All throughout the world many different individuals who called Britain home were returning to it.
Harry was returning with Fleur, Gabrielle, and his unborn child to first deliver news of the pregnancy but to also learn of the fate of his mother.
Ariana and Susan were returning with the possible cure for her.
Pansy and Su were still in Britain, but were equally as eager to return to the magical side of it.
While the others didn't know it, their news and their decision was perhaps the most crucial.
Yet the wizard Dumbledore did not know about any of that as he also returned to Britain, nor would it have changed his plans at all. He'd gotten what he'd come for, magical gold, a great big nugget of it that was heavy enough for him to have difficulty carrying it without magic.
Still, while he had managed to steal it, the price was still incredibly high for him.
They'd managed to get his scent. As far as goblins were concerned this was the most dangerous thing to give them. Their sense of smell was so good that they could essentially track you to anywhere in the world with it, and judging from the value of what he'd taken from them, they'd likely never stop hunting him for as long as he lived.
For most that would be truly disheartening to realize you would always be on the run from probably thousands of angry goblins, but not for him.
He'd already thought of how he could use it to his advantage.
Nobody should ever lack faith in Albus Dumbledore as far as he was concerned.
With his current plan, he'd be wiping out all of his enemies in one fell swoop.
DUELDUELDUEL
When Harry, Fleur, and Gabrielle finally got home, the others were already there waiting for them.
He was tired not only from travel but from the weight of the things that he knew he'd have to tell the other girls.
Yet as he hugged, kissed, and looked into each of their eyes he could tell that they also were burdened by whatever they had done or learned.
Ariana was the last one for him to greet as she looked at him shyly as she usually did around him.
He was planning to just hug her, but he ended up kissing her as well.
He'd kissed the other girls plenty of times, but each kiss only told him that he'd made the right decision being with them.
This kiss, to his surprise, was no different.
While he'd been planning on just giving her a chance... well he could somehow already feel that despite the many possible complications between them that it would somehow work out.
Ariana seemed extremely surprised by this, but grinned nevertheless.
"Harry just kissed me!" She announced proudly to everyone.
"Yeah, we saw." Su pointed out, even though she looked was grinning too...and perhaps laughing.
"I suppose that was long overdue." Harry admitted.
"Obviously." Susan pointed out, now currently smiling real wide, "I knew you'd figure it out eventually Harry."
"Well I think we'll just try to see what happens first and..." He tried to say.
However he was interrupted by Ariana kissing him again, this one for much longer as he began kissing her back.
It appeared she was making full use of her chance... not that he was complaining.
After she broke apart, she asked, "Is it because of my new boobs?"
He glanced down at her chest in surprise. Quite honestly he hadn't even noticed, first of all because he'd been concentrating on greeting the other girls as well as her face when he'd kissed her.
It was possibly the first time ever that a girl had gotten much bigger boobs and have a guy not notice them first thing.
"No, actually, it was just something I figured out on my trip." Harry admitted, "You've always been there for me and you've always loved me Ariana. I guess it just took a large reality check to realize just how important you were to me."
There was a long pause to allow all that sink in, but Ariana seemed to realize that they would have to talk more about that subject later.
"Thanks Harry." Ariana said, giving him a hug before announcing, "I'd say however that we've all got something that we learned and need to discuss."
That reminded him again of the plight of his mother as he tentatively asked, "Did you manage to get a cure?"
"I did," Ariana answered, "although I think it's probably best if I tell you what it is a bit later. It's admittedly a bit complicated."
"I'm afraid what we were doing isn't any less complicated." Fleur admitted with a furtive glance at Gabrielle.
Gabrielle decided to just come out with it and brazenly said, "I'm pregnant."
Immediately there were demands from everyone to find out all about it.
Finally, Amelia had to butt in and take charge by getting everyone to quiet down even though it was clear she wanted to know more herself.
Gabrielle took a long breath before explaining everything, finding out, what her thoughts and feelings were, and what her plans were for the future.
He supposed that under the circumstances they all seemed to take it rather well, even offering their support.
They probably could have discussed it more all day but then Su decided to bring up what they had gone through.
In a long meeting of surprises, evidently they were just getting started, even somehow managing to top Gabrielle's expectant pregnancy.
At first as he listened to Su, Pansy, and Tonks talk he was downright entertained as he listened to Su's obvious lack of liking for being in the magical world or some story about having some boy chase after her.
However when they got to the part about confronting their target and finding out just what was going on, that was when he grew extremely worried.
"What did you decide to do?" Susan asked them, "I mean the implications to that would be global. It could totally change every facet of society as we know it."
"We're aware of that," Pansy agreed, "which is why we ultimately decided to go to Tonks and Amelia to figure out what to do."
"We ultimately decided," Amelia replied continuing for Pansy, "to keep Simmons under protective custody until we can finish doing an investigation into the matter. He's agreed to cooperate in exchange for not having to go to Azkaban for it. I believe that he was well meaning but ultimately somewhat misguided. However I cannot deny the value in his research or what it could do for society as a whole. Its true that the Magical and Muggle worlds can certainly benefit from each other, which is what me and Narcissa have been trying to do for quite some time. If we were to find giving magic to muggles to be safe enough, we'd also have to figure out how to do it. Obviously we wouldn't want such capabilities ending up in the wrong hands. I have no doubt certain terrorist organizations or perhaps extremist governments might decide to sell or use it widely upon their own people if they could."
"So we're essentially waiting and trying to figure things out first." Tonks surmised.
He nodded. He supposed it made sense, even though it felt like they were essentially holding onto the most world changing thing since well ever.
The only thing to compare it to in scope would be like Prometheus giving fire to man which was of course only a legend.
Still, he was pretty sure things could go seriously wrong. Hopefully none of them would end up chained to rocks to have buzzards eat their innards for eternity.
After that not-so-pleasant thought, Fleur decided to remind them all, "Well whatever decision we do make concerning that, we now have the next generation to worry about."
She was of course mostly referring to Gabrielle's and his future child but also to Amelia, Narcissa, and Sirius as well who had 5 infants in total of their own.
In one of those rare moments of history, they had the power to greatly affect the world that their own children would end up growing up in.
"Do you think Dumbledore knew about that?" Gabrielle asked worriedly.
It was a good question. Hopefully not, but there was always that risk.
"I hope not," Narcissa finally said, echoing his own thoughts, "but we're still taking precautions."
"What amazes me," Amelia commented, "is just how many different ways Dumbledore has been using in his attempts to take over the world. Even if we manage to stop one, another one just ends up popping up as if no matter what we do he'll still win."
"That's Dumbledore at his core," Ariana explained, "as psychotic as he is, he never ever gives up and always, always has at least 3 plans for every eventuality."
"I'm sick and tired of dealing with him," Pansy complained, "I wish we could just end him right now, once and for all."
Of course everyone knew why they couldn't simply do that. They didn't know where he was and even with most of the magical world now after him he still was proving extremely elusive.
Unfortunately it may yet prove to be far more dangerous on the run than he ever was while at Hogwarts.
Privately he felt that the only way they'd manage to catch him was if he wanted to be found...and that was not a very encouraging thought.
Then to everyone's surprise, Ariana announced, "I do believe I've figured out a way of doing just that."
"How?" Fleur asked a bit skeptically.
"I'll admit that I had some ulterior motives for going to see Grindelwald." Ariana confessed, "It was mainly to try and get a cure for Harry's mother, but I also wanted to see about something else. After learning just what the cure was, it ultimately caused me to decide upon this option."
"Which is?" Su pressed.
"First of all, you should know what the cure was," Ariana explained as she cast a guilty look at Susan, "I didn't want to alarm anyone but I found out that the only way to save Harry's mother was through the aid of a family member of theirs."
That instantly excited him as he pointed out, "Well I'm her son so that you can just use me for it."
"Unfortunately it's more complicated than that," Ariana told him, "you could potentially save her but the problem would be that since she is still a clone, you still wouldn't technically be totally her son. The curse wouldn't then totally go away but instead end up coming back eventually as well as be transmitted to you. You'd both die."
All of the girls gave him hard looks at that.
"It's why Dumbledore and Grindelwald created it in the first place." Ariana replied, "Whenever they created their clone army, they wanted something they could use on them in case they caused trouble. A spell that's cure was only through a close family member which no clone would ever totally be able to have."
It did make sense, although it certainly didn't reassure him.
"Then it's hopeless then." Fleur concluded.
"Not... exactly." Ariana replied slowly, "From what I can tell, the key ingredient used to bring your mother to life was actually phoenix tears, or Fawkes' tears to be specific, if we were to add some of your blood or magic, Harry, to Fawkes' we should be able to create a cure."
Great, he thought, the one thing that could save his mother and it just so happened that Dumbledore had it.
Even if it was gratifying to learn that his mom (and Ariana for that matter) was slightly related to Fawkes and not Dumbledore or Snape for that matter.
Ariana then looked carefully at each person there as she announced, "Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of time in which to try and find Fawkes or Dumbledore, which is why I decided upon my plan. It's admittedly risky, but it's our only shot. Pretty much everything we've discussed here all hinges upon defeating Dumbledore once and for all and my plan will do that."
It was Susan who figured something out first.
"You made a deal with Grindelwald!" Susan surmised in a shocked tone.
"It was when we were talking in that language you probably couldn't understand." Ariana admitted, "There are admittedly certain...dark arts spells that can be used to locate a person no matter where they are. The problem is it requires someone with a much, much darker soul than mine for it to work. That's what I needed Grindelwald for."
There followed a long pause as everyone seemed to be trying to digest that information.
"I'm doubtful that he just up and offered to do that for you for free." Narcissa guessed, "People like that always want something in return."
"That's why it's so risky." Ariana admitted, "Of course any effort to take on Dumbledore would be risky but this one contains an extra concern. I offered him his freedom."
Now that got everyone's attention, and as expected there were many protests.
"You're letting one of the worst dark lords in the history of the world loose?" Pansy questioned angrily.
"Yes." Ariana replied meekily, "Would you mind letting me explain?"
"I would certainly hope so." Amelia told her as she crossed her arms, clearly not liking such a plan already.
"Grindelwald isn't being kept in that prison because of the security." Ariana replied, "It's because he's too afraid of Dumbledore. He's had numerous decades to figure out how to escape and for someone of his skill you can bet it was far longer than he would need. I realized the moment he learned of Dumbledore's death he'd end up breaking out anyway. At least this way I'll be getting something really important out of it."
"Couldn't you have alerted the guards to it though, so he couldn't escape?" Pansy pointed out.
"They'd never have taken a simple schoolgirl seriously, and a foreigner at that." Narcissa decided to answer for her.
"Well to be fair Grindelwald looked like he was about near dead anyway." Susan observed.
"That's just what he wants everyone to think." Ariana insisted, "Trust me, he's still extremely formidable. I admit that only so that you recognize the danger in the fact that we could very easily be killing off one dark lord only for him to be replaced by another."
They mulled that over for a bit.
"Let's just figure out a way to kill them both." Su answered, characteristically suggesting that more violence would help solve the problem.
"I'd rather it be Grindelwald than Dumbledore." Gabrielle stated, causing many to nod in agreement.
It however occurred to him that despite Dumbledore's obvious problems, he had managed to keep all the other serious baddies from gaining too much power. Grindelwald might well have taken over the world going unchecked or Voldemort might well have done the same had Dumbledore not been around to keep them in check.
Yet he also recognized that if such terrible individuals could be stopped by the likes of Dumbledore, it was clear who the most serious threat was.
Ariana's plan didn't seem so bad now. Besides, Grindelwald at least wouldn't do anything until he knew for sure that Dumbledore wasn't around any more to stop him. Perhaps they could use that to their advantage to make sure both were taken out at the same time.
He confessed his thoughts to the group, but then the debate continued to rage on without him as people pointed out their concerns and tried to figure it all out.
As for himself, he managed to make the decision on his own. His mother was dying, and not only her but the entire world was at stake, failure to act quickly could easily lead to dooming them all.
DUELDUELDUEL
That night he met with Ariana alone after certain 'activities' with the other girls to celebrate them all being back together.
Ariana had participated too but it had been purely with Susan. Admittedly watching them rather turned him on to be honest.
At any rate they met in her bedroom.
He could tell she wanted to do something just a tad romantic so he suggested that they cuddle on her bed.
"This is nice." She commented, content to finally be in his arms.
It was indeed a nice start.
"Yeah." He agreed.
After another moment, she then asked, "Do you think I made the right decision?"
"I do." He answered calmly, "A difficult one but when you weigh the potential rewards I can see why you did it."
"It wasn't easy." Ariana replied, "I'm still a bundle of nerves right now."
"You sure seem like you have everything under control." He observed.
"Only because I don't want anyone to freak out when they realize just how messed up I am." Ariana confessed, "As much as I'd like to deny it, Dumbledore had a major impact in just who I am and not just the part with me being alive. I still have all the false memories I have of him and that's difficult to ignore sometimes."
He thought about it for a moment before saying, "I can't imagine what you're going through but I'm hoping to at least be there for you to help you through it. I feel bad about not doing that as well as I should have before, so I'm sorry."
As a way of accepting his apology, she told him, "Nobody's perfect Harry, especially not me. Sure I've got tons of knowledge, but I have absolutely no idea about plenty of things, especially not the things that truly matter, getting you to love me being one of them."
Saying something like that, while already known by him probably wasn't smart to say, but then again it appeared to only be confirmation of something that Ariana simply did not understand totally yet. She got together with Susan through her naivete, in fact many things she did came through mere trial and error.
"I suppose I never did sense any connection with you like I did the other girls." He confessed, "Perhaps simply because you were trying too hard and I was already too preoccupied. Whatever the reason, I don't get that sense now."
Ariana decided to bravely lean in and kiss him before telling him, "Susan always said I'd wear you down eventually."
"Susan is an awfully smart girl," Harry agreed, "we're both lucky to have her.
After another long moment, Ariana said, "How would you feel if me and Susan decided to get married at some point?"
That certainly took him by surprise but it was an easy answer for him.
"Do whatever makes you happy," Harry urged, "even if I do end up marrying both of you. Boy is that going to be a mess, legally speaking, but the happiness it'll bring is well worth dealing with that."
Ariana actually giggled at that as she lifted up her head and remarked, "You just used the M word when partially referring to me."
"I suppose I did," Harry answered, "but we'll see."
She set her head back down on his chest and replied, "I love you Harry."
He did not reply, nor did she seem to expect him to as he continued to merely hold her.
DUELDUELDUEL
The next few days were rather uneasy. Ariana had already provided Grindelwald with a means of escape, but as Amelia and Narcissa had expected, the prison hadn't bothered to mention that their most famous and dangerous prisoner had escaped in order not to avoid a panic, but because they didn't want to have to admit to having let him escape.
Over something like that jobs or even the entire prison itself could end up being shut down.
It was, however, no great concern. Grindelwald was supposed to contact them as soon as he had managed to get what he needed to cast the spell.
Trusting a dark lord really wasn't something he liked doing, but it was his mother's as well as perhaps theirs only chance. Besides, as Ariana had pointed out, Grindelwald wanted to see Dumbledore taken down more than anyone, he would have absolutely no reason not to keep his word and double cross them... at least until Dumbledore was indeed taken down.
Then... well they'd just have to take that risk.
Meanwhile however he and the girls had been managing to relieve the tension through lots and lots of sex.
After one such time, he was currently resting with Tonks as they lay naked side by side.
"I don't know why you usually want me in my natural form." Tonks commented, "You do realize I could be anybody don't you?"
"I know," He agreed, "I just think your body is hot enough already."
"Good answer." Tonks praised, "Of course I'd imagine it could still be hotter.
She made her boobs grow several cup sizes just to demonstrate.
He sighed and appreciatively grabbed one, playing with it for awhile before saying, "Sorry I'm just too warn out, as you can probably imagine. Everyone seems to have been trying to make up for lost time."
Tonks laughed and observed, "I suppose it's not easy having 7 girlfriends to satisfy."
"No, but it sure is fun." Harry replied with a grin.
"Uh, I guess we can just cuddle, watch a chick flick, and eat cookie dough if you're not up for another round or no longer in the mood." Tonks suggested teasingly.
"Thanks," Harry said appreciatively pretending she wasn't joking, "or maybe we can just talk."
"All right, we can do that." Tonks agreed, "Like maybe about you becoming a daddy."
"You want to talk about that?" Harry questioned.
"I just wanted to get your general feelings." Tonks told him.
So he did, explaining in great detail. By now he had gotten much more used to the idea, but he still was unable to hide his fear.
When he had finished, Tonks commented simply, "I see."
"You care to elaborate on that?" He asked of her.
Tonks let out a sigh before admitting, "Well I suppose I was just curious that's all. I mean the whole thing got me thinking about myself, you know. I mean I'm quite a bit older than you or most of the other girls - not that that really bothers me - but I'm certainly at an age where I could start having children if I wanted to."
A bit surprised, he asked, "You want to have a baby Tonks?"
"Eventually of course." Tonks told him, "and I would have to say sooner rather than later... but I'd say you've still got some time."
It caused him to be reminded of the conversation he'd had with Amelia on that very subject a while back. At the time he hadn't wanted to be a father just yet nor would he ever have expected it would be with the youngest of the girls and not the oldest.
He however opted to tell Tonks of that.
"She talked to me about it too." Tonks replied, "I didn't really give it much thought until I found out Gabby was pregnant. It sort of puts things into perspective."
"I'll agree with that." Harry answered her, "It sort of shows me what kind of future I'll end up having one day. You'll all eventually have children I'd imagine, and let's just say my child troubles will only multiply."
"Poor Gabby then, her baby gets to be the guinea pig before we figure everything out then." Tonks joked.
"Hopefully my first won't be too spoiled rotten by all of her mothers." Harry told her.
"She'll probably want to tear her eyes out." Tonks replied.
Another thought occurred to him.
"If you wanted to have a child but couldn't because I wouldn't let you, how would you feel?" He asked her.
"Is this because you wouldn't let me if if I were to ask?" Tonks questioned.
"No." He admitted quickly with a sigh, "It's just someone I keep thinking about... back where me, Fleur, and Gabrielle were. She wanted a child so badly but she couldn't have one... unless I were the one to provide her with one."
She seemed to be struggling to understand but finally told him, "Well I know I would feel pretty disappointed if it were me. It probably wouldn't cause me to break up with you but it would still be really hard. As for some random woman though who is not with you...well that's a bit tougher, but if I were you I'd try to think of maybe why it's still bothering you so much still."
He nodded. It sounded like good advice, but it didn't exactly answer anything for him either. Besides Giselle was now far away and he'd probably never see her again... yet something deep inside told him that would not prove to be the case.
Just as he was thinking about that suddenly the door to his bedroom swung open. Neither of them made any move to cover themselves however, everyone in the house knew what they were likely up to.
It turned out to be Pansy.
"Grindelwald just contacted Ariana." She informed them breathlessly, "We found out where Dumbledore is."
He leaned over and picked up his wand from the bedside table, letting a few sparks come out of it.
"It's about time." He said.