Rise of the Grey Lords Chapter 14

Standard disclaimer; I do not own or claim any rights of ownership to the world of Harry Potter or the characters portrayed within it. I can only thank a brilliant original author J.K Rowling for allowing us to play in her world.

AN. I am sorry for the long delay in this story, I have been rather ill post surgery and am still on significant levels of analgesia which affects my reasoning and concentration. Please be gentle this chapter is not as good as I would like and rather fluffy and girly. I have found out I am crap at teenage interactions, but I needed to start building the relationship between Aries and the girls. Still looking for a beta reader, particularly someone skilled in grammar (I'm shite at it)

Thank you everyone for reading.

Châteaux Chambord; 1050 Friday 20th May 1994

Duc's Suite

The morning following the second ritual, Aries had a feeling of semi-contentment. The old Aries or as he now identified his younger self 'Harry Potter', would have never done what he did to Snape, the guilt would have destroyed him. But, he was not 'Harry Potter', he was Aries Potter-Black and he would never feel guilt or regret for taking revenge or retribution on those he saw as his enemies. In fact, he felt a sense of satisfaction. He would be moving onto the Weasels, Granger and others after his trip to take his OWL's and NEWTS. Those plans were only partly finalised, he wanted to strip Dumbledore's power off him first. Unfortunately, there was only a slight chance, that he would actually face criminal charges, but he had much more to loose than his liberty or his life and those things would be taken.

At that moment, Aries was to be found in his private study, finishing a solitary breakfast of croissants, preserves and a pot of rich latte coffee, whilst reviewing the Chambord family portfolio. In fact the only reason he had been keeping on top of all of the day to day mechanics of being the head of 3 families, let alone his Herbology and COMC studies was his time turner and resulting extra day.

With a final signature to sign off on the sale of 20 Hanoverian yearlings and the projected harvest of potions ingredients (most used by Lamarque Potions a company he owned), Aries reached for his coffee and relaxed thinking about what his priorities were for the next couple of days.

[Mmm tomorrow he would have to visit Potters Croft Castle and re-set the wards, he also needed to catch up with Dobby who as his personal elf was temporarily taking charge of the Potter Estates. Yep, he needed to appoint a new House Potter Head Elf, or ask Dobby if he wanted to stay in that post, thinking about it that was maybe the best solution. He much preferred the far less manic personality of Jules, yes, that was that sorted; Dobby would be the head elf of House Potter, Jules would be his personal elf and Jacques would take over as Chambord head elf. He just needed to check if Jules was amenable to all of the little jobs he would need him to do, after all, no one else would know that he personally would be taking care of some of their more obdurate opponents, permanently.]

[ He would check out Black Manor next week. He would be staying there while he took his OWL's and NEWT's and portkeying daily to St Marteen's. Thinking about it, maybe the girls would be amenable to a trip to the castle and the manor today... yes... that was worth a suggestion and he did want to add them to the wards. They did need to get to know him and what better than exploring one of their future homes together. He would definitely have to inform them that he would be spending some alone time with each of them and he needed to ask Susan about that shot of magic he felt the other day... yeh he needed to know what that was... Oh well confident face on, start as you intend to continue. There would only be one dominant in their relationship and that was him... it was evident from the reading he had done that males with as much Veela blood as he had, always were, not to mention he would not tolerate ever being ordered around by anyone, no matter who they were ever again ... mmm best leave that thought there for now.. I wonder who will end up being my primary wife, that's how the best polygamous marriages worked; a primary wife and however many secondary ones, it was a very subtle distinction...bugger he had to formally accept his betrothed so the bonding process could start, goddess magic was complicated but at least this only required the formal acknowledgement and a kiss, bugger I've got to get these hormones under control …I should be a natural at this I'm more bloody Veela than human, huf dream on Ari not until those damn hormones have settled.. oh well time meet my 'beauties'.]

Smiling at his private name for his 3 betrothed, Ari stood and after briefly checking his appearance in the mirror (hair neatly tied in its usual low tail, navy blue chinos, black dragon hide boots, cream silk v-neck shirt and navy cashmere sweater.) Satisfied with his appearance and smiling wryly at his vanity, he left his sanctuary to spend the day with his betrothed.

Chambord Family Sitting Room 1100, Friday 20th May (edited to)

Aries quietly entered his favourite room in the Châteaux 10 minutes later. He was treated to a sight that got his recently developing hormones pumping again and gave him a warm feeling of anticipation.

The girls were sat on the terrace framed by the open double doors, with the morning sun behind them they looked like beautiful angels. Shaking his head at that foreign (for him) thought, he greeted them with a cheerful ''Good morning beautiful ladies.''

All 3 looked up a bit startled, they had been engrossed in their conversation and gave a chorus of identical 'Morning Ari' .From the slight blush on their faces and the startled look on Susan's face, it was apparent that he had been the subject of their conversation.

Smiling slightly at them, Aries decided to spare them any further embarrassment, after a quick call to Jacques to bring him a glass of iced water, he sat down opposite them and addressed his 3 betrothed with a smile and '' What do you you lovely ladies have planned for us today?''

The three of them looked across at him before looking at each other, Aries watched this silent exchange and relaxed slightly, it was apparent that they were as nervous about this as he was. It was after all the first time that the 4 of them had been alone together without adults or other members of their group.

Fleur who took the the lead though, taking a deep breath before answering his question ''Daphne, Susan and myself would like to do a couple of things today''. At his encouraging nod and smile, she continued, with a slightly nervous smile ''We would like to discuss how our relationship will work.'' she was a bit more relaxed now, continuing ''I have talked to Daphne and Susan about what it means to be bonded to a male Veela..'' All of the girls blushed deeply with that, before rushing on ''and we need to talk about something Susan did the other day.. which.. oh merde!.. she hmm.. she...we think she.. .''

Aries quickly reached across the table and shaking his head slightly, indicating she should stop. He smiled at her, before taking her hand and raising it to his lips placing a whisper of a kiss in the palm. ''Thanks for that Fleur, I think I have some idea of what happened, I certainly felt some magical discharge that could only have come from Susan.'' Releasing her hand he relaxed back in his chair and took a sip of water, before meeting the eyes of Susan and Daphne questioning if they had anything they wanted to add to what Fleur had said. Receiving negative head shakes from both

He started ''I also wanted to discuss how I see our relationship being and yes having around 75% Veela blood does have an impact on that.'' He paused briefly seeing their eyes widen slightly, he carried on ''and I have a few thing I want to do which I require your presence for.''

Daphne and Susan who had yet to speak other than their 'morning Ari' both started to talk together and then stopped looking embarrassed, when this happened again, all 4 of them looked at each other and started to laugh at themselves. After a few minutes of general laughter the awkwardness and nerves that all of them had felt was relieved and they relaxed, smiling at each other, the girls giving the occasional giggle.

With Susan's ''You first'' to Daphne, Aries moved his focus to the beautiful brunet, with a last muffled giggle, she assumed her normal composed demeanour before asking ''What did you want to do that needs us Ari?''

''Yes Aries, do tell'' Susan added with her normal mischievous nature reasserting itself, Fleur finally getting her giggles to subside nodded in agreement.

''Well'' Aries answered with a slight grin ''I would like to get your focus bangles made this morning, I would also like to get the wards set at Potter Croft Castle and the Blackstock Plantation so that only us can have access to our primary houses. Besides I think it is time my ladies see their other homes.'' he saw their excited smiles and was that the cool and composed Daphne actually giving a 'squeal'? He continued, casually ''and of course I want us to formally accept and initiate the first part of the bond.''

The girls had evidently not expected this, however, if their flushed faces, dilated pupils and quickened breathing was any indication, they were definitely not adverse to this happening. In fact he could feel a surge in the magic around them and his own magic was humming through him in response.

Susan spoke first, in a breathy voice ''I would like that very much Aries.'' Before looking down waiting for her pulse and breathing to slow down. Aries just nodded taking her hand and placing a small kiss on her palm as he had done with Fleur earlier, feeling her magic mixing and intertwining with his strengthening the bond that was developing between them. With a ''Thank you my Lady.'' Aries moved his focus ''Daphne?'' he asked.

Daphne looked up into his sincere and mesmerising green eyes; the leashed power that burned there was totally intoxicating. Feeling her magic reaching out for and intertwining with his and her body reacting with arousal, despite her young age, this was her love, he was the only one worthy of her, he completed her. Without conscious thought she leaned as close to Aries as she could get and in a soft sultry voice almost purred ''Oh yes my Lord Aries, the sooner I belong to you, the better, the sooner the better.'' Aries' magic was reacting to Daphne exactly as it had to Susan's, although it seemed to be an even stronger reaction, kick starting his hormones into overdrive. He could get drunk on Daphne very easily, her magic had an intoxicating dark feeling and her ready submission to him was making it hard to think rationally.. sweet Morgana! they were too young to be having these reactions.

With a supreme effort and strengthening his Occlumency shields, Aries managed to rein in his baser instincts and taking both of her hands in his placed a a longer kiss in both palms before saying ''You honour me my Lady.''

Finally, he turned to Fleur lowering his shields somewhat ''Ma Belle Fleur?''. Fleur looked deeply into his eyes before taking his hand and repeating his own actions from earlier and placing a far from chaste kiss on the palm of his hand, being a Veela also, she felt their bond flare up on two levels. Their magic surged through it twisting itself together tightly and her inner Veela surged to complete the bond with its chosen mate, pulling them even closer, needing to complete their bond. The magic was now thrumming through and around them, as it strengthened and became visible to the other two present. Fleur's inner Veela was thrumming with content her mate was here, her other half; without even thinking about her answer, she was saying the traditional words of bonding between two Veela ''Your desires are now my own Monseigneur, I accept you as my mate.'' The visible aurora of magic that was around them now began swirling waiting for the dominant mate to accept.

Aries nodded acknowledgement of the first part of the bonding oath she had given, yes she knew he would be her lord and master and she welcomed it,he was her mate as she was his. The dominant Veela in him wanted, no needed to accept her as his mate to complete the bond.

Extracting his hand from her loose grip he took both of hers and placed a lingering kiss in the palms of both her hands, before placing the palms of his hands on top of them. With the palms of his hands flat on top of Fleur's, not realising that gold and silver streams of magic were swirling about them at an ever increasing speed. He completely lowered his occlumency shields and looking deeply into Fleur's eyes and stated ''Yes you are my mate and I accept the bond and I thank you ma Belle Amour''. They both felt their Veela selves exult as the bond snapped into place, making that part of themselves whole and complete.

It was as his mother had said in one of her journals, once a Veela found their mate and the bond was accepted the feeling was an indescribable sense of belonging one to the other. Fleur called out to him on a deeper level she really did complete him. She would be his primary wife, his mate. He had made his decision.

The swirling aurora of magic around them had flashed once as Aries accepted the bond and vanished. Both of them looked at each other and now holding hands and leant in at the same time so their lips met in a lingering though chaste kiss. They smiled as they separated and came back to awareness. Loosing Fleur's hands Aries relaxed back in his chair and glanced at his other two betrothed only to blush at the stunned expression on both their faces.

It was Daphne who broke the small silence with a stuttered ''Tttthat w..w..was b..beu..beautiful. D..d..did y..y..you two just bond?''.

If possible Ari's blush got even deeper and he nervously ran his hand through his hair dislodging the

retaining clip and looked at them before responding or rather attempting to respond ''Um.. weeell um.. oh ..yea we did.'' [Bugger where was his confidence when he needed it.] He shrugged and looked at them helplessly, still looking slightly embarrassed and not knowing what to say.

Suddenly Susan smiled and a giggle escaped her, this was followed by Daphne doing the same, taking his eyes of the giggling pair Ari looked at Fleur who had a wide smile on her face, it was then it hit him, there was no way they had known that this was going to happen but here he was a 13 soon to be 14 year old Veela bonded to a 16 year old the shock hit him. What had they done, bloody hell Aunt Cissa, Appoline, Marcel would kill him he looked at Fleur who just smiled and said ''Ignore the 2 hyena's''. By this time Susan and Daphne where holding their stomachs laughing so hard it hurt.

''What's so funny anyway?'' Aries asked

Fleur smiled at him and replied ''The look on your face my lord. You looked so shocked and embarrassed when you realised what we had done.'' She reach for his hand and gave a slight squeeze ''Don't worry about it Ari, tell ma mere and mon pere and Narcissa and Lucius tonight, mm?'' at his nod she continued ''now lets get the two imbeciles calmed and we can go and make our focus bands, Ooo I cannot wait to see what my stone is and what the finished one will look and feel like.''

With that they spent the next 10 minutes calming Daphne and Susan down until Aries resorted to saying if they didn't go and finish the focus bangles now they wouldn't have time until after he came back from taking his OWL's and NEWT's.

Susan was the first to regain her composure and congratulated both Fleur and Ari on their bonding. She was closely followed by Daphne who went one further with a formal kiss on both cheeks, grinning wickedly when Ari blushed again.

Aries decided to regain a measure of control over the situation, his magic having now adjusted to the bond.

He looked over at a smirking Daphne and with an inquiring look he said ''You do realise that you will experience something very similar don't you? After all, my having to accept the bond has confirmed that my Veela side is dominant.''

Both Daphne and Susan looked startled and then they remembered what Fleur had told them (after a vow of secrecy). Male Veela were very rare outside of the Veela Nation and there was no way to tell if Veela traits were dominant until they bonded. Then unless the bonded was another Veela, their chosen mate or mates (as was usually the case with male Veela) had no choice in the matter the Veela would take them as their mate whether they consented or not. In other words male Veela were predators, they took what they wanted.

Daphne bowed her head in acknowledgement ''I'm sorry Aries, its just I don't think I have ever seen you flustered and it was reassuring to see you are not perfect all the time. You can be quite intimidating you know.''

He smiled and gave her hand a quick kiss ''Its fine Daphne, besides everybody needs a good laugh now and then.''

Susan spoke up then and said ''I'm really sorry as well Aries. As Daphne said, its nice to know your just a teenager like us.'' Her smile was reflected in her big sapphire blue eye, her sincerity apparent.

He looked at her and returned her smile ''Its Ok beautiful, I occasionally need a kick up the ass to stop me being an arrogant tosser.'' They all had a had a laugh at that.

Aries looked at his watch and stood up then with ''Right, its 1 o'clock now, I think its time to go get my ladies fitted with their foci and grab a quick lunch while we're there. I want to finish these for a couple of reasons, but, don't forget I still want to visit our other primary houses.''

With Fleur holding his right arm and Daphne his left, Susan holding onto Fleur they quickly made their way to the 4th floor work room that was at the top of Aries' corner of the châteaux.

Duc's Retreat 1305 CET Friday 20th May 1994

Traditionally, this room at the top of the south-east corner of the châteaux, was called the Duc's retreat by the elves. It had been used for centuries by his ancestors to pursue their hobbies and store their secrets without the risk of being interrupted by anyone. Including their wives.

Ari led the girls to the door and stated quite firmly ''Right ladies, you can only see and access this door when you are accompanied by the current Duke. It is part of the Chambord Charter and there are things in here that other must not have access to, if they did it could compromise the safety of my family and in some cases the magical world.'' He paused briefly while still looking at them ''I must insist that you do not ask or attempt to return here. Before we enter do I have your oath's that you will comply with my requests?'' He maintained his serious manner, studying them very seriously until all 3 had given the required oath then with a satisfied nod and relaxing is demeanour he touched the Chambord ring to the door and stepped back as the door vanished.

Aries walked into the space where the door had been and told the girls to enter. As he followed them in the door reappeared behind him sealing the room. Without saying anything he led the way over to what they saw was a hidden terrace with a small table and a spectacular view down the valley, to the south of the châteaux.

Looking at his beauties, Ari grinned and said ''Make yourselves comfortable lovely ladies.'' before he flopped down in an armchair and pressed what appeared to rune on the rim of the table. Seconds later Jules popped in and with a bow asked ''How may Jules serve Master Aries.''

Aries smiled at elf and said ''Could you send us a light lunch and liquid refreshment please Jules.''

''One moment Master Aries.''

Literally a minute later a selection of sandwiches and drinks appeared on the table. Startling the girls. Before they could ask how Aries pre-empted the question with ''An enchantment on the room so that the master is not disturbed.'' Leaving it at that he grabbed his favourite chicken, bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich and started munching. The girls were not far behind him and ½ hour later they were finished, buzzing with excitement waiting for Aries.

He saw how eager they and quickly finished his apple juice before getting up and walking over to a row of work benches under the windows at the east of the room.

''Right my ladies whose first?'' Aries asked

The Girls automatically looked at Fleur who indicated Susan.

While they looked on, he pulled out a small draw containing the bracelet and cores that Susan had selected; this was in a cuff design in brushed white gold about 3cm wide. There were tiny runes around the rolled edges and in an intricate raised rambling rose pattern around the middle in yellow and red (blood) gold. The cores (phoenix pinion feather from Pol, ashwinder blood and mane hair of a sphinx had already been added.

It was a beautiful and unique piece of jewellery, all it was waiting for was its focus stone and Susan's blood to bind it to her.

She looked at the cuff, eyes bright from un-shed tears. Ari levitated a large draw containing 100s of small closed boxes over to a work table that was placed parallel to the bench, he called Susan over and said ''Right Susan, these are various suitably sized gems that I've plundered from my vaults. I want you to run the index finger of your non-wand hand over these boxes and lift out any that give a pull on your magic.''

Susan looked at him with a confused expression and said ''But Ari I can't see what they are''

He laughed at that and said ''That's the point, you need to choose one to focus your magic, not because you like how it sparkles.''

''Oh'' was Susan's only response, before she started doing as Aries had asked.

While she was concentrating on this he showed Daphne and Fleur their foci.

They had chosen the same cuff style bracelets as Susan, the only difference was the material and the rune patterns. Daphne's was in blood gold, with clusters of small star shaped flowers, 'daphne's' in rhodium (mithril). Where Fleur's was made from platinum with yellow gold and silver runes and lilies, this one he privately thought was the most beautiful he had made to date. What none of the 3 girls knew was that Aries had added a core to these foci, well technically two; one of his hairs soaked in his blood. His mother and fathers had done the same with their wands and not only had it greatly greatly decreased their power usage, taking a lot less of their magic to achieve the desired result; it had strengthened their bond and the power behind their spells. He was going to ask them each to donate a couple of hairs and 3 drops of blood to add to his own wand and cuff, he was currently debating how to ask them for these items especially as he wanted the 3rd drop of blood to build trackers so that he would always be able to find them. After all was said and done they would be in danger when certain people found out he was betrothed and in Fleur's case bonded to them.

These cuffs were almost on a par with Ari's for power, both like Ari and Susan's contained one of Polaris' pinion feathers, whilst Fleur's had a 3 further cores; Antipodean Opaleye scale, phoenix ashes and basilisk blood. Daphne's other cores were; Golden Sniget claw, basilisk venom and Griffin mane hair. Both girls like Susan had were looking at their magical foci totally speechless, running their fingers over the pattern. Just as Fleur had looked up at Aries to speak a squeal was heard from Susan drawing their attention.

She was grinning with 3 small boxes in front of her.

Ari moved over to her with Fleur and Daphne who were going to choose their stones while Susan's stone was set.

He took Susan's choices over to where her bracelet was on the benchand pulled over a high stool saying ''OK Susan, I want you to sit down on the stool and then I'm going to cast a spell to cover your eyes for the next bit. OK?'' Susan nodded and quickly sat down, before Ari cast a quick Obscurus before continuing ''Now, relax and when I put these stones in your hands I want you to tell me exactly what you feel.'' The whole process took just 15 minutes before Ari cancelled the spell and let Susan refocus her vision.

In front of Aries next to her bracelet was a beautiful deep blue Ceylon Sapphire, it was according to the box 'Presented to Phillipe Chambord for services to Queen Marie Theresa 1662. Fine Royal Blue 6ctw. Oval 8x13'. It looked the perfect size to fit where two rose buds met in the middle of the band.

Ari looked from the stone to Susan was struck by something ''Susan this is exactly the same colour as your beautiful eyes.''

''Oh Ari'' the overwhelmed teen couldn't describe how good he made her feel with just a simple complement. She jumped off the stool and threw her arms around him giving him a quick kiss on his lips and a crushing hug, before releasing him and jumping back with a ''Oops I err I.. mm ..er I'm.. sssorry about that I got carried away.''

She looked up from under the cover of her hair that she had left loose today to see him standing wide eyed with his hand touching his lips and eyes wide. He shook himself and lifted her chin before saying anything. Then ''Don't be sorry I was just surprised, it was really nice'' he grinned and said ''Can I return the gesture.'' at her nod he leaned forward and gave her a soft closed mouth kiss, before breaking off after a couple of seconds. They both looked at each other before smiling, saying nothing but deciding to definitely do that again.

With nothing more said and their magic humming Susan sat back down and watched at Aries set the cuff in a padded vice before placing the sapphire in an indentation, where the 2 bud stems curved round ready for the gem to nestle between them.

Susan looked up when she felt the magic thicken around her and saw Ari concentrating with his wand sending a steady stream of iridescent light circling the gem, as she watched it seemed to sink into the cuff, giving off a soft blue glow. About 5 minutes later he stopped channelling his magic and let out a sigh. Looking at the finished item. With a nod of satisfaction, he turned to Susan and said ''All done''

Susan jumped off the stool and shot to look at her new very own magical focus she went to touch it and pulled her hand back. Ari looked at her and with a crooked smile released the cuff and handed it to her. Susan immediately felt a feeling of euphoria, much stronger than when she had got her wand. Her magic was surging through her, and a soft breeze was blowing around her.

Ari called her back to her self and said ''Sue you need to put an spot of blood on the stone and the runes around it to bind it to you and I need to finish Daphne and Fleur's foci, then we can get a snack and go to Potters-Croft.'' At he nod he passed a small silver knife and watched while she blooded the stone. Satisfied that the process was complete he called he attention back and said ''All right beautiful stop admiring it and if you look over there'' pointing to the opposite corner of the room ''That area is shielded, there are some targets and duelling dummies so you can go and test how to use your cuff as a focus and get to know how it varies from your wand.''

With one last bone crushing hug and and lots of kisses and thank you, she almost ran off to practice. Aries moved back over to Fleur and Daphne. Time to make his other two beauties happy.

Fleur ended with a beautiful 8ctw oval pale blue diamond, it had been very close with a beautiful clear aquamarine. He carefully separated the aquamarine, he had plans for that later as an idea for presents for his ladies came to him.

Daphne had only picked up one stone, a natural perfect marquise cut tanzanite, again the blue/lavender colour was a perfect match for he eyes and was the same shape as the petal of the flower she was named for.

With all of the girls rapturously happy and Aries having had lots of hugs and kisses, they rested for another quick snack.

Aries took 2 golden hourglasses out of his pocket and with a grin he dangled them in front of his 3 beautiful betrothed ''Time to go to our Castle.'' He said.

Daphne looked at the Potter grin and asked ''Ari, are they what I think they are?''

''That depends on what you are thinking lovely lady'' he said, his eyes alight with amusement.

''You can be a git Ari, are those time-turner's.'' Daphne shot back.

''Yep'' with a snap to the p. ''They are both 24 hours for one person, so I think if we go back 12 hours to 5am and take a short nap say 4-5 hours we can spend until about 4pm at the Castle and formally initiate the first phase of our bonding.'' They didn't interrupt, so he carried on ''and then go to the Plantation and laze on the beach for a while, its 6 hours behind us so we can spend 4 hours there and then come home, without exhausting ourselves. I do want to talk about how our relationship will be and I would much rather do it in a place where we cannot be interrupted, like a private Caribbean beach. What do you think?''

Daphne, Susan and Fleur exchanged another silent conversation before Fleur answered him ''Good plan my Monseigneur, lets just call Jules to pack us a few things, leave a message for Cissa and ma mere and we can go.''

It took 10 minutes to write quick notes saying that they were going to Black Manor and would be back by 10pm. By then Jules had brought small bags for the girls and Aries.

Because the room was shielded and warded, the quartet moved just outside the door and with after two small golden hourglasses were spun and in an instance the hallway was empty.

They appeared on the same spot at 0515 to extend what was turning into a nice relaxing day.

…...

AN. Sorry not much action, its a filler chapter to set up their relationships, but it seems logical to stop their. As I said at the beginning, a bit diabetes inducing but their hormones are only just kicking in so they wont be going into anything more adult for a couple of years at least. Please forgive the rambling.

Please let me know what you think, with any suggestions and please let me know any blatant errors I have made. BTW I know my grammar is poor any beta's out there willing to take this on?

Cheers