
She gave it some thought before answering. "We could have the scar and the surrounding tissue removed surgically, including some bone, if needed, but I don't think any doctor would do such an operation without a clear medical justification."
She gave it some more thought and added, "I think we should ask the house-elves if they know a way. They seem much more knowledgable than I expected."
Harry looked around, making sure that nobody could see them, and then called, "Dobby! Kreacher!"
Within a few seconds, both house-elves appeared and seemed surprised by the cold weather, but didn't really mind it.
Hermione took the lead. "We're worried about Harry's scar. It was caused by dark magic and has never properly healed. Do you know of a way to remove the dark magic and heal it or can you recommend other ways to deal with it?"
Dobby jumped on the bench to see the scar up close, but it wasn't good enough. Harry was immediately aware of the problem. "Wait a moment. I'll put my head in Hermione's lap and then you'll be able to get a better look at it."
A moment later, both house-elves were examining his scar, neither looking content. Kreacher was the first to speak. "Master has the same kind of dark magics that tainted the locket hiding in his scar. Kreacher is sorry, but Kreacher knows of no way to remove it."
Dobby nodded, agreeing with Kreacher, but he also added his ideas. "The Goblins have ways to remove dark magic from items without destroying them. Goblins don't like dark magic but like old and expensive things. Many that they find are protected by dark magic. They cleanse the items and remove it. Maybe they can do the same for master."
Harry was immediately worried. "I can't just go to Gringotts. It can become a death trap for me!"
Both house-elves shook their heads as if disappointed they had to explain the obvious. "Dobby can take you there. Master need not be seen out of Gringotts. Dobby can even take you directly to the curse-breakers."
This brought another thought into Harry's mind. Wasn't Bill a curse-breaker, employed by Gringotts? Maybe Bill could help without involving others. Well, assuming Ron wasn't with him. He didn't think Ron would be willing to accept the new developments between Harry and Hermione.
"Bill Weasley is a curse-breaker who worked for Gringotts; maybe he still works there. Do you think he could help us without involving Gringotts?" he asked.
Dobby nodded happily. "Dobby can take you to Master William. Red menace is no longer there."
Hermione frowned. "What do you mean, Dobby?"
Dobby tried to speak as calmly as possible. "Your redhead 'friend' went to stay with Bill when he left you. He ate like a pig until the Veela wouldn't take it any longer, so Bill sent him to the Burrow. He couldn't stay there either, as Death Eaters watch the Burrow all the time, so he now stays with his Aunt Muriel." The glint in Dobby's eyes testified of how fitting he found this. Harry knew that Ron couldn't stand Aunt Muriel and she was a pedantic old lady, who wouldn't tolerate his lack of manners. He almost felt pity for Ron.
Hermione sounded a brief chuckle. "Fits him right," she said and turned serious again. "Can you check with Bill if he can do it? We shall probably return to the hotel now, since the weather turns colder. You know how to find us."
Both house-elves popped away. The teens walked slowly, hugging each other. It helped keep the cold away, they told themselves, despite knowing that it was just feeling right to keep hugging, no matter the weather.
The hotel room was well heated, though. It was warm enough to stay naked even with the windows partly open, to let some fresh air in.
The bed was freshly made and they wasted no time in finding a comfortable position on it and resuming their morning activity. They only managed to get one orgasm each before they noticed Dobby's presence. The house-elf seemed even more excited than usual.
At Hermione's raised brow he answered the implied question. "Dobby is honoured to witness the completion of the bond between Master and Mistress. It's very powerful magic."
She frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
Dobby tried to explain. "Master and Mistress must have said their vows earlier. Then when they united, the bond completed, making you husband and wife. Dobby's so happy it's now completed! And the flash was brighter than any Dobby has ever seen!"
Harry didn't mind completing the bond. They'd already decided to get married, and he would give her a nice wedding regardless, but a flash? That could cause problems. "What do you mean by that flash? Could others see it?"
Dobby was becoming too excited to stand still. "Oh, the flash signifies the completion of a marriage bond, when the husband and wife unite the first time after exchanging their vows. Dobby knew it would come as soon as Dobby arrived here. Both Master and Mistress were glowing brightly already, So Dobby made the windows like mirrors inside and plain black outside, to keep the flash secret. Dobby is a good house-elf and won't let a secret leak!"
"Yes, Dobby. You're a good house-elf and you did the right thing. Now, I assume you brought us an answer, didn't you?" Harry prompted him.
"Sure! Master William said he thinks he can do it, but only on the weekend. He still works other days and he also needs to do some preparations. He said Master should come for dinner on Saturday and may need to stay until Sunday afternoon."
"Did you tell him I'm with Hermione?"
Dobby smiled. "No need. Master William said it was expected and his flower said congratulations."
Harry had to work this out. Dobby had probably said something about master and mistress and the other couple was smart enough to understand. He didn't mind. He was sure they wouldn't tell.
He then had another idea. Before discussing his scar, they had mentioned changing his hair. He couldn't go and buy magical products, but Dobby and Kreacher could. "Dobby, I'd like something to make my hair behave. Do you know of any potion or another product to achieve that?"
Dobby seemed to know the answer immediately. "Old bad master used to say the Sleek-Easy potion was the only thing a Potter did that was useful. He used it each day to keep his hair nice. Dobby thinks it could help Master and Mistress too."
"A Potter did it?"
Dobby smiled. "Your grandfather or his father, Dobby is not sure, invented that potion to keep his hair manageable. Most Potter males seem to have inherited that kind of hair."
This was interesting but didn't help much at the moment. "Can you bring me enough of that potion to last me a week, at least? Do you need me to give you money to buy it?"
Dobby seemed to get more excited. "Dobby can bring it, and no money needed. Old bad master keeps boxes in stasis. He wouldn't notice a few bottles missing."
Harry chuckled at the vindictiveness of the small house-elf. "Please be careful. I don't want you to put yourself in any danger for that. I can give you money to buy it if needed."
"Dobby will be careful," the house-elf said and vanished.
Harry looked at Hermione, who was still naked in bed, yet the mood was no longer the same. Hermione seemed to agree. "It looks like we need another shower now, my dear husband. Care to join me?"
This time they only showered, although they couldn't refrain from some small caresses here and there. Sated, for a while, and freshly showered, they reluctantly got dressed again. They needed to look for supper and also buy some hair and makeup products. Harry noticed three bottles on the night-stand that had not been there before. Looking closely, he found them to be what Dobby promised to bring. The instructions on the bottle stated that all one needed was one to two teaspoons a day, depending on hair length. These bottles could keep him going for months.
Hermione smiled at seeing the potion. Once Harry read the instructions, she put them all into her handbag. "I think I should also buy a different handbag when I don't want to take everything with me," she noted.
The weather turned colder and windier but stayed dry. They took a taxi to one of the popular shopping areas, where Hermione found some hair-care products and various hair colouring ones. They bought blond and dark red that was very different from Weasley-red. Just for the fun, Hermione also took a bubblegum pink and forest green colour, thinking of Tonks.
They then walked to a nearby diner that seemed appropriate for such meals, looking almost like a real restaurant with waiter service. It was a much simpler meal than the previous evening but it was more than satisfactory. Besides, they needed to dye their hair. Hermione would have liked to replace Harry's eyeglasses with contacts, or at least nicer frames, but this would have to wait for another day.
When they finally arrive back in their hotel room, Hermione had another task to tackle first. She quickly undressed, urging Harry to do the same, and then practically dragged him to bed. It took two orgasms to calm her down a bit. Her mind returned to full functionality only half an hour after the third, though.
"I'm not sure we should already dye our hair," she told Harry.
"Why?" He was not yet in the mood for long sentences.
"It may look suspicious if we leave the hotel looking too different than when we came in, without a proper reason. It may attract attention of the wrong kind," she explained.
"Then any hotel would present the same problem. What can we do?" he asked, slowly recovering from the intensive activity.
"Maybe we can use Grimmauld Place? Kreacher may be able to check it and even make it more welcoming, and we only need the bathroom for a few hours. We don't even need to stay the night there."
Harry gave it a short consideration. As Lord Black, he could take control of the wards and disallow everybody from reaching that house, even if the Fidelius had been compromised. Besides, using house-elf-express, they could come and go with nobody even noticing. "Kreacher!" he called.
The old house-elf appeared almost immediately and stood ready to accept his commands.
"Have you checked Grimmauld place recently?" Harry asked.
"Kreacher checks the Black house every few days. Kreacher cleaned the house and made it suitable for Lord Black to live in."
This was good enough for now. "Has anybody tried to come into the house since we left?"
"No, nobody tried to come in. Wolfie man tried to call you by floo a few times until he gave up."
That was good. Maybe the Death Eater who had seen the house hadn't really understood what he'd seen and didn't tell anyone. Harry couldn't rely on that but it was still a bit less to worry about. "Can you control the wards if I command it?"
Kreacher shook his head sadly. "Only Lord Black may control the wards before he writes additional controllers in the ward book."
Harry had expected that answer. It wasn't much of a problem, though, as long as he could swiftly set the wards to the maximum. "Will you be able to take me and Hermione there when we need it?"
Kreacher looked sad. "Kreacher is no longer young and can't take you both. Kreacher can take one and then the other."
"Can Dobby also bring us there?"
The house-elf hesitated. "Kreacher is not sure. Maybe Lord Black should make sure of that?"
Harry sighed. It was never as simple as he liked, but it wasn't as bad as he feared. "Kreacher, I'm going to need to go there tomorrow or the day after. Please make sure you can quickly direct me to wherever the ward book is and how to control the wards. Once I set the wards the way I like them, you should bring Hermione there too. We're going to use some non-magical ways to change our appearance, so the Death Eaters will not be able to find us. Even with the wards up, I'm not sure it would be safe enough to stay there for more than a single night."
The old house-elf nodded. "Kreacher understands. May Kreacher go and make sure the house is ready for Master and Mistress? Kreacher wants them to be proud of the house."
Harry smiled. "Yes, Kreacher, you may go now."
\/\/\/
Hermione still found a use for some of the hair colouring products. She prepared a small batch for pink and another for green and then called Harry to the bathroom.
"I thought you didn't want to change our hair now, certainly not to these unusual colours," Harry noted.
"I don't plan on letting others see this – only you and me," she said teasingly. Harry wasn't sure what she had in mind. Hermione didn't let him wonder for long.
"I'm going to make your pubic hair green and I expect you to watch what I'm doing and then do the same for my pubic hair, using the pink colour instead," she instructed.
Harry smiled. This idea went well with the way she was recently behaving. His bookworm friend seemed to have become a super-sexy wife, and he loved both aspects.
Harry wasn't eventually sure how well he could follow her demonstration. With both her hands moving around his penis, some distraction was unavoidable. By the time she finished, not only his pubic hair was green but everything in that region, reminding him of some green animation character.
Returning the favour was just as distracting. His hands roamed on their own, so it seemed, caressing her clit and her folds instead of working on her pubic hair. Hermione, though, tried to instruct him and didn't let him get too distracted. Still, by the time he finished, the whole area seemed pink, not just the hair.
This activity led smoothly to the next, when green and pink united several times, until they cuddled exhausted in bed and fell asleep. Harry dreamed of children with pink and green hair.
Somewhere else, the Dark Lord was having a painful day, punctuated by excruciating pains each time Potter was enjoying the love of his partner. It all started just a day or two earlier – he couldn't be bothered to remember. Since then, the Dark Lord couldn't rest. The boy was going at it day and night, morning and evening with no kind of schedule. How could he instruct and lead his Death Eaters if he suddenly collapsed in pain? That was inadmissible! And yet, nobody could find Potter. Would he have to do everything himself?