The Taming of the Shrew - Wizard Style - COMPLETE

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5-14-10 F


This chapter we are adding another character to the mix. I hope you like it. A big thanks for all of you who have reviewed this story. More plot this chapter, but fear not, there will be more lemons...later.


And now... HARRY.

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Chapter Forty-Nine


Harry



“Harry!” Hermione shrieked five days later. Her shock at seeing him in the Headmaster’s office attracted the notice of all the inhabitants who slewed around from their chairs to watch the rotund little witch running toward them with her arms flung wide. “Harry! I didn’t know you were here.” She frowned at her husband, who had risen at her headlong rush into the room. All the other men rose politely, then sat again. The entire investigation group was meeting in the Headmaster’s office in a more official capacity. Lucius had turned all the portraits to face the wall and the Sorting Hat was conspicuously missing. “You might have told me,” she complained to her spouse over Harry’s shoulder.

“Hermione, if you had been in our apartment resting like Luna told you to, you would have been there to greet the house elf I sent over-” Lucius was interrupted by the sudden Apparition of a house elf.

“Master Malfoy, Madam Malfoy is coming to you...oh.” It stopped when it saw Hermione standing by the large desk in the process of scooping up Harry and hugging him as best she could around her protruding belly.

“Yes, Madam Malfoy found her way here, Henny, you may go,” Lucius dismissed the elf and sat down at his desk with a flourishing twitch of his robes.

“Thank you for going to get me, Henny,” Hermione said, slanting her husband another reproving look over Harry’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you were inconvenienced.” Henny Disapparated thankfully from the room. In turn, Hermione saw her husband’s silent censure at her apologizing to a house elf on his behalf and ignored it, kissing Harry on his cheek and raising Lucius’ blood pressure once more. “I’m so happy to see you. Is Ginny here?”

Hermione’s question about Ginny eased Lucius’ unhappy, gut reaction to his wife kissing another man, but he gritted his teeth when Harry kissed her cheek in return. Lucius knew his jealous anger was because he loved her and was terrified she would leave him for someone else, but he couldn’t seem to stop the roiling tension when she smiled at other males. Lucius sadly knew he was competing for her in a world of younger men no matter what the Sorting Hat had told him. And now he’d sunk farther by tying her to him with twins. She’d never actually said she was happy about the babies.

Harry grinned, “No, she’s still miserable as a… vampire at a zombie summer camp. So far, pregnancy isn’t agreeing with her.” Harry’s eyes laughed and Hermione grinned back. They both knew he was going to say ‘miserable as a Pureblood at a Muggle picnic’ but had changed his joke to suit the company.

Harry held his friend away from him. “I see you’re pregnant, too, Hermione,” he slid a quick look at Lucius. “Why didn’t you tell me? You’re huge!” Now he looked with more disfavor at the Pureblood who sat fuming behind the desk at the implied insult that he had anticipated his marriage to the little witch. “Ginny is three months gone and she isn’t even showing yet.”

“Harry! I’ve been married more than six months. In this case, I’m getting a bit oversize because I’m…er, we’re having twins,” Hermione’s cheeks pinkened.

“Twins! Was that happenstance or some form of dark magic?” Now Harry was glaring at the blond wizard.

Lucius rose and started forward and even Draco stood up, but Hermione forestalled them both. “Harry James Potter, stop making such ridiculous accusations.” She yanked hard on the young Auror’s hair when he continued to glare at Lucius. “Twins don’t have to be caused by dark magic.”

Lucius smiled spitefully and relaxed back into the Headmaster’s chair, happy to see Potter get the same treatment that he so often got himself when he unwisely said something she took exception to – or when he was licking her. Lucius’ eyes gleamed as his attention drifted to pleasant memories. Her unique scent called to him on so many levels and he so loved to lave the feminine source.

Draco also melted back into his seat, glad he wasn’t on Hermione’s bad side any more. He slid a hand through his own flopping hair in sympathy for Harry, wishing he hadn’t had to throw out his hair oil. But…rodent pheromones. Draco shuddered.

“Ow! Bloody hell, Hermione!” the young Auror exclaimed. “Are you still pulling hair? Should I commiserate with your husband instead, seeing the target he offers with that long mane of his?” Harry grumbled, rubbing his scalp, but he obediently turned back around to address his best friend, taking a calming breath. “The Ministry sent me to deal with this attack on the Purebloods. I assume you know all about it.” In a low tone he added, “You and I are going to have a little talk when this is over.” His green eyes slid sideways toward the blond man at his desk.

Hermione offered a toothy smile, but her eyes were serious as she nodded warily. With a last hug, she stepped over to Lucius who stood again and proprietarily placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Perhaps we can all be seated and give Auror Potter a history of our investigations and why we’ve come to our conclusions.” Lucius graciously indicated his own seat for his wife, settling her at his desk and moving around it to sit in one of the collection of lesser chairs surrounding it.

Severus began the discussion. “Several months ago I noticed a pattern of strange behavior, mostly in the Ministry at first, but increasingly in other places, too. People were short-tempered and rude where they shouldn’t have been. Others were distant and distrustful. Purebloods aren’t the most revered segment of our society right now,” he cast an amused glance at Lucius, who didn’t react, “but in nearly all instances it seemed as though the Purebloods were the ones being at first bothered, then more openly disliked, and ultimately there were a few occasions where they were vilified in no uncertain manner. I thought it most peculiar and I asked Lucius if he were feeling… hunted, I suppose. He confided his own experiences and we began to note that the incidences were growing in number and to some extent in intensity.

“You were out of the country and haven’t been affected, Potter. Perhaps you wouldn’t have noticed a deterioration in your attitude toward Purebloods anyway, you being apparently still somewhat hostile to some of them.” Snape’s black eyes traveled from Harry to Lucius and back. “And I don’t imagine you like using pink parchment for your missives.” Snape’s eyebrows went up in facetious query.

“Ah, no,” Harry responded, “I prefer baby blue myself,” he joked to ease the tension he had caused. The group relaxed and Snape continued.

“Lucius, you can give your experiences which led us to this venture.” Snape sat back and turned his attention to the blond wizard, who graciously nodded.

“For months,” Lucius said, “I’d been trying to understand why so many of my investors and other people I work with, had suddenly become somewhat truculent or thought I was cheating them, or in some other way disliked my business practices where I never had that trouble before and didn’t merit their distrust. When Snape came to me, it all clicked into place as something more pervasive, something influencing a wider group. With a little observation we decided it was always the Purebloods who were being targeted.”

He and Snape hadn’t known for sure if the victims were Purebloods or Slytherins until Hogwarts, but he wasn’t going to mention that detail to an Auror who didn’t much like either group. Purebloods being ostracized was more sympathetic – Potter had married a Pureblood Weasley; Slytherins being targeted would have had the wizarding populace lining up with popcorn to watch the show.

Lucius looked at Hermione with a fond, plastic smile that made her sit up straight with suspicion. She said nothing, but knew his next words were going to showcase his talent for artful dissembling; she smiled back with a hint of weary acceptance. This was classic Lucius, adjusting reality for his own purposes. She just hoped he skated around their stormy beginning. It was too early in the day for bloodshed.

When Lucius understood that Hermione wasn’t going to interfere with his fairytale, he launched into the fabrication, “The timing couldn’t have been worse. I’d met Hermione again through some research she did for one of my companies and,” he looked suitably humble, “she accepted my offer of marriage. We were planning a small wedding when Snape came to me. My financial affairs were unsettled just when I wanted everything to go well. Hermione understood and we opted for a quick, private ceremony so we could concentrate on the looming problem. We came up with the idea of studying the issue in a microcosm - Hogwarts. It would have been impossible to investigate every occurrence in the wider wizarding world; we didn’t have the right to do that, but we could control the smaller setting of Hogwarts.”

“Why didn’t you come to the Aurors with your suspicions?” Harry asked reasonably.

“Actually, I did,” broke in Snape. “The incidents were too amorphous, too random for the Head Auror to see more than the Purebloods being given some overdue payback and he wondered if I was a little paranoid after so many years of being a spy, seeing problems everywhere. To be blunt, he wasn’t at all receptive, but he’s listening now, if you’re here.”

Harry’s eyes glinted in sour humor and his lips twisted in a sardonic smile, “He wasn’t convinced, not really. But sometime back, his own office was given a large supply of letterhead on blue-edged parchment free of charge. After hearing this recent complaint, he sent his parchment out for analysis and the chemist has given him the same information you have. It’s finally dawned on him that someone had the ball-…er, gall to actually subvert the Aurors right there in the Ministry, turning law enforcement into an artificially biased weapon against a single class of wizards and witches. If you talked to him some time ago, I think he must now be worried that he was affected by the parchment into ignoring your concerns about the Purebloods back when you first approached him. And so he sent me.”

“We’ve all worked hard to discover what might be causing the disruptions,” Narcissa said. “It took all of us months to eliminate so many different possibilities.” She indicated the others with a graceful wave of her hand, “Neville examined all the plants and herbs and the grounds, including any plant and soil amendments. Luna tested students where she could when they showed signs of the toxin. Severus tested all the products that I found in the children’s dorms. Lucius and Hermione kept the school from descending into a morass of ill will by organizing strict rules and daily exercise, which we found dissipates the toxin. They also handled all the administrative tasks a school this size generates. And Draco took over the position of Potions professor when we couldn’t find a Pureblood to do it.”

“You wanted only Pureblood professors?” asked Harry, confused.

“It didn’t seem politic to have prejudiced professors, who would see Pureblood students as the enemy, serving in positions of power,” said Lucius, his icy eyes daring the Auror to find fault. “Instead, the Pureblood professors got some of the flack, but they’re adults and can protect themselves better than a student could against an irrational authority figure.”

“I see you’ve thought this through and planned all the details,” Harry returned, glancing between Snape and Lucius before encompassing all the others in the room. “Did you have trouble, Draco?”

“Neville and I both did. So did several other Pureblood teachers. Father had to put out fires continuously, both parental and staff, not to mention the innumerable squabbles, tricks, defacements, and other annoyances caused by this insidious agent. Unfortunately for this younger crowd, the toxin apparently has some ability to break down the barrier between the emotions and inappropriately acting on them in a sexual sense. It isn’t pleasant to walk down a hall and have your groin grabbed unexpectedly.”

Neville nodded, “Lucius told us to wear Quidditch cups and I’ve been thankful several times.” He reached over and took Luna’s hand in his.

Luna added, “There have been more than the normal amount of injuries from fights and hair-pulling, and also some fumbling experiments with bizarre, um, implements in private places.” Everyone winced remembering a couple of the occurrences Luna had briefly mentioned in other meetings. She hadn’t divulged any names, but most of the staff knew who the affected students were. None of that sensitive knowledge had leaked back to the other students, however, for which a few chagrined parents were extremely relieved.

Harry saw the pained reactions and decided he didn’t need to add that information to his report by asking for the details. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t be expected to tell his superiors. And he really, really didn’t want to know.

“So, if you’ve had time to ponder this, where do you want me to start?” Harry sat back at his ease, smiling a quiet apology at Hermione who grinned back.

“We need the parchment pulled from Hogwarts as soon as possible, but worse, the wizarding world needs the supply of tainted parchment completely stopped. I hope that is within your purview. Are you able to close down a large emporium with your authority?” Lucius asked, his hands gripping the wood armrests of his chair, amazed at his continuing jealousy. He had to find a way to get past the horrible feeling that he was almost out of time with her. If he lost her… Lucius’ heart thumped once – hard - in his chest. Did Potter have an interest– or the clout - to influence Hermione away from him?

“More importantly,” Snape added, focused intently on Harry, “whoever is causing this poisoning of our community needs to be caught. If they aren’t they can start up again elsewhere with some other way to introduce their drug. The miscreant must be apprehended first, before anyone rushes in to close down the shop.”

Harry nodded and sat, thinking. The rest of the circle sat waiting for him to tell them what he, as a trained Auror, saw as the way forward. After several silent minutes he roused himself from his thoughts and sat up, “I understand that this toxin isn’t life-threatening, but I see it does cause more and more damage for each day it continues. Therefore, I can’t justify staking out the business, watching it for incoming ingredients to make the drugs and slowly picking out the several people who may be involved by their patterns of coming and going. The store will have to be shut down.”

He held up his hand as Snape leaned urgently forward to argue. “I’ll get Public Works to shut down the water supply to the store which should slow down or stop the making of the drug. The water ‘problem’ will allow Public Works to ask them to close a few days for repairs. I need to see who is registered at the Ministry as the owner. That person will be picked up when the store is closed for repairs with the ruse that they need to sign documents to allow access to their premises, but I see that the physical space needs to be secured immediately as we shut down the water, or all traces of any chemicals could be removed. I’ll have to pull a few more Aurors onto this project and that will take me a few days, if they have to be Pureblood to handle the toxin.

“In the meantime, your problem of colored parchments can be solved by one of those precious edicts we all endured here as students. Just outlaw all colored parchment for use in the school. Tell the students the owls are allergic to it and have been developing a rash and students will be affected, too. Hermione,” he looked over at the little witch, “can you still perform that itching hex?”

Hermione laughed, “I used it at the Yule Ball to keep the students out from behind the suits of armor. Why?”

“Announce that the color in the parchment is degrading and anyone using it will begin to feel itchy. That will be enough to make quite a few of the susceptible types automatically start scratching. If you wander around and quietly hex any stacks of colored parchment you find in dorms, it will add to the effect. Soon students will be tossing or burning their colored paper to avoid the problem and to comply with the school edict.”

“Harry, you’ve become quite crafty as an Auror,” Hermione applauded. “I suppose it’s important to be a psychologist as well as a crime fighter in your job. I’ll start hexing the parchment today.”

“You’ll be very careful, Hermione. A house elf will accompany you into the dorms,” pronounced Lucius, his brows sliding together in a worried frown. He didn’t see Snape and Narcissa exchange a droll look and Narcissa rolling her eyes.

“I could ask Henny to join me if it eases your mind, Lucius,” Hermione’s brown eyes softened as she gazed at her husband’s face, seeing his distress under his didactic command. Then she smothered a giggle at his astounded expression. He had expected a fight over her safety. This wasn’t about her; she would never endanger her unborns’ lives.

Oddly, it was Harry who spoke up, “I agree with Malfoy.” It was a near thing that Harry’s jaw hadn’t dropped open at Hermione’s submissive answer to her new husband, but for her safety he was going to agree with the senior Malfoy on his best friend’s protection. Then his jaw did drop open for just an unguarded second at the worried care - and something more - Lucius was exhibiting on his fine facial features. Harry couldn’t remember a time when Malfoy’s face showed anything but supercilious boredom or hate.

He quickly got up, ending the meeting. “I’ll send word when we close down the emporium.” He shook hands all around, not hesitating even at Draco’s hand, gave a quick salute and left, feeling much better about Hermione’s surprising choice in mates.

~~~~~~

Within three days, Harry sent an owl saying the parchment emporium was shut down because of ‘water problems’ and they were investigating who owned the shop. The ownership was convoluted, hiding behind several shell corporations, none of which truly existed so the going was slow with multiple dead-ends. The owl sent to announce the temporary closure had gone somewhere besides the emporium and the surmise was it had delivered the message to the owner.

Unfortunately, the Auror who sent the message had not tracked the owl. A hastily sent second owl came back with the message unread. Harry was worried that the owner was now alerted to unusual activity in the building and had stayed away. He and other Aurors had entered the building, which was deserted, and had discovered that the emporium was indeed the source of the tainted paper. Some Ministry chemists were even now checking out the premises, concentrating on the basement where a large processing operation was found with tightly covered vats of the toxin, shelves of bottles holding simple vegetable dyes in many colors, and numerous charmed drying bins. It was taking a little time to bring in only Pureblood Aurors and chemists to reduce any side effects to all the investigators working in the basement.

When they heard of the owl fiasco, Lucius and Snape were vastly annoyed at the likelihood that the culprit had disappeared completely. Both men placed additional wards on their respective apartments in the school.

The Aurors fruitlessly searched for the missing owner of the Emporium, determined to be someone named Cleopatra Jane Grey, but there were no records in the Ministry for the witch. She didn’t exist according to their birth records. It was another dead end.

~~~~~~~

Life continued at Hogwarts with a line of students coming out of the dispensary, all waiting for treatment for bad rashes. The lure of pretty colored parchments was stronger than the threat of discomfort for some of the girl students; for a few weeks the line was mostly females who hadn’t heeded the edict about getting rid of the colored paper and whose stashes had been found by Hermione’s itching hex.

In general, the tone of the entire student body had relaxed once the majority of the paper had been ousted. With spring weather in full swing, the students could run off their energies outside, which also helped. Hermione’s hexing duties swiftly dwindled and she became free to meet with Narcissa to teach her the duties of assistant to the Headmaster.

Narcissa proved to be surprisingly adept at the minutiae of a business office once things were explained to her in a way that connected why one needed all the information and paperwork in order to function efficiently. Hermione realized Narcissa had run the domestic side of the large Malfoy estate; she’d been equating Narcissa’s quiet meekness and preference for superficial pleasures with a lack of intelligence and it wasn’t true.

Hermione belatedly understood that Narcissa’s life had been bleak and frightening under the Dark Lord’s rule and she wanted light and happiness now. How Snape figured into that Hermione was at a loss to know, but if they brought joy to each other that was good enough. Hermione was, if anything, envious of their obvious devotion.

~~~~~

Although the Aurors tried to find any trace of Cleopatra Jane Grey and spent weeks tracking down all the suppliers who had business with the emporium, few of them had actually met the owner and frustratingly, each of them had a different description of the person they had dealt with. The only common factor was the gender. They all said it was a woman. The Aurors concluded she had used multiple glamours, changing her looks when unable to do business secondhand.

Many of the customers remembered the pretty, young clerk, but no one had ever met the owner. When questioned, the young woman said she’d never met the owner either. She’d been hired through an advertisement and her paychecks were always cash. The trail of the miscreant went cold. The woman had disappeared completely.

~~~~~

Hogwarts was returning to normal and Hermione’s libido had eased somewhat, but those cushioned handcuffs in Lucius’ nightstand drawer continued to tickle her mind. She amused herself thinking of ways they could be attached to wrists and ankles and each time she pondered a new design it was always Lucius wearing the cuffs. Never her.

Did he know she had dreams of shackling him to their bed? Or to a tree in the woods? That naughty scenario entered her mind often, titillating her with the forbidden of nudity in the outdoors. Of course, it was Lucius who was nude. Not her. Her expanded form alone precluded any interest in displaying her beach ball tummy to interested strangers.

She had an astute hunch Lucius was no stranger to cavorting in his altogether in nature. A daydream of naked Lucius bound to a tree, hands pulled above his head and ankles cuffed and tied around the bole was for the future, however, as her mind turned more toward planning for her children. The days fell into a more normal, happier routine now that the colored parchment was banished, and Hermione’s time and focus were taken up amassing tiny wardrobes and nursery supplies and training Narcissa to take over as the Headmaster’s assistant.

tbc...


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