A Fortuitous Arrangement Ch. 8 (Old Chapter Unlocked For All Patrons) (Patreon)

Content Warnings: Teasing.

“This is new.”

Daphne followed Harry’s gaze. “The Thestrals? They’ve always been here.”

“What’re you two looking at?” Susan asked. She locked her arm with Harry’s and snuggled into him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I didn’t know Hogwarts had Thestrals.”

“Is that what the horses are called?” Harry stared dubiously at the pair of skeletal horses attached to the carriage. They had dull gray coats and sunken skin. The one closest to them turned its head at the sound of the commotion and Harry flinched at the sight of its smoldering red eyes. “Why weren’t they here last year?”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “They’ve always been here, Potter. Who do you think pulled these carriages?”

“I thought they were charmed to move on their own,” Susan murmured with a frown. “Thestrals aren’t a good omen. They’re symbols of Death. You can only see them if you’ve witnessed someone dying. Why would the school keep a herd?”

Daphne looked at the couple strangely. “Why is death a bad thing? Without it, life has no meaning. And they’re not just symbols of Death, Bones. They’re creatures symbolizing the circle of life. Death and renewal are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other.” She paused and blushed when she noticed Harry and Susan staring at her. “What? I like magical creatures. Now are you coming or do you want to stand in the cold all night?”

“I was actually waiting for Hermione and Ron to join us.”

“They’re herding first years, Potter. They’ll come to Hogwarts in boats.” Daphne grabbed the bars placed on either side of the entrance of the carriage and climbed inside. “It’s a stormy night.” She poked her head out of the carriage and glanced at the dark clouds rolling across the sky. “One can only hope for a drowning or two.”

“You mean Malfoy.”

“As I said, Potter, one can only hope,” Daphne said with a smirk. She leaned back into the seat and watched the couple climb into the carriage with a guarded expression. They settled into the seat opposite hers and Susan immediately pressed into Harry’s side, continuing the nauseating display of affection that she’d had to endure the entire train ride.

The Thestrals neighed and began to trot down the dirt path that led to the brightly-lit castle looming in the distance. The old carriage rattled, making conversation difficult. 

That wasn’t the only impediment to conversation. Even after spending nearly the entire ride with her, Harry found it difficult to talk to Daphne. She was a strange mixture of fire and ice. An intense and slightly homicidal fairy with a beautiful smile and danger lurking behind her stormy gray eyes. He couldn’t push the encounter in the bathroom out of his thoughts no matter how hard he tried. He kept his gaze fixed on her face, forcing himself not to look down to make sure his mind did not wander to the softness of her pillowy breasts. Not that looking at her face was any better. Her lips were still curled into that enigmatic smile that promised a lifetime of excitement and danger to anyone who got close to her. 

“Do I have something on my face, Potter?”

“W-what? No?”

“Then why are you staring at me like I’ve grown a third eye?”

Harry blushed and averted his gaze. He turned to his wife, his blush deepening when he noticed her looking at him with an amused expression. 

“Does your husband often go around staring at women he’s groped, Bones?”

“Only the ones he likes,” Susan said, biting her lip to stop a giggle. “Wait. Groped?”

“I didn’t grope her!” Harry said heatedly. “I stumbled and accidentally grabbed her to break my fall.”

“Do you want to tell her what you grabbed, Potter?” 

“Her chest,” Harry mumbled under his breath.

Susan couldn’t help herself. She giggled. “How are you still alive?”

“I decided to take mercy on him because I like you and for reasons unknown, you love him. I mean, his foreplay is acceptable at best. Paid zero attention to my nipples and ended things far too early.”

Harry glanced out of the moving carriage and wondered how many bones he’d break if he jumped out. 

“Are you always this relentless with your teasing?” Harry muttered once he had given up on the idea of jumping out of the door and spending a month in the Hospital Wing to get away from the blonde Slytherin.

“Only with the people I like.”

“We like you too, Daphne. Don’t we Harry?” Susan asked innocently.

Harry nodded. He cleared his throat awkwardly and decided to change the subject. 

“You said Thestrals can only be seen by people who’ve witnessed death.”

“Yep.” Daphne fished out an apple from her satchel and bounced it from one hand to the other. “Legends say they are Charon’s helpers. They guide souls to the afterlife. They’re gentle, docile creatures who won’t harm anyone, even in self-defense. They just have a bad name because people have a silly fear of Death.”

“You aren’t afraid of death?” Susan asked softly.

“Nope.” Daphne took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “I’m afraid of a lot of things but I’m not scared of death.”

“Who did you see die?”

Daphne’s playful expression vanished. She pursed her lips and considered the question, almost as if she was deciding how much information she wanted to trust them with.

“My mother,” she said finally. She sighed and shrugged, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice as she continued. “She died when I was nine from a blood curse. I’ve always been able to see the Thestrals. They have a separate pen in the forest. Why can you see them now?”

“Cedric,” Harry murmured after swallowing the knot in the throat. The pain from that night had faded but not vanished. He doubted it ever would. “He was killed in front of my eyes.”

“Your parents?” Susan asked softly. She tightened her hold around his arm and leaned up to kiss his jaw, trying to bring her husband comfort in any way she could.

Harry shook his head. “All I can remember from that night is a flash of green light and an unearthly scream. I don’t think I saw them die. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t see the Thestrals before today.”

“Well, this was fun,” Daphne muttered, falling back to her usual defense of irreverent humor. She did not like her walls being threatened and Potter seemed to have the dangerous ability to burrow under them. Why was she so drawn to him? “Let’s do this again… never. Our dead parents belong in the past. Leave them there, Potter,” she said, climbing out of the carriage once it had shuddered to a halt. 

“Do you want to sit with us?”

“We’re supposed to sit at our House tables for the Welcome Feast,” Daphne lied. She had no idea if that was actually the case, but she needed some space and time away from the couple. She schooled her face into an icy expression and prepared herself to face the lowlifes that dominated her House. “Maybe some other time, Bones.” 

Harry and Susan watched Daphne march up to the castle. Once she was halfway up the path that cut across the grounds, Harry sighed and pulled away from Susan.

“Did we say something?”

“I don’t know. She’s a complicated woman,” Susan murmured. She took Harry’s hand and gratefully accepted his help in climbing out of the carriage. “I’ll talk to her after the feast.”

Harry nodded. He smiled as he turned to look at the looming castle that was for all intents and purposes, his real home. 

“Ready?” Susan asked, locking her arm with his.

“Always. I wonder what nonsense we’ll have to deal with this year.”

Susan considered the question as they walked up the path. They drew stares from nearly every student they passed but she ignored the attention, focusing solely on her husband. She was well aware of the price she’d pay to be Harry Potter’s wife and she was happy to pay it. The Daily Prophet had made it abundantly clear that Fudge and his supporters did not consider her off-limits and she doubted the students who disliked or even outright hated Harry would either. 

“Well, you’ve dealt with basilisks, dementors, and dragons. What’s left? Hags? Banshees? Maybe an enchanting succubus?” 

“I thought I was married to one.”

“You know, darling, most men don’t consider their wives a hag until at least a decade into marriage,” Susan teased with a smile. 

“What about an enchanting succubus? When is a husband allowed to think of his wife as one?”

“Between the two of us, you’re the enchanting succubus, mister,” Susan whispered. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, nibbling his skin playfully. “I’m the one who has to tap out before you’ve even broken a sweat.”

“Potter! Bones!” Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice cut across the din of the crowd in the Atrium and stopped the couple dead in their tracks. 

“Do you think she overheard us?” Susan paled at the prospect of their stern professor getting a glimpse into their private life. The freckles on her round cheeks stood out starkly against her white skin. She slowly turned to locate the older woman, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that her professor was near the staircase and couldn’t have overheard them.

“Let’s hope not. I don’t fancy the lecture we’ll get.” He tightened his hold on her hand and led her through the crowd. They paused in front of Professor McGonagall, both sporting nervous smiles. 

“Good evening, professor,” Susan chimed. She steeled her nerves, determined not to squirm under the woman’s stern gaze. Loving her husband wasn’t a crime and if he was good enough in bed to blow her back out, well, as far as she knew that wasn’t a crime either. 

“Good evening, professor,” Harry parroted. He was used to being in trouble with his Head of House and wasn’t affected as much as Susan was by her severe expression. 

“I see married life suits you, Potter,” McGonagall said. 

Harry blushed but tightened his grasp on Susan’s hand, refusing to let her pull away. He knew Professor McGonagall well enough to know that the small smile on her face meant that she approved. 

“Doing chores for my wife is infinitely more rewarding than doing them for the Dursleys, professor.”

“I can see that,” McGonagall said tartly. She glanced at their enjoined hands and this time Susan pulled her hand free with a determined yank. 

“Sorry, professor,” she mumbled after shooting a discreet glare in her husband’s direction. 

Professor McGonagall looked around to make sure no one was paying any attention to them before she leaned in and placed Susan’s hand back in Harry’s. 

“I approve, Bones. I was among the first people your aunt told of your marriage. I can’t think of a better person to keep Potter out of trouble than you.”

“I don’t go around looking for trouble, professor,” Harry grumbled under his breath. “It usually finds me.” 

“That may have been the case in the past but I must impress upon you how important it is that you-”

“Keep my head down and avoid unnecessary attention this year. I know how important it is, professor.” It took every ounce of Harry’s self-control not to roll his eyes. Everyone from Sirius to Madame Bones had told him the same thing.

“I don’t think you do, Potter. There is someone here who will make it their life’s mission to make your existence a living hell. It would be best if you did not give them any opportunity to do so.”

“Snape?” Harry frowned. That was nothing new. His greasy-haired Potions Professor had transformed from thinly veiled dislike to open hatred ever since his marriage.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. “Professor Snape has never held and never will feel as much animosity towards you as this woman does. Do not venture out into the castle or the grounds after hours. Do not get caught. Do not do anything that will earn you detention. Do you understand?”

He did, but he didn’t like it. If she wanted him to stay cooped up in Gryffindor Tower after classes, how exactly was he supposed to spend time with Susan?

“Potter, promise me.” She paused and took a deep breath, almost as if she was mentally preparing herself for what she had to say. “No dalliances in broom closets. No midnight trips to the Astronomy Tower. You will do nothing that gives our esteemed-” she said the word with such venom that nobody could mistake it for anything other than an insult “-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor a chance to complain.”

“He won’t, professor. He promises,” Susan said before Harry could speak.

“But-”

“One last thing.” Professor McGonagall cut Harry off before he could protest. “Here are the keys to an empty apartment on the third floor. The door is concealed behind the portrait of Sir Cadogan.” She passed both of them a golden key. “The apartment is empty and no teacher is currently in need of it.”

“It’s ours?” Susan asked, staring at the key in her palm with wide eyes.

“Indeed. Now will you promise to keep after-hour shenanigans to a minimum Potter?” McGonagall asked with a small smile.

“Absolutely.” Harry pocketed the key and grinned. 

“Very well. Why don’t you go inside? I must tend to the First Years.”

“Yes, professor.” Harry turned and kissed Susan’s cheek. “I’ll wait for you here and we can go up to our new apartment together after the feast.”

Susan nodded. She carefully placed her key in her satchel before pulling away from Harry. 

Professor McGonagall looked at them strangely. “You won’t be eating together?”

“I thought we were supposed to sit at our House tables for the Welcome Feast, professor,” Harry said with a frown. 

“While that is customary, there is no rule that mandates it. I’m sure everyone will understand if you choose to sit together, either on the Gryffindor or Hufflepuff tables.”

Harry’s frown deepened but he stayed silent. 

“Thank you, professor,” Susan murmured and pulled Harry through the open doors and into the loud and noisy Great Hall. The tables were already packed, full of chattering and hungry students eagerly awaiting the start of the feast. 

Harry glanced at Daphne as they passed the Slytherin table. She was seated at the far end of the table, keeping as much distance between herself and Draco as possible. He felt an irrational pang of jealousy as he watched Blaise Zabini lean in to whisper something in her ear. 

“Why do you think she lied?” Harry asked without taking his eyes off Daphne. He let Susan lead him to a spot in the middle of Gryffindor’s table, some distance away from where Fred and George were entertaining Angelina with a new variation of their Ton-Tongue Toffee. 

“She’s a complicated woman, Harry. Did you know she offered to help me poison you because she thought you were abusing me? We weren’t even friends before that day. She just walked up to me and gave me the address of an unlicensed place that’d sell me undetectable sleeping draught.” Susan sat down next to Harry and patted his thigh. “She’s like an onion. You peel back one layer only to discover there’s something even more surprising underneath. For example, did you ever expect the Ice Queen to flirt with you?”

“She didn’t flirt with me!” Harry spluttered, his face red.

“Oh, must be my bad. I’m sure girls regularly talk about their nipples with you, darling,” Susan teased. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “But I’ll leave that be for now,” she murmured, spotting Ron and Hermione enter the Great Hall from the corner of her eye. “Your best friend will blow a gasket if he thinks a ‘filthy snake’ has a crush on you. He can barely stomach our displays of affection or Hermione liking you.”

“She doesn’t have a crush on me,” Harry mumbled. He completely missed her insinuation about Hermione. He had turned to greet his best friends, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of a familiar and very horrible pink sweater.

“What is she doing here?” Harry asked in a horrified whisper.

“She’s our new Defense Against the Darks Arts professor,” Hermione muttered. She flopped onto the bench next to Ron with a quiet groan and elbowed him to force him to make space for her. “And in our OWL year too! From what you’ve told me about her, she’ll be more interested in getting revenge than teaching us anything.”

“Auntie and you did humiliate her at the hearing,” Susan muttered. She worried her lip as she studied the portly woman seated at the teacher’s table. The combination of her insincere, simpering smile and cold eyes set her on edge. There was something dangerous lurking underneath that façade of a harmless middle-aged woman and Susan was beginning to understand why everyone was warning them to keep their heads down. 

“It was her fault for prosecuting such an idiotic case in the first place,” Hermione whispered harshly. “Nobody sane would have touched it. I mean, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement defended you herself!”

“I don’t think Susan is saying we did something wrong. She’s just pointing out that this is personal for her. When Fudge was looking for a spy to place in Hogwarts she probably jumped at the chance and volunteered herself.”

“Yep.” Susan nodded, agreeing with Harry’s words. “It also explains why Professor McGonagall gave us our own apartment. She’ll probably try to expel you if she catches us so much as snogging in a broom closet.”

“You got a private apartment?” Ron choked.

Harry gave his best friend a strange look. “Married couples usually live together, mate. Even if that wasn’t possible for me and Susan it isn’t unreasonable for us to want to spend most of our time together. How do you think we’ll do that if we have to stay locked up in our Common Rooms after classes?” 

“Still,” Ron grumbled as he poked an empty plate with a fork. “An entire apartment while we slum it out in a dormitory.” 

“I don’t recall Harry or me giving you grief for the special privileges you got as Prefect, Ronald,” Susan said sharply, her temper flaring. It had been a long, tiring day. Her nerves were already frayed. Nothing got the normally docile Hufflepuff madder than people mistreating those she cared about. “Did we ever complain about having to share a shower with four other people while you get a private bathroom with a bath the size of a swimming pool? Harry and I have every intention of letting our friends use the apartment. I don’t recall you ever offering to share the password to let us access the Prefect’s Bathroom.” 

“You’re not a prefect,” Ron mumbled. He preemptively pulled empty bowls and dishes towards himself and focused his attention on the plate in front of him.

“We missed the sorting. Dumbledore is getting up to speak,” Harry said hastily, stopping the conversation before it turned into a full-blown argument. He placed a hand on Susan’s thigh and shook his head. If there was one thing he had learned after four years of living with Ron it was that arguing with him was futile.

“Welcome!” Dumbledore’s magically augmented voice thundered around the cavernous hall. “Welcome to old faces and new. Welcome to Hogwarts, where another year of magical adventures and learning awaits you.”

He paused and peered around the room. Despite his wizened face and snow-white beard, his electric blue eyes remained as sharp as ever. 

“These are dark, trying times. We lost one of our own last year. Cedric was an exemplary student, the perfect son and friend. We shall remember him fondly but we must not give into despair.”

Harry suddenly wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. It had taken him the entire summer to come to terms with Cedric’s death and Dumbledore was opening up old wounds. It was worse because half the student body turned to stare at him, half with pity, the other half with fear or hatred. 

“We must-”

“Hem, hem.”

“We must-”

“Hem, hem.”

More than one teacher turned to look at the toad-like woman in a pink sweat with murderous intent.

Dumbledore, courteous to a fault, turned and bowed. “Is there something you would like to say, Professor Umbridge?”

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Umbridge simpered. She pushed her chair away from the table and made her way to the dais, elbowing the older Headmaster out of the way. 

Dumbledore calmly took his seat again and steepled his fingers under his chin, watching Umbridge with an inscrutable expression.

“Welcome, students,” she said with an insincere smile. 

She received a smattering of applause, most of which was concentrated on the Slytherin table. Harry, Susan, Hermione, the Twins, and more than half the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables stared at her in stony and pointed silence.

“I thank the Headmaster for his words but I must add that the crisis has passed! Although some disturbed individuals may claim that danger still exists-” she glanced at Harry for a brief second and gave him a look of pure hatred “-I must tell you that the Minister personally apprehended the perpetrator, Bartholomew Crouch Junior.”

“Personally?!” Hermione choked.

“Liarrrrr!” Fred hollered. 

“Can you see daylight when you’re so far up his ass?” George added and everyone who heard him erupted into laughter. 

Umbridge’s expression darkened but she continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard the Twins. 

“He was given swift and appropriate punishment. I personally visited Azkaban and reviewed the protocols to make sure nothing of that sort happens again.”

“She visited-” Susan’s eyes widened.

“Susie?”

Susan shook her head. “Not here. Later.”

Harry turned his attention back towards Umbridge. She was still speaking.

“-There is still a danger that lurks in these halls, one that has given the Minister many sleepless nights!” She paused for dramatic effect and took a deep breath. “It is the danger of declining academic performance! It is the danger of inappropriate knowledge! It is the danger of improper schooling!” She paused and smiled sweetly. “To that end, the Minister has appointed me as High Inquisitor. I shall audit and attempt to improve upon the curriculum of this school and make changes where necessary.”

“Who do you think murks her first?” Fred asked.

“My money’s on McGonagall. I’ve never seen the old bird look at someone with such loathing,” George said, carelessly flicking a toffee at Ron.

“Nah. Professor Sinistra is younger and there’s an Astronomy class in our schedule tomorrow. I bet she tries to audit her class and gets chucked from the Astronomy Tower,” Angelina said.

“One can only hope,” Harry muttered, staring dubiously at the despicable woman. He had a feeling she wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

Umbridge cleared her throat with a delicate cough and continued. “There is also the matter of the declining moral standards and the moral turpitude of certain students.”

She turned and stared at Harry who shamelessly leaned over and kissed Susan’s cheek. 

“They are engaging in acts absolutely unbecoming of this institution. Educational Decrees will be formulated to correct this. In addition, there will be regular bag and uniform checks by me or members of my Inquisitorial Squad. Applications to join the squad must be submitted to my office by Friday.” She looked around the room with a benign smile, completely unaffected by the sheer dislike etched on the faces of most of the students in the hall. “Thank you.”

With that she stepped down and primly walked over to her seat. She sat down and gave her fellow teachers a smile that was not returned.

“Well,” Dumbledore said without rising from his chair. “It seems change is in the air. We look forward to seeing what you will do, High Inquisitor. For now, let us eat!”

Dumbledore clapped his hands and food appeared in all the dishes and bowls. Ron loaded his plate and dug into it without a single thought. Harry, Susan, and Hermione were much more reserved.

“She’s going to throw you two in detention for holding hands in public,” Hermione muttered. She cast a dubious glance at Harry and Susan’s enjoined hands and sighed. “I guess we now know why Professor McGonagall made the unprecedented decision to give you two an apartment. You can’t be caught Harry, especially if it’s after hours.”

“I know.” Harry watched Susan prepare a plate for him, then one for herself. He wasn’t too concerned about himself, he had suffered too much at the hands of Snape to be afraid of any potential consequences. Besides, she had tried getting him expelled once. That hadn’t turned out well for her and he doubted she was in a hurry to try it again. Susan was different. She’d never gotten detention and he wasn’t about to be the reason for her first one. “Trust me, I know. I’ll behave myself outside our apartment.”

“And you cannot antagonize her. She’s going to pick on in class but you cannot react.”

“I already have a Snape in my life, Hermione,” Harry said with a humorless chuckle. “What’s one more?” 

“That’s a worry for tomorrow.” Susan pushed the plate full of food towards Harry and stared at him until he relented and started eating. “She’s a problem for tomorrow. For now, eat. You’ll need your energy if you’re going to help me set up our apartment.”

“Set it up?”

“It may be an apartment in Hogwarts but it’ll still be our first proper home, Harry Potter,” Susan said haughtily although there was a twinkle in her eye. “If you think I’m going to let it be as shabby as your dorm room you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Our dorm is only shabby because of Ron and Seamus!”

“Wha I dho?” Ron mumbled through a mouthful of food. He shut up and began chewing again when Hermione shot him a disgusted look and elbowed his side.

“I’m just a mule for you, aren’t I?” Harry teased.

“Well, if I want a good night’s sleep… actually scratch that, I sleep better when you-” Susan paused and blushed at Hermione’s discreet cough. “I have Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow and I can’t be sore. So I need to divert your energy elsewhere.”

“Yes ma’am.” Harry’s free hand disappeared under the table and found hers. He intertwined their fingers together, determined to show his appreciation for her even if he had to be discreet about it. 

The rest of the meal passed in silence. The group concentrated on their meal, their minds preoccupied with the tasks that lay ahead. 

Ron grumbled and protested when Hermione pulled him up halfway through dessert, only to relent at Hermione’s glare.

“You’re a Prefect, Ronald,” she hissed, fixing his tie for him. “Take your duties seriously!”

“Need to herd the first years?” Susan asked, watching Ernie and Hannah do the same with the ones who had been sorted into Hufflepuff.

“Yep! We’ll catch up with you two later?”

“We’d love to host you at our new place,” Susan replied. “Tomorrow.”

Hermione nodded understandingly and made her way to the head of the table. Ron followed her, glancing longingly at the various desserts that remained on the table. 

“You know, we don’t need to come down here if we don’t feel like it,” Susan murmured. She cut a perfect piece of treacle tart and pushed it onto Harry’s plate. “I can cook for us in our apartment.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Is my cooking that bad?” 

“Don’t tell Dobby or the other house elves this but I think I prefer your food to this.” Harry gestured at the spread in front of them. “I just don’t want you to feel stuck taking care of me all the time.”

“I won’t be stuck doing anything. I’d be doing something I’ve wanted to do since I was nine.”

“Since you were nine?”

“Yep. Guess I never got around to telling you that story. My biggest dream was to put on a pretty white dress and be a wife, much to my aunt’s disappointment. I realized dreams come true the day I got to marry you.”

Harry leaned in for a kiss, only for Susan to gently push him away. 

“She’s watching. Let’s not start the year with detention.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

“You mean you’re not hungry for food anymore,” Susan murmured. She was extremely familiar with the darkness clouding his emerald eyes. It caused a knot to tighten in her belly. Her body reacted before her mind, knowing world-shattering pleasure awaited her. Her nipples pebbled and pushed through her lacy bra. Her core throbbed and arousal coated her pink folds. She squeaked and pressed her thighs together to stop the hand on her thigh from going any deeper. 

“Maybe.”

His low growl did something to her. It wasn’t fair for one man to be this arousing and this perfect in bed. Maybe she needed to stock up on stamina potions because when it came to making love to Harry, her mind refused to accept the limitations of her poor body. 

“Come on,” she murmured, pulling him to his feet before she lost control and began humping him like a cat in heat. “Let’s check out our new apartment.”

They exited the Great Hall together. Harry studiously avoided looking at Umbridge, trying to keep the promise he had made to Sirius and Madame Bones and stay low. He tried searching the Slytherin table for Daphne, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

“Do you think Professor McGonagall will get in trouble when Umbridge finds out what she’s done?” Harry asked. They hopped onto a staircase and let it carry them onto the third floor. Harry waited until it halted against the stone floor with a quiet THUD before helping Susan off it. They turned right and walked down the carpeted hallway until they reached the portrait of the eccentric knight.

“I doubt it. Her powers as Deputy Headmistress come from the Board of Governors. I’m pretty sure she made sure she could do this without getting herself or us in trouble. Fudge can’t do anything about the Board of Governors and he doesn’t have the votes to remove them. The most he can do is install her as a teacher and give her that silly puffed-up title.”

“Who are you calling silly and puffed up?!” Sir Cadogan screeched.

“None of your business. Just swing forward so we can get to our apartment?”

“I challenge you to a duel young man!”

“Please spare my husband, brave knight,” Susan said. She pushed out her lip and made it tremble. “I’m too young to be a widow.”

Cadogan puffed out his chest and appeared suitably pleased. “Very well, young maiden. I shall show mercy. But teach the young scoundrel some manners!”

The knight huffed and made his portrait swing on its hinges, revealing the door it concealed.

Harry fished the key out of his pocket. He unlocked the door and pushed it open but did not step through the doorway, nor did he allow Susan to enter the apartment.

Harry bent and swept Susan off her feet without warning, carrying her bridal style in his arms.

Susan shrieked loudly. Her eyes widened and her arms instinctively wrapped around Harry’s neck.

“What’re you doing?” she asked breathlessly. Every day was a new adventure with her silly, adorable, brave Gryffindor husband. 

“It’s tradition, isn’t it?” Harry asked as he stepped over the threshold. 

“Well, if we’re sticking to tradition I need to be wearing something white,” Susan reminded him with a giggle.

“You’re wearing your uniform blouse.”

“That doesn’t count. I need to be in white from head to toe!”

“Do you have a white dress?” Harry asked, carrying her deeper into the dark apartment.

Susan thought back to the costume Daphne had encouraged her to buy and grinned. They had time to squeeze in a round or two before they got around to decorating their new apartment. 

“I may have something,” Susan whispered with a sly grin. “Every enchanting succubus needs someone to corrupt, don’t they?”

Notes:

Continuing my trend of revitalizing all my stories and getting them on a regular upload schedule, we have today a new chapter of A Fortuitous Arrangement! This story primarily focuses on Harry and Susan for now, but Hermione and Daphne will soon join the fun! Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are already out, and you can read them right away! If you would like to stay updated on what I'm working on or you'd like to talk to me, please use the Invite Link in my pinned post to join my Discord Server!