Realistic Harry Potter - 107 The Real Summer Break Part Four

“You won’t get away with this, Lucius.” Albus said in as much of a jovial tone as he could while the patriarch of the Malfoy family escorted him down the hallway.

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Dumbledore.” Lucius said as four other people seemed to form out of the shadows and surrounded them like a guard.

“I see.” Albus said as two wands from behind him jabbed into his back.

“I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip past me like the Potter boy did.” Lucius said.

“How did you get out of that, by the way?” Albus asked, not really caring one way or the other. His mind was firmly on how to escape his escorts within the next few minutes.

“It was quite simple, really.” Lucius said with a chuckle. “I volunteered to undergo questioning under Viritaserum.”

Albus was startled to hear that and almost tripped as he skipped a step.

“You’re actually shocked.” Lucius said, amused. “The great Dumbledore has been thrown off his game by someone admitting the truth.”

Their escorts chuckled, also amused.

“Is it the novelty or that I actually didn’t have anything to do with Draco’s prank?” Lucius asked.

“Prank? Oh, of course.” Albus said with a sigh. “However, I can’t believe that you got away with hurting the boy in your care.” He said to try and divert his answer from what he really thought, which was that Lucius probably had an antidote to the truth serum.

“As I told Madam Bones while under the truth compulsion, I had nothing to do with either the kidnapping or Draco’s trying to force Harry to respond.” Lucius said and then smiled. “I must say, even under the haze of the serum, I was quite delighted by the surprise on her face.”

“You gave up your son to face criminal charges?” Albus asked, surprised.

“Hardly. Like I said, it was a childish prank as revenge for Harry slandering my son.” Lucius said. “Imagine! A half-blood telling a pure blood that he was nothing. It was both disgraceful and hurtful.”

Albus didn’t say anything and Lucius schooled his face to not show his anger.

“Draco reacted in the only avenue available to him and Madam Bones knows this. He was forced to attend several meetings with a healer from the long term care ward that deals with mentally unstable people. What a waste of time that was.” Lucius said with a chuckle. “Yes, I attended as well.”

Albus thought about commenting and decided to change the subject slightly. “Did Amelia ask you what you were going to do with Harry?”

“I believe he prefers to be called Mr. Potter.” Lucius said with a smirk at Albus’ slight wince. “Yes, she asked and I answered. I told her that I performed several calls and asked advice on how I should proceed after discovering the boy was tucked away in my basement.”

“You didn’t admit to nefarious purposes?” Albus asked as he tried to reach into his robes, then he felt two distinct jabs into his lower back to stop him retrieving his wand.

Lucius barked a laugh and then caught himself. “You are delusional if you think I would ever admit to any such thing. My sole concern was for the boy and what my family was going to do about him.”

Albus knew this was a losing conversation and trudged on anyway. “What of Narcissa? Did they question her, too?”

“They did and also allowed me to remain in the room.” Lucius said. “Thankfully, they declined her volunteering for the serum, since I had already undertaken it and proved that we weren’t involved.”

Albus sighed and Lucius waved at the closest fireplace.

“She spun a wonderful tale for them, one of half-truths and twisted facts. The best part? She offered memories for them to view to corroborate it. It was beautiful.” Lucius said. “I love her so much.”

Albus stopped dead in front of the large fireplace and stared at the man.

Lucius gave him another smirk. “So, genuine feelings from your enemies shock you as well? That’s good to know.” He turned to their escorts. “One on each side, gentlemen.”

Albus sighed as Lucius reached into his robes and disarmed him by taking his wand. Lucius nodded to the two men and they grabbed Albus by the upper arms and dragged him into the fireplace. Albus was an old man and he couldn’t fight off two much younger and stronger men physically, so he resigned himself to going wherever they were taking him.

“Carrow Manor.” One of the men said and threw down some powder.

Oh, no. Albus thought as the gout of green flames engulfed him and whisked him and his two escorts away to a known death eater’s mansion.

“Did you see his face?” One of the remaining escorts asked, delight clear on his own face.

“Yes, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.” Lucius said with a happy smile, then he and the escorts followed their compatriots. They had some important work to do before tomorrow.

*

“I can’t believe this.” Amelia said as she stared at all of the research she had been handed by everyone.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Kingsley asked and sat back in the chair in front of Amelia’s desk. “That’s everything we could dig up for Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

“No one with such high marks in the history of Hogwarts just up and disappears for a year after graduation and then starts working at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley.” Amelia said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Neither does working there for a couple of years and then disappearing for a few more years.” Kingsley said. “He’s not seen or mentioned again until he returned to Hogwarts.”

Amelia flipped through the pages to the right spot. “Oh, damn. He’s responsible for it?”

“You caught that, too?” Kingsley said with a chuckle as she nodded.

“The curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job.” Amelia sighed.

Kingsley handed over several more sheets. “Here are the records for all of the teachers that only lasted a single year after he applied for the job.”

Amelia quickly glanced over them. “He really did curse the job.” She looked up at Kingsley. “How in the world do you curse a job?”

Kingsley laughed. “He didn’t.”

“What?” Amelia blinked her eyes for a few seconds. “What do you mean?”

“He cursed the title of ‘Professor’ of that course. Anyone referring to the teacher that way would strengthen the taboo and by the end of the year, something drastic always happened and they have to vacate the position.”

Amelia sat back in her own chair. “That… that’s diabolical.”

“I wouldn’t have come up with that if I hadn’t talked to the current teacher of the course.” Kingsley said, pleased.

“Wait, how?” Amelia asked, a little confused. “Wouldn’t Mr. Rowle have to be gone by now?”

“You just answered your own question.” Kingsley said and Amelia caught her breath.

“Mister Rowle.” Amelia whispered. “He didn’t claim the professor title.”

“He told his students to call him sir or Mr. Rowle, since he didn’t qualify as a professor. It was quite the ingenious workaround.”

“So, it’s still taboo to be called professor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts course?” Amelia asked and Kingsley nodded. “Did you approach the Unspeakables about removing a taboo?”

“They’re working on it and should have something by the end of the week.” Kingsley said. “How is Agilbert?”

“Quite happily consulting with his wife.” Amelia said with a chuckle while she remembered leaving him in his work space with a telephone receiver tied to his head, which left his hands free. “I swear, I’ve never seen two people working so closely together while so far apart.”

Kingsley chuckled with a nod. “It’s going to be quite an achievement if he can get that foe glass conversion to work.”

“Possibly.” Amelia said, unsure. “He warned us that it might only work once, especially since we’re dealing with a class five dark object that we’re going to use to detect other class five dark objects.”

“You’re worried about overload?” Kingsley asked and she nodded. “Are you setting up the projector as well?”

“Of course. If we only get the thing working for an instant, we want a copy to be captured and saved. It would be a waste of time and resources if we didn’t.”

“When will it be ready?”

“He’s hoping by tonight.” Amelia said. “He’s already used the energize spell on himself half a dozen times already. He’s actually supposed to be in bed right now and getting a good night’s sleep.”

Kingsley chuckled. “That poor man’s still working with time from the other side of the world?”

Amelia nodded. “He only just started to adjust and now he’s completely out of sync again.”

“You better give him the day off tomorrow.”

“He’s already booked off and he’s been working so hard that I won’t even hold him to his bet that he would get to the bottom of this by the end of his shift.” Amelia said with a laugh and Kingsley joined in.

The two of them dove into the paperwork and started to make different connections as they went through everything that happened while Tom Riddle was visible in the wizarding world. That was the best thing about having magical records. They never degraded or faded, so everything looked the same as it did when it was first filed.

After a quick search warrant that had been served on Borgin and Burkes for business records, they quickly discovered all of the deals that Tom Riddle had made during his time there. The biggest thing they found was that he had visited a specific older lady, a miss Hepzibah Smith, over a dozen times to try and procure two very special pieces. A locket and a cup. Those alone wouldn’t have gotten their attention if they hadn’t read the annotations.

The locket was rumored to be Salazar Slytherin’s and the cup was Helga Hufflepuff’s. Both Amelia and Kingsley scrambled after that to dig up everything they could find out about them and the woman they visited. It didn’t take them long to find the report of the death of the woman with the unverified claim that she was the heir of Hufflepuff. They both hid their sighs as they read it.

“That evil, evil man.” Amelia said after reading about how the woman’s house elf had mistakenly poisoned the older woman and that her family claimed that both the locket and the cup had gone missing. Since they couldn’t prove that the woman had either things, their claim remained unsubstantiated. “Why in the world would he do it?”

“He left Borgin and Burkes after that.” Kingsley said and showed her the dates of the crime and Tom’s quitting his job had matched.

“Ah, once he got what he wanted.” Amelia said in understanding. “Well, that explains why he was working at that shop. He was looking for rare and expensive things.”

“You’re wrong.” Agilbert said from the open doorway that he was leaning against. “I told you that he was looking for things that were personal and meant more to him than their intrinsic value.”

“How would the founding members of Hogwarts mean something personal to him?” Kingsley asked.

“Agilbert! I get it!” Amelia said when it finally clicked. “Tom was an orphan and raised in a muggle orphanage until he was brought to Hogwarts!”

Agilbert smiled. “Yes, you do get it. He was enamoured of the school that rescued him from poverty.”

“That means he might have something else from the founders as well.” Amelia said. “I don’t know what they could be, though.”

“Send word to the school and ask the headmaster. He should know…” Agilbert’s words trailed off as he saw Amelia’s sad face. “What happened?”

“We’ll have to contact the deputy headmistress instead because Dumbledore’s trial is today.”

“His trial? What did he do?” Agilbert asked.

“What didn’t he do.” Kingsley said with a shake of his head.

Amelia pat his hand. “None of us realized that it was him who sent an innocent man to prison without a trial. We didn’t work in this department back then, remember?”

“We also couldn’t review old policies or cases when we did start working here, which seems like such an oversight now.” Kingsley said and then he chuckled. “We were so green back then.”

“Unbelievably so.” Amelia smiled. “So much so that some of us were so clean that we squeaked.”

“Ha. The good old days.” Kingsley said with a nod as he stood. “All right. I’ll contact the school and get McGonagall to send over any information on any artifacts from the school, rumored or otherwise.”

“I’ll debrief Agilbert with what we know and then we can take another shot at the journal.” Amelia said and Kingsley left.

“You two work well together.” Agilbert commented as he sat down.

“We’ve spent years working together.” Amelia said and Agilbert smiled.

“I heard a huge ‘it’s not going to happen’ there.”

Amelia chuckled. “We’ve joked about something developing and both of us have accepted that neither of us has the time nor the inclination to devote to each other.”

“That’s a little sad, actually.” Agilbert said.

“You don’t have to tell me something that obvious.” Amelia said and slid over the reports. “We’re happy with our work and the job we’re doing to protect the wizarding world. If we put some of that aside just to date, we’d both be even sadder because we would be ignoring the duty we swore to uphold.”

Agilbert gave her a searching look for a few seconds and then smiled. “It’s good to hear that you have your priorities straight.”

Amelia chuckled again. “Start reading and I’ll fill in any gaps you see, then I’ll answer your questions.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Agilbert said and started reading.

*

“Wow, look at all the food!” Ron exclaimed at the extended table that Harry had made in the kitchen.

“I mixed in a few dishes that I cooked myself, just so we’re not eating the same food we ate at school.” Harry said and waved for them to sit on the chairs he had set on either side. Ginny sat down and eyed Harry as she practically held the seat out for him.

“Thanks, Gin.” Ron said and sat down on the chair… and her hand.

“HEY! Watch it!” Ginny yanked her hand back before he crushed it. “Ugh! Now I gotta wash again!”

Luna laughed and sat down across the table from her and a smiling Harry sat down next to her. Ginny glared at her brother when he shrugged.

“Thank you all for attending the very first Harry Potter House Feast. Please note: The treat cupboard is out of bounds until 8 o’clock and curfew is at 9 o’clock.” Harry said and waved his hands. “That’s it for the announcements. Tuck in!”

Ron laughed and the two girls looked a little confused. “The headmaster says something like that for every meal at school.”

“Oh. That’s funny because most of this is school food. I get it.” Luna said with a chuckle and started eating. Ginny and Ron exchanged a look and started eating as well. Harry smiled at the blonde’s explanation and started eating, too. The meal went on pretty much silently for nearly half an hour.

Harry sighed and leaned back as he rubbed his belly. “Wow, I don’t know if I can fit dessert in here.”

“Speak for yourself.” Ron said. “Bring it on!”

Both Ginny and Luna laughed at him and Harry stood as he pulled out his wand.

“I hope you’re ready for this.” Harry said and swiped his wand across their dirty plates to make them jump to the sink and wash themselves, then he tapped the table with the wand tip to activate the switching spell. All of the half empty food dishes disappeared and were replaced with pies, cakes, cookies, pastries, tarts, puddings, and trifles.

Ron, Ginny, and Luna stared at the table and didn’t know what to make of everything. Even growing up in the Weasley house, or nearby in Luna’s case, they had never seen so many different desserts stacked up on the same table before.

“Well, help yourselves.” Harry said and picked up a strawberry trifle. It was in a tall dessert glass and had layers of strawberries, cream, caramel, more cream, strawberry jam, more cream, and topped with a strawberry. He dug his spoon into it and sighed in satisfaction as he put it in his mouth. He was no longer worried about not fitting dessert into his stomach.

“H-Harry, what…” Ron tore his eyes from the mounds of desserts that he had only dreamed about. “What is all this?”

“You know I cooked the food all the time at home before I started school, right?” Harry asked and he nodded. “They had several dinner parties the last few years for people that work with my uncle. I had to learn how to make a bunch of different desserts.”

“But… but… when did you do it?” Ron asked and couldn’t resist the temptation as he cut into the thickest lemon meringue pie he had ever seen to take a piece. It filled his dessert plate and he drooled over it.

“I’ve been sneaking off all day when you weren’t looking.” Harry said with a smile. “Each dessert only takes a few minutes, especially with magic to help. It’s really easy.”

The three of them stared at him for a few seconds before he waved at the food.

“You better hurry up and eat it before it gets cold.” Harry joked and Luna giggled.

“You’re really funny, Harry.” Luna said and dug a huge spoon into the large bowl of chocolate pudding with whipped cream to fill her bowl with a single scoop.

Ginny grabbed a raspberry tart and was almost as bad as Ron as she drooled over it and licked the whipped cream. “It’s so sweet and light.”

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Harry asked and ate another scoop of whipped cream himself. “If you want more, let me know.”

“I want more.” Ginny said without hesitation.

Harry chuckled and went to the refrigerator and took out a two foot wide bowl that was full of it.

“Oh, my god.” Ginny whispered and did drool this time.

Ron handed her a napkin. “Easy there, Gin.”

Ginny ignored him and only had eyes for the big bowl of cream.

“How much do you want?” Harry asked as he walked over to her.

“Just… just leave the bowl.” Ginny whispered and her eyes went wide when she saw exactly how big the bowl really was.

“I should tell you to not eat it all and save some for later; but, I can always whip up some more.” Harry said and put the bowl in front of her. “You can have this all to yourself.”

“Th-thanks, Harry.” Ginny said and looked at his face. “Really. Thank you.”

“I know what it’s like to not get a fair share when eating.” Harry said and looked at Ron. “It explains why someone eats like they do at school.”

“Yep! If it’s near my mouth, I’m eating it!” Ron said proudly and they all had a good laugh.

Dessert went on for about ten minutes before they were all quite full. Harry did the switching spell again and cleared the table. He would go to the pantry later to use the proper charms to expand the food to fill the dishes again. He really loved magic.

“I’m soooo full.” Ginny said and laid her head down on the table. “I could sleep for a week.”

“Hey, that’s not a bed.” Harry said and walked around the table to pat her back.

Ginny let out a long and drawn out sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess we better go home.”

“What for?” Harry asked. “You’re still wearing your pyjamas.”

“Um… to go to bed?” Ginny asked, unsure.

“You can do that here if you want.” Harry said.

“Huh? How? There’s only two beds.” Ron said.

“Magic. Duh.” Harry said and Luna giggled. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

“Okay, this I gotta see.” Ron said and followed.

Harry led them to the second bedroom and handed Ron his things.

“You’re kicking me out? Really?” Ron asked a bit indignantly, and Ginny and Luna laughed.

“You’re staying in my room. Geez.” Harry said and looked at the girls. “Do you want smaller separate beds or one big one?”

“Big!” Both girls said at the same time and shared a laugh.

“We both have really small beds at home.” Ginny explained.

Harry nodded and cast the extending charm on the side of the bed and it spread out to nearly touch the walls on either side. “If you want a bath or shower, wear a towel when you’re done and leave your clothes in a pile by the bathroom door. I’ll clean them and give them back to you.”

“Thanks, Harry.” Luna said and climbed onto the bed. “Wow. I’ve never been on a bed this big.”

“The spell should last until I cancel it, so enjoy it.” Harry said and left the room to lead Ron to the main bedroom. “Same thing?”

“Yeah. That huge bed looked comfy.” Ron said and Harry made his bed bigger because the room was bigger. “Harry!” He said and quickly shut the door. “You can’t let them see it. They’ll force us to switch.”

Harry chuckled. “Of course they will.”

“Oh, they will. Believe me.” Ron said. “Girls can almost smell it if you’ve got something they want and…” He stopped talking when there was a knock on the door. “Too late.”

Harry opened the door and both girls let out little squeals, then he suddenly found Ron and himself standing outside his own bedroom and the door was shut in their faces. There were several thumping sounds and lots of laughs and giggles.

“Hey! Don’t jump on my bed!” Harry said through the door and the laughing increased.

“I warned you.” Ron said with a shrug and put his things back into the second bedroom. “I’m taking a bath.”

Harry nodded and watched Ron disappear into the bathroom. He grabbed a book and sat down on the closest chair to wait his turn. If he had realized it when he ordered the apartment, he could have gotten two bathrooms. He laughed under his breath at that, because it had taken Amelia pointing out that he could have someone stay over before he realized what the second sink in the bathroom was for.

Ron came out of the bathroom a little later wearing a towel and Harry quickly cleaned his clothing with several spells, cast warming charms on them, and handed them back. “Thanks, Harry.” He said and went into the second bedroom to change. “Dammit, they jumped on this one, too!”

Harry laughed and went into the bathroom. He did a couple of quick spells to clean the tub and then refilled it with hot water. Thanks to the magic taps, the huge tub filled almost instantly and he stripped off his clothes to leave beside the door. He climbed into the bubble filled hot water and sighed as he laid back and relaxed.

He had been pretty busy all day with cooking, cleaning, playing games with everyone, reading up on some new spells, and hanging out. Harry closed his eyes and let his body soak without bothering to scrub himself right away. He could do that during the few minutes before he climbed out, so he wasn’t worried about washing himself for a while.

At least, that’s what he had assumed. After ten minutes, the bathroom door opened and two laughing girls came in.

“That was so much fun!” Ginny said and Luna closed the door behind them. “Having such a huge bed is great!”

“We can sleep with our arms spread out and we won’t even touch each other.” Luna said and Ginny laughed some more.

“It’s going to be awesome to sleep on.” Ginny said and pulled off her pink one piece pyjama top. “Harry’s bed is bigger than my whole room at the Burrow.”

“It really is.” Luna said and unbuttoned her blue top before she pulled it off and tossed it on the floor on top of Ginny’s. “He’s so nice to let us claim the bigger bed.”

“I really thought he was going to complain or holler at us.” Ginny said and pulled off her pyjama pants.

“He did tell us not to jump on it.” Luna reminded her and pulled her own pants off.

“We were already jumping on it by then, so it doesn’t count.” Ginny said with unflappable logic and Luna giggled.

Both girls pulled off their panties at the same time and added them to the pile, then their socks went next. They were now completely naked and fully prepared to climb into the bath, so they turned and took two steps towards the bathtub…

…then froze still at what they saw.

In front of them was a very surprised Harry Potter, who was sitting up in the tub with his back straight and his chest half covered in bubbles.

“H-Harry!” Ginny gasped and then she blushed. Since her skin was so light, the blush could be seen from the top of her forehead to partway down her torso.

“Um… hi.” Harry said and gave her a little wave, which splashed the water a little and split the bubbles some.

Complete silence fell between them and no one said anything for nearly a full minute.

Luna looked at Ginny’s blushing face and then at Harry, who wasn’t blushing at all, and she made her decision. She shrugged and walked forward, picked up a facecloth, and climbed into the bath.

“Luna!” Ginny gasped, scandalized that she would do what she just did.

“He’s not staring at us.” Luna said with a shrug and looked at Harry’s face as she lathered up the facecloth. “Why aren’t you embarrassed to see girls naked?” She asked, pretty bluntly.

Harry sat there and he wasn’t sure if he should explain why.

“We won’t say anything.” Luna said and rubbed the cloth under her arm to scrub the armpit. “Having fun really makes me sweaty.”

“Luna… you… you’re having a bath with… with…” Ginny stammered and wasn’t sure what else to say. With a boy? With Harry? With the Boy-Who-Lived? With the most famous boy on the planet?

“It’s just Harry.” Luna said and scrubbed her other armpit, completely oblivious to Ginny’s dilemma.

Harry looked at Luna’s casual attitude and it reminded him of Susan, so he nodded. “I’ve taken two train trips with Amelia and Susan, one at Christmas and one at the beginning of the summer.” He explained. “We shared a large travelling compartment that only has one room with a small toilet across from the closet used for coats and things.”

“The seats fold down to make a big bed, right?” Luna asked and he nodded. “That means there’s no real privacy unless you hide in the bathroom or in your trunk until the girls you’re with are done changing and casting cleaning spells.”

Harry chuckled. “You sound like you’ve done it, too.”

“Daddy and I have travelled a lot during the summers when he knew it wasn’t dangerous to take me along.” Luna said as she rinsed off the cloth, wrung it out, and then lathered it up again. “Trains are the best.”

“They really are.” Harry said as he remembered some of it. “We had a lot of fun this last time, too.”

“I know. Just the ride and seeing the countryside is fun.” Luna said and lightly rubbed the soapy cloth over her budding chest. “Getting to stop in different places and going out on adventures makes it so much better.”

“Yeah.” Harry said and watched Luna rub the cloth over her arms. “Do you want me to do your back?”

“Sure.” Luna said and wrung out the cloth, lathered it up, and handed it to him before she turned around. “Thanks.”

Harry copied her motions and her light touch that he had seen her use on her chest, so he wouldn’t be too rough with her or possibly hurt her. Her back was slim and she seemed thin to him. He knew it wasn’t from starving, though. He knew exactly what that looked and felt like from washing himself when he was younger. As he rubbed his hands over her back to wash her, he could feel that she was healthy because the skin and the flesh was firm. She just has a small body structure.

“Your turn.” Luna said and turned around to take the cloth, wrung it out and lathered it, then Harry turned around for her and she scrubbed his back for him. Her small hands took a lot longer to scrub his back, since he was quite a bit bigger than her, not to mention a year older.

Ginny stood there and watched for several minutes as her blush faded. She could see that neither Harry nor Luna were nervous or upset at what was happening, namely being naked with each other in the bath and bathing each other. When she felt like she could finally move, after convincing herself to act normal despite how nervous she was feeling inside, she took those last few steps and joined them in the tub.

“Skooch over a bit.” Ginny said to Luna, who complied without a word and handed her the cloth. Her blush came back and she looked a bit lost, so Luna lathered it up for her and then put the cloth and Ginny’s hands on Harry’s shoulders.

“I did his back, so you can do his pits.” Luna said with a giggle and Harry laughed.

“I can handle them myself.” Harry said and started to turn around.

“N-no, I… I can do it.” Ginny said and stopped him. “Lift your arms.”

Harry gave her a brief glance and turned back around as he lifted his arms over his head and folded them as if he was going to lay down on them.

“Perfect.” Luna said and poked Ginny’s side.

“Ow.” Ginny hissed. “What was that for?”

“Hurry up.” Luna said. “I only grabbed one cloth and we have to share.”

Ginny sighed. “You’re not supposed to be this pushy.”

Luna giggled and Harry chuckled. Ginny gave Luna a short glare and then leaned close to Harry and washed one of his armpits. Harry laughed a little and the two girls exchanged looks, then shared identical feral smiles before they attacked.

Harry burst out laughing and started splashing in the water as the two girls tickled his armpits relentlessly. He only halfheartedly fought them off. “S-stop… stop, we… need to finish… bathing!”

“In a minute.” Ginny said, her voice full of confidence that she hadn’t felt before, then she did her best to make him laugh even more with Luna’s enthusiastic help.

A few minutes later, the three of them were panting and rested against the side of the tub to catch their breaths.

“That was… as much fun… as jumping on the bed.” Luna said with a dreamy smile as she forced her mind to memorize everything that had just happened.

“M-more fun.” Ginny said and leaned her head back against the edge of the tub. “I think I need a bath.”

Luna laughed and then she nudged Harry’s arm and nodded at Ginny. He gave her a skeptical look and then she lathered up the cloth to hand to him. Harry chuckled briefly and then it was Ginny’s turn to laugh as Harry and Luna gave her a bath, starting with her ticklish armpits.

*

Amelia, several Aurors, three Unspeakables, and Agilbert were back in his work space with a new quill they had spent twenty minutes casting spells on. After a very brief hello and a slightly long written explanation about what they had found out about Tom, including him finding Slytherin’s locket, the quill glowed bright red.

“Put it to the foe glass before it blows!” Amelia gasped.

Agilbert wasted no time doing that and as soon as the tip of the quill touched the base of the foe glass, which looked like a round make-up mirror mounted on a round brass stand, the glow transferred over immediately.

“By Merlin’s scraggly white beard!” One of the Unspeakables exclaimed as the map of the entire British Isles appeared and then six bright red dots popped up on it. “There’s six of them!”

“We have it on the projector.” One of the Aurors said. “Setting the map to scale. Adding details. Place names. It’ll be a minute for the addresses.”

“Agilbert, how’s the foe glass?” Amelia asked.

“It’s surprisingly stable after that huge magic infusion.” Agilbert said with a bit of pride as the quill burst into flames and fell to the floor. “My wife is a genius.”

“Is it safe to touch?” Amelia asked.

“Hell, no!” Agilbert said with a laugh. “Whatever snaked up into the quill slid right over into the foe glass without pausing. If anyone so much as goes near it, they might get the full blast of whatever that was.”

“All right, lock and block the door. We can get the rest of the information from the projector.” Amelia ordered and Agilbert and one of the Unspeakables blocked the door with both magic and physical objects. No one would be allowed in to touch either the foe glass or the journal.

“It’s too bad that we can’t bring it along and see if it will pinpoint them as we get closer to each one.” One of the Aurors said.

“We can’t levitate it around the countryside the long way and there’s no possibility that I would let anyone try to apparate with the thing, not after Agilbert’s warning.” Amelia said and several people nodded.

“Good decision.” Agilbert agreed.

“How’s the map looking?” Amelia asked the Auror on the projector.

“The addresses are coming up now.” The Auror said.

“You added in all the magical exceptions, didn’t you?” Amelia asked Agilbert. “I don’t want to miss anything that might be behind wards or enchantments like the journal was at the Malfoys.”

“All exceptions were put in, even the ones I myself didn’t think to add and my wife helped me with.” Agilbert answered.

“Okay, they’re all up.” The Auror said and flicked his wand at the bare white wall next to the projector. The list names of the locations and the addresses popped up on the wall.

“Oh, no.” Amelia said as she looked at the list. “No, no, no.”

“What is it?” Agilbert and Kingsley asked at the same time with worry in their voices.

“The middle one. Look at the address.” Amelia said.

“Yeah, what of it?” Kingsley asked.

“Number 4 Privet Drive is Harry Potter’s home address.” Amelia said and her heart skipped a beat as she said it. She hoped, hoped beyond all hope, that it was something he had on him. She knew it wasn’t, since he hadn’t really had anything of his own before coming to school. She still fervently hoped, though.

Kingsley wrote out the addresses and the directions on separate pieces of paper. “I’ll go to Hogwarts.” He said and handed the paper with Harry’s address on it to Amelia.

Amelia looked at it and it said ‘bathroom, magically expanded side apartment, Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging’. “I don’t want to do this.” She whispered, because she now knew for a fact that her hope was in vain. Only a person could be in the bathroom at this time of night. He’s probably bathing. She thought and looked up when a hand gripped her shoulder.

Agilbert gave her a sad smile. “I’ll work on something to help. I promise.”

Amelia closed her eyes for a moment and then she opened them. “No, you can go to the safe house and go to bed. These things are going to take a while to gather together.”

“In separate rooms.” Agilbert said sternly. “We don’t know what could happen if we put that many class five objects together.”

The Unspeakables around them nodded.

“I’ll get a couple more of my department up here to accompany you all.” The Head of the Department of Mysteries offered.

“You’re with me.” Amelia said to the man.

“Of course. That’s the most delicate one.” The Unspeakable said and sent word for more people.

“Kingsley?” Amelia asked as he finished handing out the other three assignments, since the sixth one was the journal and they already had that one. “Full battle gear and full alert. We don’t know what kind of situations we’re going into.”

“Understood.” Kingsley said and looked at the others. “You all heard the lady! Full gear! Let’s go!”

Everyone jumped and left at a jog to get ready.

“I assume we’re hitting all five locations at the same time.” The Unspeakable asked and Amelia nodded.

“We can’t let anything impede gathering them up as soon as possible.” Amelia looked at her paper with Harry’s address on it. “No matter what it is.”

Ten minutes later, five teams of two apparated from the ministry to go to five different locations.

The Gaunt residence in Little Hangleton, under the floorboards in the living room.

Number 12, Grimmauld Place, second floor living room, in the cupboard.

Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, in the bathroom of the side apartment.

Gringotts Bank, the Lestrange family vault, top shelf.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the come-and-go room of lost things, seventh floor.

*

“We have to do that again sometime!” Ginny said boldly, even though at first she had spent a third of the time standing there and watched Harry and Luna bathing each other before she had plucked up the courage to get into the tub with them. She and Luna left the bathroom wearing only towels.

Luna didn’t bother pointing out that Ginny shouldn’t have been embarrassed when she and Harry were bathing her, because Ginny had been completely naked the whole time she stood near the tub, too. That was before she climbed into the water with them and Harry had seen all of her long before she got in the bath.

“He tickled my feet when he washed and scrubbed between my toes.” Luna said with a giggle instead.

“Mine, too.” Ginny said and went into the big bedroom with Luna. “Who does that? I usually just rinse them off. That’s enough, right?”

“You should warn your shoes about that.” Luna joked and then laughed.

“Luna!” Ginny swatted at her playfully. “My feet don’t stink!”

“Uh huh.” Luna said with a grin as she climbed onto the bed.

“I’ll get you for that!” Ginny said as she jumped onto the bed after her and tackled her. The two of them rolled around and wrestled a little as they laughed.

“I can take your towels now.” Harry said and the two girls flopped onto their backs and looked over at him. They saw he had their sleep outfits and they looked and smelled clean.

“Thanks, Harry.” Ginny said and rolled over to the end of the bed and stood up. She pulled off the towel and let it drop to the floor, then she picked up her panties from the folded pile of clothes that Harry held in his arms. “Ooo, they’re warm!” She almost purred as she pulled them on. “Thanks a lot!”

“It’s just a quick heating charm.” Harry said, his face a little red.

Luna came over to him and dropped her towel before she picked up her own panties. “They really are warm.” She said and hugged them to her face and took a deep breath. “You’re so nice, Harry. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry said and watched her put them on as Ginny slipped her pink top on at the same time.

“You really aren’t bothered that we’re naked.” Luna said as she took her pants first and slipped them on, leaving herself topless, just to see if he would look. She kind of knew that he wouldn’t, since he hadn’t during the whole bathroom thing; but, she wanted to see if he would anyway.

Harry knew better than to stare, though. Susan had teased him enough for being curious about her and looking at her. If it hadn’t been for Amelia tempering him all year to be relaxed around Susan and herself while in close proximity to him, fully dressed or no, Harry might not have survived going to the beach with them wearing bathing suits, let alone taking a bath with not one but two girls at the same time.

Harry smiled at Luna and kept looking into her eyes as he handed Ginny her pyjama pants and gave Luna her top. Luna beamed a smile at him and put the top on, quickly buttoned it, and she sighed as the toasty warmth hugged her. Harry almost laughed at her happy face over something so simple.

“Goodnight, Harry.” Ginny said and faced away from him to climb onto the big bed.

Harry watched her get under the blanket before he spoke. “Goodnight.” He said and looked back at Luna. She reached out and lightly touched his pyjama top, then she stepped close and rested her head against the spot.

“Your heart’s beating really loudly.” Luna whispered and looked up at his face.

“I can’t help it if I get nervous around pretty girls sometimes.” Harry whispered back, honestly.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Luna felt a blush come to her face.

“Goodnight.” Harry said and stepped back to close the bedroom door.

“G-goodnight.” Luna said as the door closed.

*

Amelia sighed as she and the Unspeakable appeared in front of Number 4, Privet Drive. “I really don’t want to do this.” She said and walked over to the window that she knew led to Harry’s apartment, rather than use the door to the house. She waved her wand at the window and it grew to be big enough for a person to step through when it was opened. It was a fire safety feature the window had for easy escape and she knocked on the window as if it was a door.

Harry appeared on the other side and opened it for her with a big smile. “Hi, Amelia!”

“Hi, Harry.” Amelia said and stepped in to give him a hug.

“What are you doing here so late?” Harry asked. “I was just going to bed, so it must be important.”

“It is, Harry. Very, very important.” Amelia said and tried to stop her tears from forming as she let him go.

Harry saw the change in her face right away. “What is it? What happened?”

“Harry, I… I don’t know how to say this.” Amelia said and took a deep breath and let it out.

“I’ll tell him.” The man beside her said and she nodded.

“Who are you?” Harry asked.

“I can’t tell you.” The man said and then smiled. “It’s part of the job. I’m an Unspeakable.”

Harry had no idea what that was.

“You can forget that term for now.” The man said. “We’ve been investigating several dark objects recovered from the Malfoy mansion and one is of particular interest.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“It’s a class five restricted object.” The man said and Harry’s eyes widened.

“That’s the top of the scale! The worst kind!” Harry said and the man nodded.

“During the investigation, we found out that it was one of a set. A set that shouldn’t technically exist, because no one has ever heard of so many being around at once.” The man said. “We sent out teams to recover them all before anyone else discovers them.”

“That was smart to go and get them at the same time.” Harry said and then he realized something. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? I have one?”

“Yes.” The man said and took out his wand. “I want to cast a simple detection spell, so don’t panic.”

Harry glanced at Amelia and she sighed.

“Just humor him and hope that it doesn’t work.” Amelia said and stepped back. Just like I am.

The man chanted something and did a weird wand movement before he finished talking, then Harry’s forehead glowed bright red.

“Oh, no.” Amelia whispered and the tears couldn’t be held back anymore. “Oh, Harry!”

“What is it?” Harry asked. He could see the glow coming from his forehead and didn’t understand what was going on. “Amelia, tell me what’s happening!”

“It’s… it’s too much to go into right now.” Amelia said and knelt as she looked into his eyes through her tears. “I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“About what?” Harry asked.

“Harry?” Ron asked as he stepped out of the second bedroom and rubbed his eyes.

“Harry? What’s all the noise about?” Ginny asked as she opened his bedroom door and Luna stepped out.

“Harry’s forehead is glowing red.” Luna said and looked at the Unspeakable. “Please don’t kill him.”

“Wh-what?” The man asked, shocked. “No, I… I wouldn’t…”

“You shouldn’t lie to children.” Luna said and squinted her eyes at him. “It’s your job to do what Aurors can’t.”

The man stared at her and wasn’t sure what to say. There was no way that she could know that.

“Harry, you have to come with us.” Amelia said and wiped at her face. “We need to check you over and try to deal with… with… you need to come with us to the Ministry of Magic.”

Harry waved his wand at the kitchen and set out as much food as he could. “You guys can stay here for as long as you want, okay? I’ll be back when… well, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Luna walked over to him and held a hand out to him.

Harry was sure what she wanted and he gave her his wand, since he knew he would have to hand it over to the ministry if he took it with him. “Keep it safe for me, okay?”

Luna hugged the wand to her chest and nodded.

“Let’s go.” Amelia said as she stood, transfigured Harry’s pyjamas into jeans and a t-shirt, then took his hand and led him to the window.

“Harry!” Ginny gasped and looked about to cry.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine and I’ll be back before you know it.” Harry lied and went with Amelia and the Unspeakable out through the window. It shrunk and went back to its normal size while the three young people he left behind watched their feet reach the sidewalk and then the feet disappeared.

“I’m calling mum!” Ginny said and ran over to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, and yelled into the flames. “THE BURROW!”

She stuck her head into the flames and her body shook and her hands moved, as if the people on the other side of the fire could see them as she told them what was going on. Neither Ron nor Luna had to imagine the ruckus Ginny would cause as she informed her mother what had happened. They both knew exactly what was going to happen.

Molly Weasley was going to explode with fury that Harry had been taken prisoner by the Ministry of Magic.