December 26, 1944
Friday Morning
"I thought she was in here?" Harry asked when he and Corene stepped into a smaller, less official-looking dining room.
Corene cocked her head at him before she took a quick look around the room. What he failed to notice until she was already moving was the way that her eyes scanned nearly every large piece of furniture. He wasn't remotely sure what she was doing when she withdrew her wand and began to prod multiple chairs or the large couch at the opposite side of the room.
It took until he saw said couch for him to understand what Corene was doing and why the small, eager look was on her face. Corene's grandmother was probably in the room with them right this second, but she was testing them. He supposed it made sense for her to do so if she were that curious about him, but on the other hand, it could just as easily be a game that Corene played with her grandmother.
"Wh-" Harry paused right as he was about to ask Corene what spell she was using. He knew what it was, he'd used it before and he'd heard of it even back in his time; Finite Incantatem. With a smile on his face, Harry moved over to the second largest piece of furniture on his side of the room and with a gentle, nearly forceless poke at the padded chair, he said the incantation.
There was a series of pops, a pillow was thrown in the air and towards the end, as a figure emerged from the chair, one rough bit of wood hit him in the leg. It was startling even though the result was expected and painful, of which that result hadn't been expected, but above all Harry was incredibly pleased with himself. He had caught on to the little game that Corene's grandma had evidently wanted them to play and he'd done so all by himself.
I'll have to ask Corene about this later, see if it's normal, if she let me find her grandma or if this was something they've always done.
"Why did you move past the first object?" Corene's grandma asked even as Corene came over to receive a hug from the older woman.
Harry blinked.
He had expected varying questions and dozens of them, especially with this woman being related to Elaine - a young woman who seemed nosier than anybody else he'd ever met thus far. For her first question to be over something so minute and unimportant as to why he'd moved past the slightly larger chair and instead over to hers…
"I didn't think you'd be the one closest to the door or the largest piece of furniture," Harry eventually said. "It wouldn't make sense if you were hiding that you'd be the largest piece in the room and right next to the door."
In his mind, that would be a horrible decision; hiding next to the door, standing out thanks to your size and really, the awkward straightness of it that went at odds with the rest of the slightly angled furniture. Every part of Harry's mind told him that it looked too fake to be a person, too perfect.
"The reasoning is adequate considering the circumstances, but the action would be bold in scenarios of which you're unfamiliar," Grandma Carrow finally removed her arm that'd been around Corene and took stock of him, very slowly eyeing the entirety of his figure up; she started on his lower body until those dark, blank eyes of hers were staring back at him. "You're not very nervous."
"Harry's rarely been nervous in recent times, Ahma," Corene quietly said from beside her grandmother, her voice quieter and vaguely more feminine-sounding than the usual even, deeper tone.
Grandma Carrow - of who Harry could now clearly see as the remains of her disguise was ditched and the darkness of the room was lifted with a wave of her hand - stepped forward so that she was closer to him now. Her face, her hair, everything about her seemed younger than it should if she were truly Corene and Elaine's grandmother. If he had to guess even as she stared at him, the older woman barely seemed a decade, if that, older than Corene's parents.
"Corene, Harry, grab a seat if you would. There's much that I need to do today and our conversation will, unfortunately, have to be formal and kept on a leash with that being the case," Grandma Carrow then pointed them across the table so that she didn't have to the extra walking before she took a seat. "I hear from Corene that you're intimately familiar with my granddaughter within the Gaunt family, Harry. The tale is an interesting one, I'm sure, but you'll have to forgive me for skipping most of it today - I want to know about her and as you're well aware, I want to know about you. Speak clearly, quickly and properly."
Corene cocked her head at her grandmother but remained silent. She seemed more demure, especially with the way she was seated and how her hands were neatly folded on her lap. With how seldomly Corene sat in such a defensive, nearly submissive posture even whilst speaking with Elaine, he came to the conclusion that Grandma Carrow wasn't one to mess around.
"I'm Harry Peverell, I'll be on the Wizengamot when I'm out of Hogwarts, I'm planning on joint business ventures with the Carrows and Weasleys, but mainly the Carrows. In addition to that, I'm engaged to your granddaughter Elaine with our marriage to come once we're both out of Hogwarts," Harry paused for a breath and continued, his pulse racing as the woman across from him continued her expressionless stare that felt as if she were seeing through him. "We both have ambitions in the Ministry and we've both discovered a fair few secrets within Hogwarts."
Grandma Carrow hummed before the first physical expression came to her face; amusement. He hoped it was directed towards his final words, the ones that mentioned secrets, but if he had to wager Galleons on it, he'd do the lowest amount that'd be allowed.
"I'm surprised that you mentioned Elaine in the very first chance you were given to speak. Most 'men' of your status would rather speak of themselves, the accomplishments they think they hold or other matters that they deem important. Those typically wouldn't involve an engagement, much less one to a girl without an important familial name," Grandma Carrow leaned forward and held her eye contact with Harry. "You and Corene are close too, aren't you? I'm not like her French family from that little island in Canada, I'll speak plainly for all of our sakes. - why did you decide to take one of my granddaughters, the lesser one should you listen to political norms, rather than the one currently seated next to you? We all know you could've, we would've been powerless to stop it too, but you didn't."
"Elaine was very… adamant in pursuing me and eventually, after a few attempts from her, I decided to give it a g- try. We waited to see how it would go for a few months, but when those went by easily enough and without issue, I thought I'd ask for her hand in marriage and she gave it to me. As for Corene, she's always been a great friend of mine since the very first few weeks I came out of hiding, so there wasn't any way I'd want to risk that friendship," Harry smiled over at Corene and then turned his attention back over to Grandma Carrow, the smile on his face falling off slightly but his lips remained pointed upwards.
It was at this point too that Harry realised whilst looking into her eyes that she lacked that familiar prodding that Corene's mother had. The detail wasn't incredibly important at that moment in time, but it was one that he'd hold onto. Especially since the time would come when Corene would be away from her grandma so that he could specifically ask her about her mother's weird eye-prodding.
"Aggressive witches will always do better than others who simply choose to sit idly by. It's as much a fact of life as anything else," Grandma Carrow went silent then, letting a few seconds pass so that she could casually take a sip of water before continuing on. "I've got the measure of you, Harry, and you'll be pleased to know that I don't think you're stupid."
Corene remained silent, but he could just make out her lips raising slightly. He took that to mean what her grandmother said was a good thing, and so he smiled too. Harry wouldn't verbally respond since there wasn't much he could say without seeming stupid, but he figured the smile was good enough anyhow.
"What more did you wish to discuss with him while he's here, Ahma?" Corene asked, her voice soft-sounding enough that it matched her current demure posture.
"Nothing," Grandma Carrow said. "I wanted to meet Harry Peverell, and I have. My concerns regarding him were without grounds and after today, a majority of them are no longer warranted - I'll speak with you again, eventually, Harry. You have my word and my interest, a lot of interest. Until that time comes, I'll be more than pleased in knowing that I won't have to handle you for the sake of my family."
"Ahma," Corene said, her tone as chiding as the younger girl could get away with.
Harry laughed, not knowing what else he should do in the face of a threat from Corene's grandma and nodded. "Thanks, I don't think I want to get handled for quite some time," Harry stood up when Grandma Carrow did, continuing on when she made no motions to leave. "If I may…"
"Go on," Grandma Carrow said, arching an eyebrow at him as she looked back over to Corene.
"I thought you wanted to discuss Elaine since you plan on meeting her relatively soon? There's a lot that I could tell you about her or myself, more than the little bit that I've already done," Harry had to fight to keep himself from joining the Carrows in their incessant head-cocking expression when he finished speaking, for the physical response from Grandma Carrow wasn't at all what he expected.
She smiled at him before ultimately motioning to the door. "When I told you to speak regarding yourself and Elaine, you mentioned the most important pieces you could currently think of. Whatever you've found at Hogwarts, your ambitions, the engagement, all of it was extremely telling in regards to your character. We'll speak again, as I said, but I'll be delaying my meeting with Elaine. Corene tells me all about her and the issues she faces, enough so for me to know that you're needed in her life more so than I am, for the moment."
That was that. Corene ushered him out of the room and he didn't attempt to linger behind.
"That didn't go very good, now did it?" Harry asked with a huff once he and Corene were far enough down the hallway that being overheard wasn't a risk.
"I would say it went incredibly well, personally," Corene said, the girl finally deciding that they had gone far enough and as such, stopped walking so that he would do the same. "Had it gone poorly, we'd still be speaking with her. If it had gone worse than poorly, I'm of the opinion that you'd be asleep and in your bed without any real memory regarding the meeting available for recollection. That may very well be my personal bias too, so please do take that with a singular grain of salt, please."
Harry shook his head. "Alright, that's brilliant then, I think," he then clapped his hands together and motioned towards the end of the hallway. "Let's get going, figure out something else to do, yeah? While we're walking, you could tell me why she ended it so early after having me expect a very long, drawn-out, question-heavy meeting."
"I can do that now, so I will; she wished to properly gauge you as a person and as my father always mentions when dealing with problematic business associates, she wished to see if there was anything that she could do. Evidently, especially to my parents and myself, you're not remotely hostile towards us and as such, she didn't feel the need to intervene. Much of the magic that she knows is older in style, bulkier if you would, but many are unaware of how to defend or accurately counter such spells," Corene cocked her head when he swallowed at that, as teasing a look coming to her face as she could ever manage. "Don't look so worried, none of us here could lay a hand on you even if we wished to, which includes her. As I said, it was my personal bias that brought out the second possibility."
"Not a very good one, that. I guess it makes sense to some degree, it just feels weird that we'd wait for most of the day only for her to baulk at the long discussion and Elaine. Didn't you say that she was set on speaking with her as soon as she could?" Harry nearly huffed but stopped himself short.
Confused and annoyed as he was at her Grandma's antics, he didn't need to take it out on Corene. It wasn't her fault that her grandmother was indecisive, impulsive and above all else, weird.
"She told me as much a few days ago when her last owl arrived, but something involving your presence has changed that plan. I'll speak with her this evening in the event that she's feeling particularly generous, but with the situation having changed, I believe I'll wait in my reveal just as she will. There's no longer any point in rushing out this revelation if our singular time constraint is no longer present," Corene finished and looked at him, her body language conveying that she wanted him to weigh in regarding her train of thought.
"I've said it before, it's your choice, I'll just help you with it. If you want to wait until Yule's over, we can do that. All I'd say to you then is to make sure your grandma won't go off on her own and speak with Elaine before we do. I don't think that'd be very good, especially if she thinks we're colluding," Harry raised one hand ever so slightly, calming himself just as much as it likely aided the unshakeable girl before him, which was to say not very much. "Guess it's time for us to get moving then, yeah? I don't know about you, but after all of today's stress only to have a small, five-minute conversation, I'd like some cake."
Corene twirled on the heels of her feet so that she was by his side again, and just as graceful as ever, she slipped her arm through his at the same time she looked up at him with a small, gentle smile. "I'm agreeable to any form of sweet-tasting snack that you are so long as it means spending a bit more time together."
Harry chuckled and just like that, the two of them were off with the day's worries behind them… until Harry got home that evening and began to overthink the entire day. Until that point came up, however, the rest of the day had been as close to perfect as was possible.
December 28, 1944
Sunday Afternoon
With a snort, Harry set down the Prophet and took another sip of his coffee. He wrinkled his nose at the bitterness of the drink and wrinkled it again at the passing of the most recent Wizengamot law. It was obviously going to pass, anybody who even vaguely knew Magical Great Britain's politics could tell you that, but the lack of fairness was still bothersome even if it directly aided him.
Merlin, if you believed the rumours, Pureblood wizards and witches were oftentimes more powerful than your Muggleborn or Half-Blood. If you subscribed to that notion, you likely supported one that typically went hand-in-hand with it; Purebloods have private libraries filled with 'family' magic or self-made variants of currently popular spells. If those two were true, then the Purebloods were people you most definitely wanted in the Auror Corps.
Still, it wouldn't happen. Not by force or compulsive service, at the very least. The Wizengamot had passed the bill that prohibited conscription of their family members and as such, nearly one-quarter of all possible Aurors were wiped away in one day. Deputy Director McMacson and Head Auror Maxus or whatever his name actually was, weren't very happy. That was only putting it modestly too.
On the flip side, the Wizengamot vote regarding a Ministry-funded Orphanage had passed. Harry hadn't expected it to and truthfully, without Elaine getting involved, it wouldn't have. When he made it known to her how much he cared about it and learned that it held a certain soft spot for the typically detached girl, he pressed as hard as he could. It took him nearly all of yesterday to do so and it'd even gone on to take up the majority of the early morning today, but he convinced her it was worth supporting to the point that she wrote to those who supported her.
Harry counted it as a victory in many ways, most of all being that the cause the two worked towards was truly good and had brought them closer together. When he considered the tension that often fell between them, it was especially sweet.
"You seem as pleased as you do shocked, darling," Elaine said as she stepped into the parlour room, her feet already carrying her over to the couch that he was seated on. "Did you think I'd fail to deliver, or are you basking in our victory?"
"More so the latter, but I didn't think you could sway the balance of power that easily. All it took was a few letters to your friends and then their parents changed their votes… that's all you say it took, I suppose. Either way, I guess finally experiencing the way new laws are passed or failed was a bit eye-opening," Harry glanced warily up at Elaine, but she didn't seem to care about his semi-snide remark that wasn't meant to be one; he could've worded it better, but with how often she'd broken his trust, he was still a bit peeved.
"Our Ministry isn't half as secure as they make themselves out to be. Corruption is rampant so long as you have the Galleons to abuse it and if you don't, other ways always remain possible. It's part of why you and I need to change the Ministry, rebrand it, I should say. Many of the current positions exist for the sake of a bloated Government body. We could fix that and save on expenditure so that those Galleons are better used on properly revitalizing the Magical community," Elaine sank down onto the couch beside him and pulled him close, enough so that his head was now resting on her chest while her hands sought out his hair. His typically messy, dark hair was a favourite of hers and as such, she often played with it when the young couple had spare time to spend together.
She's not entirely wrong.
Harry nodded a few times. "You're right," he said, agreeing and not caring any longer that he did so. "The Ministry is corrupt and we'll change that, together. We can make it better for everybody, especially once Grindelwald is locked up or dead and any other conflict is nipped in the bud."
"What if it takes conflict for either of us to rise to power? Isn't a coup or a few corrupt politicians' lives a cheap enough cost for the overall betterment of our society?" Elaine smiled coyly and raised her right hand in a mock-surrender gesture. "I'm not saying it's necessary, and I can assure you that I'm not talking about hurting any innocents. I trust you'll believe that after I used no small amount of political influence these past couple of days to support the Orphanage bill. All that I'm discussing with you is the possibility of us coming to power requiring more lucrative means."
Harry desperately wanted to avoid a political discussion, but he knew it was pointless to do so.
"Coups are rarely bloodless, Elaine. You know that as well as I do, better, probably," Harry said, yawning when she hit a particularly nice spot on the top of his head that invoked a deep feeling of exhaustion.
"You're right, but that only brings us back to the point I made after that one - what's the life of a corrupt politician or ten if it means the betterment for all those who they swore to serve in the first place? Wouldn't you enjoy a Magical community that wasn't half as stagnant or unfair as this one currently is?" Elaine looked ready to dive into some grand, elaborate speech when he turned his head up to face her, but she paused… then she exhaled and changed the entire course of the conversation. "I won't try to change your mind. I'm aware that you don't like it when I try to do so and so I'll avoid it. When Grindelwald is dead and rotting, his corpse an inferi that'll serve us until the end of time and the light long-sense faded from his eyes, we'll speak about our take over."
Normally, such remarks from Elaine, especially while she was cuddling him and acting as lovey-dovey as she always did, would have sent a cold chill down his spine. This time around, shockingly, they didn't. Grindelwald deserved to die and he knew it just as much as she did even if he wasn't half as violent.
Grindelwald was responsible for the deaths of millions with tens of thousands of those being Magical Deaths, hence the reason he was hated by most wizards and witches. If Harry could have Elaine aid him and Dumbledore in killing the man, he would consider his job half-done, as it was his fault that Grindelwald had invaded his homeland - the promise of a living, breathing Peverell was too sweet for a man who fancied himself the 'Master of Death'.
"I'll agree to that, but on the condition that he's dead. Grindelwald and anybody that's similar to him don't deserve to live when they've taken that away from so many other people," Harry said, his voice firm and his meaning clear. "Anybody who hurts innocent people in their bid for power, especially to the point of massacring whole villages, they deserve whatever comes at them and more."
Elaine nodded once at Harry's words and smiled, her face sweet despite the murderous intent that was now alight in her eyes. "When you speak without that filter you always try putting up, I find myself getting more and more attached to you."
"That's good," Harry said as he made to sit up, Elaine's hands in his hair following him as he leaned forward. "I'm just surprised you haven't jumped me for a snogging these past few months. Merlin, those first couple of times that you did… I thought I was dreaming."
I probably shouldn't have told her that, don't need her getting a bigger ego than she already has, but whatever. She deserves compliments, especially after today.
Elaine made a sound that was halfway between a moan and a groan. That quick, short sound was all the warning he got before he found himself violently pulled back; her eyes were staring into his, her legs were on either side of his waist and her lithe body was now straddling him.
"I stopped doing so out of concern that you found such aggressive behaviour unbecoming of a woman," Elaine said softly, her voice huskier as she leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Now that I see that you enjoy these moments as much as I do, my love, I'll be sure to start many, many more of them. Now, kiss me until you find it impossible to breathe - if you're good, I'll pull away when your eyes start to flutter."
Harry barely had the chance to blink once before Elaine was on him, and all the while that the two sloppily kissed, he couldn't help but think that he'd made a minor mistake. It wasn't bad enough that he'd complain about their snogging, especially not with the way she felt rubbing all against him or those sounds she'd make, but it… well, actually, the only thing he could complain about was the lack of oxygen as their kissing continued.
The possibility of kissing until he passed out was rapidly approaching until a loud pop sounded right behind them. As soon as that happened, Elaine had turned herself around on his lap and had his wand in her dominant hand.
"Don't hurt Laddey!" Harry heard before he saw who'd joined them, the small house-elf sounding pitiful.
Elaine lowered her wand and took in a deep breath before she swung back around to look down at Harry, her back now to the house-elf that'd joined them. She didn't make to continue they're snogging, but she did lay on Harry, her head resting on his chest as she shifted her hips from time to time whilst laying on him.
It was uncomfortable, her moving around on top of him. She was likely getting a kick out of the reaction as much as she was getting one from the situation. Harry, on the other hand, was finding it very difficult to speak with Laddey thanks to Elaine's movements and the act they'd just got caught in.
Still, with a deliberate cough and a slight tilt of his head to see the small guy, Harry spoke. "Hey Laddey and, uh, sorry. We were… what's up? What did you need?"
Harry had stopped halfway through. He didn't need to come up with an excuse for what he and Elaine had been doing. Laddey wouldn't care either way and Harry personally, well, it didn't much matter to him either. Well, it did, just not in a way that he felt like he had to talk about it with his house-elf or anybody else.
"Laddey has something for the Master Harry sir and Elaine," Laddey said, his ears hesitantly rising from their flat positioning on top of his head. "Would Master Harry sir like it now, or would he want Laddey to wait with it?"
Without even turning to face Laddey, Elaine held out a hand to receive the small envelope in his hands. "If it's from Professor Horace Slughorn, I would very much appreciate it if you handed the letter over immediately. There was a project he was working towards in tandem with me and a response from him over Yule can only mean a breakthrough - Harry?"
Elaine's questionable tone with which she said his name at the end of her speaking told him that she was asking permission from him to take the letter. It wasn't nearly as surprising as it would have been months ago, but the fact that she didn't just outright take it still wasn't lost on him. At the same time, he was acutely aware that Laddey wouldn't hand it over to Elaine without his permission.
"Is it from Professor Slughorn, Laddey?" Harry asked as he ran one hand lengthwise down Elaine's back, making the girl shoot him another look that told him exactly what she'd rather be doing right this second.
"Mister Slughorn and the Slughorn's father both wrote something for Laddey to give you. Mister Slughorn's was mainly for Elaine, Master Harry sir, and Slughorn's father was for you, Master Harry sir," Laddey said as he took one small step closer, the letters again in his outstretched hands.
"Please give Elaine the one from Mister Slughorn, I'll take the one from Slughorn's father," Harry said with a smile as he reached out to grab the aforementioned letter whilst Elaine took hold of the other. "Thank you, Laddey. Could you come to get us when it's time for lunch? Make it a big one too, if you could. We're both very hungry after a late night of work."
Laddey dipped his head dutifully. "Yes Master Harry sir, Laddey will do just that!"
With a pop, the small house-elf was off and Harry was left with Elaine.
"You first," Harry said quickly and with a small grin on his face as he looked into Elaine's still-heated eyes.
Elaine narrowed those beautiful, dark eyes of hers immediately after he spoke. Rather than say something in response, she gyrated her hips a few times for the sake of finding a 'comfortable' position before finally sitting back in his lap to peel open the letter.
"Greetings to the best two students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. I hope this letter finds you in good health and whilst enjoying a wonderful Yule break, perhaps on an evening with which you've found yourselves sampling a potent brew of Elfwine," Elaine chuckled roughly at the mention of that particular alcohol before she continued reading Professor Slughorn's letter. "Allow me to get to the point of this letter so that I don't waste your time - Elaine, this portion will be specifically meant for you until I specify otherwise. Our project and the usages of my contacts have reached their penultimate goal, I tell you. Should you wish it, whenever you wish it, the Wizengamot is prepared to officially acknowledge you as the continuation of House Gaunt. As we discussed, all wrongdoings of House Gaunt as well as the outstanding debt will be forgiven in exchange for your remembrance and future patronage," Elaine finally paused to take a breath, at which point Harry immediately took the chance to ask a question.
"What does Professor Slughorn mean when he says 'for your remembrance and future patronage', Elaine?" Harry paused, nodded to himself and then leaned forward to kiss her cheek, not wanting to ruin the relaxed, intimate mood they were currently in. "Congratulations, by the way. I'm sure it took a lot of time and effort to get that over with. You should know that I'll help you get it back too if you'd like."
Elaine used one of her hands to keep him close and whilst he was, she kissed him fully on the lips. Just like earlier, her soft embrace and the aggressive nature with which they snogged was unleashed in its entirety. Harry enjoyed it for nearly half of a minute before he pulled back, laughing when Elaine made an angry noise and exhaled just as angrily.
"He's requesting that I don't forget exactly who it was that got me the name of Gaunt. Remembrance is a not so subtle way for Professor Slughorn to remind me that I owe him a favour, one that's a tad bit larger than I expected when initially getting together to work with him on this endeavour. Future patronage implies going to future gatherings, parties and other events that he holds. When I become the Minister in a decade, likely less, he'll want me to continue supporting him publically so that he continues building his network of friends amongst ex-students so that his secure position only gets more secure with the passing of time," Elaine paused and took a breath, stretching in an appealing way that Harry tracked before she continued with the rest of what she had to say… which wasn't much. "I've previously agreed to those two terms of his, as the former is essentially a one and done while the latter is only beneficial to me. Well, I do suppose it's beneficial so long as a friendship with him is. Perhaps a time will come when only you and those closest to us matter."
Harry nearly asked who she considered closest to them but he decided not to; Corene, Daphne, Emilene and probably the two idiots were who she'd respond with. Malfoy had fallen from grace since the earlier days while Nott was just plane gone and really, Walburga had done herself in. How the woman had earned herself a fearsome reputation was lost to Harry when she seemed so… oblivious? Dumb?
There were a number of terms that could fit her.
"What about the rest of the letter?" Harry chose to ask after nodding at her words.
Elaine went back to reading it but she did so quietly and in under ten seconds if even that. "In the rest of the letter after the point with which he reminds me of the cost for his assistance, he reminded me that a new Senior Advisor to the Minister will be made in the following days. You may not be entirely aware of it, which is partially my fault, but the Minister keeps removing his Senior Advisor whenever he feels threatened by them or if he screws up particularly horribly."
Harry snorted. "Sounds a lot like every politician I've ever read about," he said before he stopped and blinked, his attention focused back on a grinning Elaine. "Fine. I like the idea of us taking over since it means everything will get better. I've already told you I supported doing so."
"You never seemed all that keen previously. I suppose I'm glad that you see the same issues that I do, it'll make dealing with them all the easier if we can both acknowledge them openly," Elaine leaned closer again, pressing a kiss to each corner of his lips before she pulled back enough to speak without their lips touching as she did so. "I should also say that It's very attractive, hearing you talk about taking over the Ministry as if it were childs play."
Childs play, Harry mentally scoffed, It would b- Momsey.
"We should probably discuss, uh, that," Harry said with a tentative smile up at Elaine. "You've met Momsey, so you know how she is and what she… wants, yeah?"
Elaine grinned at him with a cocked head, her eyes getting darker - he swore they did. "I've met your house-elf with the name of Momsey and yes, I'm aware as to what she'd like. You should know that I support her in those endeavours, as they'll only further secure our relationship and status, especially with the older lines," Elaine's shyly reached up to twirl a few errant strands of hair around one of her fingers at that point, her cheeks turning red as she looked down at him, the epitome of innocence her visage despite how false that truly was. "I'll admit that I'm equally as eager as she is for personal reasons too. I've always wanted a family, one that I could come home to and spend time with."
I've wanted that same thing. I've wanted it for a very long time and I had it with the Weasleys for a while.
"Yeah, I think I remember you saying… something… along those lines. I was just thinking that we should wait until after you're the Minister, you know? When we've made sure everything is running smoothly and anybody that would want to hurt us was already dealt with - non-lethally, obviously," Harry paused to see what Elaine thought, but she simply shrugged.
"I suppose the issue will come up again when we're a touch more intimate. Until then, unless you mean to lay with me tonight, we can let it wait," Elaine shot Harry a very pointed, very inviting look before she finally snuggled back up to him. "You should read the letter that Professor Slughorn's father sent you. I'm sure it'll be at least partially gibberish, should the rumours of his condition be true."
"What condition would that be? The last memory I have of him, he was perfectly fine," Harry asked, not recalling anything physically wrong with the man or mentally, as he thought about their last encounter.
Sure, he seemed a bit odd and yeah, he disliked Elaine which was rare, but he seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders even if he liked stories a bit too much. Truthfully, Harry thought of Slughorn's father as a slightly more realistic version of the man himself, though real in that sense was meant in regards to personality; Professor Slughorn most definitely wasn't as friendly with students as he currently was out of the goodness of his heart.
"Unfortunately for Slughorn Senior, he was recently found to hold some magical variant of a Muggle illness. The exact name is one that I'm currently blanking on, but needless to say, there's no potion to cure it as of yet," Elaine shrugged, not looking the least bit bothered to see a man who disliked her on his way out of the world. "Won't you read it? We have to study before too much longer, unless…"
Harry patted her on the thigh and pulled the letter up so that he could open it. Elaine was right, they had to study and there were likely other events that would pop up throughout the day that would need dealing with too. Until they came, however, Harry was perfectly content to spend half an hour or so on the couch with a frisky Elaine - at least that version of her wouldn't yell at him, use every trick imaginable to defeat him in a duel and ultimately lecture him for upwards of half an hour on what he'd done wrong.
Merlin, all of the work he'd done by himself had sent him forward but he still could barely hold a candle to her when she unleashed all of her strength. It was impressive, terrifying and only somewhat attractive.
"Harry Peverell," Harry started, his prompt a gentle squeeze of his upper thigh in tandem with a soft, content sigh from Elaine. "You may have heard, though you likely haven't on account of my private lifestyle, I'm currently afflicted with a serious medical condition. This letter is written by my house-elf and as such, will be kept to the sole message that I wish to convey. Visit me within the next few days, my son will show you where to find me. Slughorn Senior - that's dead helpful, isn't it?"
Elaine didn't seem half as amused as he was. Her face lost the lustful edge it had to it and was replaced by a contemplative expression mixed with something else that he couldn't quite identify. That was a rarity considering all of his time with her and the openness of expressions whilst she was in his presence, thus he was justifiably worried as her silence continued while that expression remained in place.
Until it didn't.
"What did you last speak with him about? He saw you at Horace's last gathering, I'm certain of that, but you never made mention of the conversation the two of you shared," Elaine raised an eyebrow, her husky voice still in place even as she shot him her political game-face; the look wasn't half as intimidating as it usually was considering it was from his lap while she was half-dressed and still vaguely flushed.
Harry did ultimately respond, but he continued with his light-hearted, affectionate attitude. "We talked about family history, or more specifically, stories regarding them. His was focused on… I can't quite remember, but I do know I never told him one of mine. It's only fair considering everybody knows one."
"If you remember, please tell me," Elaine said, the girl finally withdrawing to stand up, right her clothing and stretch once more before she shot him a look that made him groan in response. He knew what it meant, and her next words only confirmed it. "It's time to practice duel."
He was done.
December 31, 1944
Wednesday Afternoon
"Good morning, Elaine," Harry said, grinning at her the whole while as he moved over to serve her a breakfast that he'd made all by himself. "Did you sleep well?"
Elaine grunted something at him; she wasn't a morning person in the slightest, he'd come to learn. He wasn't sure how she woke up so early and stayed up so late whilst at Hogwarts, especially with the energy she maintained, but if he had to guess, potions were involved. Harry had come to take her at her word that she'd only done a couple of rituals.
I think I'll do that speed one. If I got faster and could move more quickly, especially in a fight, it could make all the difference and only at the cost of getting exhausted easier.
"I have some news for you if you'd like - pancakes?" Harry kissed Elaine on the cheek when she gave him a thumbs-up and then he put four large pancakes on her plate. It was weird to know that the potential future Dark Lady enjoyed white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and almonds in her pancakes. "You wanted the news, right? Or would you rather wait until later?"
Elaine shook her head and shot him an expectant look before she yawned, a bit of her long hair getting caught up in her mouth at which point she huffed. One short call for Momsey later, a call in which Elaine had the motherly house-elf pull her hair up into a ponytail, and Harry had the okay to share with Elaine the news that had come earlier. Corene had provided it, which wasn't surprising.
"The Minister lost one of his key supporters today, the Abbott family had an alignment shift and decided to move over to Dumbledore's side. There isn't much reason as to why they did so, but that's definitely a large blow to h-" Harry was interrupted when Corene's house-elf appeared in his home again, joined with Laddey as was usual when her elf arrived in his home. "Laddey?"
Harry's question wasn't answered by Laddey, but rather, by Corene's house-elf. "Mistress Corene would like for Harry Peverell and Elaine Gaunt to know that the line has been broken. Mistress Corene's father learned only an hour ago that Grindelwald personally led his forces in a breakout attempt and slew as many as one-hundred wizards from the 'Allies', as the Muggles called the Alliance."
Elaine snorted at the name muttered something to the elf. Harry couldn't make out any of the words but apparently, the tiny house-elf could for after a nod and bow, he was gone back to the Carrows while Laddey went back to whatever it was that he was working on.
It made sense that Harry hadn't really heard what was said, truthfully, for the moment he'd heard that Grindelwald had broken through the defensive lines of the Ministry his mind had begun to race a mile a second. Grindelwald had free reign to kill, plunder and move however he liked, which would ultimately mean hundreds, thousands even, of dead Magicals in addition to the tens of thousands of dead Muggles. There was nothing he could do - his throat got tighter, the world got faster and his thoughts turned darker.
Grindelwald was goi-oh, that felt nice. His shoulders sagged, his body relaxed and his thoughts turned progressively lighter as the pressing sense of doom was drained from his body. He wasn't sure how that was until he saw Elaine standing right in front of him, her bedhead and pyjamas making her look far cuter and less imposing than was usual for her.
"I'm glad you think I'm cute when dressed like this," Elaine said, a mischievous grin on her face as she drew back, her feet padding across the kitchen floor in the direction of her seat.
She was in my mind after she promised not to be… but at the same time, she did stop me from panicking.
"Thanks… what did you see?" Harry asked as he started to shake his head, hopefully clearing all of the lingering dark thoughts from his mind as he stood at the table beside Elaine, his earlier eagerness at sharing news with her for a change now completely gone.
"I saw absolutely nothing, but I did feel what you were feeling and due to that, I approached so that I could stop those feelings from festering. You're not too annoyed with me, I hope, as it was meant completely for your sake," Elaine cocked her head at him, an expression now on her face that he couldn't accurately place; it was the first time he'd seen it too. "It was uncomfortable to see you so bothered, so I suppose I should say my doing so wasn't completely for your sake."
Harry nearly smiled, laughed, kissed her and hugged her as tightly as he could when he made sense of those feelings she was discussing - empathy. He doubted Elaine had ever felt it before and if she had, it was likely a small enough sensation that she didn't care.
He was finally seeing his progress.