The Fun Cousin

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise, it isn't mine.
Betad by Malcolm Tent, Priapus, Beans, Mike God of Lore, Marethyu


The Illusive Mage
Chapter 07: The Fun Cousin

– Nymphadora Tonks –

Guiding Harry, she gave her cousin a grin at the languid pace he followed her with. He seemed to roll with things rather easily, having quickly moved on from her decision to essentially commandeer his Sunday.

"Are you supposed to take evil snakes like me into the Hufflepuff common rooms?" Harry asked in amusement as she opened the door, grinning.

"It's fine. We aren't nearly as secretive as the other houses. Students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are here all the time, though I'll admit I haven't seen many snakes," Nym laughed, ruffling his messy hair as the door opened, much to his annoyance. "Come on, stop delaying."

As she spoke, she spanked his ass lightly, making him jump forwards through the open door, giving her a dirty look as she snorted.

As they entered, they attracted quite a lot of attention as the boy hero graced the Puffs with his presence, the curious Puffs almost crowding Harry, who showed some slight discomfort at the attention. She came to his defence and moved on quickly as she made introductions and explained their relationship to her curious housemates.

Introducing Harry to her friends, she skilfully extracted him from the crowd and dragged him up to her dorm room, not having quite understood how much attention he'd draw. Someone whistled at the sight of her leading a younger boy upstairs, but she just played along and put one arm around Harry's shoulder, pulling his head against her breast as she made them even bigger.

"Sorry, Harry, didn't realise they'd swarm you, is it normally like that?" Nym asked, making him shake his head as she sat on her bed, cross-legged, patting for him to join her.

"Nah, not normally. I think the snake on my robes convinces most of them to leave me alone," Harry said, shrugging. "And I'm not exactly as popular in Slytherin."

Ah, a lot of his housemates were the children of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's supporters.

"Have they been giving you trouble? Is there anyone you need your big, strong cousin to have a chat with?" Nym asked, making him shake his head.

"Some try, but it isn't anything I can't handle. Besides, Draco's got my back," Harry waved off, making her frown again. "Do you know him? He never mentioned you, but you're his cousin, too."

"Ah, well, my family doesn't really get along with the Malfoys. Lucretia isn't bad, but our parents really don't like each other. Aunt Narcissa thinks my Mom shamed the family by marrying a muggleborn, and Lucius is just kinda a prick, to be honest," Nym said bluntly, shrugging. "They're big on the whole blood purity thing, plus I think it pisses them off that the half-blood became a Metamorphmagus; it runs in the Black family, but I'm the first in ages."

"Is that how you keep changing? How does that work?" Harry asked, making her nod easily, grinning as she rapidly shifted through a dozen faces.

"Magic, obviously," Nym said helpfully, making him stare at her in amusement. "Honestly, it's just instinct. I want to change, so I do; sometimes I lose control of it, like my hair changing to match what I'm feeling, but it's really useful."

"I can imagine you could get away with so much with that," Harry agreed, making her laugh.

"Oh, trust me, I have. My favourite is to give people who annoy me detention as Snape. Filch never actually checks if the detentions are legitimate, and people are too scared of the bat to argue, but keep that to yourself, yeah?" Nym asked, making him nod, giving her an impressed look. "Plus, it's really fun in bed."

As she spoke, she made her breasts comically big as they struggled to be contained in her t-shirt, gaining pornstar proportions as she gave him a suggestive look. She was expecting him to blush or look away, but his brows just furrowed. Definitely not inexperienced; seems like her little cuz was quite the bad boy.

"I can imagine. Do people ask you to turn into other girls?" Harry asked, not put off as she turned back and shrugged.

"Sometimes, but not if they're smart. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insecure enough to not take advantage of my shapeshifting in bed, but some guys think I'm easy because I'm flirty and think I'll help them fulfil whatever fantasy they have but are too chicken shit to try and pull off," Nym replied casually, giving a dangerous smile. "It doesn't exactly end well for them. Heh, my ex was dumb enough to cheat on me, so I turned into his mom mid-fuck, and gave him some nice mental trauma before I dumped his ass."

"He had a girlfriend like you and still cheated? Some guys don't know a good thing until it's gone," Harry scoffed, making her nod.

"Trust me, I wasn't the only thing he lost. After I was done with his ass, well, let's just say he had to sit down to pee for the next two months," Nym laughed. "I got in trouble for cursing off his second wand, but it was worth it."

"Ouch, wait, like cutting it off or-"

"Oh no, I just transfigured it into a pussy since he was being such a massive bitch about getting dumped," Nym explained.

"Nice," Harry said, giving her an approving nod. "Vengeance is a dish best served steaming hot. You'd think people would know better than to piss off someone who can shapeshift into you."

"Damn right, but the world is full of dumbasses," Nym said with a helpless shrug. "But enough about that, how is the snake pit? Is it true you get private rooms?"


"Yup, they're not quite as big as this room, but we all have our own room and en suite," Harry explained, making her hum in appreciation.

"Nice, I bet that makes getting some action easier. Privacy charms only go so far," Nym teased, once again trying to embarrass him, but Harry just shrugged.

"It certainly doesn't hurt. I just like having the privacy," Harry replied, once again not caught off guard. "Beyond that, Slytherin is fine. Just lots of kids playing politics, which isn't really for me but it can be fun. Right now, the other first years are fighting to be top dog; Draco's winning."

"Oh yeah, not interested in being king of the snakes yourself?" Nym asked, making him scoff.

"That'd be so much work; I'd rather ride Draco's coattails to victory," Harry said with a grin. "There's magic to study; I don't wanna waste my time playing baby's first politics."

"So you and Drakey get along then? We've met on occasion, but I haven't spoken to him in years," Nym asked, curious as she started to pry into that relationship. Draco was a thirteen-year-old boy, so she hardly thought he was some mastermind trying to manipulate Harry, but last she checked, he was a big supporter of blood purity, following in Daddy's footsteps.

"Yeah, he's fun. A bit of a diva who cares way too much about his hair, but he's great," Harry said, making her snort. She had noticed how well-maintained his platinum blonde hair was. He definitely had one serious hair care routine. Merlin, he probably had more products than her. "Lucretia is great, too, even if she can be a bit intense."

"I can agree with that. You know she once made one of my classmates cry when he asked her to a ball? Literally tore him to pieces verbally; I think he'd have preferred if she just cursed him," Nym said. Lucretia didn't really buy into the pureblood supremacy shit, but she definitely thought she was superior to everyone else anyway.

"Yeah, she's definitely an intense one," Harry agreed easily, laughing. "I'm definitely happy she's on my side; I wouldn't want her as an enemy."

"I don't blame you," Nym agreed. Lucretia was one of the few people who could beat her in a duel, and Lucretia was only a sixth year. That girl knew some nasty spells that often bordered on illegal. "So, how are you enjoying your return to the magical world? I heard you've been living with some muggle relatives?"

She didn't miss the momentary scowl at the mention of his muggle relatives, which made her somewhat concerned. Having had a bad childhood in the muggle world, was best friends with the son of the guy who pushed the anti-muggleborn laws the hardest, and was now in the snake pit? That wasn't a good combo.

"It's been a lot of fun; honestly, I don't think I'm going back. Magic is way better than anything they have out there. The only 'issue' I've had is dealing with all the mail, and that's been kinda fun," Harry laughed, making her pause.

"Mail?" Nym asked, making him nod.

"Professor Dumbledore had been saving all the mail I got over the years, dealing with the cursed or charmed ones, and the pile is literally bigger than I am," Harry explained, making her scowl at the idea of people sending cursed letters to a baby. "It's been an endeavour to try and deal with it, especially since it genuinely seems to be growing no matter how many I deal with."

"Seriously? How much mail do you get?" Nym asked, making him laugh.

"Oh, dozens every day. Professor Dumbledore arranged for my mail not to be delivered to me directly at breakfast like everyone else since I'd get swarmed constantly. Requests for interviews, fan-mail, betrothal contracts, death threats, nudes, and plenty others."

"Death threats and nudes?" Nym asked, amused despite the fact that her cousin was getting death threats.

"Sometimes both in the same letter, people can be weird," Harry confirmed, making her snort.

"Anyone I know?" Nym asked, nudging him as he just gave her a mysterious smile. "What about the betrothals, you looking to get hitched already? I know some puffs who are massive Boy-Who-Lived fans…"

"I'm still going through them all, but I'm not exactly in a rush to get married. With the whole Slytherin thing, I can't deny that making a beneficial marriage would help me, and frankly, both the Potter and Black houses are kinda in disrepair, but we'll see how things go," Harry said with a shrug.

"Wait, you're the next Lord Black? I thought Draco was…" Nym asked, making him blink as he held up his hand, showing the ring on his finger, split into two halves; it held the symbols of house Potter and Black. "Huh."


"Why did you think Draco was?" Harry asked, making her pause.

"I'm pretty sure I heard that during an argument between my mom and Aunt Cissy, but either Cissy was wrong, or she was flat-out lying, I guess," Nym said, brows furrowed as she started to scheme.

Her mother hid it well, but being disowned, even for love, hurt her. She was proud to be a member of House Black, and the fact that her parents had kicked her out still stung. Admittedly, Nym had done the maths and realised that her mom definitely got knocked up while she was still in school and definitely wasn't married, but still. Harry could undo that decision, but she wasn't going to push him for it immediately when he barely understood his own position yet.

"Maybe I'll ask her. I'm meeting with her this Saturday," Harry said, making her eyes narrow. Oh yeah, the Malfoys were trying to sink their claws into Harry. They couldn't get the Black House for themselves so they wanted Harry, hell maybe they were trying to marry Lucretia to her cousin to get it that way.

She might not like politics, but her mother did raise her as a daughter of House Black, and she knew the game even if she didn't want to play it.

"Just a heads up, she's kinda a bitch. I'm surprised she wants to meet you when she's made her opinion on half-bloods like us very clear to me," Nym scoffed, making Harry's eyebrows rise.

"Ah, yes, but you're merely a half-blood. I'm a celebrity half-blood who happens to be the next Lord Potter-Black," Harry pointed out cynically, making her snort.

"Fair point; a mere peasant like me isn't worth her attention," Nym agreed, glad that Harry wasn't being blinded by his familial connection to her bitchy aunt. "Just watch yourself. The Malfoys are infamous for a reason. I doubt they'll try anything directly but be careful, yeah?"

"I will, don't worry. Lucretia says that Narcissa wants to be my political tutor, to help me get a handle on the sudden shitshow that is having two houses dropped on me," Harry explained. "And yeah, she's definitely going to try to bring me around to her way of thinking, but I'm in a 'wait and see' kinda mindset at the moment."

"When you've finished meeting the bitchy aunt, you should come and meet my mom. I'm pretty sure she tried to get in contact with you a while back, probably got a letter from her in that mountain of mail," Nym suggested. "Maybe you can spend some of the winter break with us?"

"Maybe, that's Andromeda, right?" Harry asked, making her nod. He'd obviously read up on his family tree. "She was kicked out of the Black family for marrying a muggleborn if I remember right?"

"Yeah, the Black family didn't exactly approve of her getting knocked up by some muggleborn nobody and befouling their oh-so-important bloodline with a half-blood like me. Jokes on them since a half-blood ended up the next head anyway," Nym snorted, making him grin.

"Fate has a funny way of kicking you in the dick," Harry agreed eloquently, making her giggle.

As they spoke, the door opened, and one of her dormmates walked in, pausing mid-step as she spotted their guest. The silver-haired girl paused, glancing over the pair for a moment before she entered.

"Hey, Chiara," Nym said with a lazy wave. "Harry, this is Chiara Lobosca; she's one of my dormmates. Chiara, this is Harry Potter, my cousin and our new resident superhero."

At her teasing, Harry just rolled his eyes as he gave her roommate a wave.

"A pleasure; you have my sympathies for having to put up with this one on a daily basis," Harry shot back, making Chiara smile slightly.

"The pleasure is mine. I'll let you know if I see any situations that need a hero," Chiara said with a strange smile, making Nym hide her grin. Chiara had never come out and said she was a werewolf, but both she and Penny (their other roommate) had noticed the way Chiara vanished every full moon. "And Nymphadora isn't that bad."

"Oi, enough of the Nymphadora. It's Nym or Tonks, you know that," Nym warned, frowning as her hair flashed through a dozen colours.

"Hm, and you know that you're supposed to keep your side of the room tidy; that doesn't seem to stop you," Chiara pointed out, looking around her bed with a raised eyebrow. Honestly, it was nice to see Chiara actually fire back; she was normally very timid, but sharing a room with her and Penny had forced the introvert to come out of her shell a little.

"It's not that bad," Nym said, waving her off, as a girl with long blonde braided hair walked in, giving them all a look.

"Honestly, it isn't. For Nym, this is practically pristine," Penny added 'helpfully', making Chiara smile as she headed to her bed and opened up her trunk. "So this is why the house is in such a frenzy? The boy-who-lived, gracing us mere puffs with his presence. At least this time, the boy you brought back is dressed."


"Oh, haha," Nym deadpanned. "Harry, Penny Haywood, resident heartbreaker. Penny, you already know who Harry is; I'm pretty sure you had the adventure books about him in the first year," Nym shot back, making her friend blush slightly.

"I'm the resident heartbreaker? I've dated once in seven years, and that ended amicably. Do we even need to bring up your dating history?" Penny countered, making Nym grin.

"True, but the entire male half of the house has a crush on you and some of the girls," Nym laughed, making Penny sigh. It was an over-exaggeration, but Penny was by far the most popular girl in their year. She was far too sweet, and a lot of guys misunderstood it for attraction.

"And yes, I had the Harry Potter storybooks. I think I still do, somewhere," Penny admitted, pausing in thought. "Maybe I should get them signed."

"They'd be the only set in the world that is autographed; I've avoided autographs so far because my handwriting isn't great," Harry admitted with a laugh. "Having to sign a few hundred letters definitely helped that, though."

"Huh, why have you had to sign that much?" Nym asked, making Harry blink.

"Because I've got twelve years' worth of mail to reply to? I started with the official offers, requests for sponsorships, donations, interviews, that kind of thing," Harry explained, sounding a bit confused. "Mostly just flat-out refusals as I'm too busy for anything like interviews before the winter break, and I need to get a financial advisor and a contract lawyer before I can start doing donations or sponsorships."

"Wait, you're replying to everything?" Nym asked, making him nod.

"I've started on the fanmail, but it's a slow process," Harry admitted, making Penny laugh.

"You sent my sister a reply to the letter she sent you when she was six. She's a third-year now. It made her day, though. You should have seen her face," Penny explained.

"Wait, Haywood? Ah, Beatrice, right?" Harry asked, Penny looking impressed as she nodded. "I remember that one; she sent me her favourite teddy bear for saving her parents, muggle father if I remember right."

Seeing that Harry didn't seem to be judging her for it, despite his Slytherin robes, Penny nodded easily.

"Yup, that's us. Mom is a muggleborn, and Dad is a muggle, so they were really happy when the war ended. I think I sent you a letter too, somewhere in that pile," Penny admits. "Bea didn't understand why things were so bad. She just knew that you'd fixed it."

"Well, if there's a letter in there, you'll get a reply from a very majestic white owl when I find it," Harry promised with a grin.

"Ah, I've seen her around. She always seems so busy. You should probably get a second owl," Nym said, making him snort.

"I suggested the same. Metis bit me several times," Harry countered. "She likes the work, and I've kept her very busy."

"Are you actually personalising every letter?" Chiara asked, having been listening.

"Oh yeah, every single letter I've sent out has been personally written by me. I'm not even close to getting through the fanmail and offers. I'm dreading getting to the betrothal contacts," Harry laughed, making Penny blink in surprise. With a muggleborn as her only magical family, she wouldn't have had to get involved with the mess that was magical politics.

Chiara just nodded sympathetically, being a pureblood herself.

"I don't think my family sent one; sorry if they did," Chiara said quietly.

"Wait, how many did you get?" Penny asked, frowning.

"I'm still sorting my mail out. Most of it is unsorted, but I think I have a couple dozen to reply to already," Harry explained. "The worst ones are going to be the girls who are in Hogwarts since I'm expected to deliver my response in person. Still, I've got a grace period since I've explained in a lot of the letters that I've sent out that I'm still sorting through years of mail."

"You know they featured your reply to the Daily Prophet on the front page?" Nym asked, making him blink.

"I knew they put it in the paper, not on the front page. Still, that just helps even more since I have a reason to delay the contracts. People knowing that I'm busy and not just ignorant can't be a bad thing," Harry shrugged.

"Well, if you decide to skip the betrothals and want a cute girlfriend, I know an adorable third-year who has a crush on you," Penny hinted, making Harry chuckle.

"I'll keep that in mind, but this ring comes with some responsibilities," Harry said ruefully, running his finger over his heir ring. "It's a whole mess that's been dropped in my lap."

"So… anyone we know on your list of future beaus?" Nym asked, nudging Harry again. "Any puffs?"

"Two, I think. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott in my year," Harry answered, making her blink in surprise. She wasn't actually expecting to know anyone.

"Huh, those two are best friends. Hoping to grab the pair?" Nym teased.

"I'm not hoping for anything. I don't have many classes with Hufflepuffs, so I've not spoken to either of them before. I'm still not entirely sure I can put a face to the name," Harry admitted.

"Susan is the redhead with the unfairly large breasts," Nym added helpfully, shifting her appearance to match.

"'Unfair', says the Metamorphmagus," Penny snorted, but Nym ignored her as she shifted to the form of a more modestly bosomed blonde with pigtails. "And Hannah is her pigtailed friend."

"Ah, I was right then. I know I sent Susan a reply to her fanmail, but the contract is sitting in my 'to deal with' pile," Harry said easily. "The contracts are official family business which means they need a little more care in handling. I think me being sorted into Slytherin indirectly hinted that I was more open to these kinds of things because I've received a lot of new ones since getting sorted."

"You have my sympathy, I'm a seventh year, and I haven't even thought about marriage yet," Penny added, giving him a smile. "What about you two?"


"Nope, mom won't set me up in a betrothal contract cause she doesn't like them. The whole reason she got booted from the family was because she broke her betrothal contract when she married my dad," Nym said, leaving out the whole 'already pregnant at that point' thing.

"My family do practise betrothal contracts, but I don't have one," Chiara answered quietly, she and Penny sharing a knowing look. Any future husband finding out she was a werewolf could go very poorly. Werewolves were really not popular, so it definitely damaged her 'marriage prospects'. "I doubt my father is trying to set one up without telling me either."

The conversation went to less serious topics, Harry regaling them with the most ridiculous letters he'd found so far as he easily handled the attention of three attractive older women.

Her favourite was a senile old man trying to challenge him to a duel since Harry had slighted him by defeating Voldemort. Not because the old man was a follower. No, the old squib had planned to defeat Voldemort himself despite not having magic and was offended that he was beaten to the punch. The letter was immediately followed by a letter from the old man's daughter explaining that he hadn't taken his potions and to please disregard any declarations of rivalry or duel challenges.

Still, her mind was on the meeting Harry had with Aunt Cissy. How to pull Harry out of the Malfoy's claws without picking a fight with the admittedly powerful family or angering Harry by trying to separate him from his friend?

It was a puzzle, and one she felt ill-suited to solve, but Harry was a really nice kid who she had suspicions hadn't had the best childhood. It was her duty as his lovable older (distant) cousin to protect him.

She wasn't going to let him down, so she started to scheme.

– Harry Potter –

Escaping the claws of the Puffs, I head back into the castle proper. I think it is safe to say that this has helped my reputation as the 'good snake'.

After talking with Nym and her friends, I ended up spending almost an hour in the Hufflepuff common room, mostly answering questions. Penny did get that autograph on her Harry Potter adventure book series. They're a friendly bunch, even if I noticed Susan looking very nervous.

She knows her Aunt sent a contract but doesn't know if I've read it yet. Her Aunt is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a rather stern but well-respected and powerful woman from what I've gathered. The backlog of Daily Prophets I ordered has started to arrive and I've already seen several mentions of her.

Also, the Prophet put the fact that I ordered their entire backlog for almost fifteen years on their front page because anything I do is front-page news, apparently. That said, the fact that I'm taking such an interest in the magical world has been seen in a good light, so it's all good coverage for now.

Keeping the media on my side is going to be important; I've seen how they can turn on people all too many times with Petuina's adoration for gossip shows. Right now, I'm the returning hero, but if I ignore the media, they could demonise me just to sell more papers. Cooperation is my best bet.

My little black book isn't so little anymore, growing larger every day as I gather everything I can about everyone. Information is power, and I intend to be very powerful.

Moving through the somewhat bustling corridors, I pause as I see something out of the corner of my eyes, a strange translucent figure standing in the corridor. It's gone before I can turn, but I frown and change directions where I saw them.

I haven't forgotten the figure that led me to the book in my vault. As I head down the corridor, I pause at the end and look both ways, spotting them again, moving away from me.

When I saw the figure in my vault, they were shimmering with blue light, almost completely translucent and most importantly, they had no real features. I couldn't tell whether they were supposed to be male or female, but now I can clearly see that she's female as they pause at the end of the corridor.

Pointing in one direction, another student walks through them without stopping, unable to see her. The figure has a far more womanly figure this time, curvy hips and a substantial chest as she gestures for me to go left. She looks like a barbie doll, no nipples or genitals as she shimmers with the strange light.

No face, though, even now, that figure has a full head of hair that goes down to her shoulders. No colour beyond the shimmering blue, and as I approach, they disappear once again.

I can't see her as I look left, but I've never been one to deny a mystery as I head down the left corridor. I don't think I've been to this part of the school, wandering aimlessly as I look for a sign of what they want me to do.

Another flash of the figure standing in the distance leads me further on this wild ghost chase because, really, I have nothing better to do on a Sunday than wander around the school chasing a figure only I can see.

Actual ghosts fly through the figure without ever noticing it, confirming that only I can see her, leading me around the school as I wander around, trying to look like I'm just exploring and not following creepy ghost figures.

Hey, last time, I got a cool book out of it. Maybe I'll get something cool this time as well.

Arriving on the seventh floor, I become increasingly convinced the figure is fucking with me as they appear at the end of a corridor, only to reappear at the other end once I try and reach her. I must look like a looney, walking backwards and forwards as I try and work out what they want from me.

And yet, for some reason, the words 'a place for hidden things' pass through my mind, despite having no need to hide anything. My confusion only grows as a doorway opens in the once-blank wall.

The figure vanishes but I once more get the point, and I've come too far to give up, heading inside as I freeze.

Oh, come on. First, I have to deal with a mountain of mail, and now this? Looking at the cavernous room I've found myself in, I stare at the literal piles of the most random junk imaginable with disbelief, grabbing something at random as I open the random book and see that it's a potions book from the seventeen hundreds. Literally hundreds of years of junk, I'm sure there's plenty of valuable stuff here, but it's an effort and a half just to navigate the room as I try and follow the figure through the maze of long-abandoned things.

It takes a while, losing the figure several times, before I spot her once more, standing before a strange bust with a silver diadem on it. Approaching, I pause as I read the script engraved into the metal.

'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'


That's a Rowena Ravenclaw quote, I think. I vaguely remember it from my readthrough of Hogwarts: A History. I'm sure this is what they wanted me to find, but as I go to pick it up, it feels vile, my soul shuddering at the very touch of the seemingly innocent piece of metal, quiet whispers coming from it.

I should pull back, but something deep within me is furious, and before I can stop myself, I pick up the diadem. Every piece of basic logic says not to put on the evil whispering diadem, but my hands disobey my command as I place it atop my head.

Immediately, my mind is flooded with pain, a battle between two minds waging within my head, and I'm not either of them. It doesn't last long, even as I fall to my knees clutching my head, and the mind within the diadem screams in disbelief as it is consumed.

The victorious mind was in my head all along, that much I realise with a cold sweat. Ever since I picked up the book back in the vault, I've had a passenger riding along. Yet, despite my fear, I feel the presence trying to soothe me, reassuring me that it means no harm with a feminine voice that I almost recognise.

Then it goes silent again as I take off the diadem. I no longer feel the same sickening wrongness as I hold it. The presence took care of whatever had corrupted this thing, but I know it is powerful; I can feel it as I place it back on my head, and my mind sharpens.

Taking it off, I slip it into my robes and make a note to find some time to come back here with a very large enchanted chest and loot this place of everything worthwhile, but as my head throbs in pain, I know one thing.

I need a fucking nap.

Heading back to my room, I skip anything but the most simple manners as I wave off Draco and a slightly concerned-looking Lucretia and head to my room. Stashing the Diadem in my chest, I move onto the bed, and I'm asleep before my head even hits the pillow.

My sleep is anything but peaceful.

— Bonus Scene — Susan Bones

Looking at the letter again, she giggled to herself at the fact that Harry had actually responded to the letter she'd sent six years ago, blushing slightly as she sighed and sent some unkind words towards her Aunt.

It wasn't fair to Aunt Amelia, to be honest. She was just trying to make sure that Susan was taken care of, but her Aunt could have at least asked her before trying to arrange a marriage for her. The fact was, she and Aunt Amelia were the last of the House Bones, and if anything happened to Amelia, then she'd be… vulnerable.

She didn't even want to think about that, but Amelia was a pragmatic woman. She'd made a lot of enemies in her position, and some even tried to permanently remove her. Tying her to Harry would keep her safe; that was Amelia's hope anyway.

Dumbledore himself was Harry's guardian, and Harry was the heir to two very influential families. If he accepted her Aunt's offer, he'd become the future Lord of the Bones family as well, with her as his Lady.

Blushing again, she cursed herself for not having the courage to try and talk to him about this mess when he was right there in their common room, the best chance she'd had yet, since he was finally away from the other Slytherins.

Maybe she should try and talk to Nym? On second thought, that seemed like a bad idea. She'd only met the older girl recently, but it had become very clear that she loved teasing people. Ugh, she needed to actually just stop wasting time and approach Harry himself, didn't she?

Still, she had no idea how this was going to go, but she could admit one thing… Harry was a very good looking boy, and he was really sweet to actually take the time to reply to a childish, misspelt piece of fan-mail.

It would be fine, she just needed to gather her courage and actually approach him. Of course, she didn't know if it helped or hurt that her best friend found herself in the exact same position.

Sighing, she carefully folded the letter up and placed it in her chest. She didn't want it to get damaged. What a mess, but from what she could tell, Harry was dealing with it tenfold.