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Chapter 39: The Proper Motivation

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It was about 9:30 on Monday morning when Rolanda Hooch walked out of the Inquisitor General’s office still a bit stiff. She had been reluctantly released from St. Mungo’s at her own insistence; the healers had wanted her to stay another 24 hours for observation. The killing curse that hit her had nearly gone through the protective cloak with lethal force, but the cloak’s protection had been just enough to save her. She’d live, but right now she still felt like she had been eaten by a werewolf and shit out over a cliff. Everything hurt, and she badly needed a drink, but she’d been called to the Ministry to be personally debriefed by the IG. Then she was informed of the situational developments since her injury. Officially, she was on the injured reserve list until further notice, at least that’s what the records would show. Unofficially she was handling the situation with Potter.

First of all she had a few official duties to perform. This morning she would be there as the first of the condemned Death Eaters were hauled downstairs for the Dementors to feast on. The holding cells in the Ministry were now filled to capacity with terrified suspects. Hooch knew that many of those there were not truly Death Eaters; they had collaborated with Voldemort out of fear of retribution or family pressure. However, the ones who would be going down today were hardcore Death Eaters; they were the ones who had been Azkaban escapees. There were fifteen of them who had been fast tracked downstairs. To provide the proper motivation to the other detainees to cooperate or face a similar fate, the condemned would be marched past the holding cells so the others would get a good last look at them.

The total number who would eventually go downstairs was yet unknown. So many had been implicated that both the Wizengamot and the Minister were balking at having to justify that many magi receiving such a terrible fate. Since there was no usable prison anymore the only other option was to hold them in the small detention cells. However, no one objected to taking the worst of the lot down and disposing of them quickly. Especially Rolanda Hooch, these bastards had helped kill McGonagall, and had tried to kill her. The others still out there supporting that bastard needed to know there were no more excuses being allowed. Collaborate with Voldemort and there would be severe consequences to face. Perhaps later the Ministry could be seen to show mercy and be lenient.

This afternoon would be the Ministry funerals for those killed at Hogwarts, the Professors, and the students, inside the large Ministry atrium. Security was extra tight, and she was glad that it was up to the Auror’s to handle it. It would mean that she’d get to speak to Harry, and she’d get to see Ripa again.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

It was going to be a hard day for Harry, he would have to say goodbye to several friends and admired teachers. Worse of all was saying goodbye to Ron who had been his best mate at Hogwarts. Even though he knew that the body of Ginny was a fake, and Neville's too, he’d have to act like it was real, for the crowd was sure to have Death Eater spies in it.

Still, that would be later. The morning started with a wonderful hot shower with Sugartits that turned into an invigorating turn of oral sex that left Harry ready to meet the day. Poonanni returned Harry to his bedroom in Grimmauld place where he rejoined the others downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast, Harry met with Desiree for an update report on Ginny, Neville, and Luna.

“We have stabilized them in the void as best as can be expected,” said Desiree. “Poppy and I have healed the minor physical injuries to their bodies. We reattached Neville’s testicles and scrotum. The nerves and vessels have been connected back in place as best we could. It’s just that it’s a tricky thing making the nerves work again after even a clean cut, this was far worse with the pulling and stretching. We’re both doubtful that he’ll truly be able to function as a man again.”

“Will their minds be all right?” asked Harry, thinking of the terrible fate that had befallen Neville’s parents.

“I’m treating the psychological trauma from the torture with an effusion made from Phoenix tears, it heals the mind as well as the body. It seems to have worked wonders with Luna, she’s practically normal, well … normal for Luna that is. And it’s what I used on you when you were hurting over Tonks’ death.”

Harry remembered the dream he had had about Tonks and Sirius. “So that was just a dream, it wasn’t real?”

“Partly,” she said. “You created the setting, but the thoughts of those that have passed can come across in dreams. Those you wanted to communicate with may have been there, your mind just stylized it to deal with it. I wouldn’t worry about it now, you needed help to cope with the pain and it was provided.”

A half hour before the funeral was to start Harry, Hermione, Remus Lupin, Madam Pomfrey, and Euripita Balzhoff took a secure Floo Network route to a special reception area in the Ministry where all visitors to the funeral had to pass for identification before admission to the atrium. Harry became the immediate center of attention as he entered the atrium. Rita Skeeter, an obnoxious reporter from the Daily Prophet began throwing questions, and a number of Ravenclaw parents came forward to shout their thanks to Harry and Remus as they passed for having saved their children.

Harry ignored Rita’s questions as he despised her for all the false stories she had written about him in years earlier, and went to the line of caskets. It was easy to identify the one that held Hagrid’s body. It was huge and required two wizards just to levitate it into position on the bier. The family members of the deceased were there close to their loved one’s bodies. Harry saw that the eyes of Molly Weasley were no longer so angry when she looked at him. Molly and Arthur hovered over the casket containing Ron, while the four remaining sons moved between the two. They had not yet been told that Ginny was alive. Percy in particular seemed despondent over the death of his brother and sister. Fred and George seemed to simply be in shock. They had always been much closer to Ron and Ginny. Harry knew that as soon as he could he was going to let them know that at least Ginny had been saved.

The Minister of Magic finally arrived to deliver the official eulogy. Scrimgeour was not a very good formal speaker; it amazed Harry that he had ever been elected anything, much less Minister. The service droned on without incident, and Harry started getting quite bored. He planned to escort Hermione back to the Burrow to attend Ron and Ginny’s burial. However, he was wanting more and more to escort Hermione back to the Unicorn for a good hot shagging.

It was these thoughts that nagged at Harry’s conscience. He would have given all his wealth to bring Ron, and Hagrid, and his friends back to life, but he couldn’t. They were dead, and Harry was alive, and he still had to face Voldemort. Harry needed a coven to do that and he didn’t have it, not a complete one anyway. He had to face the fact that Ginny might be lost to him forever even if she physically survived. Deep physical trauma could often cause a witch or wizard to lose their magical powers. That was what had happened to Voldemort that night. His spirit had survived the shock of the rebounding of the curse upon him due to the Horcruxes he had made, but the trauma had cost him his powers.

Luna might become a coven member, but her level of power might not be enough. He needed Hermione’s power on his side. With Ron dead, that left Hermione unattached, but Harry was becoming acutely aware that if he wanted Hermione to become the third of his coven he was going to have to tell her the truth. It was a risky thing, but there was no other way. She could either accept the truth about Harry, or not, but he couldn’t keep on lying to her and hope for her support.

After Ron’s burial, and the burial of the fake Ginny, Harry talked for a while with Fred and George. Percy quickly left to return to the Ministry. The remaining brother, Charlie, would be staying for a while with his parents to help them out. Harry wanted to tell Fred and George about Ginny’s survival then, but knew that he couldn’t. Not there, not then. As soon as he could, Harry took Hermione back to Grimmauld Place, and met with Gabrielle.

Gabrielle took Harry aside to tell him that Fleur and Desiree were resting up as the Unicorn was to reopen the following night. Ginny and Neville’s physical wounds were mostly healed, although Neville would need a while longer. Gabrielle said that they should be coming around soon and she was preparing to go in and check on them.

Harry thought a while and decided to tell Gabrielle that he intended to tell Hermione the truth about the Unicorn, and wanted her to help him with it. She was not enthusiastic with the idea or revealing this to an Inquisition agent, but agreed to help Harry. Harry went and gathered Hermione, then with Gabrielle’s help they entered the void.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

It was completely black, and she was floating. She had no idea at first where she was or what was happening to her. How had she gotten here? Slowly the memories started came back to him, the argument with Harry, Dean Thomas cheating on her, Neville wanting a wank by the lake, the fight at Hogwarts, the castle on fire, Draco raping her, and the pain. Oh, the awful gut wrenching pain. The last thoughts she could remember were all of the Death Eaters staring down at her laughing. They said she would die soon, and that Ron and Harry were already dead, killed by Voldemort.

Only then did it come through to her that she must be dead. Was this it, was this all there was to it? You live, you die, and then you float around in eternal darkness? Where was everybody else? Where was Bill, Sirius, and Professor Dumbledore, where were they? They were supposed to already be here … weren’t they?

Ginny noted that there was no sense of the passage of time for the dead. She kept feeling that she should want to do something or the other, but she didn’t. She felt quite content to just float there and veg out. After what could have been ten seconds or two thousand years on Earth, Ginny first noticed the light. The light was getting closer. Was she moving towards it, or was it moving towards her? She had no way of figuring it out as everything else was complete blackness, there were no references at all.

Moments after seeing the light Ginny heard the wonderful music, a faint ethereal chorus of beautiful music. It sounded strangely familiar, but Ginny wasn’t sure where she had heard it before. The music grew louder as the light approached. Slowly the thoughts formed in her head. Of course, she knew where she was, she was on the other side, she was approaching the light, and those that loved her were coming to get her, to help her into the light. Obviously she was dead, and the blackness she was in now was what the muggle shaman called the valley of the shadow of death. The approaching light, the beautiful chorus, it could only be heaven.

For a moment Ginny felt joy, she was going to get to be with her brothers again, she’d see Harry and Sirius, and Dumbledore. For her it was all over. She began to weep tears of joy; she really had gone to a better world. After a bit she felt a moment of sadness for those left behind, especially Hermione. She’d lost Ron, Harry, and her now; what would she do without them?

As the sound and light got closer Ginny began to recognize where he’d heard the music before. It wasn’t a choir, it was a Phoenix singing. Ginny looked at the approaching light and saw that there was a figure in the light; someone was coming out to her. Ginny began to tremble. The only Phoenix Ginny knew of was Fawkes, and he belonged to Professor Dumbledore. Was that who was coming for her?

By now the light was upon her and she saw the figure in the light step up to her. It was Harry. Ginny couldn’t contain her grief, it was true, she had hoped the Death Eaters were lying, but he really was dead too. She began to sob uncontrollably, they were both dead, the life she had dreamed about would never be, she would never have a family of her own to raise, or lie beside Harry as his woman.

“Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry,” she blubbered through the tears, “how could I have believed a worthless git like Dean Thomas. I love you, Harry, I love you and I got us both killed, and Ron too. Can I please see him … and Bill?”

“I love you too, Ginny,” said Harry. “But first of all, you and I are not dead. You were badly injured but were rescued in the nick of time. You’re in a healing place to get well.”

“But they said you were dead, that Ron was dead too. Is Ron all right?”

“No, Ginny, Ron died saving Hermione’s life, and a lot of the other Gryffindor student’s lives too. He was very brave, just like Bill, you can be proud of both of them.”

“Is she awake?” Ginny heard Hermione ask. A moment later Hermione was there hugging her and kissing her cheek. “We thought we had lost you, my love. You gave us such a fright.”

Harry left them to talk while he checked on Neville. Neville seemed to have some recollection of what had been done to him. He knew that he had been castrated, and then had the parts reattached. Neville’s outer physical scars were healing well, and the Phoenix potion was helping him deal well with the torture trauma. He seemed to be wanting to tell Harry something, but afraid to say it. Harry figured he knew what it was. He took Neville’s hand in his own and leaned over to put his lips close to Neville’s ear.

“Neville, I know about your true feelings for me, I’ve known for some time. It’s all right.”

Neville’s eyes watered as he looked at Harry. “You knew? And you’re not angry …or disgusted?”

“Neville, you are my friend, I can’t reciprocate the type of love you have for me, but as a friend I do love you.” Harry then stroked Neville’s cheek and gave him a kiss. “Now I want you to get better. We’re going after Voldemort, and Bellatrix, and all those bastards; we’re going to kill them, all of them. I need your wand at my side.”

“I’m not a man anymore.”

“First of all, you don’t know that yet, there’s a chance the healing spells will work. And second, even if they don’t, there’s more to a man, or a wizard, than just his balls. I want you at my side in this when we make things right, are you with me?”

“Yes, Harry, I … I love you, Harry,” said Neville showing a smile. “I nearly fainted when I saw you pull out that monster at the throwdown.”

“Did you have a good wanking in the dorm afterwards just thinking about me?” Harry whispered in his friend’s ear. Neville’s face turned a bright shade of red as he nodded his head that he had. “But you still fancy girls a bit too?”

“Well, yes, I like Ginny, and Luna, and some others, I guess I’m not a complete fag.”

“I think they call it bi-sexual, Neville,” said Harry. “And stop calling yourself ‘fag’ it’s almost as bad as mudblood. Anyway, I’m still your friend, whatever you are; and that’s all that matters. So you get better, and stop worrying about it. We’re fine.”

Going back over to Ginny, Harry took her hand gently into his. She looked into his eyes and began to cry. “Harry,” she sobbed, “Draco Malfoy raped me.”

“I know what the bastard did,” Harry replied grimly. “He’s going to die screaming for it too. Hermione and I are going to see to that for you. Tell you what, as a special added bonus incentive, if you’ll go ahead and get well we might even let you have a go on him with your boots while his nervous system is still functional. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Yes, it would,” she said with the old smile that had always sent shivers down Harry’s spine. Ginny was still in there, he thought, she was forever changed, but Ginny was still in there. “I understand if it’s over between us now, and I don’t blame you. I lost faith in you, and I want you to know that I’m sorry I did. Please forgive me.”

Harry looked down at her, his own eyes filling with tears. “I seem to recall asking someone to forgive me not all that long ago. The only answer I can give you is the one I received: I love you, and for anything you’ve done that you feel you need my forgiveness for, I freely grant it.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Besides, when you get out of here I need to beg you to forgive me again.”

“Let me guess, it’s for the same thing you asked forgiveness for the last time?”

“Yeah, I’ve been a bad boy,” said Harry looking down. “I got kind of depressed and lonely when you weren’t there. I also felt hurt; I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need you.”

“So you found someone else.”

“Actually it was more than one someone involved at various times. Things got complicated, especially after the thing with the throwdown got around. However, it’s a long story. Things haven’t been what we imagined they would be back last summer for either of us, but I still love you, and I do want you. Nothing has happened to change that, not as far as I’m concerned.”

Ginny laughed again as she looked up at Harry. “I nearly shit myself after I got told about the throwdown. I knew after that got out that half the girls in the school would be trying to get you into their knickers, and at least some, or most, would succeed.”

“It wasn’t like that, I wasn’t really promiscuous. I just didn’t have you there with me.”

“I’ll be there now if you’ll still have me?”

Harry leaned over and kissed Ginny’s lips. “Well before I accept the offer there are a few more things you need to know about me, and what has been going on. Since last summer, I’ve learned a lot that I didn’t know about myself and my parents. When you get well enough to leave here I’m going to tell you the whole story. Then, if you still want to be with me, I’ll gladly accept.”

“It’s not necessary, Harry,” she said. “I don’t care for a detail listing of every girl you’ve shagged, and in what position. I wasn’t there for you then, I wasn’t your girl. It doesn’t matter.”

“What I have to show you does matter, and it’s not about what you’re thinking. But we’ll cover that when you are feeling better.”

Gabrielle came by and told Harry that it was time to go and let Ginny and Neville sleep. Gathering up Hermione, who was fascinated now with the void, the trio set off to reenter the world. Harry whispered to Gabrielle to ask if she could carry the two of them to his bedroom in the Garden of Delights and she nodded that she could.

“Hermione,” said Harry, “I have something I need to show you. You need to know the whole truth about what has been happening this semester because I need your help to defeat Voldemort.”

“You know that I’ll help you Harry, if I can.”

“I know you want to see Voldemort destroyed as much as I do, but you’re not going to like some of what I’m going to show you. But you can’t help me unless you know the truth, and Ginny will have to know the truth too.”

“So what are we going to do then?” Hermione asked.

“Well, first of all let’s find a more comfortable place to go over it all,” said Harry with a short nod to Gabrielle. Then Gabrielle led them a short distance away and began making an exit hole in the void. As Hermione followed Harry out she found herself in a beautiful bedroom, she had never been in here, but it looked familiar, the décor seemed like something she had seen someplace else.

“This is my bedroom,” said Harry with a wave around him, “actually it was my parent’s bedroom before me. It’s part of the inheritance I got from them when I turned seventeen last summer.”

“Harry, I feel like I’ve been here before, but I haven’t.”

“In a way you have, just not in my room. You were in one of the guest bedrooms down the hallway. Come, I’ll show you.” With that Harry opened the door and led Hermione out into the guest bedroom hallway of the Garden of Delights. Hermione gasped as she recognized the now familiar hallway. She now realized that she had just been in the room at the end of the hall, the bedroom she’d always wondered about.

“Harry, you’re the owner of the villa?” she asked with a look of shock.

“Yes, I own several properties. Grimmauld Place was willed to me by my godfather, Sirius Black. That you know. Still, my parents left me two other properties, the Garden of Delights, and the Golden Unicorn. They’re all mine. I also own the elves too, and the Delacour’s manage my properties for me.”

“You have got to be joking me, Harry.”

Harry just looked at her and said in a calm voice, “Bustanut, come to Master.”

In a moment there was a small pop and the elf Hermione had known from the Golden Unicorn was there before her. He bowed low to Harry.

“I believe you two have met before. Bustanut, I order you to tell Mistress Hermione the name of your true Master.”

Bustanut turned to Hermione and bowed low to her then said, “Welcome, Mistress Hermione. The name of my Master is Harry Potter.”

“The… they … they really are yours,” stammered Hermione. Harry led Hermione out onto the veranda and the two of them sat down while the elves brought them drinks.

“You see, Hermione, I’m secretly one of the richest wizards in all Britain, and I’m the last descendent of Merlin. It has taken me a while to learn all of this and come to grips with it myself. This is why Voldemort feared me and tried to kill me. I do have one real chance at defeating Voldemort, as long as it never got out who I really was. That’s why I needed to keep this secret, that’s why I couldn’t tell Ginny, Ron, or you about it. I couldn’t tell Professor McGonagall, but she knew I was up to something. One of my house elves has been taking my place at Hogwarts, when I had to be elsewhere or just wanted out of Hogwarts. That’s what Voldemort killed, and that’s what Pansy saw on the floor.”

“Then is Voldemort able to travel through the void too?”

“We don’t think so, Professor Dumbledore was afraid of that, but he never found any traces of him moving through it.”

“But, Harry, how did you find out about all of this? You didn’t have a clue last summer.”

“That’s true, it all happened kinda piecemeal,” answered Harry. He then went on to explain the events that had occurred since his birthday starting with his training with Moody to get ready to fight Voldemort, but that he was also working in secret with the Delacour’s on a backup plan.

“Actually, Hermione, there are two backup plans that Professor Dumbledore’s portrait suggested that the prophesy might be referring to. The first is a more overt action,” said Harry as he explained to Hermione about his relationship to Merlin and the power to become a warlock.

“I’ve read about true warlocks, Harry,” said Hermione. “It’s supposed to be a very rare power, but you say you are able to do it.”

“Yes,” replied Harry. “I can do it because I carry the bloodline of Merlin, and I’m his last descendent walking the Earth. Kind of like the last hope. But Dumbledore realized that my bloodline carried one other power that Voldemort had so far failed to recognize.”

“What power is that, Harry?”

“The power to pass the bloodline of Merlin to a child fathered by me, so that even if Voldemort succeeded in killing me, the child would survive in secret. So Dumbledore suggested that I father a child in secret that could be raised and trained by his mother to one day be ready to take on Voldemort in case I fail.”

“I suppose you’d need a powerful young witch with a good bloodline to be the mother of the child,” said Hermione looking a bit dejected. “So that’s why you’ve picked Ginny rather than me. She’s pureblood and I’m muggle-born.”

Harry took a deep breath, he knew it was about to get really, really ugly in here, but he had known that eventually the truth had to come out. “Your right that Professor Dumbledore said that the child needed the highest quality bloodline it was possible to get. But his suggestion for the mother was neither Ginny nor you.”

“Who will it be then?” asked Hermione.

“The eldest living heir of Godric Gryffindor, and daughter of Albus Dumbledore, Fleur Delacour. Also, it’s not a ‘will be’ situation anymore, it already is her; she’s been pregnant with my son, James Albus Potter, for almost a month now.”

Harry squirmed a bit under Hermione’s gaze as he saw mind pass successive through phases or realization, shock, anger, and finally arrive at rage. “You mean you had already knocked up Fleur here while you were fucking me in your little training room at Hogwarts. What was I? Afters? And then you stood there and gave Ginny that bullshit about loving her and wanting her back. You fucking piece of shit liar!”

Harry jumped back in fear as he saw Hermione pull her wand and start to put some sort of a hex on him that he knew he would not like. The air around them suddenly filled with small pops as Harry’s elves materialized around him and hit Hermione with a number of binding and stunning spells. Hermione was propelled against the wall and fell to the floor in a heap.

Poonanni looked up at her Master’s face and saw the look there. “Master was afraid and in danger, we must help him when that happens.”

Harry sighed a breath of relief, he was glad not to be hexed, but Hermione would be even more pissed off now than before when she woke up. “I know, but she had a right to be angry with me. Release her from her bonds and put her gently in her usual bed. Have Bustanut stay with her and see to her needs. She can use the villa as she desires, but not come in my bedroom without my permission.”

“Yes, Master, it will be done as you say.”

Harry then remembered what Pansy had told him that Hermione had done to Marcus Flint. “Oh, and put her wand someplace she can’t get to it for a while till she settles down.”

“Yes, Master,” said Poonanni as she bowed and left the room.

Harry wondered for a bit exactly which curse Hermione had planned to hit him with finally figured it was probably the one that made a wizard’s dick fall off. That would be a bad one, to still have your nuts and your need, but no way to get any relief. It would be like her to know that one, Harry thought. Hopefully, she would cool off a bit. Harry knew that he couldn’t keep her here for long, she was a member of the Inquisition and they would come looking for her. Even worse at the moment, Harry wondered how Ginny would react when she found out about Fleur’s pregnancy. He already knew one thing; she wasn’t going to have those damned castrating boots on when he told her about it. There was only one thing to do, and he would do it tonight if possible. But there would a lot of preparations he’d have to tend to between now and then.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The Sun was only a few minutes away from setting in the west as Percy Weasley sat alone in his meager flat crying over the loss of his siblings as he heard the knock at the door. Opening the door, he was shocked to see the Inquisitor General standing there.

“Hello, Percy,” she said amiably as she walked into the room uninvited. “I came by to offer my condolences on the loss of your brother and sister.”

“Th… thank you, Ma’am,” Percy stuttered, partly out of shock, partly out of fear. He knew that the IG didn’t travel to areas like this to offer sentiments to low level Ministry flunkies such as himself, and that she didn’t travel alone anywhere.

“Your poor Mother and father,” she said gently. “I know Arthur just a bit from his work in the Ministry. As a mother I can understand Molly’s grief. It’s got to be so terrible on her. She loses her oldest son bravely in the Azkaban attack, her youngest son dies courageously saving his friends from the Death Eaters, and her only daughter dies a tortured prisoner of the Death Eaters, and then comes the worst blow of all. I fear she might not survive it.”

“Wh…, wh…, what is that, Ma’am?” stumbled Percy as his fear and apprehension grew.

“Well, as you know, once a person has been dealt with by the Dementors they are effectively in a permanent vegetative state, a drooling imbecile. If the magi family wants to care for them then they are released to their care, otherwise we send them to a muggle rest care home for storage until their body dies. Surely your Mother will still want you at home once the Dementors sorted you out so that she can spoon feed you and change your diapers when you shit all over yourself. She’ll cry herself into her grave trying to care for the one little Weasley who went over to Voldemort and dishonored the whole family. She’s just that good a woman.”

“Noooo, no, I’m not a Death Eater, you’re mistaken,” said Percy with an obvious look of terror on his face. “Look, I have no mark on my arm.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” chanted Madam Bartleby almost jauntily. “Don’t try to lie to me, Percy. Spies do not carry the mark and we know that you delivered the entry codes in to Azkaban to Voldemort’s courier two days before the attack. That allowed him to enter and torture your brother Bill to death so horribly, along with the rest.”

“I… I…,” stammered Percy, whose composure was fast breaking down. He realized that his greatest fear had come true, he was exposed.

“You know where you made your mistake, Percy? You disguised your appearance, but not your voice. You poor dumbarse. That’s how he recognized you, your voice, it’s distinctive. Then the poor dumb bastard got captured alive. The memory of turning over the papers had been Obliviated, but not the memory of having recognizing you as the one that gave them to him. A simple oversight.”

Percy slowly sank to his knees on the floor crying in terror and despair. He knelt there staring at the floor and slowly shaking his head from side to side in disbelief. It was almost as if he were willing the present situation to be a bad dream.

“We have several Inquisitors who lost family and friends at Azkaban,” the IG said as she continued her litany. “I’m going to assign them to the task of skull fucking you. That way I know you’ll get the full attention you deserve. It’ll probably help with interagency relations if I allow the Aurors to be the ones to escort you down to the Black Room. Especially Alicia Spinnet, since she lost a brother there too.”

“It was Fudge,” moaned Percy. “I didn’t know what the documents were or who was getting them; I just delivered them as he told me too. It was Fudge, not me.”

“But you knew later, didn’t you?” Bartleby asked. “Why didn’t you report this as soon as possible?”

“I was frightened,” said Percy. “He told me this would happen if I reported it. He said he’d deny it and fix everything so it looked like I had stolen the papers.”

“So Cornelius Fudge fucked you over good, huh,” Bartleby said with a short cruel laugh. “In more ways than one I’ll bet. Yep, you thought you were his favorite boy, especially in bed. However, I have some news for you, Old Horny Corny the Fudge Packer has had a bunch of favorite boys over the years, even back at Hogwarts. He first got caught by old Headmaster Dippet when he was a sixth year prefect and was found buggering a second year Hufflepuff boy as part of a ‘detention’ up in the Divination tower. His family contacts saved him then.”

The deep red of Percy’s shame colored his face as he now sat on the floor trembling. Everybody would now know. Even his father and mother would know what he had let Fudge do to him. He only wanted to die now, just to die. Reaching in his robes, he took out his wand and pointed it at his own heart with trembling fingers.

“A…Ava…Ava…Avad…,” he muttered, but couldn’t force the curse from himself.

With a pathetic look of disdain, Madam Bartleby took the wand from Percy’s hands and put it in the pocket of her own robes. “Even if you were man enough to do it, I wouldn’t have let you. But you’re not a man, are you, Percy? You’ve never been with a woman, you’re a virgin. You weren’t even a man when you were with another man were you? You’ve taken dick-tation up the arse from Fudge plenty of times, and you were always on the receiving end of it. You were always the bitch. I bet old Horny Corny never even had the decency to give you a reach around, or a pat on the head for a blowjob well done.”

At this point, Percy’s shame overcame his fear and he leaped to his feet and reached for the Inquisitor General’s throat to throttle her. This was a serious mistake in judgment on Percy’s part. Despite her years of sitting behind a desk Bartleby had never allowed herself to become fat or weak. She knew how to take care of herself, she knew how to inflict punishment on others, and right now that’s what she wanted to do. Her fury at all the deaths at Azkaban and Hogwarts welled up inside her, especially a desire to take vengeance for Peter’s death Poor Percy was not the main culprit by any means, but he was the one standing in front of her now. She had no intent of restraining herself now that he had given her the excuse she had sought by taunting him to hurt him badly.

Percy’s outreached hands were batted away and he was roughly shoved back striking his head against the wall. As he stood there dazed, the IG landed a brutal kick with the toe of her boot in Percy’s scrotum. Percy’s look of rage quickly melted into one of agony as he screamed and bent forward reaching to cover his bruised testicles. As his head went forward it was met halfway by the return of Bartleby’s knee that broke his nose and smashed his lips into his teeth.

Percy fell hard to the floor writhing in pain, a second later the pain was intensified as the toe of Bartleby’s boot next buried itself into his exposed kidney. Percy’s body now just shook from the pain; his brain had run out of options and couldn’t deal with the situation. Panic had set in, all he could think of now was to try and run, but there was no place to go. The anger that had built inside the IG over the past few months now found release in Percy.

When she had been a field agent she had had those opportune moments to get it out of her system on prisoners assigned to her, but an office job had robbed her of that. Now she went to work on the figure at her feet. She landed a rain of kicks and stomps upon him to place him in total submission. Though it might have seemed terrifyingly brutal to the watcher, each blow was well placed to inflict pain, but not to kill. She wanted him alive, and absolutely terrified of her. But she had one act of vengeance she would exact now, when she had viewed the body of her favorite pet during the autopsy, she had seen that Peter’s testicles had been crushed. He had died screaming in agony, and now laying before her, sobbing on the floor, was the one who had made it possible.

Taking her own wand she cast the spell to make Percy’s clothing disappear. Grabbing at the flailing arms that Percy was trying use to block her blows, she produced a set of handcuffs and tightly manacled his wrists behind his back. Then she reached down and grabbed his ankles and pulled them apart to expose the bruised and already darkening scrotum. She placed the sole of her boot across the scrotum and heard Percy’s high pitched scream of terror as she stepped down on the two injured gonads just enough to pin them against the floor.

“Peter Spinnet was such a lovely little boy, he had large beautiful blue eyes, and soft fine hair the color of gold. He had creamy white skin, and a very respectably sized cock. The boots that I’m wearing, the ones that are about to geld you, were a favorite of his. He loved for me to wear them while he knelt between them and pleasured me, and then he would masturbate and take his own relief on them. I suppose there is still a little part of him there in the leather. The Death Eaters crushed his balls before they finally killed him. Now I have no intention of killing you, it would be too great a kindness, but I do want you to feel some of what he felt.”

As she slowly increased pressure on the toe of her boot she could two points of resistance through the sole. Percy’s screams of terror and pain turned into a gagging retch as he squirmed to try and wiggle out from the source of his torment. Erinyes simply bent over and grasp Percy’s head in both and forced his face around so that she could stare in his eyes as she placed the weight of her body across his scrotum and twisted the toe of her boot to grind it into his balls. In rapid secession, first one point of resistance, then the second, gave beneath her and she felt the sole of her boot go flat to the floor. Percy’s screams abruptly stopped and his body began to shake wildly, his mouth simply opening and closing in silence.

Releasing Percy, Bartleby rolled Percy onto his back; then she knelt down putting her knee into the pit of his belly knowing it would carry the pain to a new level. Then she reached her hand into Percy’s scrotum to ensure that both testicles were shattered. She knew that what she had done was legally beyond even her wide ranging powers of discretion in dealing with a prisoner. But it didn’t matter, he was Dementor bait anyway.

For a minute or two she knelt there staring without pity or empathy into Percy’s tortured face. She just wanted to see him hurt for all the harm he had caused by his stupidity. After a while of unbearable pain, the nervous system simply gave up and Percy slid into unconsciousness.

“Don’t worry, Percy, I won’t let you die," Bartleby said softly to him as he passed out, “but I guarantee you that you will wake up in hell.”

Sending a pre-arranged signal to her assistants brought them to the room. They were shocked at what their boss had done, but had the good sense to know to keep their mouths shut. “Shall we carry him to St. Mungo’s?” asked one.

“No, get this turd back to the Ministry building and patch him up enough so that he doesn’t die on us. Trim off the excess baggage he doesn’t need anymore,” she said indicating the swollen blacked scrotum. “Once he’s stabilized start the MPR. Put Angelina on it as a priority; if he’s uncooperative have Katie provide the proper motivation to work with us on this. This is a secret arrest, no one but our crew is to know he is there. I want the watch on Fudge doubled; I want to know what he does, where he is at all times, everything.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

It didn’t help Hermione’s foul mood that night as Madam Hooch began to laugh uncontrollably as Hermione reached the part in the story were the elves appeared and knocked her on her arse, then locked her in her room after taking away her wand. Rolanda Hooch literally had tears rolling her cheeks as the story ended.

“What did expect the elves to do, Hermione?” she asked. “You were about to curse their Master, they had no choice but to act.”

“But the son of a bitch was shagging me at Hogwarts knowing that he’d already gotten the Delacour girl pregnant here, and now he’s telling Ginny in the void that he loves her too. Are all men that shameless?”

“When it comes to sex? Hell yes, girlfriend! There is apparently some mystery substance in their jizzm that once it reaches a certain concentration level in their system suppresses all sense of morality, common decency, and loyalty towards girlfriends. Once they blow their load, equilibrium is reestablished and it all returns. Then they come crawling back to you saying they’re sorry and they love you, and wanting forgiveness. You’ll learn to live with it in time if you want to keep a guy around. Of course, there are alternative lifestyles if you, and Ginny, want them.”

Hermione wasn’t sure about the alternative lifestyle bit, but she was still mad. “I can’t help it; this is my first time to get screwed over like this. I just feel like hexing him with something really painful and embarrassing.”

“I’ll have to show you some of the stuff we used to do back in the old days sometime,” said Hooch.

Hearing footsteps approaching from the hallway the two Inquisitors turned to see Euripita Balzhoff and Remus Lupin enter the atrium. Remus had a look of old familiarity on his face, he had been here a number of times back in the old days, while Balzhoff’s reaction was one of pure shock. She had just found out who she really worked for, but her expression lightened as she saw Hooch sitting at the table.

“You bitch, you knew about this the whole time didn’t you, and you didn’t tell me?”

Hooch just grinned. “I knew, but I couldn’t say anything. Who told you two by the way?”

“Remus already knew from the old days, Harry just told me a little while ago before he brought us here.”

“Is that lying son of a bitch here now!” yelled Hermione as she jumped up from her chair. “I want my fucking wand back!”

Reaching in her robes Ripa produced the wand and handed it to Hermione. From the other end of the atrium there was a slight slurping sound as a hole began to appear in thin air before them. Madam Hooch and Professor Balzhoff, who had never witnessed the entrance to the void, immediately went into a ready stance with wands drawn until Lupin and Hermione informed them it was all right. They stared in amazement as the hole opened exposing the blackness within. They were further shocked when they saw movement inside, and out stepped Madam Pomfrey, Desiree Delacour and her daughters, along with Luna and Neville.

It was now the turn of the former Hogwarts students to stare in amazement at the luxury surroundings around them. It was like nothing any of them had ever seen. In a flash Hermione ran up to Luna and hugged her, while Remus went to Neville and shook hands with him. “Welcome back from the dead, old boy.

The large table in the atrium was suddenly fully set with dinnerware for twelve. A house elf stepped forward to announce that dinner was now being served. Going to the table the group saw that all the chairs except the one at the head of the table and the one to the immediate right of the head were pulled out and waiting for them to be seated. Hermione held back a bit not wanting to sit at Harry’s table, but she was getting ravenously hungry, and everybody else was sitting at the table. Finally, she decided she would eat now and hex his arse back to the Stone Age later. Besides, she wanted to see what would happen when Harry tried to explain all this to Ginny, wherever Ginny was. If she had her boots and a wand then there might not be all that much left of Harry for her to waste a good hex on.

After everyone had chosen a place and sat down their host walked calmly into the atrium. The entrance drew a collective gasp from the assembled group, not because of Harry, who was impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, but for the person who stood beside him holding his hand. Richly attired, with her hair beautifully coifed, was Ginny Weasley.