Gone, Gone, Gone

Ron wasn't sure what to expect the morning after their confrontation- but he certainly hadn't expected everything to be so… normal. Her mum had made a nice normal breakfast for them, and talked about normal things. No discussion of Bill, or Ginny's sex life, or Dumbledore.

Not that Ron was complaining.

It was only when Remus and Tonks arrived and began to participate in that completely normal conversation did Ron realize that things wouldn't be quite so simple. He cast a sidelong glance at Ginny, she had an iron grip on her fork, a sign of her tension. Gradually, the conversation lulled, and they knew it was time.

"You realize that the Order is falling to pieces right now." Remus opened.

Ginny's lips curled in a small smile.

"Bill got back to Dumbledore, he wants the two of you taken in for questioning."

Before either of them could object, their mum spoke up "Absolutely not. I won't have my children being treated like criminals!"

Remus held up his hands placatingly, and Tonks interjected "We're not here on Dumbledore's orders. We know Harry well enough to know that the stuff Bill's saying is a crock of shit."

Their mum harrumphed at the language, but didn't object. "Wait, so what exactly is Bill telling you?" Ginny queried.

"Says Harry's evil, is manipulating everyone around him with dark magic, is sleeping with every woman he sees, and stole Fleur from him." Tonks ticked off each point with her fingers. "So, what's actually happening?"

The Weasleys in the room hesitated "Well, he was mostly wrong…" Ginny managed "Except for that last one."

After a beat of silence, Tonks erupted into peels of laughter. "You're telling me…" she wheezed "That Harry"

"Yes." Ginny confirmed.

"That Harry actually seduced Fleur and they fucking eloped?"

"They aren't getting married!" Ginny protested "And its not like it just happened overnight. They've known each other for years!"

"You seem quite calm for someone who's boyfriend is having sex with other women." Remus noted.

"Well… we have an arrangement."

Remus sighed, fished out a sickle, and held it into the air. Tonks triumphantly snatched it from him. "So, Harry's safe?"

"Yes." Ginny nodded "I hope you understand that I can't tell you where he is right now, but he is safe."

"Good." He shifted back in his chair. "I take it you lot have a good reason for going about things the way you did."

"They've explained things to our satisfaction, Remus." Their dad interrupted "Some of the information is sensitive, but suffice it to say…"

"What we're doing will directly help us defeat Voldemort." Ginny supplied. "This isn't a lark; we have good reasons for what we're doing."

Remus nodded in satisfaction, but Tonks had more questions. "So, how many."

"Err, what?" Ginny fumbled.

"How many women has Harry been with?"

"Tonks, this isn't-" Their mum interjected but Ginny's answer came out anyway.

"Seven."

"Seven?" Tonks gaped in disbelief, and then let out another laugh. "Wow, lucky guy. Are you getting any of that action, Ron?"

Ron blushed and didn't meet her eyes as he shook his head. "Nah." He tried to play it off nonchalantly, but didn't succeed.

"Oof, that's rough." Tonks ribbed him.

"Anyway." His dad interrupted "What's the situation with the Order?"

"Dumbledore's livid." Remus replied "I've never seen him quite like it… are we the only ones who felt that he's been a bit… off lately?"

"You aren't." Ginny confirmed "Hermione… she's gotten this ability to sense magic. She says that Dumbledore's being corrupted by something."

The adults in the room blinked at the revelation "Merlin." Arthur let out softly "I was hoping it was nothing, but Bill…"

"But what, Arthur?" His mum asked, dread dripping into her voice.

"He wasn't acting like himself. He was accusing Ginny of being taken over by dark magic… but by the signs… he was."

"Bugger." Ron cursed, and his mum didn't even bother to correct it.

-----

Even with the use of magic, it had taken Hermione longer than she'd have thought it would to pack. Normally, she considered herself highly organized, but she was forced to admit her standards had slipped somewhat over the summer. She'd been immersed in multiple projects- the two most pressing her exploration of the relationship between sex and magic, and her more practical studies into warding.

But if she were being honest with herself, that was only part of it. She never could have anticipated just how frustrating being separated from Harry was. She just didn't realize how addicted to sex she had become until being deprived of it. The ordeal had been made worse by the bond. It was one thing to be lust addled over someone you could only fantasize about, it was entirely more difficult when at any moment, her mind could go to his body and feel his cock. The fact that Harry (and Ginny, for that matter) were just as sexually frustrated as she was hadn't helped either.

Just the other night, she'd been forced to endure a torturous dinner with her parents while having to deal with Harry masturbating. He was teasing her on purpose, by putting on a show she just couldn't ignore. He gave her a good long view of his shaft, as he slowly stroked himself- a vision that implanted itself in her brain even as she tried to focus on dinner.

As he seamlessly stoked his own arousal higher, Hermione found herself swept up in the delicious sensation. Her thighs pressed together, her hands clenched in her lap, her head tilted back and her eyelids fluttered shut as she bit down on her lip to stop herself from moaning.

…and then, to Hermione's dismay, Harry stopped. No! She pleaded. Don't you dare do this to me Harry. But Harry just smirked and tauntingly jibed Or what?

Or… or… or, oh fuck you!

I wish!

And with that, he began slowly working himself back up, and Hermione was forced to endure. She tried to hold out, but after a good ten minutes of this she reached her breaking point, and was forced to excuse herself. She hurried to the bathroom, cast a silencing charm at the door and set work to… relieving herself.

She had done a lot of that over the summer. Usually laying in bed, using one hand to work the dildo into her cunt while the other twirled around her clit, imagining that Harry was fucking her brains out. She could make herself cum again and again, until sweat gave her skin a sheen, until her arousal soaked through her bedsheets, but it wasn't enough. She desperately needed the real thing.

Fleur complicated things… a lot. As soon as she understood that Fleur meant to take Harry out of the country, Hermione began her own preparations. She had a plan for this, but hadn't anticipated it happening now, or having to deal with immense sexual frustration while enacting it.

She had to call it a night after Apolline's attempted seduction, and when Fleur proceeded to rock Harry's world… well Hermione had lost track of how many times she made herself cum before drifting off.

But tomorrow had come, and Hermione knew that she was running out of time. She wasn't safe here and her parents weren't safe here- not where Death Eaters or Dumbledore could easily get to them. She'd known this day was coming for a while, but she hadn't figured that it would be so soon.

She couldn't put it off any longer. Almost like fate, she found her parents conveniently waiting in the dining room for her, eating breakfast.

I'm sorry you have to do this. Harry told her.

So am I.

"Obliviate."

-----

It was remarkable how quickly everyone was assembling, Susan mused. It had felt like there'd been this unbreachable gulf between the group after school had let out, but all it had taken was a push to bring them back together.

Luna and Hermione had appeared together by floo, not hours after she had learned that Harry was returning to England (to live with her!), and she'd been immediately struck by how pale Hermione seemed.

"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hermione lied. Susan was unconvinced, and looked to Luna. She was about to speak up, but Hermione elbowed her sharply.

Susan shrugged and decided to move on "Do you know when Harry's getting here?"

"As soon as they cross the border and can find flu access." Hermione answered "They're staying the night in a hotel, so they'll be here tomorrow."

"Isn't Katie here?" Luna broke in.

"Oh, she's… around." Susan said, attempting to be flippant. Probably in some state of undress.

As if on cue, Katie walked into the sitting room, wearing nothing but a bathrobe while she munched on a sandwich. She sported damp hair which signaled that she had just gotten out of the shower, quite possibly after a morning workout. "What's up, guys!" She said happily, not appearing at all perturbed by her level of undress.

Luna smiled eagerly "Oh, so there's no dress code here?"

"Err…" Susan fumbled, while Katie decisively broke in "Of course not!"

"I was thinking it'd be fun to greet Harry with no clothes on. It'd be a fun surprise, except, oh, its not a surprise anymore."

"I'm sure he'd still appreciate it." Katie chuckled, ruffling Luna's hair affectionately. "So… what's up with this Veela chick?"

"Oh, she's lovely." Luna purred.

Katie quirked an eyebrow at Hermione. "Fleur really is… something." Hermione agreed reluctantly.

"She's incredible in bed." Luna blurted out "She's so hot, and her pussy feel like heaven."

"Oh, looks like we have some competition, then." Katie said, slightly taken aback.

Hermione rushed to assure her "Harry doesn't think about it that way."

"You really aren't… nervous at all?" Katie pressed, but Hermione was confident.

"Look, Katie. I trust him. I can read his mind. He doesn't value any of us less just because he's got a-a"

"An incredibly hot new girlfriend." Luna supplied.

"Sure." Hermione allowed "He's really happy to be seeing all of us."

Susan had been watching the exchange with interest, but had other concerns "Speak of, what about Ginny? Should we get Demelza?"

"Ginny's doing damage control with her parents, Professor Lupin and Tonks." Hermione explained "But what's the situation with Demelza?"

"Her parents probably aren't going to be okay with her disappearing on them. If we get her, we might get in… well, even more trouble than we are now."

Hermione frowned "We really need to work on the wards on this place. I noticed that you have some basic protections- but nothing that would stand up to direct assault. I can help with some of that, but what we really need is a fidelius."

"I've been trying to work on that." Susan added "I'm hoping I can hire some ward-smiths through Gringotts, but it's been slow."

"Fleur might be able to help with that." Luna interjected "She works there, right?"

"Hm." Hermione mused "I'm not sure exactly what her position is- she clearly felt comfortable just taking off. I wonder if its freelance?"

"Even if we make it safe here, we can't afford to alienate anybody by just kidnapping someone." Susan remined "We all want her here, but-"

"Its not just about wanting her here." Hermione pushed back "Its about her safety. We're all targets." Both Susan and Katie took a moment to process this.

"But you're talking about breaking the law." Susan argued.

"I just obliviated my parents, Susan. That was illegal too."

"You what?" Susan sputtered.

"They were targets. Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to kill them… so I sent them off with new identities. They're safer that way."

"Wow. You've got balls." Katie remarked. "And here I thought you were a goodie-two-shoes."

"Katie." Susan hissed, as Hermione seemed downright abashed.

"Wait, did you really set Snape's robes on fire?" Luna giggled.

"How did you- Harry!" Hermione bemoaned.

"You set Snape's robes on fire? That's wicked."

"I thought he was trying to kill Harry!"

"Harry says you brewed Polyjuice potion in your second year" Luna continued.

"We had to find out who was behind those attacks… not that the Polyjuice helped at all."

"Wait, who did you disguise yourselves as?" Katie asked.

"Harry and Ron went as Crabbe and Goyle, I tried to get Millicent Bullstrodes hair but…"

"But ended up being part cat instead!" Luna barked in laughter.

"Okay, so its fair to say that you're one of the school's biggest troublemakers." Katie teased "Right up there with Fred and George."

Hermione sputtered, blushing, but she was also smiling, and Susan caught on. They were cheering her up. So, she joined in. "Oh yeah, don't forget, she's the one behind this illicit coven. So really, we all owe her a debt for her rule-breaking."

"Oh yes, thank you Hermione" Luna agreed enthusiastically "For getting me a boyfriend and fantastic sex."

-----

Demelza sighed as she re-read the message that had come through her charmed paper. Katie, Susan, Hermione, and Luna had met up, and Harry would soon be with them, and with his newest partner. And so Demelza was alone, in a cold bed when she really just wanted to be with Harry, and her friends.

Yes, she'd visited fairly often, but she wasn't with them. She felt distinctly detached from the group and more so every day. But what could she do? She'd tried to convince her parents to let her stay over for longer, but her father had put his foot down. It was too dangerous out there, with the war. Ironically, Demelza knew there was nowhere safer for her to be than with Harry, but she didn't know how to convince her parents of that.

Just as pure exhaustion was about to claim her despite her active mind something startled her to alertness. She sat upright in her bed and strained her ears, had someone just apparated?

Maybe it was Harry or the others, coming to retrieve her? Demelza grabbed her wand and padded to the door, then creeped down the stairs. Hope turned to blood curling horror when she spotted the unmistakable mask of a Death Eater.

Too terrified to function, she pushed herself awkwardly back, stumbling into a wall. The Death Eater craned his head towards her and laughed. "Well, look who we've got here. One of Potter's little whores." A chorus of laughter joined him.

No. No. Nononono. What could she do? She was outnumbered. She couldn't apparate. She was trapped. Trapped trapped trapped, and there was no one, not Harry or anyone else, to protect her.

"No! Please." Demelza begged, shaking, as the Death Eater approached "Just just…"

"Don't worry." The Death eater said in a low voice, curling a finger under her chin "We have orders to keep you alive." Another laugh "At least until your boyfriend gets himself killed trying to save you."

NO! While the thought of her own death had terrified her witless, contemplating Harry's death, and knowing what her role in it would be, filled her with a fanatic desperation. It was only now that Demelza began to struggle, even though she knew it was too late, she bit and scratched at her captor like a wild animal. After a few seconds of confusion, he slammed her to the ground and then "Stupefy."

She knew no more.