She failed to notice when a voice called her. It was Hermione who made her attentive.
"Pansy! Where have you been?" Daphne asked, her voice sounding worried.
"Why, I went shopping with Lord and Lady Potter. Is there any problem?"
Daphne didn't look like an "Ice Queen" at all at that moment. "I haven't seen you since before the battle and your house elf didn't know where you were. I started looking for you in the infirmary and even in the morgue…"
Pansy hugged her. "I'm sorry. I just stayed hidden until well after the battle. I then bumped into Potter and he took me under his protection. It was announced in the Great Hall yesterday, during dinner."
"I missed dinner yesterday and nobody bothered to tell me. Are you really well?"
Pansy smiled. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed. We're back from shopping in Muggle London. Come to Potter's apartment after dinner and I'll show you."
"You're in Potter's apartment?" Daphne sounded incredulous.
"Of course. How else could he really protect me? Just come! There's so much I need to tell you!"
As it was dinner time already, they headed straight to the Great Hall. Harry and Hermione were already approaching the table where Ron seemed to have some concerns about them, leaving Pansy behind. Daphne nodded and went to another table, where her friend Tracey was waiting. Pansy followed the Potters.
"Where have you been the whole day?" Ron asked them. "I thought you would stay with me and visit Lavender, maybe help George and Mum a bit…"
Harry felt uneasy hearing this, as was evident by just looking at his face. "I'm sorry, Ron. I had to handle some unexpected matters and do some shopping. I want to honour each and every one of the fallen, and I couldn't do it wearing the rags that I had after the hunt."
Ron seemed to accept this, at least partially, yet his frustration was now directed at Hermione. "You could at least stay here!"
"I'm sorry, Ron, but I have to stick with my husband."
This didn't go too well. "Your husband? When did you get married? Why didn't you invite me?"
Harry lifted his hand, signalling for Ron to stop. "We had no wedding ceremony and I intend to give Hermione the wedding celebration she deserves, once things settle down a bit. You see, we both expressed our love and our wish to marry each other. Then, as soon as we kissed, we were engulfed in a golden haze. Pansy said it was the manifestation of a magical wedding bond. Then, Gringotts addressed us as Lord and Lady Potter."
"Lord? Why that?" Ron was unable to follow the events. Everything seemed to go too fast. Pansy felt an unexpected comradeship with him. Everything was too much for her as well. She had never expected to feel that way with a Weasley.
"It looks like my family is one of the Ancient and Noble, and as the only survivor, I'm the Lord of the House. My wife, Hermione, is the Lady of the house," Harry explained, looking as if he was finding it hard to believe himself.
Neville, who was sitting at the same table, didn't look surprised. "I've always known you were to become a Lord, once you reached adulthood. I didn't think you didn't know it."
Hannah, who was sitting at his side, elbowed him lightly.
"Oh, congratulations to you both for finally coming together. It was evident since the first year that you belonged together, only you two seemed oblivious of it," he added hastily, and Hannah added her own congratulations.
"Thank you, Neville and Hannah," both Harry and Hermione said, as they took their places at the table.
Ron finally noticed that he had forgotten something important. "Well, Harry, Hermione, congratulation on your marriage, and I wish you happiness and good luck." He looked at the other table, where his parents were sitting, looking very gloomy. "I think I should tell Mum now. Maybe that will cheer her a bit."
By the end of dinner, almost everybody present had congratulated the new couple. Harry was a bit confused by the stream of well-wishers, but Hermione handled it all like a real Lady, thanking nicely each well-wisher and finding just the right words, which seemed to have alluded her husband. Nobody seemed to pay attention to Pansy and she felt thankful for that.
Harry looked glad to go back to his apartment. Hermione went with him, while Pansy, along with Daphne, walked a few paces behind. As they entered the apartment, Harry seemed a bit surprised to see Daphne, before he recalled the conversation preceding dinner.
"Hermione and I are going to bed. You may talk here for as long as you want," he said, holding Hermione's hand tightly. "Good night," they both said, disappearing behind the bedroom's door.
"I think they look closer than ever," Daphne noted.
"I wonder if it was just a magical wedding or a soul bond," Pansy said. "The golden haze was much brighter than I've seen at the few weddings I've witnessed."
Daphne didn't mind that. "What about you and Potter?" she asked anxiously.
"I stayed hidden for most of the time since they started evacuating the castle. You know I couldn't go home. I stayed hidden in the dormitories. Then as the fighting got closer, I moved between different rooms. I heard the cheering when the Dark Lord was defeated. I disillusioned myself just to see what it was and then hid myself again before the charm wore off. I later left my hideout and wandered the grounds. I found Harry sitting near the lake, looking as if he was the defeated one. We talked some. I told him about my Dad. His house-elf came just when my stomach started grumbling. We ate some and then fell asleep before going to dinner at the Great Hall."
Daphne grinned. "Aren't you skipping some details?"
"Nothing of importance," Pansy told her, making it clear that she didn't plan on telling more.
"What has he asked for the protection?"
"We haven't yet talked about it. I promised to align my house with the light and to support him politically. I doubt he would ask for anything more, now that he's with Hermione."
Daphne knew Pansy well enough to guess what she was not telling. She thought about what she had been told. "Do you think he'd accept me under his protection?"
"Why would you even want it? You've always been the 'Ice Queen', aloof and above the daily skirmishes. Nobody hates you, I'm sure."
"Nobody loves me either. If I don't do anything, I may find myself in a contract marriage with the highest bidder. Dad loves me, but he is quite set in his ways, you know."
Pansy gasped. "So, you want protection from forced marriage?"
"Yes. If the cost would also give me a Greengrass heir, I wouldn't object."
Pansy frowned. "I thought you were playing for the other team."
Daphne chuckled. "I keep my options open, and I may prefer it otherwise, but I'm expected to bring my father an heir, so, why not try for the most powerful wizard I know?"
"Does Tracey know?"
"It was her idea. She said she might try the same."
Pansy felt overwhelmed once again. 'Being close to Harry tends to do this to you,' she recalled Hermione's words.
"Would you put a word for me, once you join them in bed?" Daphne asked.
Pansy gasped. "How?… What… Why would you say that?"
Daphne smiled. "There's clearly only one bedroom in use here and the bathroom is in there, as I've noticed. I'm sure you've shared a bed with him. More than once, probably."
Pansy sighed. "Well, after their magical wedding, they left me here for a while. Then Hermione opened the door and beckoned me in."
"And…"
"It was weird. I've never slept with another person, really sleeping, I mean. And we were all naked." She hesitated a bit. "I finally know how it should have felt all along…"
"You liked it?"
"Very much so, although Hermione got most of his attention."
"Well, don't keep them waiting, and do put a good word for me, if you can."
"I'll try."
Daphne left promptly. Pansy noticed a small smile on Daphne's face, something very unusual for the beautiful blonde.
By the time Pansy joined the Potters, there was not much talking. Hermione was shuddering as wave after wave of her orgasm was washing over her, yet Harry seemed to be ready to start all over again. He did, to a certain extent, making Pansy bless her decision to approach him. She was blissfully oblivious to the world when Hermione regained her senses and resumed the primal dance with Harry. 'He really could use another woman in bed,' Pansy thought when he gave her the second orgasm for the night, although they fell asleep only after her third.
\/\/\/
Harry was much less playful in the morning. There was going to be a memorial ceremony soon after breakfast and then the funerals were due to occur for several days, all over the country. Pansy still thought to talk about Daphne, but as she approached Harry, Hermione motioned her away. "Leave him alone for a while," she whispered in her ear. "Besides, we need to talk before you let him decide on anything else."
Pansy nodded understandingly. Hermione had been more than generous with her, but that didn't mean she didn't know their relative positions. Hermione was clearly THE Lady of the House while Pansy was… She didn't really know her actual position, but she knew it was nowhere near the top.
As Harry went to the bathroom to shave and dress formally, Hermione decided to talk to Pansy.
"Did Daphne ask you to help her get Potter protection?"
Old Pansy would have cringed at the direct approach. Now she found it a bit humorous, really. She only wondered how Hermione could know. Had she cast any monitoring spells?
"Yes. She's afraid of being sold to the highest bidder. Besides, she's supposed to bring the Greengrass heir and she thought that The-Man-Who-Conquered would be just right to father her son." The old Pansy would have never given such a direct answer. She vaguely wondered if it was another effect Potter was having on her.
"Well, I expected that much. Judging by the stamina Harry has shown last night, I think none of us will suffer if he gives Daphne some attention as well. What do you think?"
Pansy smiled. "He really seems to be almost insatiable. What position do you think she and I will have?" That question was natural to a Slytherin.
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. What position would you consider appropriate?"
Pansy sighed. As smart and as knowledgeable as Hermione was, she still lacked some basic knowledge about wizarding society. "Well, you surely are the Lady of the House, the main wife. I suggested being a concubine, which is less than a wife, but can keep her line separate, unless the Lady has no male children. Daphne would probably want a similar position, maybe just a mistress, as then her son would not be in-line to Potter house and only continue the Greengrass line." Pansy thought a little more and added, "Daphne may even prefer to be just a temporary shag, as I think she plays for the other team. She's certainly closer to Tracey than any two girls I've seen."
Hermione thought fast. "Do you think Tracey would also like such protection? I think I've heard her mentioning having a brother. If so, she may even opt to become a wife."
Pansy didn't understand why Hermione was so eager to share. Had Potter chosen Pansy to be his wife, she would have kept any other female as far away from him as she could. "Why are you even suggesting sharing Harry? I thought you would like him all for yourself."
Hermione smiled tenderly. "I'd really love that, but knowing Harry and his position, I don't think one wife would suffice. Now, after sharing a bed with him, we both know that even two are far from being enough. My main concern is making Harry happy, and if that means sharing him – so be it."
It was a foreign way of thought for Pansy, but she could understand it to a certain degree. She thought there was much more to the bushy-haired brunette than met the eye, even when naked.
After a day consisting of memorials and funerals, Harry seemed on the verge of breaking down. During dinner, he almost didn't touch the food and his eyes seemed glassy and far. He barely acknowledged someone talking to him. Nor did he pay any attention to Luna, when she escorted them to his apartment.
Pansy thought that Hermione would discipline the slight blonde, but Hermione seemed content to invite her to their bed, wearing only her earrings.
Harry was still oblivious to his environment when he came to bed. He was nude, as seemed to become his habit, and Hermione just pushed Luna forward. The little blonde straddled Harry, talking softly to him. Harry's body responded, and Luna was quick to shove him into her body, riding him with abandon. Harry started responding to her after a while. His hands caressed her face and then her breasts, going all the way down to her buttocks. Pansy couldn't hear what Luna was saying to Harry, but it seemed to raise his spirit along with his mast. By the time Luna was writhing in ecstasy, dripping his cum, Hermione pushed Pansy to take the blonde's place on Harry's erection.
Harry seemed to be furious. He was furious with the world for letting so many suffer and so many die. He slammed mercilessly into Pansy and she just loved it, encouraging him to go deeper and faster until she could control herself no longer.
Pansy was unable to comprehend what happened next, as her senses were still overloaded. She only knew Hermione took her place. By the time Pansy could distinguish her surrounding, Harry was caressing Hermione tenderly as she was still writhing with her orgasm, while pumping into Luna again, giving her due attention, as evidenced by the wide smile on Luna's face and the way she was kissing every piece of Harry's skin she could reach.
When Luna was sated, he returned his attention to Hermione, both reaching their peak together before collapsing into a deep slumber. Luna cast a spell "to keep the Nargles away", and then cuddled to the Potters and fell asleep promptly. It took Pansy a bit longer to succumb to her fatigue, as her mind kept wondering about the formidable Harry Potter and his just as formidable dick.