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Chapter 40: The Fellowship of the Unicorn

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Several hours before the dinner meeting began, while Hermione was still sleeping off the stupefy curse in her guest room, Harry had convinced Desiree to let him take Ginny out of the void to Grimmauld Place. Desiree had been a bit reluctant to let Ginny go so soon, but felt she was making a remarkable recovery and was fit to do so. Desiree was insistent, however, that Ginny should not attempt to sleep while outside the void for a while yet. Her conscious mind was better able to deal with what had happened to her than the unconscious was yet. Harry had agreed to the condition.

“Ginny, I need to talk privately with you,” said Harry as he sat Ginny on the bed in the master bedroom. “I truly do love you, and I have tried to be the one you would love back.”

“But I do love you, Harry, just as you are, I told you that last summer.”

“I’m not the man you knew last summer; I’m not even the man you think you know now. I’m going to tell you the truth, and there are some things you won’t like. You might even never want to have anything to do with me ever again because not everything I’ve done was nice.”

It was hard for Harry to work out the expression on Ginny’s face. She seemed to be studying if she really wanted to know all of this. “All right then, go ahead and tell me,” she finally said.

“Well, first of all, do you remember how you and Ron always felt a bit ashamed of how your family was poor? That you didn’t have money for nice things like you wanted?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly.

“Well, it seems I have quite a substantial inheritance from my mum and dad, both money and property that I knew nothing about last summer.”

“How much of an inheritance?” Ginny asked with a growing interest showing in her eyes.

“Just in cash? Roughly, about sixty million Galleons, that’s a few hundred million quid in muggle money; according to the goblins I’m one of the richest wizards in Britain.”

“Are you serious?” asked an astonished Ginny. “Where would your parents get that kind of money?”

“It seems that my mum and dad started a family business in Godric’s Hollow before I was born, it’s mine now by inheritance. Ginny … I own the Golden Unicorn.”

“Harry, the Golden Unicorn is a whorehouse, it’s owned by the goblins.”

“No,” said Harry. “The Golden Unicorn is not just a whorehouse; it’s the largest and most profitable whorehouse in all Britain. The goblins are just the business agents, the front men so to speak. The Delacours are the managers, they run the place for me, and I, Harry Potter, am the sole owner. That why I’m so bloody rich.”

Harry saw the flames starting to kindle inside Ginny as she began to realize the implications of what she was learning. “So on the weekends you were going to your own personal whorehouse and shagging the shape shifting elves that work there. You spent all those weekends with them instead of me!”

“Remember that I did say earlier there would be things that you wouldn’t like to hear,” injected Harry trying to avert her anger. “I might also quickly point out that your brothers Fred, George, and Ron were also showing up there on weekends, as was your dearest and best mate Hermione Granger. Who has been a regular most of the semester?”

“Hermione’s been there too?” yelled Ginny. “I don’t believe it.”

“Bustanut, come to Master,” said Harry. There was a pop and the elf appeared next to Ginny making her jump. “Bustanut this is Miss. Weasley, she is a friend of Master’s. I order you to tell her the truth, tell her how many times you have serviced Mistress Hermione at the Golden Unicorn and the Garden of Delights.”

Bustanut bowed low to Ginny and began relating the acts he had performed with Hermione, then, with Harry’s prompting, related that other elves had serviced her as well. Ginny was shocked, Hermione had never told her of any of this.

“You mean that Hermione has had you become my brother Ron and perform sex with her?”

“No, Mistress, Bustanut knows nothing of anyone named Ron.”

“Then who does she have you become … me?”

“No, Mistress,” said Bustanut with a cautious look at Harry who merely nodded to her. “Mistress Hermione always has me take the form of Harry Potter.”

Ginny simply glared from Bustanut to Harry and back again for a while, until Harry spoke up. “I would like to say at this time that Hermione didn’t know that I was the owner of the Unicorn either, until about an hour ago.”

“What did she do when you told her?”

“She tried to hex me, but the elves were forced to … shall we say, restrain her, forcibly.”

To Harry’s surprise Ginny began laughing out loud. “That sounds like our Hermione. What surprises me is that she didn’t make a play for the real thing, especially since I did tell her that you and I were through.”

Ginny stopped laughing when she noticed the look on Harry’s face change. “I’m not nearly done telling you everything,” said Harry. “Next to you, I have always fancied Hermione, and when I found out through the elves that she had a secret desire for me, and you told everyone that we were through, and I was stuck there at Hogwarts a lot of the time, both of us alone, we kind of drifted together, secretly.”

“So you were shagging my best friend at Hogwarts?”

“We were shagging each other at Hogwarts,” Harry said pointedly. “It was only a couple of times when she had temporarily lost interest in Ron, and you had left me. It’s not like we were cheating on either of you at the time. Later she went back to Ron and we stopped meeting. It just happened.”

“All right then, are there any other of my girlfriends that you’ve slept with that I ought to know about?”

“Just one,” said Harry. “Luna, — and I only did it a couple of times with her too, … and the only reason I first did it with her is because we’d been smoking some of Professor Sprout’s dope out in the greenhouse and we were both high. Luna asked me to have sex with her because she was tired of being a virgin. So I did, and we kinda enjoyed it.”

“So you popped Luna’s cherry, but not mine.”

“Did I mention the part about how we were both smoking dope at the time? I only went down there that night to get high, not get laid, I swear I didn’t know she going to be there.”

“It there anything else I need to know about your carryings on in ladies knickers?”

“The story is just getting started, but I have some help with the main part,” said Harry. With a nod to Bustanut, the elf disappeared and quickly returned with two items that Ginny recognized, a portrait of Albus Dumbledore, and the Sorting Hat from Hogwarts. The portrait and the Hat both politely greeted Ginny and asked how she was recovering.

“Ginny,” said Harry. “I’m going to let them fill you in on the big picture of what’s happened. It will probably make more sense if they tell it.” With that he left the room.

Harry returned about 30 minutes later, more than a bit afraid of what he would find. Ginny was standing in the middle of the floor, still arguing with the Sorting Hat, the portrait of Dumbledore seemed to have slipped off to sleep again. At the sound of the door opening, Ginny turned to face Harry.

“So, the high and mighty descendent of Merlin himself has gotten Fleur pregnant, in addition to having fucked all my friends! Why are you bothering with little old me then, why aren’t you in her bed knocking like Pixies right now?”

“Ginny, Fleur doesn’t want me or anyone else right now as a husband," said Harry. “Her mother had two children by Professor Dumbledore and refused to marry him even though he offered.”

“That was quite a surprise too; I always thought he was gay.”

“No, he was just pretending,” said Harry. “Anyway Fleur wanted to make a baby with a man who had a powerful bloodline that could be mixed with hers. The child she is carrying and will raise has the bloodline of Merlin and Godric Gryffindor in his veins. I made a trade with her, I would give her what she wanted, a child with my bloodline, and she would give me what I wanted.”

“And what was it you wanted so badly you were willing to betray me?” asked Ginny with moist eyes.

“Your wedding present,” said Harry softly. “What you said you wanted more than anything, and something I couldn’t give you then. I can give it to you now, and it’ll be yours from now on if you’ll accept it.”

“Harry, I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Right after the incident with Yaxley I was in the library, using my cloak to stay concealed. I saw on the Marauder’s map that you and Hermione were in the prefect’s study room. I went in to surprise you and say hello, but when I got there I saw that the two of you were… well, ah … I’m not sure what the word for it is….”

“I think it’s called fingerbanging nowadays, Harry,” said the Sorting Hat as Ginny’s face turned beet red with embarrassment, and a little bit of anger.

“So you just stood there invading our privacy and watched us?”

“I was a seventeen year old near virgin, how in the hell could I stop watching two sexy girls playing with each other’s pussy? Merlin himself didn’t have that kind of self-control. Anyway, what got me was what you said to Hermione about the curse of the Irish. What you wanted your man to have when he came to your bed. Ginny, the truth is I was born so damned Irish that if I dropped my pants in front of a Leprechaun he’d point at my cock and laugh. Only Neville was smaller than me.”

“All right,” said Ginny, “that explains why Ron came to me after the throwdown and asked me if I’d ever actually seen your cock. I told him it was none of his damned business whose dick I’d seen. Then he said every time he’d looked at you in the shower your cock had been as small as his, and now it was huge.”

“It was tiny at the start of the semester, and I really was still badly hurt from what Bellatrix had done to me. You’ve seen how cruel she can be …,” said Harry as he recalled what had happened and began to choke a bit on the pain of the memories. “She hurt me; she stood there laughing as she tortured me. I had to watch as Tonks died in front of me fighting them, she died trying to save me. I barely survived. You saw the real Harry that first night back at Hogwarts in the hallway. I was on my knees crying like a baby I was in so much pain inside.”

“I know, Harry,” Ginny said tenderly as she softly caressed his face and wiped the tears from Harry’s eyes. “I know the hurt; Desiree said you saved me by getting me to her so quickly. I owe you my life, for a second time now.”

“Desiree helped to heal me, both my body and my mind,” said Harry. “That’s how I knew she was the only one who could save you and Neville, and Luna too.”

Ginny took Harry in her arms and hugged him close to her body, the warm tight embrace felt so very wonderful to Harry. “When you were in the library with Hermione that day you said you wanted a full sized man who could fuck your brains out and make you cum screaming. I couldn’t give you that then, I wasn’t packing the gear and I didn’t have the skills. I wanted to be with you so bad, I wanted to be everything you wanted in a man, and I was terrified that you would be disappointed in me. Then I discovered that because the Delacours are Veelas they can give a man unnatural male enhancement. That’s why Bill wasn’t Irish anymore; Fleur had her Mum fix him up with a whopper, just like she did for me.”

“That’s entirely true, Miss. Weasley, Desiree was kind enough to provide the same services for me back when we started dating,” said the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

As Ginny sat there thinking over what Harry and Professor Dumbledore had told her, Harry began to remove his clothes until he stood before her naked. Ginny looked over his well toned body and finally, with her mouth hanging open, began to stare down at Harry’s cock which was only semi-rigid, but showing its well above average size and girth. Harry stepped forward so she could get a good look.

“Oh, my stars!” exclaimed Ginny as she stared at Harry’s cock. “Is it really nine inches?”

“Actually a bit longer, when it’s hard of course,” said Harry looking into Ginny’s eyes, “and every inch is yours.”

“So, you had sex with all these other women, because you wanted to impress me?”

“I know this must sound barking mad to you, Ginny, but I did this for you. I love you and wanted you, but I didn’t know if I could please you. So I traded my bloodline for a man-sized cock like you said you wanted your man to have. I toned up my body so I had the strength and stamina to use what I had acquired during sex. Then I had sex with other women, and my elves, so I could gain the experience and expertise in bed of how to please you. So yes, as mad as it all seems, I did it all for you, but it just kinda got out of control.”

Ginny sat in deep thought for a minute looking up at Harry. “It’s just hard for me to accept. I don’t know what to think, I keep wondering if you are sincere.”

“Well, generally if men are insincere with a woman about loving her then they are doing it to get her money, or they just want to have her body. Would you agree with that statement in general, Miss. Weasley?” asked Harry.

Ginny looked at Harry with a somewhat puzzled look on her face, and then nodded her agreement. Harry then motioned for Bustanut to come over to him. “Change into the naked likeness of Mistress Ginny,” he said softly to the elf. In a shimmer of light before their eyes the elf became the perfect duplicate of a naked Ginny Weasley.

“If I tell you to suck my cock will you do so?’ Harry asked the elf.

“Yes, Master,” replied the elf.

“If I tell you to spread you legs and let me have sex with you, will you do it?”

“Yes, Master.”

Harry then told the elf in succession to change into the naked image of Hermione, Luna, Fleur, Pansy, and then back to his natural form while Harry redressed himself. “You know damn well I don’t want you for access to the Weasley family fortune, and if I only wanted you for your body, well, I can have that anytime I want it. And even if I didn’t have the elves, I don’t have to beg any woman to be with me. I’m young and I have money, I’m not unattractive, and I know how to please a woman. Half of the witches in Britain would jump in my bed if I let them. I don’t have to beg any woman, but I am begging you to come back to me, to be my wife.”

Ginny sat stone still, staring at Harry. Her eyes moistened as her features softened. “You would still want me after Malfoy has had me? You would put your cock in me knowing that Draco was there before you?”

“I’ll do better than that,” said Harry as he took Ginny by the hand. Harry told Bustanut to return the portrait and Sorting Hat to Fleur. Then Harry took his wand and touched it to the medallion around his neck. Pulling Ginny close to him, he said, “hold on tight,” and said his name. Ginny saw a whirl of colors as she apparated into the owner’s entrance to the Golden Unicorn with Harry. She watched as Harry’s patronus opened the way into the apartment.

“Where are we, Harry?” Ginny asked as she looked around her at the expensive furnishings. It was like a palace, she had never seen such a place.

“We are in one of the residences where Mr. and Mrs. Potter would reside during the week. It’s the owner’s flat over the Golden Unicorn in the heart of the Hill district of Godric’s Hollow.” Harry carried her out on the veranda as the sun was just past setting and all the lights were coming on in the last glow of the day.

“It’s beautiful, Harry,” Ginny gasped.

“This is nothing; Mr. and Mrs. Potter own a luxury high security villa in the country where they spend their weekends entertaining family and friends. You should see it when Mrs. Potter’s mum pops over for a visit, and drops her knickers and gets in the full sized whirlpool. It’s quite the hoot, I hear.”

Ginny laughed out loud at the thought of her Mum letting herself go that way. It was the full voiced laugh of joy that Harry remembered from earlier times and it tore through him. He leaned forward and gently kissed the back of her neck, and felt her body tremble just a bit beneath his lips.

“So what does Mrs. Potter’s mum do when she isn’t in the whirlpool?” Ginny asked.

“She plays with her grandchildren.”

Harry heard Ginny’s voice choke a bit as she asked, “Are there a lot of them?”

“Um huh,” muttered Harry softly as he nuzzled the back of her neck. “Beautiful, intelligent, little red haired, green eyed witches and wizards. Everyone says they’re going to grow up to be strong magi who know right from wrong because they had good parents who taught them well. They are not going to grow up in a state of fear of dark wizards who might try to hurt them either, because their mum and dad did something about that. And when they are ready to learn magic they’ll have a place to go because their mum and dad used some of their money to rebuild Hogwarts.”

“It sounds wonderful,” said Ginny as her voice now choked.

“There is just one thing wrong,” replied Harry.

“What’s that?”

“Mrs. Potter hasn’t told Mr. Potter yes yet. She isn’t sure he really still wants her.”

“Isn’t there something Mr. Potter can do about it?” asked Ginny as she turned around to face Harry.

“Yes, there is,” said Harry as he picked Ginny up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He carefully removed her shoes and clothing until she was naked. Then he laid her on the edge of the bed. Walking over to the kitchen, he got a glass of water and a Tickle Twat Mint. Putting the mint in his mouth Harry took the glass back to the bedroom. Taking a sip of water, he knelt before Ginny and pulled her into place before him, her legs over his shoulders.

“You asked me if I would be willing to put my cock where Draco Malfoy had already put his, here’s your answer,” said Harry as he lowered his head over her pubic mound and began kissing the soft folds of her labia. He felt Ginny shiver and heard her call out his name softly. Then he brought the tip of his tongue into play and lightly feathered the clitoris with teasing licks. With his hands, Harry began to massage Ginny’s breasts, feeling her hands joining his in stimulating the already rock hard nipples.

Looking up, Harry focused on Ginny’s eyes as she watched him pleasure her. The Tickle Twat Mint made him feel a light stinging sensation in his mouth and tongue, but the effect on Ginny was one of sheer ecstasy. Other than kitty petting parties with Hermione, and the brutal ordeal of rape by Malfoy, Ginny had no sexual experience; now as Harry pleased her she arched her back to drive her womanhood deeper into his mouth. Ever nerve in her body tingled in pleasure as she felt the pressure build inside her. Ginny had experienced mild orgasms before with Hermione, but nothing like she was feeling now. For his part, Harry had anticipated that it wouldn’t take long to bring Ginny to orgasm, but he was still surprised at how little effort it seemed to take when he felt her whole body convulse and her warm salty fluids flooded his tongue as she climaxed hard. Above him, Harry heard a ragged wailing sound as Ginny’s vocalized her pleasure. Once the orgasm passed, the wail turned into deep breaths with shudders as the aftershocks passed through her body.

Harry stood up and leaned over the panting Ginny taking her body lovingly into his arms, then he kissed her lips softly. He felt the soft pass of Ginny’s tongue on his lips as she tasted her own juices. Fixing his emerald green eyes on Ginny’s, he asked matter-of-factly, “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes,” was all Ginny could pant as she tried to catch her breath.

“Do you want to be my woman?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want live here like a queen with me … never have another snotty cocksucker try to look down his nose at the ‘poor little Weasley girl’ ever again?”

“Yes!”

Harry then unzipped his trousers and placed Ginny’s hand on his erect cock, letting her hand run up and down the length of the shaft. “Would you like to be the proud owner of this, and for us to fuck like dew-drop drunken pixies and make lots of pretty babies?”

“Hell yes,” was Ginny’s terse reply as she kissed Harry long and hard on the mouth, her hand closing on his cock.

“All right then, you talked me into it,” said Harry with a grin once Ginny finally let him come up for air. “Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?”

“I guess so,” Ginny said with a pouty little grin on her face so that Harry would know she was being coy. “I don’t seem to have anything else on my schedule right now.”

“Well if you’re not sure, I guess I could go back and ask Hermione, or maybe Luna, if they are interested in being richer than Midas and making babies with the Chosen One. I might get a little enthusiasm from them.”

“That’s all right with me, Harry,” said Ginny with a wicked looking smile on her face and still clutching Harry’s erect cock, “but as you said earlier this is my present. Once I get my boots back on I intend to take possession of my property. I assume Desiree can grow you a new one from scratch?”

“Hum,” mused Harry. “She’s quite good with the Veela magic thing, but I’m not sure she can grow a whole new one from scratch. I guess I could just accept your answer as a yes and not bother her any further.”

“That’s sounds like a wise course of action,” replied Ginny. “Now tell me how we are going to destroy Voldemort, and Draco, especially Draco. His arse is officially mine.”

“That comes tonight,” said Harry as he kissed her forehead. “I’m having a dinner party in a bit to discuss that very thing. You are invited of course. You’ll know everyone there.”

“I have nothing to wear, that frock they put me in while I was in that void place makes me look like a sack of turnips, my hair looks like a tangled fishnet,” said Ginny. “I want to look good in front of everyone for you.”

“And so you shall,” said Harry. Calling to Bustanut, he assigned him to collect other elves to prepare Ginny for the dinner. He even ordered that Ginny have access to his mother’s wardrobe and toiletries. That was one good thing about designer magi clothes; they never wore out, and were always the right size for the wearer.

“I’ll be back to get you when it’s time to go,” said Harry.

“You don’t have to come back here,” said Ginny, "I’ll meet you there.”

“No, it’s all right,” said Harry with a glance at the closet door. “Besides there are a couple of things I need to do here just before we leave.”

“I do have one last question I want to ask,” said Ginny with a smile.

“All right, what do you want to know?”

“Who was it that taught you how to eat pussy like that?”

“Mostly Desiree, with a little help from Fleur and Gabrielle,” answered Harry. “Why?”

“Remind me to send them a thank you card.”

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

As the assembled group at the table watched in awe, Harry led Ginny to the head of the table. Ginny stood there beaming in her expensive designer white Greek goddess gown and exquisite golden Manolo Blahnik sandals. Around her neck hung the ruby and diamond pendant that James Potter had presented to Lily the night she had agreed to become his fiancé.

“Welcome, everyone,” said Harry. “I hope you are comfortable. My chefs say they have a scrumptious dinner planned for us; afterwards, I have something I want to say that concerns us all.”

“May I say that you look absolutely beautiful, Ginny,” said a rising Remus Lupin. “It’s been a long time since a beautiful woman wore that pendant. I remember well the night I first saw it worn by Lily Evans.”

“As do I,” said a smiling Desiree. “May I trust that it means the same thing now as it did then?”

“You may,” said Ginny softly, with a smile in Harry’s direction.

“As one of the uninitiated, may I ask what the significance of the pendant is?” asked Hooch.

“James Potter gave it to Lily Evans the night she agreed to become his wife,” said Desiree. “Before that it had been James’ mother’s, who also got it as a betrothal gift.”

“It’s older than that,” said Remus. “James told me it went back several generations in the Potter family, always given by the eldest son to his intended bride at their engagement.”

“Ginny has agreed to become my wife,” said Harry quietly as everyone at the table stood and applauded, everyone except Hermione.

“Ginny, there are some things you need to know before you agree to this, you need to talk to me,” said Hermione.

Ginny walked to the far end of the table where Hermione had chosen to sit and reached out her hands to bring Hermione to her feet. “I already know,” she said quietly. “Harry has told me everything, and I accepted him fully knowing those things. We have both put the past behind us and have accepted each other as is. Please be happy for me. I need by best friend at my side right now more than ever.”

As the group watched, Hermione and Ginny melted into each other’s arms in a deep hug that lasted for half a minute before the two tearfully separated. “Congratulations,” whispered Hermione.

“Thank you,” replied Ginny. “Please be my Maid of Honor.”

As Hermione nodded her assent the two collapsed into a crying bundle again for another half minute before they broke up and Ginny returned to Harry. Seating her at his right hand position Harry took his place at the head of the table.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to do this,” he said, as he spread out his hands as Professor Dumbledore had always done at the feasts at Hogwarts. “Let the feast begin.”

The table was filled suddenly filled with delicious meats and side dishes. By this time everyone was hungry and the group tucked in to eat their fill. The conversation stayed pleasant as everyone at the table was brought up to speed on Harry’s descent from Merlin and Merlin’s life force in the caverns below Hogwarts. Of even greater interest was Harry’s connection to the Golden Unicorn and its elves via the link to Merlin. Then Harry finished by informing the group of the Horcruxes being used by Voldemort to survive.

“That explains a lot I had been wondering about,” said Madam Hooch. “But why tell us all about this now, you know who I am, you’ve just revealed yourself to the Inquisition by telling me. Isn’t that dangerous?”

“First of all, you knew about this when you did that sneaky little MPR thing on me last August. Second, Professor McGonagall trusted you enough to send you to me when I was hurt. She wouldn’t have done that lightly. Lastly, I wouldn’t dream of asking you all to risk your lives without knowing why it’s important and the truth behind it, unlike some people were willing to ask of me.” The last comment was clearly directed at Remus.

“What I have decided to do is to initiate a new order to replace the Order of the Phoenix; nominally I plan to call it the Order of the Unicorn. I’m inviting all of you at this table to join me in this order and pledge your loyalty to your comrades in the Order, and your life if need be, to the fulfillment of its goal.”

“May I formally ask what the goal of this Order would be?” asked Madam Hooch.

“The utter destruction of Lord Voldemort, his remaining principle Lieutenants, and the Death Eater organization as a threat to the Ministry,” answered Harry.

“How will this be carried out?” asked Madam Hooch.

“As a descendent of Merlin, I am supposed to have the power to become a true warlock, and I am the rightful owner of the sword of Merlin, Excalibur. I intend to form a coven who will surrender their power to me to use as my own. Merlin has assured me that using these items, along with my scar, I can find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them, or call them to me and transfer them back to Voldemort. Then I must find and destroy Voldemort in his body. If it’s done right then we can kill the bastard once and for all.”

“I have already informed Harry that I will be a member of his coven,” said Fleur Delacour quietly. “I intend to avenge the death of my father.”

Fleur stood up and walked to the head of the table where Harry was. Harry stood up, not sure what Fleur was about to do. Fleur then went to one knee before Harry and extended her right hand out to him. She met his gaze and took a deep breath.

“Harry James Potter, Heir of Merlin and warlock, I do offer you my service in the fight to destroy Lord Voldemort and his minions. I ask you to accept me as a witch of your coven and use my power as your own to that end.”

Harry took Fleur’s hand in his own, she smiled up at him a bit indicating that she wasn’t terribly sure that this was being done exactly right. Equally unsure, Harry figured that intent mattered more now than ceremonial form. “I accept your offer of service and take you into my coven.” There was a snap of energy in the air as Harry did this, as though a magical contract had been sealed. Everyone in the room felt it. For the first time Harry began to really believe that there might be something to all this warlock stuff.

“I will be a member also, if you will have me, Harry,” said Gabrielle as she rose from the table and made her way to kneel beside her sister. “I am not as powerful a witch as my sister, but you’ll find my father’s blood, and his bloodline, run deep in me as well.”

Gabrielle then recited the oath of service to Harry and was accepted, with a similar snap of energy in the room. “That’s two,” thought Harry, “Merlin said I needed at least three.”

“Go ahead and stand up you two,” said a somewhat embarrassed Harry to the sisters. “It’s bad enough when the elves do all that groveling rubbish around me.”

“I do hate to keep sounding like the only dumbarse at the table,” said Hooch, “but who is, or apparently was, your father.”

“Oh, come on, Roe,” said Balzhoff. “Look at Gabrielle’s eyes, who is the only wizard we ever met who ever had blue eyes that deep and clear.“

Roe Hooch stared intently at Gabrielle’s eyes, and then shook her head in disbelief. “No, I can’t believe it. I mean it can’t be — can it?”

A smiling Fleur pursed her lips and whistled a few notes into the air, within seconds an answering song came to the group. There was a pop in the air and Fawkes appeared flying through a ring of fire towards the table. Fleur simply extended a hand and the Phoenix landed gently upon it and turned to face the company at the table.

“You mean that old assbandit had children!” said Hooch. “It’s true; you two are the daughters of Albus Dumbledore.”

“And the last living descendents of Godric Gryffindor,” added Fleur. “Daddy wasn’t really gay; he just put up an act with the weird beard and poofy clothes to get people to not bother him.”

“Well it was a damn good act,” said Hooch. “I’d have sworn he was a flaming old homo. So, I suppose that means you two have the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor. You know that the Minister wants those items turned over to the Ministry.”

“They are our property by bloodright,” said Fleur sternly. “Besides, the only ones who can wield the sword are sitting here, Harry, my sister, and I. Anyone else who tried to use it would be consumed by it.”

“Why can Harry use the sword?” asked Lupin.

“Because of his link to Merlin, Gryffindor was Merlin’s apprentice. Harry’s bloodline has the right to call out to the bloodline of Gryffindor for help and it must answer the ancient bond.”

“Harry,” said Luna, “Can I be a member of your coven? You saved my life, and I want to stay in the fight against Voldemort.”

Harry nodded and Luna came over and knelt before Harry. She gave her oath, and when she was accepted by Harry, the same energy was felt in the room. Harry now had the minimum.

“Harry already knows that I am with him in this,” said Ginny as she rose from the table she repeated the oath the others had taken and her service was accepted with the similar release of energy.

Standing beside her coven sisters, Ginny looked to the far end of the table at Hermione. “What about it? Are you in with us or not?”

Hermione looked around the table at the others before her eyes settled on Harry. “I’m with you on this, Harry,” she said softly.

Hermione made her way to Harry, repeated the oath, and was accepted. Harry had his coven, now he had to figure out how to use it. That would take a little time and practice, plus there were other issues to sort out before the Order of the Unicorn went on the offensive.

“Thank you ladies for your support, that should be enough for the coven,” said Harry.

“Harry,” said Neville, a bit meekly, “if Gryffindor was an apprentice to Merlin, can I be your apprentice? I don’t know if I’m worth having, but I’d try to be useful.”

“I’d be honored to have you at my side, Neville,” said Harry. The little impromptu ceremony was repeated and Harry felt the flow of energy just as he had felt with the girls. “As for the rest of you, have no fear, we will need your assistance in the coming fight. I will provide the resources needed to keep the order operating.”

“Question, Harry,” said Remus, “is this it or will others be joining us in this?”

“I intend to invite Fred and George Weasley soon. Maybe a few others as we see fit. I’m open to suggestions.”

“So what is the plan for right now?” asked Balzhoff.

“Ginny, Neville, and Luna still need to heal some more, inside and out. That will require Madam Pomfrey’s assistance if she will continue to help us, as well as Desiree and Gabrielle.”

“I don’t know how much good I’ll be to you and the group, Harry,” said Pomfrey, “but I’m willing to stay on and help. I lost a lot of good friends at Hogwarts, it’s really just settling in on me. I would like to see their deaths avenged.”

“The wrongs done you and our friends shall be avenged, Madam Pomfrey. The Delacours will also be keeping the Unicorn operational to keep up appearances, and cash flow to fund us. Remus is coming up on that special time of the month and will be indisposed for a while. I have to see if I can obtain this magical artifact that Merlin spoke of, and I will need Fleur’s help in getting it. I also need to know where Voldemort is hiding, or how to flush him into the open.”

“Hermione and I can help you there,” said Hooch. “We have gotten a huge amount of information from the captured Death Eaters; the problem is going through it all. I am still a bit surprised though that you are including us in this, it not very often that anyone trusts the Inquisition.”

“I’m not trusting the Inquisition,” said Harry. “I’m trusting you and Hermione. I don’t expect anyone here to betray their conscience, or their current affiliations. We are fighting to destroy Voldemort and his thugs, not for any political personality or outcome. You already knew a lot of what was told here today, yet you did nothing to stop it, and it was well within your power to do so.”

“I could have just been giving you enough rope to hang yourself,” said Hooch with a smile.

“Maybe,” replied Harry, “but I don’t think anybody here wants to see Voldemort come to power. He is still dangerous, and still physically invulnerable to anything the Ministry can use to try and destroy him. Are you with us?”

“Of course I am,” said Hooch with a smile. “And that goes not only for me but Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell as well. There would be others if we need them.”

Ginny had watched the exchange with a puzzled look. “Hermione, are you in the Inquisition?”

“Yes, Ginny,” replied Hermione. “That’s where I was going on weekends, to train and work in the Ministry. I told you I had something going on, I just couldn’t say what.”

“We will meet some more in the coming days to plan things. Till then you are welcome to take a guest room here and enjoy the accommodations. The elves will provide whatever you desire. Ginny and I have another meeting to attend tonight, so we will leave.”

“Are you letting Ginny see her parents?” asked Hermione.

“Yes, in just a few minutes, they are meeting us at Grimmauld Place along with Fred and George. I can’t let them suffer any longer thinking Ginny is dead.”

“I agree, can I come along with you two, as moral support for Ginny?”

“You’re perfectly welcome to come with us,” answered Harry.

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

Upon their arrival at Grimmauld Place, Ginny stayed with Hermione as Harry went into the living room to meet first with the Weasley family. He wasn’t sure if the twins knew of their sister’s escape from the Death Eaters yet and didn’t want to give them too bad a shock. This fear proved unfounded as they had already been told of Ginny's rescue by their parents after Kingsley had eased the secrecy restrictions upon them. As Harry walked into the room, Fred and George were immediately upon him.

“Harry, is it true? Please, is she really alive?”

Harry held up his hands. “Yes, but for the time being, for her own protection you have to pretend she is dead. Hermione!”

The door opened again and Ginny ran through into the arms of her family. The Weasleys had always been a close knit and loving family. The joy over seeing the return from the grave of their daughter and sister stirred the emptiness inside Harry of never having had a real family. But he planned to have one now with Ginny. The problem now was getting the family to approve of his and Ginny’s marriage. Especially her Mum, who was afraid of Ginny being killed for real by association with Harry. Harry had a plan, but wasn’t sure how it would play out. After the family reunion had settled down a bit they all sat down with Harry and Hermione.

“I can never repay you for what you’ve done for us, Harry,” said a tearful Arthur Weasley. “You’ve saved her life twice now; you saved my Ron’s life once, and mine too. I have no way of repaying you.”

“That’s not quite true, Sir,” said Harry. “There is a way in which you can repay me in full for any service I have done you and your family. Tonight I asked your daughter for her hand in marriage and she has accepted me to be her husband. I would like to receive your blessing on behalf of your family to marry your daughter. You have lost two brave sons to the fight against evil that is ongoing, just as I lost my Mum and Dad. Bill and Ron are gone and they can never be replaced in your hearts, but if you will have me I would like to have you call me son.”

The silence frightened Harry for a moment; he wasn’t sure what they would say.

“Is this true, Ginny?” asked Mrs. Weasley. “Have you agreed to marry Harry?”

By way of an answer, Ginny simply opened her traveling robes to expose the pendant that hung around her neck. She knew that her parents had known Lily Potter and would know its significance.

“Holy shit!” said Fred, as he and George ran over to look at the jewel. “That’s worth a hundred thousand quid that is if it’s worth a rat’s arse.”

“Fred, watch your language!” shouted Mrs. Weasley, who could barely take her eyes from the pendant herself.

“Look again at the size of that ruby, dumber brother,” jibed George as he leaned over to view the pendant. “Try a quarter of a million pounds and you’d be closer to the mark.”

“This belonged to Harry’s mother,” said Ginny. “It was a betrothal gift from his father.”

“We know what it is, dear,” said Molly Weasley anxiously, “we’ve seen it before.” Harry could see that Molly was searching her mind for some reason to object to the marriage.

“Welcome to the family, old man,” shouted Fred with his hand extended towards Harry with brother George following close behind. “Quite so, welcome aboard,” said George.

“Just a minute,” said Molly Weasley. “Ginny is still not of legal age to marry without our consent, and we won’t let our daughter go to any man without a proper dowry.”

“Yes, Ma’am, I understand that,” said Harry after a few moments thought. “That’s why I come here to ask your permission to marry Ginny. As to the dowry, I do expect a proper amount to be paid by the family for Ginny commensurate with the gift I have given her already.”

Ginny and Hermione both looked at Harry with shock in their eyes. The Weasley family had no money to speak of, but Harry merely flashed Ginny a quick grin and a wink, then looked away. Arthur Weasley looked to his wife and knew that she was not anxious for this marriage to go through. Not because she was opposed to Harry as a son-in-law, but because of the very real danger he represented to Ginny.

“Harry, I am the head of this family,” said Arthur finally, with a careful sideward glance at Molly to make sure he still was. “I give you the family’s permission to marry Ginny if she is willing to marry you. I don’t know about the dowry though. I can only scrape up a few hundred Galleons if you give me some time.”

“Exactly,” said Mrs. Weasley, “Harry’s gift is worth far more than that, we can’t provide a proper dowry at this time.”

“So I do have your permission to marry Ginny, but not until the family has paid a proper dowry equivalent to the gift I have presented her?” asked Harry.

“Yes,” said Mrs. Weasley, “so there will be no wedding. At least not until Ginny is of full age and chooses do so without her family’s blessing.” At this, Ginny looked at Harry with hurt eyes and began to sob. Hermione could only stare at Harry like he was a traitor.

“All right then, let’s see here,” said Harry, while ignoring Ginny and Hermione. “Fred, you estimated the muggle value of the pendant at 100,000 pounds, and George you estimated it at 250,000 pounds. The average of those two would be 175,000; and I accept your estimates as the worth of my gift to Ginny. Now, I have inside sources that track these things and they say that the business you two own is worth about a half a million pounds these days, isn’t that right?”

It took Fred and George a moment or two to catch on, but a shielded wink from Harry clued them to where he was going. “Yes it is, but how did you know all of this?”

“Oh, I know a few goblins who make it their business to know the business of others. One third of half a million is just about 175,000 quid. Make me a full partner in your business, a one-third owner, and I’ll consider the dowry paid in full. Your little sister can become Mrs. Harry Potter in full honor befitting a witch of an old and noble pureblood family.”

“For the love of our sister and her happiness we agree,” said Fred with a twinkle of utter amusement in his eye, followed by George’s smiling acceptance of the terms. “Mr. Potter, you are now a full partner in the family business, shall we have Gringotts draw up papers?”

“No,” said Harry with a false formality as he extended his hand, “the Weasley’s are an honorable family; their word is better than gold in the bank. A simple handshake will do.”

Each of the twins took Harry’s hand dutifully, but Harry could see both were about to burst out laughing at the charade they were pulling. Harry then turned with his hand extended to face Mr. Weasley.

“Nobly done, Sir! Your sons have matched my gift to your daughter in full; I consider your family to have fulfilled its part of our bargain. You have provided Ginny with a proper dowry befitting her status. I shall be happy to fulfill my obligation to her, and you, at the earliest convenience considering the present circumstances.”

“Well … eh … yes … ah, thank you, Harry, or … should I say son at this point,” said a still slightly flustered, but smiling, Arthur Weasley as he shook Harry’s hand.

“But, Arthur —,” began Molly Weasley.

“No, dear,” said Arthur firmly, “we made an agreement, you yourself agreed to the terms, we will not dishonor the family by backing out now. That’s final.”

Molly Weasley belatedly realized she had been tricked; she had no other avenue of argument. Harry walked over and gave her a hug. “It’s going to be all right, I promise you, I will take good care of Ginny. You’ll get to see her as often as you like once these bad times are over. She’ll be safe.”

Harry then lowered his voice so that only Molly could hear what he said. “And she’ll have everything she needs, so you won’t need to send her anymore of those cakes with blood inside them … will you?”

He felt Molly jump in his arms as his words startled her. “Does Ginny know?” she whispered plaintively.

“No, and there’s no reason for her to ever know … is there … mum?” said Harry as he gave Molly a peck on the cheek.

“No … there isn’t … son,” said a resigned Molly. “Welcome to the family, Harry.”

Harry then went over to where Fred and George were congratulating Ginny on her betrothal. “Well played, Sir,” muttered George, while Fred nodded.

“Harry, I can’t let them do this,” said Ginny, “not their business. I don’t care about my dowry.”

“Your parents do, and now that it’s paid they can’t find a reason to hold us apart any longer. Their honor won’t let them back out either.”

“But Harry, it’s Fred and George’s business, they built it from nothing all by themselves.”

“Now that’s where you are wrong little sister, remember when you asked us where the money came from to get started and we told you that a wealthy backer financed us?” asked Fred.

“I do believe the reply she made was ‘what stupid git would have that kind of money and loan it to a Weasley?'” added George with a huge smile on his face and a wink at Harry.

Ginny looked at her brother’s smiling faces and then saw how they were both staring over at Harry, and then she looked at the grin on Harry’s face as he silently mouthed the words ‘stupid git.’ Slowly at first, the realization began to slip in. “Harry, it was you! You gave them the money to get started didn’t you?”

“Harry has been our silent partner since the beginning, Ginny,” said Fred, “he’s always owned a third of the business. He didn’t ask for anything more just now than what was already his fair due.”

“Oy,” said George, “we’d have nothing if not for him setting us up with the Triwizard winnings he earned his fourth year. He just handed it over and told us to use it to start our business, no contract or nothing, just trust.”

“Looks like I’m making a habit of saying I’m sorry for misjudging you, Harry,” said a still weepy-eyed Ginny. “You think by now I’d know to just trust you.”

“It’s all right, love,” whispered Harry into Ginny’s ear as he held her close to his chest. “Now when your folks finally do find out about me they won’t feel like I’m taking pity on them. They provided their daughter with a handsome dowry; they can stand proud in front of everyone while giving you away.”

“Damn it, Harry,” Ginny said through tears, “you are the only one who would have cared about how my family felt.”

“First of all, they are about to become my family too. They’ve already suffered loss, I’ll be damned if I give them cause to feel humiliated,” said Harry to her softly as he ran his fingers lightly through her hair. “You are going to walk in to your wedding head held high, with your hand on the arm of your father, you’re going to be dressed in a wedding gown that will make the Queen look like a vagrant in comparison; and you’re going to meet the eye of any bloody bastard that tries to look down on you and yours with complete scorn. Then you’ll become my wife, and then we start working on the mother of my children part of the deal.”

“Sounds wonderful to me,” said Ginny. “When’s the happy day?”

“It will have to be a little bit yet,” said Harry. “Remember that you are officially dead and you have to stay that way for now. I can’t tell you why, I have to ask you to trust me that there is a damned good reason why you and Neville must stay out of sight. Fred and George have to pretend you are dead too. Otherwise you just might actually become dead.”

“Nobody hunts a quarry they think they’ve already killed, eh, Harry,” said George.

“Something like that, but there is more to it than that, other lives are at stake in this,” replied Harry. “I just can’t go into it, but it is life and death. I need to get you back, Ginny, you are getting tired and need to rest.”

“Surely she can rest in her own room now,” said Mrs. Weasley coming up to them. “The Death Eaters won’t be looking for her.”

“She has been in special care since her return, and must sleep in a prepared treatment area for a while longer to help clear her subconscious mind. We have a place setup for her and Neville to rest and remain out of sight in complete safety.”

Mrs. Weasley started to argue but Arthur Weasley was beginning to grow a backbone at last. He informed Molly that Harry was to become Ginny’s husband and that the family should trust him to act in her best interest, and that was all there was to it. She sat there a bit sullen as Harry made ready to leave.

“Could I say something important before we go?” asked Hermione. Harry and the others nodded that she could.

Looking at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione continued, “I told you back at Hogwarts the other day how Ron died saving me. There are some things I didn’t tell you that you should know. Ron and I were seeing each other again after a brief separation, we had started being… well … intimate. In fact, we were together earlier the night that he was killed. Afterward, Ron asked me to marry him and I accepted.”

“You mean you slept with my Ron the night he died?” asked Mrs. Weasley, to which Hermione nodded yes.

“So our little brother didn’t die a wanker after all then?” asked George as he high-fived Fred.

“George, quiet!” said Mr. Weasley, although it seemed to Harry that Arthur was a bit proud for his son’s sake that he had tasted the carnal pleasures before he died.

“He was hardly a wanker!” exclaimed Hermione to George, her loyalty for Ron taking over. “I just wanted you to know that I would have been proud to have been your daughter-in-law.”

“We would have been proud to have had you as our daughter,” said a tearful Mr. Weasley.

“That goes for all of us, dear,” said Molly. “Oh, what about Percy and Charlie, they need to know about Ginny too, they are her brothers as well.”

“I’m going to see to it that they know,” said Hermione. “But it has to be handled delicately; I’ll talk to my supervisor about it.”

“Your supervisor?” asked Molly. “Who is your supervisor?”

“That’s something else I should tell you I guess, but you can’t let it out. I’m a member of the Inquisition; I’m apprenticed to Madam Hooch.”

“Wicked,” said the twins in chorus.

“Can we get in to see the torture rooms?” asked Fred.

“Is it true you have a great big glass vat full of men’s balls that you’ve cut out and thrown in there?” asked George.

“Either of you opens his mouth about me to anyone and I’ll make sure you see what the inside of an interrogation room looks like,” said Hermione. “As for the other, them that gets to see the vat, get to see some nuts that look familiar float by, so don’t be anxious.”

Fred and George were taken aback, but seemed to half-way realize that Hermione was only kidding them. Mrs. Weasley, however, nearly went into shock until Mr. Weasley put his arm around her and assured her that Hermione wasn’t really threatening her boys with torture. On that note Harry told them again to keep what had happened there a secret, and he, Ginny and Hermione returned to the Garden of Delights. Hermione left to return to her Inquisition quarters at the Ministry building in London. Harry and Ginny went into the master bedroom.

“Ginny, you need to go back in the void for a while longer to heal, especially to sleep,” said Harry. “Your body and mind need more time.”

“You know I want to be with you, Harry, I want to stay here and make love to you all night. But you are right, I’m exhausted, but it’s a happy exhaustion. I still hurt where Draco ..., well you know. I can’t be with you right now.”

“I understand, Ginny, and I want you to get well, both mind and body. I need you to help me destroy Voldemort, and we are going to settle affairs with Draco Malfoy. That bastard will squeal when I find him, he’ll get what’s coming to him, I promise.”

“No, Harry, not you … me, I want him, and I want him alive,” said Ginny with a look of pure hatred in her eye that even made Harry shiver. “Promise me, my love, Draco is mine to deal with when the time comes.”

“Draco is yours,” Harry promised.

They embraced a while longer before Harry had Gabrielle take Ginny back to join Neville and Luna in the void. Harry returned to the flat over the Golden Unicorn where he had a hot shower and slipped into bed. This had been quite a day, he reflected as he lay there. He had his coven, and he had Ginny. Now it was time to begin phase two.