Horace Slughorn had been called many things over the course of his life. Vain. Self-serving. Lazy. Manipulative. Arrogant. But even those most inclined to speak ill of him would never have thought of him as confrontational.
That made it all the more surprising that he was striding as quickly as he had in years on the way to track down Albus Dumbledore before his old colleague could escape into his office. The students had just left for the train taking them away as the year had ended, but Old Sluggy felt like this was going to be the most stressful summer since Lily Potter's death. He was strongly considering hiding out at the school until September came around.
But today, he had a mission.
Lily had been one of his all time favorite students, and it was more than just the fact that she reminded him of his long lost love. She was driven in that way that only the young can be- out to change the world, to make it a better place- before age and cynicism brought on the pain of wisdom. Her son was thought of as something of a miracle, and this past year made Horace start to believe that maybe there was something to that. Harry Potter was more than just a scar on his forehead. He had a different sort of drive, and burgeoning magical power of the type seen at most once in a generation. Whereas Tom Riddle had something similar, although more of a will to control others, Harry's was more focused on fighting to stay alive, and that was heartbreaking. No teenager should have to fight for survival, and certainly not have to kill in order to do so.
That far too much weight had been left on the shoulders of Harry Potter was disgraceful. It was even worse for Horace as he had taught so many of the now revealed Death Eaters, more often than not coming from his own house, and in the decades past, he had been on good terms with Millicent Bagnold as her career had bloomed before becoming the Minister of Magic. It was clear now that she must have been much more corrupt than even most politicians once the number of Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup was revealed.
Horace always assumed that some of those claiming to have been under the Imperius had lied, but to see the stark truth was still shocking.
The failures of the past had left this mess now, and it was time for Slughorn to do something to try to help clean it up. Old men like he and Dumbledore should have been the first line of defense, but he had retired in comfort, and while Albus had not, it seemed that the headmaster had clearly not done enough either. It was shameful to find that Harry had to deal with what Horace now knew he had faced in the Chamber of Secrets.
He hadn't felt so ashamed in a long time. It was time to make amends for one of his oldest sins.
"Albus! I need to speak with you." He had finally reached the headmaster, just down the hall from his office.
"What can I do for you, Horace?"
"We'll want to do this in private."
"Very well. On to my office then?"
"Yes."
"Are you alright, Horace? You look out of breath."
"Why do you think I have my own quarters much nearer to my classroom? I'm too old to be running all over the castle."
"You're younger than I am," Dumbledore replied with a grin.
"I'm more sensible too, clearly."
"Clearly," the headmaster agreed with a chuckle.
They walked on together for a few moments and then took the stairs up to Dumbledore's office. Slughorn collapsed into the nearest chair almost immediately.
"Now, what has you so bothered?"
"Give me a moment, Albus. I need to catch my breath because I'm going to need it for all I have to say."
"Please take your time." Dumbledore sat down as well and tried to get as comfortable as he could in his chair. Horace was well known for his loquaciousness, so he assumed this could take awhile.
"I had a very enlightening and distressing conversation with Mr. Potter just before he left for the summer. He wanted to ask me about Tom Riddle. You didn't put him up to it, did you?"
"No, although I am not completely surprised that he would ask you about Tom. I am a little disappointed that he came to you before speaking with me, though. I had hoped that our relationship had mended somewhat over the last few months."
"Harry told me about Riddle's diary. Do you know what happened to it?"
"I believe I have it around here somewhere," Dumbledore replied.
"I assume you studied it then?"
"I did."
"Dammit, Albus, I'm not here to play games. You know what Riddle created, don't you? Please tell me you're just being mysterious and secretive as usual, and you're not actually going senile."
"I can assure you I am not going senile."
"Then why haven't you searched for more of the blasted things?"
"I have done some research over the years for trophies that I believe Voldemort may have used. I was not sure that was what he had done until recently."
"Harry put that diary on your desk two years ago! What have you done in the meantime? I will not let the entire weight of the world be placed on a teenager's shoulders! Harry has done far more than enough already! Two Death Eaters arrested because of him, several others killed. That's more than even you tallied, I believe. Only Alastor has done more. Has this country fallen so far that we're going to rely on Harry to save us again? Because the people who should have cleaned this mess up years ago decided not to do what was necessary, we're now on the brink of war. A war we were supposed to have already won."
"I need more information if we are going to have a chance to clean this mess up for good." Dumbledore fixed Horace with a piercing gaze, and the Potions Master rubbed his weary face and sighed.
"Seven," he croaked out. "He wanted a seven part soul."
"Six horcruxes then," Albus replied quietly. "He would have created six. I have a few ideas that I can work on. We at least have had some good news recently. Harry killed Voldemort's snake at the graveyard, and from what I saw in the pensieve, I am almost positive that means two have now been destroyed."
"And what about the boy?"
"What about him?"
"Don't be obtuse with me," Horace said angrily. "You told Harry that the Dark Lord had transferred some of his powers, including the ability to speak parseltongue to him. How could that possibly be? What type of scar has that sort of power?"
"I don't believe-"
"Damn you, Albus! How long have you known?"
The headmaster sat back in his chair and looked away.
"Since his parseltongue ability came to light," he admitted, still unable to face his oldest colleague.
"And how long have you suspected?"
When the silence was his only answer, Horace kept demanding.
"How long?"
Albus turned back around with a tear rolling down the side of his face.
"Tell him, Albus. He deserves to know the truth."
"How can I? After all he's already faced, how can I tell him what fate has in store for him? How can I ask even more of him?"
"What do you think you're going to ask? That he sacrifice himself? That the price the Potter family paid all those years ago wasn't already enough? That he throw his life away? The hell with that, Albus. It's going to take a lucky shot for anyone to take down Riddle, whether he's mortal or not."
"What do you suggest then?"
"That whenever that lucky shot comes, we make sure he can't escape. Since a killing curse in the back won't work, we need to hit him with something that will disable him, leave him vulnerable for a moment when he can't escape. Then we pour the draught of living death down his throat, bury him in the deepest, darkest tomb in the world, and let Harry Potter live his life in peace."
"Potions can't always be the answer, Horace. I'm afraid things won't be that easy," Dumbledore sighed. "No one has ever captured Voldemort."
"And the only one who has ever killed him was apparently Lily Potter. At least that's what Harry and I believe, since the idea that he has a 'magical forehead' offends the both of us. We can't just pray for another miracle like that. From what I've heard, Harry was able to at least duel him to a standstill at only fourteen. Maybe with some more actual training, one of these days he will be up to the job, since you apparently refuse to do it."
"At my best, I was never able to beat Tom. I don't know that anyone could truly defeat him."
"So we should all just give up then? Concede the country to him? I suppose we could at least smuggle the children out so that they won't burn with the rest of us as England goes down in flames."
"I am not giving up," Dumbledore said, some of the fire coming back to him.
"Then you bloody well better get to work," Horace replied. "I've got a draught of living death to brew. If you come up with a better idea, let me know."
"I will, Horace. For what it's worth, thank you for your honesty."
"It is the best policy, or so they say," Slughorn snorted as he stood and began to leave. "Tell him, Albus. Or I will."
The train ride had been quite relaxing. Harry had spent much of the time just talking with Hermione and Luna, both of whom he made plans to visit in the fairly near future. He also had brief conversations with several of his other friends, including Neville, Fred and George. Parvati and Lavender had stopped by to wish everyone a good summer.
Flora and Hestia had sent a message earlier that week that they had decided to take Sirius up on his offer, so they knew to expect to see him once they arrived at King's Cross Station. The twins were in their own compartment though, as they were trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Harry expected they would take their time in getting off the train as well for the same reason. That suited his purposes just fine; he was already starting to miss Luna even as they spoke of the upcoming summer.
He knew some of what Pansy had planned though, and it would begin later that very day.
Harry looked over at his girlfriend and marveled at how calm she could be. There was little that he was going to have to do, other than watch and worry he supposed. He just hoped that everything would go well. Knowing his luck, it would either be a breeze or a nightmare.
When the train pulled to a stop, they waited for the crowd to thin a bit. Plenty of people were in a hurry to get away for the summer. They escorted Luna to meet her father and Hermione gave Harry one last hug before she went through to the muggle side of the station to find her parents.
A few minutes later, Harry led Pansy over to Sirius, who was off to one side, leaning against a wall. 'Trying to look cool,' Harry thought with a snort, but to his annoyance it did actually sort of work for his godfather. The smirk on his face told Harry that he knew it too, the smarmy bastard.
"Hey there," Sirius said. "How was the train ride?"
"Nice and quiet," Pansy replied. "Nothing dangerous or out of the ordinary at all. Now if only the next couple of months will cooperate and be just as calm."
"I could definitely use the chance to unwind."
"Good luck with that, Harry. Ah, and here they are!"
Flora and Hestia had joined them.
"May I welcome two such lovely ladies to the Sirius Black Summer Home for Wayward Girls. All those determined to be as disappointing to their evil parents as possible are our most favored guests. I myself continue to torment my mother even years after her death."
"Thank you, Lord Black," Hestia responded with a grin on her face even as she curtsied. "My sister and I shall endeavor to be thoroughly horrible."
"Then I think you'll fit right in," he said with a smile.
"If you get sick of his nonsense, feel free to hex him as much as necessary," Harry told Flora with a smirk. "Someone will probably need to keep him in line."
"I'm sure I can handle him."
"I'm sorry my dear, but you're far too young to be handling me," Sirius teased. "Now, I think it will be best if we head to my home first and make plans to visit yours after we've got your school things stowed away. Kreacher!"
The grumpy house-elf appeared, already muttering about his awful blood traitor of a master, but Sirius paid him little mind as he gave the order to deliver the Carrow twins' trunks to his home.
"Are you sure you don't need our help?" Pansy asked.
"No, I've got back up coming by later. I'm sure we'll be alright, and I assume you have things to do as well."
"Alright, take care of yourselves," Pansy said as she turned to the Carrows. "Let us know if anything important happens. But most of all, try to enjoy the summer. With any luck, things will stay quiet for awhile."
"That would be nice," Hestia replied. "Maybe we can even treat this as an actual holiday for once."
"It would be a nice change," Flora agreed.
"Well, the summer after my third year was the first really good one I ever had," Harry added. "Maybe it will be pleasant for you too. Sirius, I imagine we'll talk soon."
Before he could escape, Sirius wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Take care of him, Pansy. You're not the only one who loves Harry."
The girls chuckled at Harry's embarrassed discomfort before Sirius took the arms of Flora and Hestia and side-apparated them away.
"Just think of the bright side, Harry," Pansy said with a smirk. "At least he didn't lick you this time."
Dobby had been waiting for them under Harry's invisibility cloak and he took them back to the flat as soon as they were alone. They quickly set aside their belongings, covered themselves with the cloak and then were once again popping across the country, this time back to Hogsmeade.
Specifically, to the ground floor of the Shrieking Shack. Dobby led them to a room down a hall where their victim was waiting. Little Teddy Nott was tied to a chair, facing away from the door, and unconscious.
"You made sure no one saw you?"
"Yes, miss Pansy."
"Good work Dobby."
Harry got to go first, as he was in charge of softening up Teddy's defenses. He entered the room and cast a spell to awaken the Slytherin.
"Wakey, wakey." Harry walked around to where he could be seen.
"What? Potter? What the bloody hell is going on? Let me go."
"You know, Teddy- you don't mind if I call you Teddy do you? That's what your sister said she called you, so I thought you might like it. The thing is, you tried to slip a love potion to Pansy. While it didn't work, the idea was that you wanted to rape my girlfriend. That's not something I can easily forgive. I've thought long and hard about what I wanted to do to you to show my disapproval of your actions."
"You'll never get away with this Potter. Someone will have noticed that I'm missing, and they will find me. You're going to be in so much trouble, and Pansy-"
"Say one more word about her and you won't leave this room alive, you maggot." The look in Harry's eyes was enough for Nott to know that he meant it. "Now then, I believe I was trying to tell you about all the things I planned for you. For example, I considered cutting your thumbs off.
"Now, why the thumbs, you might ask. Scientists think that we evolved to become the dominant species on the planet in part due to our thumbs. Unlike most animals, we could pick things up and use them as tools. Tools became weapons. Tools led to discovering things like controlled fires that we could use to cook food or stay warm at night. Tools led to greater intelligence as we discovered more and more we could do. Fast forward thousands of years, and here we are with our civilization and all that we've accomplished.
"You need your thumbs to do all sorts of things, you know? Imagine how much harder it would be to try to write without a thumb. Or hold a wand. Or slip a potion into someone's drink."
"Potter, please, just let me go," Nott begged. "I'll never go anywhere near either of you again."
"But then I had another, simpler idea," Harry continued, ignoring the pleas. "I could cut your balls off. Not nearly as elegant or inventive as removing your thumbs, but damn did it sound satisfying. I even learned a castration curse. Pansy's father had all sorts of interesting things in his library, at least before we stole most of them. Did you know the Parkinson family used to deal in the slave trade? Hundreds of years ago, of course, but there was still a lot of knowledge in some of the old family tomes. You see, slaves were used for different tasks, and there were plenty of people who didn't take kindly to being enslaved. That shouldn't be surprising. I certainly never enjoyed it.
"But, getting back to the point. Some slave masters were willing to do all sorts of things to make sure their property behaved themselves. Sometimes they went so far as to castrate the men. Now, wizards could do that so much more quickly and cleanly with magic, and... well, I think you see where I'm going with this."
Nott's begging had turned to quiet whining and sobbing. Obviously, he saw exactly where Harry was going with this.
"Luckily for you, I decided against that as well. I didn't want to have to see you naked or get too close to make sure I didn't accidentally kill you if I did that. And obviously, I wasn't going to ask Pansy to do it either. That meant I had to come up with another new idea.
"I don't know if you heard the story going around, but when your precious Dark Lord kidnapped me, I got to experience the Cruciatus curse. Three times even! It was not pleasant, to say the least. But now, I have the perfect opportunity to practice casting it on someone else.
"You remember Moody's lesson, don't you Teddy? You have to really mean it to cast one of the Unforgivable Curses. Well, you wanted to hurt the woman I love, so you can be damn sure I mean it when I say that I want you to suffer."
"Please, Potter, don't-" Nott pleaded.
"But in the end, it wasn't his decision," Pansy said as she stepped around in front of Nott. "It wasn't Harry that you were going to hurt. At least, not directly. It was me. And therefore, it was my choice about what we would do to you.
"I can understand his ideas. If some stupid girl had done something like that to him, I would gladly have butchered the fucking cunt. I would happily watch the life fade from her eyes and sleep well that night afterwards. But, unlike Harry, I also remember that there are things more important than watching you suffer."
"I'm lucky to have someone so brilliant on my side," Harry said with a smile. "Killing you would be easy. But you were the son of a Death Eater."
"Just as I was the daughter of one," Pansy added. "I knew all sorts of things that were useful about the Death Eaters because of that. So, I'm guessing it's likely that you know something useful as well. Time to find out.
"Legilimens!"
Harry took a step back as Dobby set up a chair and desk nearby, so that Pansy could make any notes. Judging by the smell, Nott had pissed himself in the last few minutes, so it was doubtful that he would be able to put up much of a defense, even if he had been trained in Occlumency in the first place.
He kept his wand at the ready though, just in case. If this worthless piece of shite so much as blinked at Pansy wrong, he was not going to survive the night.
An hour later, she took a break but refused to let Harry try. Pansy's contention was that if he got a look at the wrong type of memory, he would lose control and possibly kill Nott. He had to admit that she was probably right.
"Please, just let me go," Nott begged once again. Pansy was writing at the desk, so Harry decided to answer instead.
"Oh, don't worry, we will. We will let you go and everything will go back to normal."
"Really?"
Harry chuckled darkly. He was telling the truth, to a certain point of view.
"It would go easier on you if you just told us everything we wanted to know. Starting with the names of every single person you know or suspect to be a Death Eater."
"Whatever you want," Nott croaked, his voice hoarse.
Pansy perked up at that and came around to stand in front of him. She motioned for Harry to go sit at the desk and once he was ready to take notes, she led Nott through the interrogation. This time, she just focused on looking in his eyes, looking for any sign of lies.
For several minutes, he talked and answered questions. There were only three new names they were able to get out of him that night, but she also had a number of other interesting facts set aside for possible follow up. More than enough to blackmail his family as well.
One last time delving into his mind provided nothing else of real use, so Pansy told Harry that she was done. He nodded and stepped in front of Nott.
"We're almost done, Teddy. Aren't you excited by that?"
"You really are going to let me go?"
"Yes. We just have to do one thing first."
Pansy and Dobby disappeared with a pop.
"You're all alone with me now. I really, really want to try out the Cruciatus curse on you. You deserve nothing less. But Pansy wants to make sure I don't leave any evidence behind, so for her, my safety is of greater importance than my need for vengeance. It's your lucky day. The only thing is, you won't remember just how lucky you got.
"Obliviate!"
He saw the recognition fade from Nott's eyes as the spell went to work.
"In fact, you won't remember much of anything at all," Harry whispered a moment later as he covered himself with the cloak and walked away.
Harry had focused his will into erasing Teddy Nott's mind. Not just that evening, or that day, but everything. Going back years. He left him barely more than a toddler. It was kinder than he deserved, but for his family's sake, he would give the Notts another chance. Maybe without a Death Eater father to guide him, he could turn out as someone not worth killing.
Harry had done a lot of killing. He had never had a chance to torture someone, and as much as a part of him wanted to, it was probably for the best that Pansy had talked him out of it. She was much more concerned with them getting away with everything and making some progress in the war rather than making Nott pay for failing at being a rapist.
Dobby was once again invaluable as their partner in crime. He had procured a bottle of firewhisky that would be poured down Nott's throat and all over his clothes before he would be left on the outskirts of the village later that night. A teenage boy deciding to celebrate with too much firewhisky was something that happened often enough. Figuring anything out about what happened to him would be obscured even further by the alcoholic stupor.
Back at their flat, Harry ordered a pizza for dinner because Dobby was busy dealing with Nott and then erasing any traces left behind at the Shrieking Shack.
He was trying to relax while he ate another slice of sausage and pineapple. He had been told that ham or Canadian bacon were the more popular pairings to go with pineapple, but he was pretty sure Hedwig would have mangled his half of the pizza if anyone had uttered the magic 'b' word within range of her hearing. And ham was just fucking gross.
Pansy was vowing revenge on PizzaExpress for sullying her half of the pizza with an errant piece of pepperoni. It was hilarious to Harry, and he was struggling not to laugh. She had ordered only veggie toppings (black olives, bell peppers, and mushrooms) even though she tended to eat just as much meat as he did. For some reason, pepperoni was one of her mortal enemies. She called it a greasy, disgusting, fake meat-like substance that should be banned from existence.
The only reason she was currently ranting against the injustice of how her half of the pizza had been sullied was because there was a commercial break. They had been watching footage from the recent Glastonbury Festival, specifically Pulp's headlining performance, and it made Harry consider even more strongly than before leaving the magical world behind. Their friends Vanessa and Steven had been able to go there just before heading to France on their honeymoon. He wouldn't have been so envious of them if not for the fact that somewhere between Do You Remember the First Time and Common People was when Harry was busy being kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed.
It was certainly one occasion in which the muggle world would have been infinitely preferable to the magical one.
"Stupid fucking pepperoni," Pansy muttered once again, glaring at the offending interloper that Harry had removed and set aside. He could have told her to get over it, but it was just too funny to listen to her.
Something had been bugging him though, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
"Pansy, sweetheart, can I ask you something? If you can stop swearing at the evil piece of meat, that is."
"Fine," she huffed in response. "What is it?"
"I feel like I forgot something from the end of the year. I mean, I know there was a lot going on, but it just seems like there's something I meant to do and..."
"And you don't remember what you didn't get around to doing. Don't worry, Harry, I probably know exactly what it is. I also know that it was taken care of, if it's what I'm thinking of. I'll give you a hint: think back to the third task."
"Voldemort? I don't think I forgot anything about that. That's the main thing I was focused on."
"That was after the third task."
"Yeah, I... Fuck! Krum! I was supposed to make him pay for being a sleaze to Hermione."
"Never fear, Harry, I saved you the trouble."
"You did?"
"Well, Daphne and I did, actually. And Dobby helped, of course. You'll have to remember to thank him when he gets back."
"What do you mean?"
"Hold on," Pansy said as she took another bite to finish the slice of pizza she had been eating. "This is a bit of a story. I'm done eating for now. Let me go wash my hands and get a drink."
"Okay." Harry enjoyed more of his pizza while she got up and went about her tasks. He looked over at the pepperoni and considered giving it to Hedwig. She might like it. Pansy was right that it was pretty greasy, but then again, so was bacon.
On cue, Hedwig flew into the room from where she had been resting in the second bedroom, landing on Harry's shoulder. It was kind of funny that his owl had her own room. However, it was even more disconcerting to think that she might be psychic. He had only thought the word bacon in his head, and yet here she was.
Maybe there was something to this idea of a magical familiar bond?
"Prek!" Hedwig shouted angrily.
"Right, sorry girl, I was just thinking. I'm not sure if you'll like this, but far be it from me to keep you from eating whatever you want. Here."
The owl grabbed the pepperoni and devoured it.
"I'll take that as a yes. You going out for the night?"
She gave him one of her better glares but then nodded when Harry didn't get up.
"Forgive me for worrying about you, your majesty," he said as he stood and walked over to the window to open it for her. She must have noticed his eyeroll too, because Hedwig swatted him with her left wing before flying off into the night.
"I think she was good training for you, Harry," Pansy said with a smirk as she came back over to the couch with a glass of water.
"How so?"
"You learned how to treat a lady and when not to argue with us."
"I guess. I think she's actually more high maintenance than you."
"Right," Pansy snorted. "Alright, so now it's story time. Get comfy, because I need to go into the backstory first. I assume you've never heard of the Widow's Curse?"
"No," Harry replied as he sat down beside her. He wiped his hands and face on a napkin while Pansy leaned against him, then he wrapped one arm around her as she snuggled into his side.
"Then that's where we'll start. The story goes that a long time ago, there was a beautiful young witch who was married to one of the richest men in the land. Unfortunately, only a couple of years into the marriage, her husband died, before they had children even.
"So now this beautiful young woman was as rich as could be, and soon she had suitors lining up to try to win her hand. Not only would they have a chance at a beautiful wife, but also all of her dead husband's wealth that was left behind.
"Of course, the widow had truly loved her husband, and she was angry at the people who infringed on the time when she should have been allowed to grieve for her lost love. But she, and the wealth, was far too tempting for all sorts of conniving men. Since she was not given what she needed by the schemers around her, she decided to make them pay for their trespasses.
"However, she was also a cautious woman, and she knew there was a nearby wizard who would gladly implicate her if she merely cursed them all or poisoned them. There were only so many lethal curses and poisons known at the time, and the wizard was most skilled, even in the dark arts.
"Therefore, she had to create her own way to get her revenge against the men who were constantly abusing her hospitality, trying to woo her. She came up with something new. It was a combination of a spell and an inactive poison. First, the hex would cause the victim to leave her presence as soon as possible. Then, once they had gone home, they would feel a strong disinclination to be around her again- or even anyone who merely resembled her. This would keep them away for at least several days.
"Once the spell ended though, if they decided to once again bother her, the poison would trigger. It was seemingly benign, but under the specific condition of the person who had ingested it not learning from their mistakes, then it would become deadly.
"You see, the witch was as brilliant as she was beautiful, so the curse would drive people away from her, and it would be a week or more later before they would die if they decided to push their luck. Because the lethal part of the magic was cast to modify what was ingested to temporarily become poisonous, the magic was basically impossible to detect. And with the victims having not been around her for days or weeks before falling ill, there was no evidence to tie her to the crime.
"Within a month, her two most obnoxious suitors had left, returning to their homes where they later expired from mysterious illnesses. Within six months, three others had died, while at least a dozen men had gone and never returned to bother her again.
"She was then finally left in peace. For a year, she mourned, rarely being spotted in public. Over that time, there was a severe winter, and her crops were decimated. Come the next spring, she searched through the town for a home with the most luscious garden. She found one where a young man had always tended to things for his parents as he had grown. She hired him to come work for her, helping her to restore what she had lost to the cold. He was polite, and a hard worker, and eventually even the witch's heart began to thaw.
"But she never forgot what had happened when she had lost her first husband. She saved the knowledge of the curse she had used and when her daughters were old enough, she passed the magic on to them. It is said that she somehow was able to hide the secret of the Widow's Curse so that it could only ever be used by women."
"Like the Fidelius charm?" Harry asked.
"Possibly. I'm not sure if that part of it is true or not. Anyway, that is the backstory. Now we get to how the Widow's Curse ties in to things today. And for that, I must go back to our last Arithmancy class of the year."
"When Daphne wanted to talk to you?"
"You do remember. Good. Now, something you would not remember is that last fall, at one of Slughorn's little parties, I was speaking with Daphne, Flora, and Hestia, and the topic of Krum and his predilection for younger girls came up. Most specifically, Daphne threatened to cut his balls off if she ever caught him looking at her younger sister. What you doubtlessly wouldn't have noticed is that Astoria turned thirteen last year and had a major growth spurt. She's not as tall as Daphne, but her curves started coming in with a vengeance, which caught the eye of the Bulgarian sleaze. Daphne saw him sit near Astoria one day and try to chat her up. Naturally, she was furious."
"I can imagine," Harry agreed.
"Indeed. However, she was able to control herself enough to not just perform an impromptu castration. She asked for my help in procuring the needed ingredients from Slughorn's stores and making sure Krum got dosed with the would be poison."
"Why did she ask you?"
"Ah, well, it turns out Daphne is smarter than most witches and wizards. Do you remember when the dementors attacked the quidditch match?"
"How could I forget?"
"When you collapsed after casting the Patronus, I screamed out for Dobby and he took us to the infirmary. Daphne remembered that and realized that we have a house-elf. Plus, she knew that you had it out for Krum after things with Granger and the Yule Ball, and then also his interference at the second task-"
"Not to mention his attack in the third task when he was apparently under the Imperius, again."
"Precisely."
"So, she used the Widow's Curse on Krum? Wouldn't that not really matter? I mean, since it's not likely that he'll be around the Greengrass girls again, I don't see how it could be that big of a deal."
"Think bigger than that, Harry. Daphne cast it so that he would not be interested in any underage girls anymore. Since, that seems to be his type..."
"He's doomed," Harry finished with an exhale. "Remind me never to get on Daphne's bad side. Or even glance at her little sister."
"Don't worry, Harry. I'll protect you from the big bad witches of Slytherin."
"Good. That's better than what I had come up with for Krum anyway."
"Which was what?"
"Shove a broom so far up his arse he could taste it."
"So vulgar, Harry," Pansy scolded, although it was somewhat weakened by the smirk. "You've clearly been spending too much time around Sirius."
"Someone's got to be a bad influence on him."
The next day, they had finished breakfast and were sitting out on the balcony, enjoying the pleasant morning. Well, late morning anyway.
"So, what do we need to do this summer?" Harry asked.
"We're not going to get involved with anything unless absolutely necessary," Pansy answered. "You did more than enough at the graveyard. Let people like Bones, Moody, and maybe even Dumbledore- if we're lucky- get to work on dealing with the Death Eaters."
"It's just too bad we've got such a bloody coward like Fudge as the minister. How did someone that stupid win the office anyway?"
"Good question. But I want to have a summer that we can enjoy for as long as possible. Knowing your luck, something's bound to come up one of these days."
"True enough," Harry sighed. "I assume you want to go see Vanessa and Steven when they get back from their honeymoon?"
"Of course. Last I heard, they were due back the middle of this coming week. I'll leave her a message later."
"Sounds good. Luna's going to be out of the country for a couple of weeks too."
"Yes, that's too bad," Pansy added. "It would be fun to spend more time in the muggle world with her. We could invite her over when she gets back."
"I guess if we were going to let anyone know where we live, it would be Luna."
"I don't think she would mind sharing a room with Hedwig, either."
"They'd likely stay up all night talking about some sort of conspiracy to keep the owls from taking over."
"Harry, you're the only one that's ruled over by his own owl."
"Then we'd better keep Luna away from her before they start an animal revolution."
"Alright, off the topic of Luna, we have plenty of time to just relax. I actually am going to need to use the second bedroom anyway."
"For what?"
"A project. Don't snoop or I will be very cross with you, Harry."
"Fine. Let's do something fun tonight then."
"Like what?"
"Go see a movie? Maybe try something new to eat?"
"Not go out dancing?"
"Not tonight," Harry said. "For one thing, Sunday night wouldn't be the best time, plus you know you'll enjoy it more if we go when you and Vanessa can hang out together."
"I suppose. Why don't we go pop in on the Brightwells for tea this afternoon?"
"That works for me," Harry sighed happily. "You realize what this means?"
"What?"
"Tonight. Dinner and a movie."
"It's a date," Pansy answered.
"Yes. A date. Nice and simple. No monster-filled tournaments. No Death Eater ambushes. No Dark Lords trying to kill us."
"At least not tonight," Pansy snorted.
"I'll take it, even if it is just for the night. I'm planning on savoring all the nice, mellow evenings we can get."
"Fine, but not too mellow," Pansy responded with a grin. "We're seeing something scary and you're going to eat something exotic and probably far too spicy. I expect you to keep me entertained, Harry."
"I'll do my best, sweetheart."
"Good answer." Pansy leaned over and kissed the side of his neck before whispering in his ear. "The more entertained I am, the more likely I am to be inspired to make the end of the night special."
"You do know how to motivate me."
They ended up trying sushi for the first time that night, so the food didn't leave his mouth burning enough for Pansy to laugh at him, but Harry did try one of the spicy rolls and loved it. Trying the wasabi did the trick though, as no one was there to warn him about how potent it was.
Harry got his revenge though by daring Pansy to taste it as well. Before they could leave, they both had to order drinks to mask the overwhelming flavor. And they then decided to also order popcorn, candy, and sodas when they got to the movie theater.
It ended up finally working, although Harry noticed a hint of aftertaste that lingered even until the next day.
They had a good time at the movie though. A ten o'clock showing on a Sunday night of a movie that had already been out for a few weeks meant they had the theater all to themselves. If things had been different, Harry would have likely tried to get Pansy to fool around, but they both enjoyed In the Mouth of Madness too much to do much of that. Harry figured that he could wait until they got home.
His girlfriend was becoming quite the horror buff. Harry tended to like the genre for the most part too, but he really loved it because of how much she tended to cuddle up next to him when things got scary. And even better, she almost always ended up turned on afterwards.
The next few nights proved this theory to be true. They had gone to a video rental store and rented a whole bunch of other John Carpenter movies as the two clerks working there kept suggesting more and more things for them to watch.
They were told to start with Halloween, and while it was a good movie, the simplicity of a guy with a knife slashing teenagers didn't particularly thrill them. Harry thought it was because they had already experienced so many actual monsters in the magical world that they needed something a bit more bizarre.
The aliens from The Thing were much more impressive.
"You know, according to that computer simulation in the movie, if the Things got away from Antarctica, then that means we are all infected by now," Pansy said that night in bed, after they had concluded their usual festivities. Harry had grown used to abnormal pillow talk like this following horror movie nights.
"True. I don't think it matters that much though."
"You aren't worried that I could be a monster lurking inside this cute teenage girl exterior?"
"I'd go with sexy teenage girl more than cute, actually," Harry said which made her snort as he used the opportunity to roll over and begin playing with her boobs.
"Stop being such a simple minded guy for one minute. Answer the question."
"Okay, well it wouldn't matter because in that case, I'd be an alien shapeshifter thing too. So, no big deal."
"Really?"
"I'd be okay with being a tentacle monster from outer space if you were one too," Harry teased with a smile. "Might make it even easier to deal with Riddle and the Death Eaters, actually."
"That's a thought."
"Just don't change shapes while I'm playing with your boobs, alright?"
"Because that would just be tragic," Pansy drawled.
"Exactly."
"Alien monsters that want to take over the world is okay, but only as long as it doesn't interfere with our sex life." Pansy snorted and shook her head. "You're ridiculous Harry."
"And yet you love me." Harry sat up and leaned down to kiss her again. "If I'm going to sign up for a horror movie scenario, then you have to agree to not editing out any sex scenes. I am not willing to compromise on this."
His lips made their way down her neck and collarbone as Pansy moaned and shivered slightly.
"I don't think it would count as a tentacle, but I do like that trick you do with your tongue," she purred. "I guess that means I'll allow one more sex scene tonight."
"Best secret space alien girlfriend ever."
The morning came too soon after all the fun they'd had the night before. Harry had to get up as Hedwig demanded his attention. Not only had she brought the paper as usual, but she also came bearing a letter from Sirius.
Pansy came out of the bedroom in a dressing gown and sat down on the couch beside him with a yawn.
"What are we doing awake?"
"Uh..." Harry yawned too then looked down at his hand. "Oh, I got a letter. From Sirius."
"What does he want? No, wait, don't tell me. We need breakfast or at least coffee before I'll be able to focus on whatever he's bothering us about."
"Good idea."
"Dobby will have food ready in just a few minutes," the house-elf said as he appeared over by the kitchen area. Sure enough, the smell of bacon, eggs, and sausage cooking soon filled the room.
"Thanks Dobby."
Two steaming cups floated over towards them while Dobby didn't even turn around. His ability to multi-task was pretty awesome.
"You're the best, Dobby," Pansy said as she savored the first sip of her coffee. "The fact that you always get the exact amount of cream and sugar is one of the absolute best things about you."
"Thank you, miss Pansy," he replied happily as he continued cooking.
"Alright, now I'm ready. What does your godfather want?"
"Um, let me see." Harry scanned down. Thankfully, Sirius was pretty brief when he wrote. "Wants to meet us tomorrow at noon at the Leaky Cauldron. Something about his home and a headquarters."
"Okay. We'll need to set an alarm if we're going to have another movie marathon tonight."
"Sounds like a plan."
Pansy yawned again even between drinks of her coffee.
"Let's plan on a nap this afternoon too. I don't believe in waking up before nine during the summer."
"Agreed. Good thing Dobby found those extra thick curtains for the bedroom. I'd say we could go back to bed now, but I'm all of a sudden hungry."
Hedwig was still awake too as she swept into the room, devoured the bacon right out of the pan and then fled back to her cage in the second bedroom.
"That is the most spoiled owl in the world," Pansy chuckled. "I would be jealous, but you're good about remembering to spoil me too."
"We make each other happy," Harry replied. "Isn't that what we're meant to do this summer?"
"I'll drink to that." She set aside her cup and lay her head down in his lap. "Just give me five more minutes before breakfast."
Harry smiled as even the coffee wasn't strong enough to keep Pansy from dozing off.
Dobby had to put the food under stasis when he was finished a moment later. Master Harry had fallen asleep with his head slumped against his chest. His humans were so silly. Dobby carefully moved them so they were both stretched out on the couch together. It wouldn't do to leave them in such uncomfortable positions.
Sometimes it seemed that his work at taking care of his family was never through. Those were some of the best moments for Dobby. But while his people were sleeping, it gave him another chance to check on his second family as well.
Master Harry fish and Miss Pansy fish were swimming around in their tank with four little baby fishies following them around. Dobby made sure to give them plenty of food. He still hadn't decided on names for the little ones yet. Maybe he could ask his humans for help with that later. For the moment, he was content, merely waiting for the next thing to do.
He took that opportunity to pop into the bedroom the scary miss Talons used to check on miss Pansy's potion. It looked like the lacewing flies were stewing nicely. Miss Pansy was good to have let Dobby help her with the process. She often came to him when she wanted to do something that would surprise master Harry. It made him feel that much better to be able to do something special for his family.
The elf then went back to the living room and waited for them to wake up so he could serve them breakfast. They looked very peaceful, but Dobby was pretty sure the time to relax would not last as long as his humans might like.
He would be there to watch over them whatever may come though. It brought a smile to the elf's face. His family was wonderful. The nasty dark wizards would be fools to cross Dobby's family. He would just have to remind master Harry that Dobby could fight to protect them too.