CHAPTER 10:

READING, RELATIONSHIPS AND RANCOUR

"I'll take those if you don't mind," Morrigan said as she plucked the books from Molly's arms. The red-haired harridan had been cleaning out the house, and disposing of artifacts she deemed objectionable.

"Those are very dangerous!" Molly protested. "I…"

"Oh, please be quiet, you make a banshee sound quiet by comparison," Morrigan retorted. And as Mount Molly threatened to erupt, she said, "Let's look at things calmly. Firstly, did either Sirius or Dumbledore give you leave to dispose of those books? You are technically a guest in Sirius' household, after all. Secondly, I am a Darkstalker, as you well know, and a very powerful one at that. There are few tomes made by humans that could harm me. The curses on the worst of these would do little more than tickle and itch. Thirdly, you fail to realise a very good use for these books, and not just as kindling for a fireplace."

"Which is what?" Molly asked, looking irritated that her authority was being flouted by someone she considered a hussy.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'know thy enemy'? Within these books could be knowledge you could use to counter anything Voldemort and the Death Eaters throw at you." Morrigan looked at one, and raised an eyebrow. "You're disposing of this? Really, Mrs Weasley, for a woman who has clearly had enough truck with sex to have birthed seven children, you truly are a prude." She casually threw what was basically the wizarding equivalent of the Kama Sutra through a portal into her boudoir back in Makai. "I'll keep it away from the kiddies if that's what you're worried about, but we're not having a re-enactment of the Bonfire of the Vanities."

"You…you…"

"Ssshhh…calm down. It's bad for your health. And I am not here to seduce you, your husband, or your children. None of them are my type, really…though I saw a picture of your older boys, Bill and Charlies. Now, those two, I wouldn't mind bedding if they were here. Anyway, my point is, I am here because Dumbledore trusts me, regardless of my being a Darkstalker. And I am here to protect my sister, and by extension, Harry. So, accept my presence here. And don't act like you own this house. You don't. Clean it up by all means if that appalling little House Elf won't, but don't clean it out. I've already had to spank that drunken spiv Fletcher for trying to steal the silver. Why Dumbledore trusts him, I don't know."

Molly still seemed on the verge of apoplexy, but calmed herself with an effort, or at least found a different target for her ire. "That idiot Fletcher was on watch when those Dementors were sent," she scowled. "He owes Dumbledore a debt for helping him out, but he goes off to make some shady deal, just before the Dementors attacked."

"Then I have clearly not spanked him enough," Morrigan remarked. "While I know this is not an army, I believe that would count as dereliction of duty. The fact that my sister and her bonded were nearly killed on his watch…well, I am not happy with him."

"You're not the only one. Harry…it shouldn't be his fight," Molly said quietly. "You Know Who took his parents from him, and if what Ron and Ginny have told me is correct, he has faced You Know Who in some form or another for three of his four years at Hogwarts. And in his third year, he had to deal with that mess involving Sirius and Pettigrew."

"…Yes. He's a strong boy to make it through that. And call You Know Who Voldemort. The Taboo Spell hasn't been used again."

"Maybe…but you haven't lost family to him, Morrigan," Molly said, looking away. "Fabian and Gideon…my brothers…they were murdered by that monster and his underlings. Moody keeps saying that they died like heroes…but they just died. I admit, there are times when I do see Harry as this Boy Who Lived…but do you know what I see most of the time? An orphan, forced to live with Muggles who treat him appallingly. I've argued with Dumbledore many times. I know we're not the richest of families, but I would be more than willing to have him with us. He told me about those Blood Ward things…but I still don't like it. And yet…I know that, even if I don't want him to…You Know Who will track him to the ends of the Earth, and murder him. He will have to fight him, and I'm not sure whether anything I can teach him, let alone anyone else in the Order, can help Harry survive. You Know Who is a wizard with decades of experience. Harry is about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts. How can such a gap be bridged?"

Morrigan realised that the younger (compared to Morrigan, anyway, who looked half Molly's age) woman had inadvertently bared her heart to the Succubus. Eventually, Morrigan said, "You're right. I haven't lost family to Voldemort, Molly. Then again, I don't have any family, aside from my father, and I was adopted by him. Or rather, I didn't have any family until Lilith was born from the part of my power my father sealed away. Lilith is bound to Harry, and that makes him family. If he is to survive, then he will have to learn to fight. And as I have centuries of experience in such matters…after all, there are many ways for me to derive sustenance aside from that Succubi are known for, and one of them is through stimulation through combat. And given that Harry shares part of what was once my power…"

Molly's eyes widened. "Through Lilith…"

"Yes. Like it or not, Harry will have to fight Voldemort, sooner or later. If only because Voldemort is a sore loser. Thanks to Lilith, he has the power. I can teach him how to wield it. The sad thing is, he'd probably need it after that. After all, being bound to a Darkstalker is sure to attract attention, especially from other Darkstalkers. An old nemesis of mine, Demitri Maximoff, may take an interest."

Molly's eyes widened even more. "The infamous vampire?"

"Yes. And I'll be damned before I let Harry and Lilith come to harm, at least until they can fight for themselves. Harry may not have needed to become a fighter…but thanks to Voldemort, he does…"

After all was said and done, Harry and Lilith, now that they finally had some privacy, were now indulging in a part of their relationship they had never been able to before. Before the incident at the graveyard, it was because Lilith was intangible, a ghost in Harry's mind. Afterwards, it was because everything was so hectic, with them coming to terms with each other, and with Morrigan watching over them at the Dursleys and at Castle Aensland, they felt they couldn't do it, despite (or because of?) Morrigan's not so subtle encouragements.

To wit, kissing.

Well, it was a bit more than kissing. Lilith was straddling Harry as they kissed, lying down on the bed, their hands roaming. Oh, they were fully dressed, or at least Harry was, with Lilith wearing her leotard and tights she wore in her Succubus form, but they were taking things quite far. Then again, they had a desire, oft unspoken, to want to be able touch each other. Not quite in that way, true, but to affirm the reality of their bond, even if it was something as simple and chaste as holding hands or hugging. However, Lilith's Succubus instincts and their general lust for each other were taking things rather far. Not too far, but they weren't far off it.

Still, eventually, the pair of them broke away, panting, both showing blushes. "…Should we be doing this?" Harry asked.

"I think the better question is, do we want to take it any further yet?" Lilith countered. And it was a genuine question. As much as she was a creature of lust and desire, she also knew that pushing their relationship so quickly wouldn't end well. They were bound together, and had been from birth, but it didn't necessarily mean they wanted to do this so soon.

"…Well, do we?" Harry asked.

"…No. I'm not saying we should take it slow per se…but I think we've got time to prepare ourselves for sleeping together…well, in more than the most literal sense, anyway. You're not embarrassed by me, are you?"

"It's your nature as a Succubus, Lilith. Even if I am embarrassed at times, I accept it. You're part of me. And I'm part of you."

Lilith smiled. "So, what does this make this relationship, then? Incest or masturbation?" She laughed at the look on Harry's face, before getting off him, and changing back into her more human outfit. "Not that it matters, as my body is a purely magical construct. Genes don't exactly enter into that sort of thing."

"You're my oldest friend, first and foremost, Lilith," Harry said. "True, I thought you were imaginary, but…"

"Yeah, I know. And…" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Irritably, she said, "Who is it?"

"Professor Dumbledore. At the risk of sounding rude, are you both decent?"

"We're fine," Lilith said, going over to the door, and opening it, revealing Dumbledore, who looked rather irritated, though not at them.

"Forgive my interruption, but there are a few things I need to tell you. I am sure, Lilith, that you will be enrolling with Harry as a fellow student at Hogwarts this year. I have chosen the alias of Lily Ainsworth, after consultation with your sister," Dumbledore said. "However, there's another concerning factor. As you know, Minister Fudge, at the urging of Lucius Malfoy and Dolores Umbridge, has started a smear campaign against us both, claiming me to be a senile fool, and you an attention-seeker." He held up a hand to quiet Harry and Lilith's responses. "Yes, of course this is patently foolish to you and I, but Fudge is somehow convinced that I desire his position. And Malfoy and Umbridge are dripping poison in his ear."

"Who's Umbridge?" Harry asked, wondering whether he'd regret asking the question.

"Ah. Dolores Umbridge is…well, she's a rather appalling woman with sadly a large amount of power. She has been the Senior Undersecretary to Fudge for some years now. To my knowledge, she is no Death Eater, but she is certainly sympathetic to their cause. Fudge was putting pressure on me to hire her as a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, when in truth, she would be his enforcer, though to tell the truth, she is pretty much the power behind Fudge's throne. It was she who persuaded him to send the Dementors to search for Sirius Black two years ago. I have reason to believe that she was the one who suggested that Hagrid be arrested during that fiasco with the Chamber of Secrets. And she has made no secret of her distaste towards me or anyone I champion."

"…Did you manage to prevent her from coming to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No, sadly. I have obtained the services of a very highly-skilled DADA teacher, but Fudge and Umbridge have insisted on her being installed as…" He cleared his throat to make a point. "High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. The position is an old one, set up by the Ministry to ensure that educational standards at Hogwarts are up to snuff. In truth, Fudge intends to use Umbridge as a spy to gather proof that I am founding an army to overthrow him, as well as to discredit us both…though I fear Umbridge will be somewhat more proactive than Fudge desires. Fudge is a paranoid fool, but he is not evil, just clinging to power like a limpet and believing anything told to him. He wouldn't want to see either of us truly harmed unless he felt we were seeking his overthrow, and if he found proof of Voldemort's return, he would accept it. But Umbridge…would be more proactive, I fear. Indeed, I suspect, though I have little proof, that she may have been the one to send the Dementors after you in Little Whinging."

Lilith's eyes narrowed. "…What," she growled. "That bitch tried to murder us by setting those soul-sucking demons on us?"

"I suspect, I don't have proof. It could have been one of Voldemort's followers in the Ministry. Now, I do have word from my sources within the Death Eaters…"

"You mean source," Harry said. "Snape."

"Professor Snape, Harry. The reason why I bring this up is that I was wondering whether Lilith and her link to you would be outed to the Ministry, and thus whether Lilith would be safe coming to Hogwarts. Voldemort has decided to work on gathering intelligence for now, and felt that the current smear campaign works well. After all, if you are not at Hogwarts, then he may not know where you are, so he has given directives to the Death Eaters not to mention Lilith, but to keep an eye out for her."

"But this new DADA teacher…can you trust them?" Harry asked. "I mean, every year, they're either incompetent, or try to kill me, or both."

"Well, I'm certainly not incompetent, but I'm sure that if I went all-out in my teaching, you'd think I was trying to kill you," purred a sultry and familiar voice, and Morrigan walked in, dressed in a severe suit that nonetheless managed to show off a good chunk of her cleavage. She even had a pair of glasses, and a smirk was touching her lips. "I guess that cat's out of the bag. I'm going to be teaching Hogwarts about horrible monsters and how to fight them…"

CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. The cat's out of the bag. As a number of you guessed, Morrigan's now the DADA teacher.

That speech with Molly was something I wrote to try and look into her canon character, and her attitude towards Harry and why she mothers him so much. It's ironic that she, one of the biggest prudes (despite having seven kids) in the Potterverse, can confess this to a succubus.

BlazeStryker: Which was rather the point. I wanted Lilith to age with Harry, at least until they reach their late teens to early twenties. Hence my making that particular point about her appearance changing age.

No numbered annotations this time.