Chapter 26
When Harry awoke the next day, he was shocked to realise his girls were still with him. Fleur had thrown a leg over him at some point, trapping his arm between their bodies, his hand clutched between her legs. It seemed like she was still fast asleep though, and he worried about her reaction, should he move. He also didn't feel anything but skin.
His fears seemed unfounded, when her eyes opened a moment later. She focussed on him and winked, before releasing his hand, after squeezing it for a moment, between her legs. He realised then, that she had likely decided that it was time for him to wake up and had done it intentionally.
Tempted as he was to take advantage of the situation, he realised he had other priorities, the first of which was getting to the bathroom. The girls were all under the same large blanket with him, though, and getting up would be a difficult trick, without waking the rest.
He was spared the need to worry about it, when the other girls all started waking up, with yawns and movement, each of them waking the others. The room was still dark, but the cornices by the ceiling emitted a light, to indicate their normal daytime hours, as well as lights in the halls lighting up for those hours.
"Good morning, 'arry." Fleur said, as she smiled just for him.
"Good morning, Fleur." he said, as he sat up and shifted himself in preparation to get out of bed, only to realise he was naked again. He turned to Fleur. "Did you do this?" he asked.
Fleur looked innocently at him. "I don't know what you are speaking of." she said, smirking then even while her words sounded completely innocent.
"What did she do?" Hermione asked, in a croaky voice. She'd heard that tone before.
"Fleur has a habit of relieving me of my clothing, while I sleep." Harry said sternly, at the still smirking girl.
Pansy, who was instantly fully awake, got a mischievous look in her eye, before she ducked under the covers.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed, as Fleur joined her. He shot up, covering his modesty in the dim light, jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom.
"Come back!" Pansy called after him, as she looked up, after the bedding was ripped from her, at Harry's escape. Then she looked down, and realised that she was also in her birthday suit. "Fleur!" she exclaimed as she pulled the bedding back to cover up.
"It's in my nature." Fleur defended herself, even as she summoned her own, neatly folded clothing from next to the bed and started putting her underwear on.
The other girls were all noticing similar states of undress, and made their objections known, but quickly got up and started getting dressed as well. They were all still in their underwear, when a partially clothed Harry joined them, from his bathroom, having conjured some boxers for himself.
When he noticed their states, he stopped in his tracks and just looked at them.
Fleur was just lying on the bed in her underwear, in a relaxed position, having taken the position, knowing what she'd look like when Harry came back, and asked, "Like what you see?" She asked in a sultry voice, her eyebrow lifted, as she played with the edge of her panty, suggestively.
"Um." Harry said, intelligently.
The Patil twins decided to take full advantage of the situation, though, and walked up to Harry, hugging him, even though they were still only wearing their underwear. "You could always climb back in bed with us?" they offered in unison.
Hermione was blushing, while Luna smiled at the idea. She was feeling a little left out these days. She wasn't a little girl anymore, after all. She may be the youngest, but she was only human, and her betrothed was looking pretty good to her these days. Deciding to act on the thought, she walked up to Harry to hug him as well, also still only in her underwear. "This feels nice." she whispered.
Harry swallowed at feeling the skin-on-skin contact and he had the natural reaction, for someone his physical age.
"Is this for me?" Luna asked as she felt his passion rise.
That was about as much as Harry could take, before he about-faced and walked into the bathroom, again, closing the door firmly behind himself.
"Why did you do that, Fleur?" Hermione asked, as she finished getting dressed.
"I sought it would be a nice surprise for our man." Fleur said as she finally got up, to get dressed herself. "We should establish a seraglio. You are too shy, for a girl in a 'arem." She had noticed that Hermione was covering herself, even while it was just the girls in the room. "You 'ave nossing to be ashamed of. You are well endowed. I sink you are even bigger zan I was at your age." she said as she held her bra-clad breasts.
Fleur's frank assessment of her attributes, sent her into another blush, knowing Harry was likely listening. "Fleur!" she exclaimed. She didn't have any reproachful words for the older girl, actually being pleased at hearing it, but not really happy at being ogled by the Veela, who had been blatantly assessing all of the girls, who she hadn't seen in the buff, having undressed them magically, after they had all fallen asleep.
"Yes?" said Veela asked, with an upturned lip. Hermione didn't reply to that, as she finished putting on her shoes. Fleur walked to the bathroom door, then. "Are you alright in zere?" she asked. "We can always come help you wis ze situation?" she offered.
Harry, having heard everything, was blushing like mad, his blood not knowing where to flow, as it was drawn to two different places. "Witch!" he exclaimed through the door.
Fleur just smiled and winked at the other girls, before turning to Pansy. "Zat is 'ow you do it." she said. Harry had told her that the girl liked to get him all worked up.
Pansy nodded approvingly. The older girl was a skilled temptress. She could learn from her. She had not been bothered to find out she had been sleeping next to Harry naked. She just wished she had known, to take advantage of the situation, like any good Slytherin would. "You're good, I'll give you that." she admitted.
"Are you dressed, yet?" Harry asked finally.
"Non, we are all naked and waiting for you." Fleur called.
"Stop that!" Susan finally spoke up. "You can come out, Harry." she called.
"Give me another minute." Harry called. Fleur's last comment had given him a mental picture and his hormones were making themselves known again.
"Could you stop tempting him?" Hermione asked Fleur. "He's likely hungry and you're not making his life any easier."
"It's just part of my charm." Fleur said. She couldn't wait for the day that she could help him in the mornings with his frustrations, but she knew what she was getting into when she joined this group. She could always sneak into his room in the mornings, when the other girls resumed using their own rooms. For the moment, she relented, nodding in acceptance.
When Harry and his girls entered the Lido deck, intent on breakfast, it was to find that Dobby had already dished up for all of them, having taken note of all his future mistresses' preferences since he started being Harry's elf. The food was preserved magically, so that it would be fresh when they decided to join them.
The rest of the crew and guests were already sitting around, eating breakfast, having woken up only a short while ago. They had stayed up late, discussing the happenings of the previous evening. Even Madam Pomfrey had had a drink or two from Sirius's bar, while they discussed the ramifications of what they had seen and heard.
She was very worried about Harry, which was why she had told the parents, when they discovered their daughters had snuck off in the night to go to Harry's room, that they were just worried for him and that they should rather discuss it in private if they felt the need to, if at all. It wasn't like they would do anything inappropriate with Dobby keeping watch. The elf had stood sentinel, appearing when the parents came out looking for their girls, informing them that they were all sleeping in Harry's room and that nothing else was happening.
The Delacour mother had smiled a knowing smile at that, but had not spoken about her suspicions. Her daughter told her everything about their relationship and she knew she had a mischievous side. It would be good for the boy, if she could get his mind off of his troubles for a while. She had no reservations about their relationship. She was just sad that her daughter had to wait for the rest of the girls to be ready to take things further. It wasn't in the Veela nature to wait to express their passions.
Harry greeted the people in the room, with a blanket morning greeting and went to sit down at the table, in his usual spot, the girls following to join him. As they sat down the plates swapped around as Dobby made their picks go to the correct recipient. He usually tried to guess who would sit where, but he'd not gotten it right yet. Maybe he could ask them at some point how they planned the seating, since he realised there was an order to it, with nobody ever taking the same spot next to Harry twice in a row.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, except for a television projection above the bar, where the morning news was playing. Nothing was mentioned about the event outside Geneva, obviously, since the wolves had placed wards to keep the event from being noticed. It was standard practice for them, since they often worked in the Muggle world.
Seeing the news, Susan had an idea and spoke up. "What about a magical news program?" she offered. "We don't have magical television stations, but that shouldn't stop us, should it?"
"That's a wonderful idea!" Pansy enthused, the idea catching on instantly with her. "We could use it to advertise as well, like the muggles do."
"And sporting events, like Quiddich." Bill added, from where he sat. He was already planning how he'd set something like that up. He'd need to do some research… Perhaps he could go to where they broadcast other events from, so that he could see how it was done.
"Interviews and emergency service notifications as well." Hermione added. The idea had merit. The wolves were already reaching every corner of the world, and with Sirius's plans to upgrade the bikes into disillusioned flying machines, and their ability to go anywhere in the world, they could get any footage, with only a few dedicated crews. The Comms would be invaluable for letting people know of things that were going on, as well. Perhaps they could use Harry's plans for recording capabilities on the Comms to get footage from anyone with a Comm?
"Ooh!" Luna said. "Maybe there can be a Quibbler series? Mummy, Daddy and I can document our search for the Crumple-horned Snorkack!"
"Education could be a good thing as well?" Flitwick offered. "I could see myself enjoying a show hosted by masters in their fields, discussing the capabilities of magic and sharing ideas on recent developments."
"And a music channel for the wizarding bands." Padma said.
"That was a good idea, Susan." Harry said, smiling at her. "If you want, since it's your idea, we can work on it together?"
"We can all plan it, if you want." Susan said, indicating around the table. She'd only had a thought and shared it. She wasn't usually the one to plan such things. Her contribution to the group was mostly moral support and her limited knowledge of the law, which she had gotten through her aunt. She was glad that she had contributed something, though.
"I like it." Padma said. "A group project. Maybe we can spend more time with Harry this way?"
"We'll have to start after our Mars settlement is done taking shape." Harry countered. His mood fell again then, as he realised he'd be there, at that moment, if not for what had happened the previous evening.
"Hey, don't start moping, pup!" Sirius said, then. He'd been watching as Harry's girls kept his attention on plans for the future. He wondered if Madam Pomfrey or Remus had told them about how they were treating his depression, since they were doing a marvellous job, but his mind was inevitably going to go back to the recent events. "The wolves and Remus are handling everything. Even the old goat is covering for you. We should just go back and start working on my new pad. How many rooms should I add? Do you think all your girls will need their own, or are you sharing, now?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Harry.
Harry looked up incredulously at the man, talking so openly about what had happened the previous night. He was therefore happily surprised, when Remus decided to walk into the room, just then. "Good morning!" he said happily.
"Good news?" Sirius asked, changing gears quickly at Harry's look.
"Better than I thought I'd have." Remus continued, even as Dobby appeared.
"Breakfast?" the elf asked.
"Please, Dobby." Remus agreed. "I've had a long night. Some coffee too, if you don't mind?" The elf simply popped away, as Remus took a seat nearby.
"What's the news?" Flitwick asked. He was worried about the international repercussions of seeing everything Marauders Inc. and Harry himself had done the previous evening.
"The ICW and its members are still conferring, after the revelations last night." Remus started. "I'm pleased to say, the news looks promising. Dumbledore is still keeping things from spilling into demands on Harry's technology. Someone tried to confiscate Hagrid's Problem Solver, but the Wolves escorted him and Madam Maxime away, to keep it from them. We'll need to add some protections, so that it can't be taken from him. There was also a push for the wolves to turn over Project Black Light, but it was overruled, by a majority vote. It seems having Harry show up personally to handle the situation worked in our favour, as we had hoped."
"If they are still in session, how do you know what's going on?" McGonagall asked.
Remus smiled a wolfish grin at that. "The wolves are a resourceful group." he said, in explanation.
"You're using the Cacodaemon to spy on them." Hermione said bluntly.
"And maybe a spy or two." Remus allowed. Tonks may be one of the new 'Aurors' on guard duty. "It was for the protection of the pack. As alpha, it is my duty to keep an eye on anything that might threaten my pack." He looked over at Harry, then. "The cub is also well respected. If I didn't look out for him, I may be challenged. There were already a few that needed reprimanding. Bellatrix Lestrange lost her wand-hand."
"You're not mistreating prisoners, are you?" McGonagall asked, with her strict face #5.
Remus looked like he wanted to duck for a moment, before he realised he was not a student anymore. He straightened. "The healers were able to re-attach it. It's not pretty, but it's functional." he said.
"Couldn't happen to a nicer psychopath." Harry said. Bellatrix would never be one of his favourite people. Dobby's original death still came up in his dreams at times. When he woke up from those dreams, the elf was usually standing there, with a concerned look. He didn't doubt that he still spoke in his sleep, especially after the first time that had happened.
"Doesn't Lupin Penitentiary have the highest standards in treating their prisoners?" Flitwick asked. That's what he had heard.
"We do, but if a prisoner should show up with a wound, received beforehand, it's treated and left off the books." Remus said. "The Goblins send reports on every single scratch after they arrive. It's insulting the amount of documents they expect me to sign on a daily basis!"
"Percy." Harry said.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Percy Weasley." Harry elaborated.
"Oh, that's a good idea." Bill chimed in. "My brother, Percy. He loves bureaucracy. Keeping things in order and following rules. He's currently an intern at the Ministry. I've not heard from him in a while, now that I think about it."
"Get him." Harry said emphatically. "He'd make the best assistant. I can't tell you how I know, but do it. You'll never find a more hard-working, goal-oriented person to take care of your interests."
"Done." Remus said. He knew what Harry wouldn't talk about in a group of people, like the current gathering. "I really need the help, and Tonks has been telling me to get an assistant. Apparently I don't get enough time to relax and rest."
"How many hours did you sleep last night, again?" Harry asked, with a raised eyebrow, interrupting Sirius from saying something that would likely gain him some sort of retribution.
"Shut up, Harry." Remus said, as a cup of coffee and a plate of food appeared in front of him.
"You've not been neglecting your health, have you?" Madam Pomfrey asked, sternly.
"Why does there need to be two of you in the room right now?" Remus asked, looking between McGonagall and Pomfrey. He'd never felt quite as judged as he felt when those two were together in the room with him, with their focus squarely on him.
"So, your bodyguard-" Sirius tried again, before all sound stopped coming from his mouth.
"Don't interfere in my business, Padfoot." Remus said, his own stern warning in his voice. The wolf wouldn't allow a mongrel dog to speak down to him, the low grumble of the wolf's voice barely audible as he spoke. Sirius had not yet gotten used to the new, assertive, dominant personality laying just beneath the surface of Remus's normal, calm personality.
"I don't know." Harry said. "Tonks is a fun sort of person. She may just want to get to know you better, in a less formal environment."
Remus narrowed his eyes at Harry, but turned his attention to a person he could deflect the conversation onto. "So, Poppy, I hear you've got a date lined up with Daniels next week, just before the term starts? How's that going?"
"That is none of your business." Madam Pomfrey said, lifting her chin. "Don't try and deflect on me, young man. I've been around long enough to know things that you don't want getting out." she threatened.
"But-" Remus started.
"Things I heard outside my role as healer." she elaborated.
Remus actually paled at that. "Sorry, Madam Pomfrey." he said, looking like a scolded school-boy.
"You have to teach me how to do that!" Sirius exclaimed, having easily countered the silencing spell. "That wolf has been thinking he's the boss of me, since the moment he emerged!"
"That's because you're a dog." McGonagall said. "Obviously he thinks he's better than you." Remus was about to object, but she just sent a look his way, and he turned away, focussing on his breakfast, instead.
"But you're a cat!" Sirius exclaimed again, having noticed the by-play.
"No, I'm a person." McGonagall said. "And I basically raised you children. His wolf knows better than to look down on me."
"She probably also knows the same stuff Aunty Poppy knows and more." Harry added.
"Damn straight." McGonagall said, shocking most who knew her at her words, even as she smirked like a Marauder.
"As you were saying?" Filius reminded everyone. "Something about good news?"
"Oh, right." Remus remembered. "Turns out, all the kissed escaped prisoners had their souls returned, when the Dementors were destroyed. Most of them made a full recovery."
"What?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean, most?" Hermione asked.
"There were a few that died during the event. Heart attacks and such." Remus said, with a shrug.
"How is that good?" Sirius asked. Dead Death Eaters were good, right?
Remus gave Sirius a look. He knew Harry would be carrying guilt over all the deaths and saw the fact that they were still alive, even if they were bad people, as a win. Sir