Chapter 1771 - Ch: 23-24

chapter 23

THE SOUTH WING - TIME COMPRESSION DAY 2.

The previous day had gone surprisingly well for Harry. He had not been hexed, hit, killed or even yelled at. The worst he had to endure were some very disappointed or disagreeing stares. Hermione's plan for dealing with the adults had seemed to have worked for the most part. True, even in his most unrealistic fantasies, Harry had not expected to be welcomed into the families after just a few hours, but it seemed he was much further along in that regard than he could have imagined.

Hermione's plan was to tell all as honestly as possible with as much documentation and evidence as possible. Part one of the plan was to tell about why they did everything: why they confiscated the South Wing and renovated it and ultimately why they all entered into underage, Plural Marriages, although the marriage bit was left for the end aside from Harry, Hermione and Hannah and Neville, Ginny and Susan. The why was all about Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore. Oddly, no one argued that Voldemort could not possibly be alive. There was a reason why he was still referred to as "You-Know-Who" and a host of other monikers other than the name he chose for himself. Few knew his real name. Only two in the room seemed to stand up for Dumbledore: McGonagall and Arthur Weasley. McGonagall, however, kept silent once it was clear the allegations included Harry's life with the Dursleys, which was spelled out in disturbing detail. She remembered she had strenuously - and to no avail - argued with Dumbledore about that placement at the time and never felt right about not doing more for Harry. Arthur kept insisting there had to be a reasonable explanation, given how important and busy Dumbledore was.

The counter argument and further revelations shut him down as well. Basically, by assuming the role as magical guardian, Dumbledore was legally responsible for seeing to Harry's well being both at school and when he was away from school. The Dursleys had received a thousand Pounds a month which was supposed to be used for Harry's care and education, an amount more than many Muggle families earned. Harry's treatment was criminal and punishable in the Muggle World and Dumbledore should have put a stop to it or made arrangements such that it would not have occurred. Would Arthur have done that to a child? Would Arthur have allowed a child to be used as slave labor? Would he have locked the child in a cupboard under a stair for ten years and a small bedroom the last three with bars on the windows, multiple locks on the door and a cat flap to pass food in and bodily wastes out (in the worst cases)? Would he have kept the thousand pounds a month for himself and spend as little as possible on the child for whom the money was meant? If he did not have physical custody of the child, would he allow the ones that did to behave in such a way? After all, they were Muggles who knew about magic. Magic could have been used to modify their behavior quite legally. If Dumbledore could not invest the time necessary to see to it that Harry was raised at least somewhat decently, he should either never have assumed the role as magical guardian or delegated some of the role to someone trustworthy who had the time to keep an eye on things. Add in the fact there were others who should have and could have served in that role and the inexplicable incarceration of Sirius Black for twelve years without any review of his case and by the end of the day, Arthur Weasley's faith in Dumbledore was shattered.

The "what" was to get Harry and Neville out from under Dumbledore's control and trained proper to deal with Voldemort and his followers should they return. No one wanted this and all hoped it would never happen, but at least most agreed it would be better to assume and prepare for if it did happen than to hope it never happened and be faced with the nightmare again totally unprepared. Most of the adults understood the real problem. Harry was underage. Until he was seventeen, there was little he could do. Then Hermione revealed the marriage contract Dumbledore had entered into on Harry's behalf with the Weasleys. Arthur seemed to have forgotten about it, which everyone agreed was odd. According to Hermione and later Arthur himself, he would never have locked his daughter in that way. Certainly not when she was only a few months old. Arthur expressed the opinion that he must have been quite inebriated to have signed that contract, or else there had been a compulsion charm on it or he had been oblviated.

Hermione then explained why they thought Dumbledore did that. She showed them the prophecy and explained what they thought it meant, what they thought Voldemort thought it meant, and what they thought Dumbledore thought it meant. As for Dumbledore, they thought he believed Harry had to die and probably die young and the contract was to ensure House Potter did not die with him. It was a prudent measure, but one predicated on the assumption the prophecy meant Harry had to die, which was contrary to its plain language and probable meanings. It was further evidence that Dumbledore could not be relied upon when it came to the prophecy and whomever the One was, as it could still apply to Neville as well.

It was the "how" that worried Harry. The Muggle parents would take issue with the notion of Plural marriage. All arguments aside, such marriages had not existed in the British Isles in well over a thousand years, at least in the Muggle world. Christianity had seen to that. The fact that some Muggles were unfaithful to their spouses, even to the point of carrying on an affair for years or even decades or divorced and remarried many times did not change the fact that law and custom forbade multiple wives. Plural marriages were rare even in the magical world. Harry and Neville's families were currently the only ones in Britain. Still, they were not looked upon the same way and Harry knew Hermione had already set the stage when she introduced the notion of Line Continuation Contracts. Given that the magicals knew that Harry and Neville were the last of their Houses as well, those contracts all but mandated a Plural marriage for each of them.

Still, Harry and Neville were underage, as were the four girls up on the stage and as were all the others who's involvement had not been mentioned when Harry left the ballroom. The parents would know it would be impossible for them to be married without the consent of their parents and guardians and the magicals would know that in their world the children had to be sixteen. In the case of Harry's family and if one went based upon birthdates, only Marcia was sixteen. Rosie was only thirteen and the rest, including Harry, were between fourteen and fifteen. In the case of Neville's family, Ginny was only thirteen and only Lucinda was sixteen, by about five days. Laura would be in a little over a month, but that did not matter. If one took their prior Time Compression into account, many were still too young. For Harry, with Time Compression, Marcia was legal at seventeen. But Rosie was still only fourteen and Gabrielle, Luna and Harry were only fifteen. For Neville, Lucinda was seventeen and Susan, Michelle, Laura and Parvati were sixteen. But Ginny was still only fourteen and the rest were only fifteen. Not that it mattered because the law did not recognize age modification.

Harry knew the real issue was the obscure law that allowed them to marry so young and without obtaining permission. Muggle or magical, he doubted any of the adults would be thrilled that the young witches were all pregnant. The fact that he and Neville were quite capable of supporting their wives and children did not make up for the fact that they were still very young. Harry knew that magicals tended to marry young as compared to Muggles. Very young marriages were almost all arranged affairs and almost exclusively between Purebloods and Slytherins and almost always those students married after Sixth Year. Even then, Harry had been told, there had been only one such couple since they had been in school and that was First Year. It was not common.

Harry knew the other real issue was not that the girls were sexually active. They were at a co-educational boarding school. Ten months of the year, four hundred boys and girls lived in the same Castle with little real close supervision and plenty of obscure places for couples to get together. The main reason why Prefects patrolled the school at night was to discourage it, but it was still far from uncommon. While it was almost unheard of for a student to be sexually active in their first two years and rare in third, it was less so in Fourth or Fifth Years and rare that they were not so as Sixth and Seventh Years. Yet there had not been a teenage pregnancy at school or involving a student in almost two hundred years thanks to contraceptive potions. Harry now knew that girls raised in the magical world were on these potions from the date of their first period or eleventh birthday, which ever was sooner and Muggle Born girls were on it from the moment they started Hogwarts and all parents knew this. The potions were to prevent exactly what Harry and the others had done and the parents would realize this was no accident. They had deliberately and intentionally taken advantage of a law that was still on the books but which had been made all but irrelevant with the invention and all but mandatory use of the contraceptive potion. The reason for this second Time Compression was to prevent anyone from interfering with what they had done.

That old law could be repealed and probably would be once word about this got out - and regardless of anything else it would get out. Luna's Dad, while surprisingly supportive, wanted to do a series of stories about this for the Quibbler. If they had not set upon this second Time Compression, the law would be repealed very quickly, probably within days of Dumbledore learning about it. With the laws repealed, the pregnancies could be terminated at the request of the girls' parents or under Dumbledore's authority as Headmaster. While abortion was exceedingly rare in the magical world (again since the invention of the contraceptive potion) it was not illegal and the law could be repealed in such a way so as to reverse the legal emancipations. In fact, this had been known to happen even under the old law. If the supposed young wife miscarried (or was forced to have an abortion), that law allowed the marriage to be annulled and along with it any emancipations. But until the law was repealed, Harry and the others were legal adults and could refuse to cooperate in any effort to change what had happened. Once the children were two or three months old biologically, even if Dumbledore or others repealed the law, it would be too late to undo what they had done. With magical children and magical parents, a bond would form by then, one which no one in the magical world would support breaking - except someone like Voldemort.

Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom had recognized this the first night. They saw this as a deliberate plan designed to ensure the marriages and emancipations resulting from those marriages could not be overturned. What surprised Harry was neither of them seemed too upset about this. Amelia's daughter was, after all, under a Line Continuation Contract and given the circumstances would have wound up as Neville's wife as part of a Plural Marriage in any event. Augusta was well aware of that contract, but was more encouraged by her grandson's recent improvements as a wizard. She had always hoped he would be special in that regard and now he was and if it took nine wives to bring out what she had always believed was beneath the surface, so be it.

For Harry, his biggest supporter the night before had been Hannah's mother. Again, it was probably due to the Contract and she seemed thrilled that House Abbott would not die off. She had been the one magical other than Hermione who tried to convince the Grangers that this was really for the best for all concerned. It seemed Sirius, Remus and the Tonks were too stunned to say anything to the Grangers about this. The Grangers, on the other hand, while holding their tongues were clearly not in any mood to be supportive of any of this.

The Grangers seemed changed now. Harry would not say that they were welcoming him with open arms, but they seemed accepting of what was going on. Oddly, they seemed to become more so as they met the other families now tied to House Potter by the Plural Marriage. Harry could swear that they had both smiled at him on at least a couple of occasions, a far cry from being loathed as he had feared.

Luna's Dad had been supportive from the moment they were introduced. Then again, Luna had warned Harry that Xenophilus Lovegood had always been odd and more so since her mother died. Xeno, as he preferred to be called, told Harry privately he had to support the boy who was the reason his little girl smiled and laughed again. He had seen far too little of that in recent years. The Delacours were also surprisingly supportive, if one discounted Fleur who seemed a bit put out that her little sister found her Bondmate first. Then again, Veela are different in that way and the parents were relieved that he had not rejected the bond as he could have.

Harry was also surprised at the Greengrass and Rosier parents. After all, they and their daughters were Slytherins and he was a Gryffindor. But they were also old Pureblood families, despite their practice of marrying abroad. Both families had been approached "by the wrong sort" meaning Death Eater families about marriage contracts. This had taken their daughters off the market and removed that leverage from families they would rather not associate with. David Greengrass told Harry it probably would have the same effect for Astoria who was only twelve. From the former Death Eater perspective, her older sister's choice tainted her which, in reality, freed her and her family to marry as she chose one day.

Harry met the Bells and Robbins for the first time after dinner in the large Common Room of his House Apartments. Harry had seen the Bells at dinner, but not the Robbins who elected to eat in Marcia's private apartment. The Bells seemed surprisingly pleasant. Then again, they told him Katie seemed very happy despite the unusual circumstances and that was all they really wanted for their children. Of course, the fact that money and her blood status were no longer an issue didn't hurt. The Robbins were also surprisingly friendly. Their only reason concern seemed to be how this all would work (Harry told them Hermione had worked that out for now) and whether their daughter would continue as a Prefect for that was an honor. Fortunately, that concern was put to rest when Professors Sprout and McGonagall stopped by to "inspect" their students' new quarters. They were told only the Head of House or Headmaster could remove a Prefect and even then both had to be in agreement and there had been female prefects with young children, even if it had been a couple hundred years ago. So long as Marcia was able to perform her duties, this would have no bearing on her status.

"Besides," McGonagall said, "I do have significant say on who becomes Prefect in my House. Professor Dumbledore has suggested Mr. Weasley, after all that family has produced two Head Boys, but his marks and attitude suggest he's a bad fit. My suggestions would have been you or Mr. Longbottom due to your marks in general and I discount Potions. Mr. Longbottom is top of the class in Herbology as are you in Defense. The only thing weighing more in Mr. Longbottom's favor is your detention record - again ignoring any assigned by Professor Snape. My choice for female Prefect would be Ms Granger. If forced, my second is Ms. Patil. The other two girls don't have the marks and the only other boy who does is Mr. Thomas, but he does not inspire confidence. As my choices for next year are all involved in this and as I really don't see any of the others standing out in any way, I will not change my mind simply because of this."

Harry had not seen Padma or the Patils last night nor at breakfast in the Main Dining Room. He knew they could not have left for no one could until Time Compression lifted. He now knew they were certainly still here as Padma and Parvati were down in the Infirmary after Breakfast as were all the wives for their first check-up with the new healing staff, but aside from that he had no idea where they were and according to his other girls, neither had said anything.

Harry was out on his balcony enjoying the day. Hermione had been dragged off to her apartment by her mother to begin their wedding planning with Winky. For that matter, so had Hannah and Katie. Luna apparently had left such details to her new elves Carla and Rudolph, as she had named them. She said they looked like a Carla and Rudolph and the elves did not seem to mind. So Luna was present on the balcony as well along with her father who had been briefly scandalized by her attire. She was wearing a pink bikini. Harry refrained from telling him that Luna was wearing far more than usual.

Gabrielle was also on the balcony as were her parents and Fleur. The two young Veela were also in bikinis and their parents were not scandalized. Then again, topless sunbathing was common in France even among the magicals so bikini tops was almost conservative attire. Harry had been told his balcony was probably the best place for Fleur to do this as there was less chance of her allure attracting unwanted attention.

Marcia was there as well with her mother. Daphne, and Rosie were present, also in bikinis, as was Rosie's mother, Daphne's mother and younger sister Astoria who were not so attired and seemed even more scandalized than Mr. Lovegood. Aside from Luna's father, the other "men folk" were down checking out the recreation room and, according to Marcia, talking to Dobby about golf - or at least the Muggle men were. Harry spent several minutes chatting with Marcia's mother who was asking him all sorts of questions about the jewelry he had bought and, more importantly, where he had bought it.

"Hello Harry," two female voices said in unison. Harry looked up and saw Padma and Parvati and a woman he guessed was their mother. They were not wearing bikinis. Harry stood and kissed Padma then hugged her sister.

"This is Mrs. Robbins," he said introducing the woman he was sitting with as Marcia was lying on a lounger nearby trying to ignore everything but the sun. "Marcia's Mum," he added. "Mrs. Robbins? This is Padma, my - er - final wife or at least the last you've met and her sister Parvati who's Neville's wife and I'm certain their mother."

"Sira," the woman said. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Harry Potter. Both my daughters have told me a lot about you, although I am surprised you married Padma and not Parvati. Did you not take Parvati to the ball?"

"I did," Harry said. "As a friend and I enjoyed our time together until…"

"Yes," Sira Patil said, "I have heard at length about the red haired one. Still, I would have expected…"

"You two didn't tell her?" Harry asked.

"We've been too involved with our so called father," Parvati said.

"Oh? And where is he?"

"Grounded," Padma chuckled.

"Grounded?"

"He's in his room," Sira said, "and cannot leave until and unless Padma and Parvati's House Elves let him, which will be when he gets his wand back and promises - probably by wizard's oath - to behave like a gentleman and not a petulant child. If he must remain so confined for fifteen months, so be it!"

"Oh?"

"Again, why Padma and not Parvati?" Sira asked. "Did they trick you?"

"Have a seat," Harry said. Once the Patils joined him at the table he continued. "The lot of them tricked Neville and me. Before all of this, Hermione was my Best Friend and I knew Katie, Parvati and Ginny pretty well. None of them could be considered my girlfriend even though I took Parvati to the ball. I knew Susan, Hannah, Padma, Daphne and Tracey by name only because we had classes together and the same was true for Marcia, Laura and Lucinda, although in their cases it was because they're Prefects and nothing else. Gabrielle I rescued from the lake, but I knew her sister Fleur better. And yet here we are. These girls banded together to help Hermione help me with this blasted tournament and learned far more about what was really going on than I think anyone wanted them to learn and…"

"You didn't know Marcia at all?" Mrs. Robbins asked.

"I told you that, Mum," Marcia said.

"Yes. Well I thought you were just trying to get under our skins about this, young lady!"

"I know her now," Harry began.

"Obviously! She's carrying your child!"

"I didn't mean like that exclusively," Harry defended himself. "We spent a month together and that month included getting to know Marcia as a person. The same is true for all the others except Hermione and Katie who I already knew pretty well. I have no regrets about any of them. They're all very different people, but all of them are … I enjoy their company. I already loved Hermione and liked Katie, but I can now honestly say I love them all."

"As do we," Marcia said, "even though we didn't really know you well either."

"The one thing they all have in common is they don't see me as The Boy Who Lived. Most girls here - most people here do and I really have issues with that. I showed up here not knowing a thing about this world and find out from the start I'm famous - famous for somehow surviving an attack that killed my parents and that I have no real memory of." Harry did not count dementor induced memories as a memory. "Each of the young women involved in this never saw that. If they find me impressive, it's for what I've done since I arrived here, not for what I supposedly did as a baby or what the press claims I've done. Now that I'm emancipated, one of the first things I want to do is get my due! A lot of authors and publishers made a fortune off of that Boy-Who-Lived rubbish. Did I see so much as a knut? No! But I can't walk down the street without being hounded for autographs or at least stared at. I feel like I'm a one man Royal family!"

"Not a rock star?" Marcia teased.

"Rock stars chose that life, they weren't born to it. Not that I was, but it seems like it sometimes especially because I don't want it and never have! I now have - not that I saw it coming - nine incredibly beautiful, loving and smart wives not one of whom will let things go to my head, not that it's happened, but if it ever does, I am seriously outnumbered here. Had I married one of the many Fan Girls … Ugh! Don't even want to think about it! I wanted nothing to do with this blasted tournament and yet I find myself in it! Even some of my so called friends - none of whom are involved with why we are here - think I entered and did so 'cause I want even more fame! I don't want any fame at all! Maybe the other Champions want their faces splashed all over the papers. As far as I'm concerned, unless I really choose to do something impressive, I would have preferred to appear in the papers only for my birth announcement, finishing school, getting married and snuffing it!"

"I can assure you I did not enter for ze eternal fame and glory, 'Arry," a voice said. Harry turned and saw Fleur, Gabrielle and their parents as well as others. He had drawn a crowd.

"No! You entered because you are full of yourself!" Gabrielle said in French.

"I most certainly did not!"

"Did too and you know it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Hush!" Apolline Delacour interjected, "now is not the time for your incessant bickering!"

Harry chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Mrs. Robbins asked.

"The fact that Gabrielle has taught me enough French that I understood all that," Harry laughed. "So, Fleur, if you didn't enter 'cause your full of yourself as Gabrielle said, why did you?"

Fleur actually blushed. "I see she 'as taught you well. I entered because I was told to by Madam Maxine, as did all who entered from Beauxbatons. We were told we 'ad to because we are old enough and at the top of our year and zis was for the honor of France and Beauxbatons. I compete for such honor, and for the honor of Veela and hope we earn respect and acceptance through my competing. Like you, 'Arry, ze press is not my wish."

"I still say you are full of yourself!" Gabrielle said. "I do love my sister dearly, Harry, but she is still full of herself."

"Enough!" her mother shot back. "Can you not go a day without this?"

"I think I'll leave that one between us," Harry chuckled.

"This does not explain why you chose on of my girls over the other," Sira said. "Are they not the same to you?"

"They are very different," Harry said. "I can tell them apart quite easily. That being said, I did not so much as choose Padma as she chose me, just as all the others chose me and not the other way around. That being said, I'm told when this came up, they could only decide on one thing for certain. They did not want to share the same husband for, as I understand, that is what their father wanted."

Sira sighed. "I never wanted that for them."

"They couldn't decide between themselves who would choose me and who Neville so they drew lots. Parvati went with Neville and Padma came to me. If you ask me, it worked out quite well for all of us."

"I agree," Padma and Parvati said in unison.

"Harry is a complex person," Padma said. "I find him - fascinating."

"And my Neville does not have his own bed in the Hospital Wing," Parvati added. "Harry had spent far too much time there over the years what between Quidditch and his other misadventures."

"Thanks Parvati," Harry grumbled.

"It's true," she said.

"Doesn't mean I'm proud of it. While I've actually come to like Madam Pomfrey, that does not mean I want to see her hovering over me ever again. If Snape was not reason enough to hate Potions, Madam Pomfrey is! Gah! Nasty stuff even if they do work!"

"I can't believe you drew lots to choose your husbands," Sira said glaring at her daughters.

"Beats the way Daddy did," Parvati shot back. "We were sold off as part of a business deal!"

"One which is now destroyed, or so he claims," Padma added. "We were to join a real Harem as … as slaves for lack of a better word for it! As far as Parv and I our concerned, he can dig ditches for that without a wand!"

"Business deal?" Mrs. Robbins asked.

"We were born in India," Parvati said. "As backward as many of the non-magicals from here say magical Britain is, it's almost progressive compared to Magical India…"

"But at least India isn't fixated on Blood status," Padma added. "Magic is magic, there…"

"But witches are even lower in that society than here. Sons inherit there. Daughters are often sold off as wives or concubines for harems…"

"Think bordello and you're not far off the mark! While as Harem girls we are technically his wives and could bear his heir…"

"Our so called betrothed already as sixteen male heirs," Parvati said in disgust. "He's older than Daddy which means…"

"We are to - er - service his business associates!"

"That's horrible!" several voices said.

"Identical twin girls are a commodity there," Padma said. "Daddy sold us for the money to set up his businesses here when we were very young."

"I didn't approve," Sira said. "Never have! My family was not that way, his was. He cares little for his own daughters' happiness, or so it seemed. Had I had a son, he probably still would not care, but I didn't. The truth is he did it to get us out of India and somewhere where he could make a decent living for us, but the damnable contract was all but ironclad and now that his girls have done this, he worries his business contacts in India will stop supplying him! The man who wants our daughters is my husband's primary if not exclusive supplier from India, although my husband refuses to acknowledge that our Indian products are but a small fraction of our business and not a particularly successful or profitable one. The man who made the contract said one thing at the time and something very different recently. My husband did not expect him to demand compliance. But the man has and can hurt us financially if he's not satisfied! He ruined my husband's brothers years ago and my husband is certain we're next if we don't…"

"Our father told us," Padma said, "we should lose the children we carry and annul the marriage so we can go to his India contract unsullied, as he put it. It was not expected we remained virgins, but to have a child?"

"That would be unthinkable," Parvati said. "We chose this life with you and Neville for several reasons and we choose to be sullied, as Father says. You and Neville were our firsts - and no, I have not been with Harry nor Padma with Neville! You will be our only as well! Father would have it another way!"

"He threatened to beat our children out of us," Padma said.

"That was when we had to act," Sira said. "He has never raised his voice, much less a hand to our daughters before, but he fears this is a matter of honor. We left India during a period of political turmoil in that magical world. We had little money, certainly not nearly enough to come here and set up business. So my husband entered into that contract with a business associate of his - and not a reputable one at that. For the contract, we received enough money to move here and start our own business and my husband was quite successful. He could easily repay the man in India with even very high interest, but he insists his honor had been compromised by all of this and the only option is to undo it."

"The elves stuck him to the wall where he remains until his attitude changes," Parvati said. "We may be part of a Plural Marriage, but we are not Harem Girls! We are not to be used as entertainments for business associates or however you describe those who pay for sex or accept it as part of a business deal!"

"You're going to leave him stuck to the wall?" Harry asked in surprise.

"For a few hours," Sira said. "Or until he needs to come down. After that, he will be stuck in that room until he accepts all this."

"Hopefully, he'll come to his senses and stop threatening to harm us or you within the next two weeks," Padma said.

"Two weeks?" Harry asked.

"Surely Hermione showed you the schedule," Parvati said.

Harry nodded. "Not that I memorized it."

"Day 17," Padma said. "We're already married but it's our wedding day."

"Neville and mine as well," Parvati said. "A double wedding. It'll be wonderful," she gushed.

"It'll be even better if Daddy comes around and agrees to escort us down the aisle," Padma said with a slight frown.

"I hope he does," Harry said. "But if not, Sirius has agreed to do that for Hannah and apparently Professor Lupin has agreed to do that for Susan. I'm sure they would both be honored if you asked."

"It's more leverage with your father," Sira said.

"Can I take that as you're not upset about what has happened between me and your daughter Padma, Mrs. Patil?" Harry asked.

"I will not say I'm not upset about your ages, Mr. Potter - or can I call you Harry?"

"H-Harry's fine."

"But you and Mr. Longbottom, who I have not yet met, saved my girls from a terrible fate in my view - even if you are still young in my eyes. Then again, they are my girls and you will always seem young to me," she shrugged. "You do realize the - um - curse of my line?"

"Twin daughters to start?"

Sira nodded. "This does not bother you?"

Harry shrugged. "My Gabrielle is Veela. She can only bear daughters and yet I don't mind a bit - provided they are almost as pretty as she is."

"Merci, mom cheri," Gabrielle said. "You said they."

"I've no real reason to limit you or any of you," he said looking at the others. "Money seems to be a non issue and - well there's plenty of room here. So no, Mrs. Patil, twin girls do not scare me. Twin boys, on the other hand …"

"What do you got against twin boys," a voice called. It was one of the Weasley twins - Fred by Harry's estimation since Alicia was on his arm. While Fred had taken Angelina to the Yule Ball (and George Alicia) in certain circles it was already known who was with who. Their dates were part of a master prank, and their dates were in on it. It would have been a huge scandal when they switched dates, but Ron ruined their plans by out scandalizing a well thought master prank.

"Well, Harry my lad," George said, "what do you have against twin boys?"

"N-nothing," Harry said. "Then again, twin girls are easier on the eyes and dateable … unless I swung that way, which I don't."

"That's…" Fred said.

"So…"

"Wrong!" the two said in unison.

"What?" Harry asked. "That I don't swing that way?"

"I take it back," Fred said. "I'd rather you not look at me as a piece of meat."

"Is that what you think of me?" Alicia chided.

"N-no! Course not! Our little Harrykins might deem nine a lucky number, but one is my lucky number!"

"Mine as well," George said.

"Nice save," Angelina quipped.

"So what brings you to my lair?" Harry asked.

"Having seen your rec room," Fred began.

"And having our asses handed to us in darts and pocket billiards by your father-in-law Mr. Granger…" George continued.

"And others," Fred finished.

"We decided to pay our respects upon our lovely little sister."

"And her new hubby, who we've always liked, mind you."

"Hence no hexing was involved."

"Then we saw her bathing costume," Fred said.

"As lovely as they look on others," George said.

"Seeing our little Sis in one of those Bike-en-knees…"

"They're called bikinis," Alicia said, "and if you EVER want to see me in one, Fred Weasley, you'll remember that!"

"Yes dear," Fred said shamefully.

"Nomenclature aside," George said, "seeing our little sis in one fell into the too much information category!"

"Never knew she had jigglies," Fred said, "and to be honest never wanted to either."

"So you came down here to perv on my wives and their mothers - and sisters for that matter?" Harry asked glancing at Fleur and Astoria Greengrass, although the latter was still a bit young for that.

"We are perfect gentlemen," Fred said.

"When we choose to be," George added.

"And when escorting the most beautiful women in this place," Fred added.

"And when knowing we can, even if our lovelies are not around."

"Good call," Alicia said.

"Just don't want to know 'bout little Gin-Gin's jigglies," Fred said.

"Besides, Harry's always loads of fun to hang with!"

"Teammates and all! Speaking of teammates, where's the lovely, if no longer available Katie?"

"I'm told she's with her Mum," Harry said, "as are Hermione and Hannah. They're planning the weddings."

"I'm leaving those details to my elves," Luna said. "It seems like a lot of work to me and as they're doing it, why should I interfere?"

"What's to plan?" Fred asked. He got smacked by Alicia for that.

"There's all sorts of details, Fred," she said. "Okay, we can skip the guest list, but there's still the dress…"

"Already got those," Daphne said. "Bought them the other day."

"We all did," Padma added.

"You did?" Sira asked. "You do realize your dress and your bridesmaid's dresses define the wedding?"

"Which is why you're here mother," Parvati added. "We have the dresses, it's just about the other details."

"What other details?" Fred asked.

"The cake," Daphne said. "And the decorations and flowers for the wedding space and the reception. Then there's the menu for the dinner and the music and …"

"And the theme, if there is one," Alicia said.

"Theme?" Harry asked.

"And choosing groomsmen appropriate to the Bridesmaids and such," Daphne added, "seeing as we girls have picked ours already."

"Had to for the dresses," Parvati added.

"I did have to get a magically self sizing one for my sister," Marcia said. "She's gonna be my Maid of Honor."

"I - I am?" a little girl said. Harry remembered her name was Sarah and she was a Second Year in Hufflepuff.

"Well of course," Marica said. "You're too old to be a flower girl, so what else would you be?"

"Fleur shall be mine," Gabrielle said.

"I will?" Fleur replied in French.

"Of course. You are my only sister and … and you should be."

Fleur's eyes filled with tears. "I would be honored," she said in English.

"I already know I'm my big sister's," Astoria Greengrass said proudly.

"So what's this about themes?" Harry asked.

"Oh, we all picked one," Daphne said. "Certainly for the Bridesmaids and we hope it goes beyond that to an extent. Hermione's is House Unity. Ginny is her Maid or Matron of Honor, and her other Bridesmaids are Padma, Hannah and me - aside from Ginny same year, see?"

Harry nodded. "She placed no restrictions on my choice for Groomsmen."

"So who do you choose?" Daphne asked holding out a quill.

"Assuming they accept," Harry said, "Neville will be Best Man. Then I want Sirius and Remus and … either of you work," he said looking at Fred and George.

"As long as the other stands alone with you at one point," Fred said.

"We're in!" George replied.

Daphne nodded. "Guess we'll sort it out later. Hannah's is about loyalty. Susan is her Maid of Honor, and Marcia, Andrea and Hermione her other Bridesmaids. Harry?"

"Remus as Best Man. Sirius is escorting her down the Aisle in place of her father so he's out. That leaves …"

"She'd like Cedric to be one."

"Fine then. Cedric, Neville and the other Weasley twin."

"We're honored!" the two said.

"Katie's is about Quidditch," Daphne continued after making some notes. "Alicia is to be her Maid of Honor, and Angelina, Ginny who is probably going to play soon and Hermione, who's Harry's hugest fan are the others."

"Don't know if she's a fan," Harry said.

"Not of the game," Daphne said. "Just of one player. Now Katie wants Fred and George as Groomsmen and Victor Krum, if he's agreeable."

"Why Victor?"

"Quidditch theme," Daphne said, "and Ollie Wood isn't available. You need a fourth."

"Sirius as Best Man," Harry said. "He played Beater for Gryffindor in his time."

"Wicked!" the Twins said in unison.

"She'd prefer her little brother David," Daphne said, "no offense. He's a huge fan of the game."

Harry nodded. "Fine. It's her brother and her wedding." His voice was not disapproving.

"Luna's is - I don't know - eclectic?" Daphne continued. "Ginny will be her Maid of Honor as she was Luna's first friend and Hermione will be there as well, and Padma and Lisa. She'd like Professor Flitwick with you Harry."

"Sounds like friends to me," Harry said. "Right then, Neville as Best Man, and Sirius and Professor Lupin as the others."

"Right then," Daphne said, "Padma's next."

"As it's a dual wedding," Padma said, "And Parv is asking Hermione to be her Maid of Honor, mine will be Lisa, with Laura and Luna and Gabrielle as the others."

"Gabrielle?" Fleur asked.

Padma nodded. "She wasn't one yet and she deserves to be. She's going to be Maid of Honor for her friend Michelle. She deserves this as well."

"Groomsmen?" Harry asked.

"Given that Daddy is still on the outs and we'd split Professor Lupin and Sirius between us as escorts," Parvati said, "you need a list. You can deal with that later."

"My choices are as follows," Marcia said. "My sister Sarah as Maid of Honor, and Hannah, Susan and Andrea as the others. Harry?"

"Remus as Best Man, Sirius and Neville and one of the Twins, whichever."

"We'll work the whichever bit out," George said.

"I have Lucinda as my Maid of Honor," Rosie said, "and Ginny, Luna and Andrea as my other Bridesmaids."

"Sirius as Best Man," Harry said, "Neville, Remus and another twin as the others."

"My sister Astoria as Maid of Honor," Daphne said. "Tracy, Rosie and Lucinda as the others as they are my best friends."

Harry nodded. "Neville as Best Man, Sirius, Remus and a Twin as the others."

"Fleur is my Maid of Honor," Gabrielle said. "Michelle, Hermione and Ginny are the others. And I want the other two Champions to stand with us, if it's acceptable."

"Sirius as Best Man," Harry nodded, "Cedric and Victor and Neville as the others."

"It is done then," Daphne said.

"This is," Harry nodded, "for now, obviously. But one last thing. Dobby?"

The elf appeared. "Yes, Great Harry Potter Sir?"

His salutation always amused.

"The last bag, please?" Harry said.

"At once, Sir!" Seconds later he returned with a shopping bag.

"Have you seen Neville yet?" he asked Parvati. She shook her head. "Then in a way I'm about to spoil his surprise, because I have presents here for Padma, and he has similar ones for you."

Padma and Parvati and their mother were most impressed with his presents, although in Parvati's case it was more in anticipation of what she would be getting later.

"Now you've done it," Fred complained.

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"Raised the boyfriend bar to a height we cannot hope to match anytime soon," George added looking at Angelina apologetically.

"But this isn't boyfriend stuff," Harry protested.

"It's not?" the twins asked.

"It's husband stuff!"

chapter 24

THE SOUTH WING - TIME COMPRESSION DAY 8.

Eighty-Two people were now living in the South Wing of Hogwarts school. They were by choice or by prank all stuck there for another four hundred and forty-two days. Today would be the beginning of the "Wedding Cycle" as Hermione's schedule which everyone had a copy of stated. Days Eight through Fifteen would have a wedding beginning at five in the evening. Day Sixteen would be a day off from such festivities and would allow people to relax a bit. Day Seventeen would be the Patil Wedding, which was beginning to look like it would go as the sisters hoped as their father had relented and was beginning to accept all of this. Day Eighteen would be another day off from weddings before the next rapid round began running from Day Nineteen through Day Twenty-six would complete the cycle ending with Harry's wedding to Gabrielle. They would have one more day off after that before classes began. Hermione had thought the schedule was reasonable when she wrote it out. She now wondered as every day she and the others had two hours of physical training and two hours of magical training in the mornings. But Hermione was stubborn. When she set a schedule, she stuck to it - and so did everyone else. Besides, the Healers with them had said that the training was actually good for expectant mothers - provided they avoided being physically hit or hit by a rather long list of spells.

Three days of rehearsals preceded this. Eighteen girls were having their weddings which, even though the pool of possibilities was small, meant that there were still eighteen sets of bridesmaids and groomsmen who needed to know what to do and this included the two grooms. As Grooms, Harry and Neville had it easy really. They just had to stand up front and take what was coming. But they also were groomsmen and Best Men for each other which meant they had to practice as well. Hermione thought it was a bunch of rubbish. Her mother explained this was not for the Bride and Groom but for family, most particularly in Hermione's case one Rose Granger.

It was not like her Mum could get the guest list she wanted. Time Compression prevented any additions or deletions. There were a total of eighty-two people in this world, and some forty House Elves and that was the list of possibilities for everyone. For Harry, Hermione knew, everyone that truly mattered with the exception of Hagrid was here. One could say the same for Sirius Black, who would play Best Man or groomsman in all but two of the weddings and in those two he would escort the Bride. The only family he truly counted were here: Harry and his Cousin Andy and her family. Luna too had all she cared about here as did Hannah and Susan. For the rest, there were gaps - although despite many relations, the only one Ginny wished was here was her brother Charlie.

There were people in her family she would not mind being here. She liked her grandparents Mike and Ellen Granger and John and Cathy Carter. She liked her Dad's sister Anna, although Anna's husband Uncle Carl was a pain and their three children were much younger than she was. Justine had just turned twelve and had been all into dolls and things Hermione found boring. Ten year old Cousin Amy was even worse, boasting about her doll collection to any who would listen. Little Drake was eight and ate like Ron Weasley and had many of his mannerisms. Hermione liked her mother's older brother John and his wife Cathy. Their oldest, Jake, was off studying zoology or some such and was the one cousin Hermione could relate to as he was a bit of a bookworm himself. Emma and Jenna were about her age and made Lavender Brown seem bookish. Hermione couldn't stand them for more than a few minutes.

In the end she was grateful. She wished her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles could be here, but could care less if her cousins were here. And there was the problem of magic. To invite any of them meant revealing the magical world. How else could she and her parents explain both her being married so young and the whole Plural Marriage thing? It would come out soon. Their plan was to spread the word as it were. Statute of Secrecy be damned, she thought. The more who know, the less effective Dumbledore can be in keeping control over Harry and the less effective the Death Eater could be should they go active.

Today, however, was not about the War or Dumbledore or even magic. It was about memories and photographs and dancing with her husband. She put schedules and the rest of the world into a box as it were and relaxed as Winky fussed over her. Hermione stood before a full length mirror looking at her hair, gown and veil. The gown bared her shoulders, but was still elegant and not too revealing. Her hair - it did not even look this good for the ball. She wore her sapphire necklace for the something blue bit. She was only missing old and borrowed when there was a knock at the door to her bedroom.

"Hermione?" she heard her mother ask.

"Come in," Hermione said.

A few moments later she saw her mother in the mirror.

"You look wonderful, my Little One," Rose Granger said.

Hermione blushed, "Thanks Mum," she said.

"She's decent," Rose called out.

Hermione's father entered.

"My word," he gasped. "Still getting used to this, but my word! This can't be my Hermione, can it?"

"Thank you, Daddy," Hermione said giving him a brief hug. "Don't want to get all wrinkled," she said.

"You okay?" Robert Granger asked.

"I'm fine, Daddy."

"You look pale," Robert said.

"I do not! You're just saying that! Daddy, I'm already married and you're not going to scare me away from it, or my husband or this life!"

"Definitely pregnant," Robert chuckled. "She may not be repainting the room, but definitely has the attitude!"

"Robert!" Rose shot out. "This is her day, Robert! While our little girl is married, this is her day! I don't want you ruining it 'cause this is the day that'll be in all of our photo albums!"

"I was just saying," Robert began.

"And for you information," Hermione huffed, "I'm not being hormonal! This is supposed to be my wedding day and you're being annoying!"

The fact that her father was teasing her was a good sign as it seemed to mean that he was accepting of all of this.

"For your information," Hermione said, "while I'm sure my hormones are raging a storm, the Healer has all of us on a potion that curbs the more severe symptoms."

"Such as?" her mother asked.

"Nausea mainly," Hermione said. "I have to eat to feed the little parasite and it doesn't do much good if most of my food winds up in a toilet."

"Parasite?" her father asked.

"Well, that's what it is, isn't it? Although it has half of my genetic material, the other half is Harry's and without the hormones my immune system would treat it as a parasite since it's not me and it feeds off of me and does nothing beneficial to me in return."

Robert chuckled and shook his head. "Only my little girl would think of that! So this potion, is it safe?"

"He has a point," Rose said. "There was a drug used in Europe and Canada back in the fifties that curbed those symptoms. It also led to deformed children."

"This potion's been in use for over three hundred years, Mum," Hermione replied. "I'm certain it's safe for me and for the baby."

"So does this potion alleviate all the symptoms?" Robert asked.

"Obviously no, Daddy," Hermione said, "to do so could harm the baby."

"So you're likely to have 'The Cravings'?"

"What's that?"

"A burning desire to eat weird," Robert said. "When your Mum was pregnant with you she went on a sour fest."

"A what?" the two Granger women asked.

"Oh come on Rose," Robert said, "you wanted vinegar on everything it seemed, including your ice cream."

"Eww!" Hermione began.

"Now Robert, there's no need to exaggerate. You know full well I stopped putting vinegar on my ice cream once I found that pickle relish was so much better."

"That's so wrong!" Hermione said.

"It's not unheard of," Rose said. "Neither are the late night snacks. My Doctor told me both were related to my body's need both for food in general and certain vitamins in particular. Even with supplements, I still had my cravings. Although the good news is they only lasted a few months and my last several weeks I was only hungry a lot. Didn't need the relish ice cream anymore."

"That's good to know," Hermione said.

"Come to think of it, the Cravings went away right about the same time you discovered how to tap dance on my bladder," Rose added.

"I did not!"

"You most certainly did! You had no sense of time either. Used to wake me up at three in the morning with your exertions! Honestly, I lost less sleep after you were born! After three weeks, you were sleeping through the night. Mum told me I was lucky. All three of my brother Daniel's kids took two months or so to sleep through the night. Before then, they went off like clockwork every three hours or so."

"You make is sound … Is that why you two never had any others?"

The two older Grangers looked at each other.

"No, Hermione," Rose said. "I didn't mind being pregnant with you at all. I certainly didn't mind you as a baby. You were usually very quiet and pleasant as one. You only got loud when you nappie needed changing and I wasn't in the room with you and even then, when I stood up you stopped. And even though we did not know what it was at the time, your magic never scared us."

"Then why…"

"We never told you this," Robert said, "I guess mainly because you never asked. We're not ashamed or any of that."

"Daddy?" Hermione asked.

"You know I met your father at the University," Rose said. "It was actually our first day of classes. Robert was older as he had spent some years in the Royal Navy…"

"Submarines," Robert added. "I worked with the sonar. Spent most of my time at sea chasing Russian subs."

"We dated practically from the start and decided to get married fairly early on, but wanted to wait until we had our degrees. Then we decided on Dental School and wanted to wait until we finished there."

"Which we did in June of '81," Robert said.

"But that's after I was born!" Hermione said.

The two parents nodded. "I moved in with your father when we started Dental School. My parents were scandalized or would have been had they not seen it coming."

"That and your Dad likes me," Robert added.

"And we were married in a small civil ceremony in March of 1979," Rose said.

"But I've seen your wedding pictures!" Hermione protested.

"That was later, after you were born," Rose said.

"We were engaged when we learned you were coming," Robert said. "We had not set a date yet. We married three weeks after we learned you were on the way and had our wedding after you were born because there wasn't time to do it proper…"

"That and there was no way I was walking down the aisle big as a house!" Rose added. "We didn't get married because of you, Hermione. We got married because we love each other. You just sped up the timing is all. As for why you have no brother or sister, well raising a little girl while in school was hard work, as it was when we left school and were starting out as Dentists. We were not about to add another to the mix back then. It's not that we didn't want another child or that you convinced us not to have one, it was just the circumstances and when we thought we were ready…"

"Your mother has had four miscarriages since you were born," Robert said.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said.

"It's not your fault, Child," Rose said. "They all happened early. All of them were within the first three months or so. Had I made it further along, you would have known, but we felt it best not to tell you. My Doctor says they could have happened for any reason, but the stress of my job may have been a factor."

"The last one happened a few weeks after you left to come here," Robert said. "We were so hoping you'd come home for Christmas and find out you had a little brother or sister on the way, but…"

"We've been afraid to try again," Rose added.

"Would you want another child?" Hermione asked.

Her parents nodded. "If we could," Robert said. "But we're soon to be grandparents…"

"So?" Hermione said. "If it was stress, then here you are with fifteen months of no worries. When this is over, it'll be April 2nd 1995 for the rest of the world. We have Healers here who might be able to help you. So what if you're about to become Grandparents! Mum's still only thirty-eight. Then again…"

"What?" Robert asked.

"Well, my son or daughter will be a little older. And yet if you had another child, they would be his or hers Aunt or Uncle. But no matter! We'll set it up so you can visit whenever you want."

"Thanks, Hermione," Rose said.

Robert nodded. "You know we had objections to this," he said.

"I'd have been surprised if you did not," Hermione replied.

"I didn't want you to go through what we did," Robert said. "Yet here we are. Rose was twenty-three when you were born. You're only fifteen."

"Technically sixteen," Hermione replied, "and I'll technically be seventeen when this happens."

"Still," Robert began.

"In many ways you're like us," Rose said. "We could see this coming from your letters. We knew you loved Harry with all your heart and like us, you moved forward with that much sooner than those of us adults expected. Unlike us, your child is planned and not an accident of fate. We've always loved you, Hermione. We have from the moment we learned you were coming to us. But you were … unexpected."

"We're still uncomfortable with the Plural Marriage thing," Robert continued. "But we've met the others and their families and … they are all very nice girls."

"And good friends," Hermione added.

"Which is probably a good thing," Rose said.

"And we know Harry does care about you deeply," Robert said. "The others as well, but you especially. We also know he has the means to take care of all of you and all of your children. That was something we had to struggle with when you were born and we are happy you won't have to go through that. We can see he'll make a wonderful father - assuming he can find the time for it."

"Daddy!"

"He's gonna have nine kids, Hermione!"

"Ten most likely, maybe more."

"Oh?"

"Padma and Parvati are identical twins, as was their mother and grandmother for certain. They're pretty sure they will each have identical twin girls, although it's too early to know that for certain. Then there's the Fertility Potion we used which increases the chances of fraternal twins. One of the side effects is that at least one in ten pregnancies with that potion bear twins."

"So you could be expecting twins?"

Hermione nodded. "It is a possibility that I can't discount although in all probability that won't be the case. But Padma aside, I think it's fair to say there'll be at least one set of twins."

"Do you have what you need for them?" Rose asked.

Hermione nodded. "We learned real quick it's better to have too much in the way of supplies than too little given that we can't replenish our stores while we're under Time Compression. We have enough food to last a hundred adults and forty elves for up to five hundred days and we have baby food and other supplies for thirty babies for over a year, even though we don't expect that many at all, and certainly not for that long."

"So soon it's frozen, freeze dried and reconstituted stuff just like back aboard the boat?" Robert asked.

"That's not magical," Hermione said. "We use Stasis Charms. The food - even the milk - is under a form of magical suspended animation and has been since we got it. If it was fresh when we got it, it will remain that way when we get around to using it. If you order fresh fish for dinner on day 450, as far as the fish is concerned - and anything that might ruin it - it's only been minutes since it was picked out at the market, not more than a year. There'll be fresh fruit the entire time we're here and fresh vegetables and meat. The bread will be baked daily down in the kitchens. About the only thing we may run out of is beer, wine and other adult beverages. Then again, we did stock a fair bit of that as well for the adults who are here."

"How does that work?" Robert asked.

"It's a form of time manipulation not unlike the Time Compression we're experiencing," Hermione explained. "Under Time Compression, the magic allows us to experience time at an accelerated rate as compared to others. There are spells used in dueling that give you a burst of speed for a few seconds real time, but they are taxing to cast. They're best used to run away. We use similar spells in the Greenhouse to accelerate plant growth. What we have in this Wing is a rune based ward that achieves the same result over a large area. Then there was spells that do the opposite: slow time down as compared to the rest of the world. There's a few dueling spells that do that if they are not blocked. The Stasis Charm stops time in its tracks as far as the target is concerned. We use it here for food storage and preservation. Healers use it to stop a person from dying so they have time to heal them. Very useful stuff!"

"Except for the aging part," Robert said.

Hermione nodded. "That is a concern. When we leave Time Compression it'll be ten in the morning, April 2nd, 1995 outside these walls. Since March 18th, I will have added about twenty-eight months to my life and, I sure, have shortened my full life expectancy by a similar amount - assuming I die of old age and not something else. Then again, assuming I die of old age, as a witch we're talking well over a hundred years from now despite this. None of us want to live our lives in the blink of an eye. Under Time Compression, we are safe from attack. There's a temporal rift at the ward line and if one tried to force their way across it - in either direction - that rift would rip them to pieces quite literally. While we are safe running time at a different speed from the outside world, we are also totally cut off from the rest of the world."

"Couldn't you run time at a slower than normal rate and achieve the same result?" Robert asked.

"Not without redoing the Ward scheme which would take months and would have to be done at normal time. It was actually pretty easy to set this up, but a not nearly as easy to reverse as it were. And there's still the problem of the rift. We would remain totally cut off from the outside world. It's a great idea if all you want to do is hide from the world - provided you have the supplies - but not much use if you want a connection to the outside world, which most of us do. We do have family who live outside."

"Oh My God!" Rose said. "Robert? We've come to accept this, but what do we tell the family? To them, Hermione's just fifteen and soon to be a mother! There's no way they'll believe she's married and even less of a chance they'll believe she's one of nine wives!"

"So we leave out a few things," Hermione said. "I haven't seen my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins since last Summer. They've been busy or we have or I've been away. As for my Grandparents, surely we can come up with something, can't we? Then again…"

"What?" Rose asked.

"I think we should tell Grandma Cathy."

"My Mum?" Rose asked, "Why? Tell her what?"

"Everything!"

"WHAT?"

"She doesn't know I'm a witch and neither do the others. But she is a granddaughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, as are you and I. That was the line with the magical connection, even it if has been dormant for five hundred years or so. She deserves to know I am a witch and it's from her and her mothers' line that my magic came to me and that I am, as a result, part owner of all of this. All of this is her heritage and yours, Mum, just as it is mine. I merely was the first who could claim it by getting our magic back. I think she'll understand, Mum. She always said we came from Royalty, although she could not point to it. We can now, at least to the extent Rowena was Royalty. She wasn't, but she was about as close as magical Britain ever had to it along with the other three."

"We've … well this has been an adjustment for us," Rose said. "All of this! Magic, your marriage, the fact we'll be grandparents a lot sooner than we had thought, all of this has been an adjustment."

Hermione nodded. "I guess I can see that. I got thrown in, for lack of a better description and being me took it in. But I live this life and you two … live through my letters and what I say to you on Holidays, at least until now. I felt like I was losing you two," Hermione said with tears in her eyes.

"You can't lose us, Little One," Rose said.

"We won't let you," Robert added. "I happen to like Harry, Little One. I didn't want to … after all you're no longer my little girl because of him."

"I'll always be that, Daddy," Hermione said with a weak smile.

Robert nodded. "But the Little Girl can't be a Mum. Ruins the image. I knew this would happen one day, just didn't think it'd be before I was fifty. But it is and I can see you've done well and I can't really blame him for this."

"No, you can't," Hermione agreed.

"We want to remain a part of your life, Hermione," Rose said. "At least for a while more."

"You will," Hermione replied. "We'll see to it that it happens. After all, we do own this place and can overrule rules that we find unnecessary, such as Muggle parents visiting us here whenever they like - and hopefully quite often."

"It's help if there was a decent golf course near by," Robert joked.

Hermione laughed. "I'll have to talk with the others about that one, but I'd agree we need more than just a silly Quidditch pitch."

As they laughed there was a knock on the door and Ginny entered. "We got twenty minutes," she said. "Not getting cold feet, are we?"

"Not at all Gin," Hermione said.

"Oh My!" Rose said. "Almost ruined the whole thing! You got something New and something Blue, yes?" She was referring to at the very least the sapphire necklace Hermione wore.

"Yes," Hermione nodded, including her dress in that equation.

"You have something old? Something borrowed?"

Hermione shook her head. "Forgot," she began.

"Which is why I'm here," Rose said proudly. She unwrapped a package. "This is the veil and headband I wore at my wedding," she said. "The elves all but emptied our house. It should work."

Hermione put it on and in her opinion, and her parents, and Ginny's, Daphne's, Padma's and Hannah's (her Bride's Maids) it did.

"So," Robert said, "if you're ready, what say I escort you to this Prince of yours?"

THE SOUTH WING - TIME COMPRESSION DAY 27.

"Thank goodness that's over!" Harry exclaimed as he relaxed in his huge bathtub with Gabrielle. Harry and Gabrielle's wedding was the day before and the last of the weddings. It had begun with Hermione and remembered seeing her walking down the aisle with her father in her stunning dress and seeing nothing but the smile on her face. He had similar images of most of his brides, including Gabrielle. But for eight days in a row, he had either been a groom or a best man, for he had been Neville's best man in all but one wedding. Neville was his three times and a groomsman four times having missed that job for Katie's wedding. She went with a Quidditch theme. All the members of the bridal party played so Neville and Remus were replaced by Cedric and Viktor Krum, not that Neville was complaining. Nine times the Groom, eight times best man; the only wedding where Harry was not Best Man was for Parvati, but that was a double wedding and he was Padma's groom that day. Harry was tired of weddings.

"Did you not like our wedding, Love," Gabrielle asked with a false pout. Harry knew she was teasing a little. She was probably as tired of weddings as he was. Well, maybe not. She had been a Bride but once, a Maid of Honor once for her friend Michelle and a Bridesmaid two other times. Aside from their own weddings, all of the girls had been in at least three bridal parties.

Harry smiled. "It was wonderful. But if there is another, I'd rather be just a guest."

Gabrielle nodded. "It is 'ard to remember zem all," she admitted. "I remember ze ones I was in, especially ours." Gabrielle had been Maid of Honor for Michelle and a Bridesmaid for Hannah and Daphne.

"Unfortunately, I was in every one of them either as Groom or as Neville's Best Man. I'm trying hard to remember all of my weddings, but it all seems a bit blurry in ways."

"Which ones stand out more?"

"Dangerous question," Harry chuckled. "I say that and someone will be upset."

"Hermione's?"

"Of course," Harry said. "She was the first, after all."

"Hannah's?"

"How can I not remember that one with Sirius escorting the lovely and definitely blushing bride."

"Katie's?"

"The All Star Quidditch Bridal party? Good thing we don't have a pitch or I'd bet she would have skived the dancing for a pick up match in her gown!"

"Padma's?"

"The double wedding? I swear there should be a limit on how many women the groom should be required to dance with."

"Marcia's?"

"That was a nice one. Very subdued compared to some of the others. I think she planned it that way so as to give us all a little break."

"Rosie's?"

"Should have locked the bar. I had a good time but there were a few who had a little too much to drink and a little too much fun. Fortunately, it didn't ruin Rosie's day."

"Daphne's?"

"She looked really amazing. As did you and the others, but that's what I remember most about Daphne's. Well, that an Victor asking if he and Katya could get married while they're here."

"And what did you say to zat?"

Harry shrugged. "So long as we get a few weeks or more of a break from weddings, I don't see why not."

Gabrielle nodded. "It 'as been a bit much. But all of us wanted it sooner rather than later. In a few months or less, we would not 'ave been able to fit into our dresses. Luna's?"

"There's one where a dress might not have been an issue! I don't think anyone will forget that one!" Harry laughed. "I'm just glad she chose to put on her dress for the reception!" Luna had chosen an ancient magical right. As per that right, the Bride was naked. It was supposed to symbolize fertility, love, and a new life as a wife for the bride entered her first life without clothes as well. "That and fortunately the Elves pictures of the ceremony were tasteful. Then again, I'm not sure if Luna likes wearing clothes at all."

Gabrielle nodded. "See, you remember quite well! And I was afraid all you would remember was Luna's fashion choice. Although she was under a type of charm at your wedding. While we were aware of 'er attire, I am told none but you were able to see 'er as a whole. For the rest of us, 'er details below 'er shoulders and above 'er thighs were nothing more than a sense of color. Zere were, after all, some young men present who need not see such."

Harry nodded. "She never mentioned that. Then again, she probably wouldn't as it wasn't important to her. Her dress was really nice," Harry said with a smile. "Once she put it one. I'm still surprised her father was so - he acted like it was normal."

"I am sure you have noticed that Mr. Lovegood is odd, even by our standards," Gabrielle laughed.

Harry could only nod in agreement. "At least we have the day off to recover from all of that."

"Hmmm, but as you 'ave said zere is another wedding sometime before this Time is over. In fact, I would not be surprised if zere was more zan one."

"Oh?"

"Have you not noticed ze new couples?"

"New couples? You mean Fred and Alicia and George and Angelina?"

"Non. Zey are 'old couples' as if zey were together before coming 'ere. Although zey are all of age now and it would not surprise me if zey asked to be wed as well. But zere are new couples as well. You 'ave not noticed?"

"I haven't … who?"

"Your Godfather Sirius for one," Gabrielle giggled.

"Sirius? And what's so funny?"

"It is amusing not funny, 'Harry," Gabrielled said. "Ze others will be pleased to hear you 'ave not noticed what zey all 'ave. Through zese weddings, Sirius 'as stayed close to ze same unmarried woman ze whole time. 'E sits with 'er at meals and dances with 'er more any any of ze others. You still do not know?"

Harry shook his head.

"Marilyn Abbott."

"Hannah's Mum?"

Gabrielle nodded.

"Zey may not 'ave noticed yet," Gabrielle replied. "I am Veela, if you must know, so I can see zese things or I can now zat I am bonded to my 'usband. Your Sirius sees 'er as … well, as what 'e wants in a woman. She sees 'im as charming and … well, they did fancy each other once upon a time. But zey were in different 'Ouses 'ere and in zeir time it was rare to cross over, as it were. 'E never asked her out back then."

"You sure about this? Sirius and her? I thought he had a thing for Susan's Aunt."

Gabrielle shrugged. "It is not certain, 'Arry. I would say likely, but not certain. Zey 'ave to see it for themselves and see it for what it is and not for what it is not. But do not be surprised if zey do. As for Madam Bones, while 'e may 'ave 'ad a thing for 'er once upon a time, she never saw 'im as a romantic way. Ze are friends."

Harry chuckled. "And now I may have another father-in-law."

"It is not ze same, no? 'E is on your side in zis?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, he is or at least he seems to be."

"'E is, 'Arry."

"And these other couples?" Harry asked.

"First, I do not include any who are younger zen us. Zere might be some zere, but zey are too young to consider now. Zere are two other possible couples, but it is too early to say."

"Oh?"

"For now, all zey are doing zat I can see is looking at each other when ze other is not noticing and smiling silly about it."

"Any hints?"

"My sister might be one."

"Let me guess. Bill Weasley?"

"'Ow did you…"

"First off, I think we can rule out any of the First of Second Years who are here…"

"Eeew!"

"Exactly. Second, we can also rule out the married men."

"My sister is not about to stoop to zat."

"She's a bit of a show off, isn't she?"

Gabrielle nodded.

"So being a mistress is out as is being a second wife. It's all or nothing for her. Now Neville and I are certainly taken, Victor is as well and is immune to her."

"And does not like her zat much."

"No, he doesn't. Cedric is not immune, which means Fleur is not attracted to him. The Twins were not immune until after the Yule Ball as far as I could tell which was when they got together with their girls. I also don't think she's into really old wizards, which rules out Professor Tofty. The only one who I've noticed is immune to her allure is Bill Weasley."

"You are correct, 'Arry. Fleur thinks zat 'e may be … She 'ope's 'e will be 'er Bondmate."

"Hopes? But you bonded with me so quickly!"

"You saved my life, 'Arry. It makes it all but impossible to resist the Bonding Urge. Zat, and I was and am young. I had not matured yet so ze Urge to Bond with you could not be denied. Fleur is older. She can resist the Urge for she knows what it is and 'ow to deal with it. I 'ad never dealt with it before and the Life Debt overwhelmed me."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"D-do you regret…?"

"No! No! Not at all, Gabrielle. I don't regret you chose me. I did choose you, after all - along with the others. You're my wife and I love you and do not regret it for a minute. I am only sorry you could not … um …."

"Resist the Urge and pursue you naturally?"

Harry nodded.

Gabrielle shrugged. "It is not important. I am happy with ze way it 'as turned out."

"So am I but…"

"No but, 'Arry. There should never be any of zat with us, no?"

Harry sighed.

"Besides, I am not sad zat I am to be yours for the rest of my life. I am not sad our daughters will 'ave you as a father."

"You're having twins?" Harry asked in shock.

"It is too early to say and Veela rarely have such. But as Veela, I can only bear daughters and I do want more zen one in ze end."

"How many more than one?"

Gabrielle shrugged. "It is too early to say, no? Do you ask zat of all your wives?"

"Er…"

"I thought not. Rest assured, you will have a lot of children, 'Arry."

"I really need a Holiday!"

"Is zis not one?"

"You mean today or all that was before?"

"Yes."

"Before was for many, but not me. All those weddings - not that I'm complaining about ours, but…"

"It was tiring."

Harry nodded.

"And we only have today off. Tomorrow we begin classes and such."

"I wish it was more."

"So do I, but Hermione insists. I think she feels we all have had enough of a holiday," Harry said.

THE SOUTH WING - TIME COMPRESSION DAY 65.

They had just completed their sixth week of classes in the South Wing. They went to class five days in a row with a one day weekend before they began again. As Hermione had planned there were four classes. The "Upper Years" were the eight students working towards their NEWTs. NEWT level courses were offered in what this school said were "core" courses: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration. These students also studied Occlumency. Runes, Arithmancy and Herbology were optional for the NEWT students, but they all were taking them anyway as the class was so small the professors could teach them almost independently. The "Upper Years" also had and electives in History (taught by Pierre Delacour, Amelia Bones and Benjamin Caldwell - the latter taught History at a University and this course covered "true magical history" and history of western civilization), French (taught by Madame Maxine and Appoline Delacour) and Italian (taught by Sabrina Marcella). Dueling and Healing, along with Physical Training were also taught and were mandatory.

The "Lower Years" took Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts (with and introduction to Dueling), one hour a week in Basic Healing and Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration. They had the language electives as well. Physical training was also mandatory.

Harry was in the "Middle Year," which was divided into two sections. He and his wives were in one and Neville, his wives and Cho Chang were in the other. They all had Ancient Runes headed by Professor Babbling with Bill Weasley as an assistant who added aspects of Curse Breaking and Warding to the instruction. He also assisted Professor Vector in Arithmancy as well. Professor Flitwick and Madam Maxine taught Charms. Professor Sprout taught Herbology, although the first couple of weeks she was more excited about the Greenhouse and what they all had accomplished already than teaching. They had Healing with Healers Ted Tonks and Al Turpin, History with that crew, Potions with Andromeda Tonks, and Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Professor Lupin was in charge of their Defense Against the Dark Arts program, but he was assisted by Miss "Don't Call Me Nymphadora" Tonks for dueling, Sirius Black for aspects of Dark Magics and Amelia Bones for legal stuff. Professor Flitwick was also in charge of Dueling, but he had several assistant instructors. Harry and most of his wives were taking French as well. (Hermione was taking both French and Italian as were Marcia and Daphne. Gabrielle was taking Italian only.)

Harry was thoroughly enjoying his classes. Then again, because there were so many courses and only a one day weekend every other week or so, aside from reading and revising, there was little homework. The strange schedule was to maximize instruction. Originally, they were to have five days of classes with one day off all the time, but Hermione soon figured out that first of all they needed a little more time off and secondly her original schadule meant that Katie, Marica and Gabrielle would be the only three of them who would be Harry's witch on his days off. Consequently, every other week or so they enjoyed a two day weekend.

They had two short essays each week, that was all and all the Professors cooperated in seeing it that way. In exchange, however, everyone was expected to participate in classes. Given the very small class size and the fact that at least in Harry's section no one ridiculed or snickered at a student who was momentarily stuck on a problem, it was actually the best learning experience he had to date. They were expected to help each other, something even Hermione could not complain about as she had been doing that for Harry and Ron since First Year. And considering with Gabrielle he and his girls had their own private tutor, he even enjoyed French Class which, as he thought, might well be almost as hard as Arithmancy, but he enjoyed that class as well as Professor Vector, while demanding, was very entertaining.

By far now his favorite class was dueling. It was held during some of the magical training sessions, so it was not part of the classroom instruction at all. This was all about fighting, something he now took quite seriously given that it was clear Voldemort was still out there in some form and his Slytherin mates were certain some of their former Housemates were already actively recruiting for the Dark Lord's return. Although, they did admit it might just be for more Pureblood nonsense, absent Dark Lord notwithstanding.

More than that, however, there was Caldwell's book on Dueling. Already Harry, Neville and their girls were making huge progress on silent spell casting based upon that book. They were also learning to reduce their wand movements, hopefully to nothing. Once they mastered those skills, they could move on to his real premise: spell masking. They had shown the book to Professor Flitwick and he agreed it was an amazing work, although he conceded the spell masking would be beyond him and many others as it was clear one had to master Occlumency and with his heritage that was not possible. He had a natural form of it, but as a result could not learn the learned art of it which seemed to be required. Despite his own limitations in this regard, he encouraged them to try and learn the skills the author had never taught.

Life in the Wing was starting to have a routine, and it was not just the classes. Classes were the dominant feature for the students like Harry, but they were well attended by the adults as well. The Muggle parents in particular were almost always observing one class or another. Hermione's parents, for example, had attended every one of their Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Healing lessons and Harry was not surprised to learn they had their own copies of the course books. Apparently, the Grangers were also observing the Lower Year classes in other subjects. They were hardly the only ones, but he saw far more of them and the other Muggle Parents than the others.

Once the wedding cycle had ended, Harry's House had returned to their "Witch of the Day" scheme. After breakfast, Harry's witch would be with him for most of the day, sitting beside him in class and at lunch and studying with him. He and his girls ate breakfast and lunch in the Main Dining Room with all the others. Dinner, however, was a semi-private affair in his Private Apartment. Each night, his "Witch of the Day" and her family would join him for their private dinner. They were often joined by Sirius and Remus, but not always, and maybe other guests who his witch invited.

There was an exception to this practice. The Wing had taken to celebrating "assimilated birthdays," that being the Time Compression day corresponding to someone's birthday. There had been five so far including Laura Caldwell's simulated seventeenth on Day 32 and Rosie's simulated fifteenth Day 51. The birthday dates took into account the prior Time Compression as well. Legally, the two were still fifteen and thirteen. On those days, the entire Wing ate dinner together in the Main Dining Room and there was cake, followed by general socializing with the recreation room filled with ongoing games and dancing in the Ballroom. There were no real presents, after all it was not like there was any place to shop for them. But it was generally a good time. They already were thinking of including an "assimilated" Halloween on Day 211 and Christmas on day 266.

Today's assimilated date was June 4th, Day 65. It was also a day off from classes. Hannah was Harry's "Witch of the Day," but the day off mean that while he would spend hours with Hannah, he and she were also allowed hours for "girl" or "bloke" time. For Harry, this meant the recreation room as that was where all the males hung out. There were games to be played or watched as the Entertainment Mirror showed old Quidditch matches, Football, Rugby and a few other sports as well. For Hannah, it was a time to hang out with the women of the Wing either on the balcony or in the salons. This was her chance to hang out with Susan and some of the other girls who were not part of her House, just as it was Harry's chance to hang out with blokes, rather than a bunch of girls. The truth was neither Harry, nor Hannah, nor any of Harry's other girls minded their arrangement at all, but it was nice to be with others as well. As with every day off so far, Harry would spend the late afternoon and evening with his witch.

Harry walked into his family Dining Room and saw that Hannah, her mother and Sirius were already there.

"Sorry," he said as he walked over and kissed Hannah on the cheek, "got tied up."

Hannah chuckled. "Maybe we shouldn't have had dart boards in the Rec Room." Harry had taken a fancy to the Muggle game as had a surprising number of others. "Did you win?"

"Not the last one," Harry shrugged. "It was close, but Bill edged me in the end."

"Eddie? You can begin serving now," Hannah said. Eddie was one of Hannah's elves.

"We have something to tell you two," Marilyn Abbott began.

"Oh?" Harry and Hannah asked together and blushing. Whether the two admitted it or not, it was now obvious to everyone in the Wing they were an item.

"We're kind of together," Sirius began as he and Marilyn blushed.

"You think?" Hannah laughed. "Kind of? What does that mean? After all, the Weasley Twins have a pool as to the date you two started shagging!"

"We have not!" Hannah's mother began.

"Mum," Hannah said, "am I in a position to judge? I'm legally fifteen and technically sixteen and I am pregnant and married. I chose to be so, to be with my Harry here. I can only ask you, does Sirius make you happy? For that is all that matters."

"He does," Marilyn said softly. "He really does. I hope that doesn't bother you."

"Mum, you two have been an item for weeks. If it bothered me, you would have heard by now."

"She's not shy about that," Harry added. "We've already talked about your - er - relationship. She thinks Sirius is a good match…"

"Provided he really means it," Hannah added.

"I do," Sirius said. "Already asked her, but she said she wants your approval first - both you and Harry, Hannah."

"Approval for what?" Harry asked, although he suspected where this was going.

"We want to marry," Marilyn said.

The two teens looked at each other and smiled.

"You expect me to call you Dad, forget about it," Hannah said.

"But it's okay by us," Harry said.

"But you're a fugitive," Hannah began.

"Amelia hopes to change all that - eventually," Sirius said.

"Until then?"

"We were hoping we could have a place here," Marilyn said.

Harry nodded. "Already thought of having Sirius stay here. We have two extra suites in the Private Apartments. I was planning to turn one into a stable for Buckbeak, but there's still the spare."

"I'd love to have you here, Mum."

"So this is no problem for you two?" Sirius asked.

"You make my Mum happy," Hannah replied. "I see that. And you are a decent man, public opinion aside. I'd be happy to see you together."

"Harry?

"Don't expect me to call you 'Dad.' That's just too weird. So when do you two want to do this?"

"As soon as we can."

"Bit quick, don't you think?"

"Says the boy who married nine women at fourteen, eight of whom by surprise," Hannah chuckled.

Harry shrugged. "Fine! Guilty!"

"Day 84 is already booked," Hannah said. "Victor and Katya want to be married here where they can avoid both the spectacle and the pressure from their country and such. The next available date is Day 97."

"Has to be a two day weekend," Harry said. "Gives us a day to recover. You're not going to ask me to be Best Man or something?"

Sirius shook his head. "Groomsman for certain. Moony will be best man, if he agrees."

Harry nodded. "I can't believe you're asking for my blessing," he began.

"Um …" Sirius started as he and Marilyn blushed.