Spring Equinox

Chapter 7

The Potters stayed for dinner, arriving back to Hogwarts less than an hour before curfew. "Why don't you go and visit your common rooms to stay in touch with your friends," Minerva suggested. "They may be quite interested to understand what happened to you last night."

"Nobody minds about me one way or another," Luna said. Even her dreamy tone couldn't hide the hurt she felt.

"I don't think my house-mates would welcome me now, that I'm Potter's wife," Daphne stated. "Malfoy may even try to attack me, although he's no match for me."

Minerva frowned at these two statements. She made it her task to find out about how Luna had been treated by her house mates and also to make sure that Slytherin house would accept Daphne despite her bond.

"We've been with my house mates at lunch," Susan stated. "I'd rather get to know Harry's house mates better."

Harry, who was also concerned for Luna, accepted the idea. "Let's visit Gryffindor common room. I want to invite my friends to visit at our apartment as well."

Daphne frowned. "Would they accept me?"

"They'd better!" both Harry and Hermione stated. Ginny only looked pensive, yet Harry could feel that she was worried about Ron's reaction.

'Hermione will put him in line, or we may let the twins handle him,' he let her know.

Ginny gasped and then smiled. 'Yes, let the twins handle him if he misbehaves,' she responded.

Minerva was unsure about her presence at the meeting. Despite having become Harry's eldest wife, she was still head-of-house and a professor. She wasn't sure how her presence might affect others.

Harry sensed her concern even without a soul bond. He hugged her lightly. "You may put a 'notice-me-not' charm on yourself and only make yourself noticeable if needed."

Minerva smiled thankfully. Since her bonding in marriage, she had started to feel much closer to Harry and she didn't like to be left behind, despite her age.

Harry let Hermione and Ginny enter the common room first, followed by Luna and Susan while he and Daphne came last. Minerva slipped in unnoticed along with Luna.

Hermione and Ginny were received with warm congratulations by all, except for Ron, who didn't seem to make his mind about this. Luna and Susan were also congratulated, although not as warmly. When Daphne was spotted next to Harry, there was suddenly silence for a moment.

It was broken by Ron blurting loudly, "What is that snake doing here?" He was immediately silenced by George cuffing him while Fred went forward, bowed deeply in front of Daphne and then said, "Welcome to our humble abode, Lady Daphne. As Lord Potter's wife you are always welcome. Besides, who would not want such a beautiful visitor except for my i***t brother?"

This seemed to break the ice. Daphne started laughing and others joined her. Fred led Harry and his younger wives to the large couch in the middle of the room. Others gathered around, all trying to get a piece of the gossip. Harry, Hermione and Ginny had to tell the story for the benefit of those who either hadn't witnessed the bonding or had been too preoccupied to really understand it. None went into details, though.

Neville was first to greet them formally. "In the name of house Longbottom, I greet you, Lord Potter for marrying these magnificent young women. I'm sure each of them will make you happy in her own way. Ladies, let me congratulate you for bonding with Harry. He may be a handful at times, but you won't have a dull moment at his side, I'm sure."

Hermione answered for them all. "Thank you, scion Longbottom. I do hope for a few dull moments once in a while, although that seems to be almost impossible with all these women."

They all chuckled.

"So, Harry, I believe you're out of the circulation, at least for a while," Lavender teased him.

"Well, I have enough wives to keep me busy, don't you think?"

"Still, if you get bored, I'll be happy to give you some distraction," she winked at him.

"Didn't you get enough last night?" he asked. Lavender had been almost as busy as him during the celebration, shagging more than half the boys present. Whenever he stopped for a drink or some potion, he saw her enjoying one boy or another. She didn't even seem to need the stamina potion for that.

"I had quite a lot," she admitted, "yet none gave me as much satisfaction as you did."

Hermione intervened. "Sorry, he's taken. Find your own mate."

Lavender laughed. "Good for you. After last night, I'm sure he'll have no problem satisfying you, despite having a few more wives to handle. He was formidable!"

"Yes, I've noticed." Hermione didn't seem too eager to talk about that.

This brought the attention of some boys. "What did you do to make them like you so much? It's not your size, I'm sure. Both Dean and Neville are much bigger," Seamus said.

Harry shrugged. "I really don't know. I didn't have any experience before last night, so..." He left the sentence hanging.

"Why don't you show us what you did? We were all a bit too busy to notice at the time."

Harry didn't know what to say. The request, while unusual, was kind of informational. It could even be educational, if there was really something he was doing differently, yet doing that in public...

"It isn't as if we've not seen you all naked or as if we didn't all shag last night. I think I shagged all Gryffindor girls at the celebration, except for your wives, and quite a few from other houses," Seamus insisted.

"I don't mind if you show it with me," Luna said, sounding as dreamy as usual.

"Sure, why not? Maybe some of the guys will learn to satisfy a girl like you did," Lavender added.

Harry looked around. The prefects seemed to be herding all first to third year students into the dorms. Some fourth years also seemed to be leaving. The rest had already seen everything. Did he mind showing them again?

'Go for it!' he sensed Hermione. 'I just regret not having suggested it before Luna.'

'If it wasn't for my brothers I'd take Luna's place in a heartbeat,' he heard Ginny in his mind.

'I wish I was brave enough to act like Luna,' Susan told him silently.

"Fine," he said, noticing that Minerva was frowning deeply, yet refraining from letting herself be noticed by others.

Harry stood up and helped Luna up as well. Hermione cast the contraceptive spell on her before letting her do anything else. She didn't seem to trust the temporary sterilization potion Harry had taken the previous night. Luna smiled at him and Harry felt both her love and her lust shining through that smile. He hugged her tenderly and started kissing her, showing her his own love. He was actually surprised to feel so much love for the girl he had barely known a day earlier. 'It's the bond,' a voice in his head explained. He was too concentrated on Luna to notice whose voice that was.

The kissing got heated soon. Hands started roaming, removing the clothing that kept them apart. When he lowered Luna to the carpeted floor, he noticed it was well padded, as if somebody had cast a cushioning charm, yet he didn't know who. Luna was urging him to fill her void and by then he was more than eager to comply. He still managed to notice many more couples becoming occupied in the same manner. Almost everybody present, excluding his wives, was affected by the display of love and passion even more than the lust potion had affected them the previous night. Harry didn't pay much attention to that. His attention was drawn to the magnificent young woman that was so eager to unite with him and he was trying to show her how much he cared for her; how much he had come to love her.

By the time his breathing calmed down enough to notice his surrounding again, most couples were already way past that stage. The boys were looking at Harry with some admiration, while the girls seemed to envy Luna and his other wives. Harry was still unable to see why.

Ron spoke for the others. "Well, mate, you seem to sense your partner better than anybody else and give her exactly what she wants. It must be easier with the bond, yet you've been just as good to those who didn't form a bond, so I've heard."

Ron was hugging a smiling Parvati, who was still showing some whitish drops sliding down her thighs. "You still have to learn," she whispered in his ear, loud enough for everybody to hear, "and I'm quite willing to teach you." Everybody chuckled at that.

Harry collected his and Luna's clothes and they both got dressed. "We'd rather reach our apartment before curfew. All my friends are invited to visit us there."

It was only after they reached their new apartment when Minerva asked, "Did you sense her needs by your bond, or did you just act as you thought you should, Harry?"

"Had I opened myself to the bond with Luna I might have been severely distracted. Her mind works very differently from others. I just let myself notice the way she acted and reacted and I adjusted my actions accordingly. It was quite natural, I think."

Minerva only nodded pensively. She was starting to appreciate her young husband in a very different way.

Harry didn't forget the way Luna had looked at the Equinox. He remembered how frightened and hurt she had been and how he had promised himself to punish those who raped her, although he didn't promise anything to Luna. He hesitated to bring the subject up, though, not wanting to revive her painful memories, yet he didn't want to delay it. Now, back in their apartment, he wondered how to act.

"You may ask me, Harry. I don't mind," Luna told him after she noticed him contemplating the issue.

"You already know what I need to ask you, don't you?"

Luna smiled enigmatically. "Maybe I do and maybe I don't. I could suggest you check my memories, but that may not work too well. Just ask, please."

Harry wasn't sure how to ask in a way that would not make it painful. Unable to find a way, he just blurted, "Who were the boys who raped you at the Equinox?"

Luna didn't seem to mind. "They didn't really rape me, although Umbridge urged them to. I think they even tried to be as tender as they could, but it was their first experience as well."

Harry was confused. "How could it be their first? They had been at the celebration for a while, hadn't they?"

"I don't really know. I was the first, for one of them, at least. He seemed to be at loss about what he was supposed to do with me. Umbridge had to tell him step by step."

Who could be that stupid? Only two names came into his mind. "Were these Crabble and Goyle?"

Luna nodded. "Crabble really tried, but he was too big for me, and I was rigid with fear. Umbridge hovering over us didn't help either. Once he settled in, she took a few steps back and then he apologized. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I didn't want to hurt you, but I've never been with a virgin. I've never been with any girl before.' He seemed more frightened than I was."

"So, you forgave him?"

"There was no point in making him feel bad for something he didn't really want to do. He isn't that bad, really, when not under the influence of others. Once he finished, which was quite quickly, Umbridge shoved him away and pushed Goyle over me. 'Shag her hard!' she told him. I was already hurting from being opened and wet from Crabble's discharge, so he just slipped in quickly, moved a few times and finished in less than a minute. He didn't hurt me and I barely even felt him, as he's much smaller there than most other boys."

"Don't you want to punish him?"

"He's got punishment enough. All Slytherin girls are making fun of him and girls from other houses too."

"But they still raped you," Harry insisted.

"No, Umbridge raped me, just as she did to the whole school. She's the one we need punish."

Their new apartment had a separate bedroom for each wife along with a master bedroom for Harry, yet none of the girls seemed to wish to sleep alone. Hermione waved her wand at the master bed, enlarging it enough to hold them all comfortably. They all stripped, used the bathroom and assembled in bed. Harry did the same. After the previous night, he didn't find it unusual to sleep nude. He actually enjoyed feeling all his naked wives pressing their bodies onto his. Luna only kissed him and moved to the edge of the bed. The others weren't so willing to leave his side, yet he only kept Hermione close to him and finally found Minerva pressed at his other side.

He didn't need a soul bond to know that Minerva also wanted a replay of what she had experienced so unexpectedly the previous night. He felt Hermione agree and he turned to Minerva, caressing her body and enjoying her ripeness. She even looked younger in the dim light, making it less awkward than he thought.

Minerva responded with more passion than she thought she ever felt. Their caresses became more intimate and more lustful until it was clear to both of them that uniting physically was a necessity. Minerva had never felt so ready for her mate and so willing. She enjoyed the feeling she had not experienced for many years until the previous night, the feeling of being loved in the full sense of the word. It was more than physical, so she felt. It was also different from the previous time. It was intense and tender and just... wonderful. She reached her climax and felt Harry reach it inside her a few seconds later. She soon fell asleep, feeling fully sated.

Harry, though, had at least another wife to sate before he could sleep. Hermione was already enticed by the scene she had just witnessed. She didn't need much to be fully ready for Harry and he didn't need much to regain his readiness. She wasn't sure if it was due to his young age or the bond and she didn't really care. She just pushed him in with her legs and resumed the age old love ritual.

When they both collapsed after a fabulous peak, they fell asleep with smiles on their faces. Daphne, who was still awake, pulled the cover over them and snuggled as close as she could, falling asleep as well.