//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15:  Snuggled 
// Story: A Hogwarts Harmony 
// by computerneek 
//------------------------------//

Arienne’s visit to the infirmary went much like Hermione’s had over a month ago, even if it had started with Madam Pomfrey scanning and then awakening Arienne.  Madam Pomfrey had confirmed she had a concussion, and given her a potion that elicited a disgusted expression once she drank it.  She’d then informed her she had a few ‘lightly strained’ joints in her neck, and offered her a bottle of pills for the pain.  “Make sure you rest it often, try not to move your head either quickly or suddenly, and if the pain ever becomes acute, come straight here or send someone to get me, alright?  It could be indicative of a bigger problem.”
Arienne had nodded.  “Yes, Nurse Pomfrey.”
Madam Pomfrey’s lips had quirked in a wry smile at the clear recognition of her proper, medical title, but nodded and let them go.  Apparently, just like with Hermione’s back, the reason she hadn’t ‘detained’ Arienne to rest in the infirmary had been because the strain could take weeks or even months to fully heal- and as long as it did, it wouldn’t really be an issue.
Finally, they had left.  Once the door had closed behind them, Arienne had taken Harry’s hand in her own, and they had gone down to dinner.
Once they got there, Harry decided Hermione was right, and people had seen the…  altercation as proof that Arienne had his protection.  Everyone was staring at them like they’d grown extra heads.
Harry ignored them- and so did Arienne, though she seemed at least a little curious about it.
He let out a soft, mostly-silent sigh.  To date, the only words he and Arienne had ever exchanged had been when he’d asked for the orange juice just minutes after they’d first met- and in continuation of that tradition of silence, she hadn’t yet learned about the appearance of his protection.
She would later; they usually returned to the common room to do homework, read, or sometimes write letters before bed, then Arienne always waited for Harry to go to bed first.  However…  it was time he took advantage of her cheerful insistence upon holding hands whenever they were walking together to silently invite her into his Lord’s Quarters to use the common room there.
He was curious, he had to admit, if she would like it…  or even take that offer at all.  Still, though, the offer would be there.  And hopefully, she’d understand it as what he’d intend it as- a long-term open invitation to enter his Lord’s Quarters whenever she wanted.





Harry and Arienne were just about done with their meal when the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore walked in, and strode up to the staff table to clear his throat.  “If I could have your attention,” he called.
Silence gradually fell over the massive chamber.
“As I’m sure some of you are aware already, Ronald Weasley attacked Arienne Fox up in the Gryffindor common room earlier today, and was taken unconscious by… parties unknown.”
A loud bark of laughter was heard across the room.
Dumbledore sighed.  “Their identity does not matter, as they will be fully excused for it.  Ronald has been found to have been under the influence of some quite powerful dark magics, so knocking him out may well have saved Miss Fox’s life.
“This is also not Ronald’s fault, but that of whoever cast that magic.  We have removed that magic from him, and he will be sent home for the rest of this year to recover.  If anyone has any information…”
Harry and Arienne both heaved heavy, annoyed sighs and tuned out much of the rest of his announcement; he had finished the important part and moved on to the ‘fluff’.
Harry would have to agree with him; of course Ron was being controlled.  The Ron Hailey had met on the train would never have tried something quite that violent.  Even the Ron that Harry had met the next morning had been…  odd- like he’d been enchanted somehow.
Perhaps he had been.
But who…?
It didn’t matter, in the end.  As soon as the Headmaster finished his announcement, he, Arienne, and Hermione rose together and left, not interested in being staring targets for any longer than they had to be.
When they reached the corridor with the Fat Lady, Harry turned towards the door to his Lord’s Quarters- then paused; Arienne had stopped, and he didn’t want to go so far apart as to force her to let go of his hand.  He turned to look at her, then raised the hand holding hers in invitation.
A second later, he could tell she understood, as a wide smile slowly spread across her face, then she bounded forwards and hugged him.
Hermione chuckled and watched.
Harry led Arienne to his door, pushed it open…  and paused, even as Arienne stepped past him to look around.  He turned back to Hermione, glanced quickly up and down the corridor to make sure noone was there to see, then offered her his hand as well.
She chuckled again, then waved, and headed for the Fat Lady.
So Harry followed Arienne into his common room, closing the door behind him.
She seemed to be delighted by what she saw- and Harry enjoyed watching her run around the room, peering through doors as she explored.
Finally, she ran back and tossed herself down on the couch next to him, tucked herself into his side, and laid her head on his shoulder.
He chuckled, wrapped his arm around her, kissed her hair, and finally laid his head gently on the top of hers, positioning his Defense textbook so she could read it as well.





Somewhere around an hour later, Arienne rose to her feet and disappeared into one of the many bathrooms, presumably to do her business.  When she did, Harry let out a sigh and glanced up at the big clock over the central fireplace.  Yes…  it was getting late enough that it would be time for bed soon.
When Arienne returned, she stopped, standing about five feet away from Harry.
Harry looked up.  Was there something wrong?
It didn’t look like it.  She was holding a bottle of something- shampoo, he realized- and watching him expectantly.  Once she was sure she had his attention, she held the shampoo out towards him, then lifted it up to the side of her head, and finally moved one hand to gently grip the back of her own neck.
Harry smiled and chuckled softly.  Her meaning was clear; she wanted to use the risk of aggravating her neck injury as an excuse to have him help her wash her hair.  The mischievous glint in her eyes told him she didn’t want him to tell anyone.
But he was a boy.  Mischievous or not, a boy couldn’t help a girl shower.  It was just…  wrong.
Hailey wasn’t a boy, though.  So, Harry turned his head and, ignoring Arienne’s irritated huff, sneezed.  She then turned back to look at Arienne.
Arienne’s jaw dropped.  A second later, she grinned and began chuckling.  That quickly became giggles, then a full-on laugh.
Hailey laughed with her, although probably for a different reason; she wasn’t sure what Arienne thought was funny, but the girl’s reaction had definitely been.
A second later, Arienne practically danced forward to take her hand and pull her back towards the bathroom.
They had hardly gone four steps- Hailey went willingly- when Arienne glanced backwards…  then let out a brief gasp of pain and clasped her hands around her neck, dropping the shampoo.
Hailey winced, whipping her wand out and casting a quick diagnostic spell.  Yes…  in her excitement, Arienne had aggravated her neck injury; it was now bad enough to require hospitalization, by muggle medicine.
Fortunately, all it took was a quick spell and the whole injury was healed.  Did Madam Pomfrey not know that spell?
Arienne blinked a couple of times, rolled her head around, then turned to stare at Hailey.
She smiled, and pocketed her wand.
Her reward was a delighted bear hug and an even more enthusiastic pulling towards the bathroom, once the shampoo had been retrieved from the floor.
Hailey laughed along and followed her in.
What followed was…  far less stressful than Hailey had feared it would be.  It almost felt normal to be bathing with another girl, even though she’d never bathed with anyone before.  They both helped each other wash their hair and backs- and when they stepped out and dried off, they found their nightclothes waiting for them, alongside a couple of bathrobes.  Hailey also noticed what looked like a full uniform- probably Arienne’s- but they both completely ignored it, and went instead for their nightclothes- even though Arienne was apparently appalled by Hailey’s pajamas.  Once they dressed, but before Hailey had time to reach for her bathrobe, Arienne hugged her, then looked up with pleading eyes.
It wasn’t hard to figure out what Arienne wanted.
It also wasn’t hard to make her blush, by kissing the point of her nose as she returned the hug.  Unlike Harry, Hailey was only an inch taller than Arienne.
The next second, completely forgoing both bathrobes, she led the way back out of the bathroom and into her bedroom.
Her reward, once Arienne saw exactly where she was leading her, was a delighted hug and a kiss this time- right on the lips, since Hailey had turned her head at just the right time to make her miss her cheek.
They both drew a foot or so away, putting one hand to their lips.  Arienne was looking concerned, possibly worried- so Hailey grinned, and a second later, they were both giggling again as they clambered into bed.





The following morning, Harry awoke to find Arienne snuggled into his chest.
He let out a soft sigh and just lay there.  He was definitely going to be getting a proper nightgown at some point, preferably sooner than later; his pajamas were quite rough, and sometimes irritated Hailey’s more sensitive parts, but Arienne’s nightgown was quite the opposite.
Speaking of Arienne, his sigh seemed to awaken her, and she slowly, blearily looked up at him.
They looked at each other for a few seconds, before understanding finally dawned on Arienne’s face- and she let out a soft huff of breath as she hugged him.
But…  it was Saturday today, and Harry felt like giving Arienne what she was evidently asking for:  Hailey.
So he turned his head and sneezed.
Arienne giggled and redoubled her hug.





Everyone stared as Hailey and Arienne walked down to breakfast, and it wasn’t hard for Hailey to guess why.  Once they’d gotten dressed- that had been an adventure; Arienne had been unsurprised by her  cavernous trunk, but seemed to be alarmed by just how little she had in it.  Still, once they’d gotten dressed, Arienne had stepped behind her…  and braided her hair.
It was an unbelievably relaxing feeling.
And when she looked in the mirror, she loved how it looked.
So she’d been happy to help when Arienne had obviously wanted her to braid her hair for her.  Not that she’d been able to help, per se; she’d had no idea how to braid hair, so once Arienne had realized that, the girl had used her own hands to guide Hailey’s, with a somewhat rougher but still pretty result.
Finally, they headed for breakfast, hand-in-hand as usual.
“Morning, Harr-  er, Hailey, sorry,” Hermione greeted, glancing up as they approached.  She then blinked at Arienne.
Hailey chuckled.  “Good morning to you too, ‘Mione.”
“Where’ve you been?” Hermione asked- and Arienne giggled.
Hailey smiled.  “Sleeping,” she answered.
“...  Sleeping,” Hermione echoed.
“Sleeping,” she repeated.
Arienne giggled again.
“Of course you have,” Hermione sighed, as Hailey and Arienne sat down, with Hailey sandwiched between the two other girls.  “And I’ve been flying.”
Hailey rolled her eyes.  “I really have been sleeping.”
“So…  what happened to Harry?  I thought he was Arienne’s friend, not you.”
“As the house-elves would say,” Hailey began, unable to keep her amusement from entering her voice as she thought about what Blinky had told her about where Harry went when she transformed, “Harry is not being today.”
Arienne obviously thought it was as amusing as Hailey did, as she broke into uncontained giggling.
“Not being…?” Hermione muttered, staring at her, then sighed, evidently deciding she wasn’t going to get an explanation.  “So, what woke you today?”
“I sneezed.”
Arienne snorted, and her giggling got harder.
“...  Uh…  Whatever.”





Hailey had a lot of fun that day.  Arienne was a delight to be around- even more so than usual, actually.  That said, people seemed to like staring at her whenever she was out in public.  A few times, she double-checked to make sure she hadn’t forgotten something, like a shirt.
She hadn’t.  She was fully clothed, and in the proper sex of clothing.
So maybe they were staring at her because she was Hailey?  Because she’d made a name for herself at the beginning of the year as a hard case, then just vanished for the intervening month and change, only to emerge at the end of it playing and giggling with Arienne?
They spent a fair amount of the day composing a letter to Arienne’s mom- in a far more cooperative manner than Hailey had realized was possible without talking.  The girl obviously wanted to include her more than usual, even though it was to her mom, and not Hailey’s.
They were telling Vanessa- Queen Vanessa, Hailey was pretty sure- about her transformation…  and the ‘deplorably empty’ state of her trunk.  Arienne also openly complained about Hailey’s lack of suitable clothing to join her in ballet or karate- not that it had stopped them.  They’d simply moved the practice to one of the ballrooms in Hailey’s Lord’s Quarters, then at Arienne’s nonverbal begging, Hailey had joined her in her underwear.
Arienne had also insisted on taking Hailey’s measurements and writing them down in her letter, alongside a politely but insistently worded ‘request’ that she, and her mother, ‘assist’ Hailey in building out her wardrobe.
Which included not one but several nightgowns, judging by the words Arienne used.  She’d obviously noticed Hailey’s pajamas as well, and was determined to provide her with a ‘wardrobe fit for a Noblewoman’.
In the afternoon, they’d made a quick trip down to the Room of Requirement, and Arienne had retrieved her trunk and other belongings from it, moving them up to Hailey’s Lord’s Quarters…  and, after a moment of puppydog eyes that didn’t change Hailey’s decision, into Hailey’s room directly.
And when night fell, they showered and crawled into bed together again- this time with Hailey dressed in a nightgown that Arienne had lent her, because they were just about the same size.
She was right.  It was about a hundred times more comfortable.
Before they fell asleep, tightly bound in each other’s arms, Hailey had a moment to wonder exactly what they’d do if Arienne’s mother denied the request for protection permission.





The next morning, Sunday, Hailey and Arienne- Harry had sneezed again- were just getting out of bed when Hedwig arrived.  Hailey accepted the letter, trading it for some owl treats that Blinky brought for her, then read the address and turned to hand it to Arienne.
Arienne, however, was staring at the spot where Blinky had been for a single second, her expression a twisted combination of worry and fear and her nightgown bundled up in her hands.
Hailey stepped over, hugged her, kissed her forehead because she couldn’t reach the top of her head, and offered her the letter.
It took Arienne a minute to calm down and accept it.  Once she did, she slowly, shakily opened the letter and unfolded it to read.
Hailey spent the time changing clothes.
Her attention was drawn as she finished putting on her underwear, when Arienne suddenly broke out in giggles.
A second later, Arienne reached over to give Hailey the unfolded letter, still giggling as she turned to her own trunk.
It didn’t take Hailey long to see what she thought was funny.
Queen Vanessa was not just giving her permission for Harry to protect Arienne, she was demanding that Harry not just protect her but also arrange for her protection when he is unable.
There was a lot more to the letter, a good chunk of which told Arienne about the gaps in the letter Vanessa had received; her ‘tamper evident’ numbering scheme had worked, exactly as expected.  However, a good three quarters of her outbound letter had apparently gotten lost in transit, one sentence at a time.
Hailey was reminded of Arienne’s new letter, which she would probably be sending later today- in which she’d told Vanessa that Hailey felt like a second mother.
Then she grinned, and turned to Arienne.
“Princess Arienne Fox,” she began.
Arienne flinched and looked concernedly up at her, evidently unsettled by Hailey’s use of both her title and surname.
“You should know,” Hailey continued, “that for as long as I have a place to call home, so also shall you, and that what is of my House shall also be yours, for I do hereby accept you as my sister by Magic and welcome you and yours into my House, the Grand Royal and Most Ancient House of Potter, that you might succeed me should I fall.”  She bowed her head.  “So mote it be.”
She felt the magic in the air respond to the ritualistic phrase, and take hold.
It was done.
“Wh-What!?” Arienne began, alarmed.  She would have felt the magic also.
Hailey hugged her.  “Don’t worry,” she muttered softly- and when Arienne didn’t calm down, nor even relax into her hug like usual, she poured her magic directly into her own body, strengthening her bones and muscles.
Then she bent down and swept Arienne off her feet and into her arms, before sitting on the end of the bed and setting Arienne in her lap to hug her there.
“B-But!” Arienne gasped.  “But if- If that changes-!”
“That doesn’t change anything,” she told her.  “You’re still Arienne Fox, and your mother is still your guardian.  All I did was give you claim to the name of the House of Potter- and the powers and protections thereof.”  And name her heir to her line, but that was beside the point.
“Why?”
She chuckled.  “It means you’re not just welcome into my Lord’s Quarters here, you have a right to them now.  In the magical world, independent of your non-magical status.”  She chuckled.  “And of course, being a member of a Grand Royal House also entitles you to be called a Princess in the magical world.”
“But…  why?  Wouldn’t-?”
“A blanket welcome have worked?  For letting you in the door, sure, but not much else.  Seriously, it’s illegal to piss me off, and now that I’ve magically adopted you, it’s also illegal to hurt you.  I mean seriously- as far as magic is concerned, if I invoke the right steps, my word is law.  Worldwide.”
“...  What.”
She grinned.  “Still Princess of the United Kingdom, now Princess of Magic as well.”
“...  Huh.”  She paused, then looked at her.  “When-  When you said sister-!”
She grinned.  “I couldn’t exactly claim you as my daughter, could I?  Besides, adopting you as a descendent would have messed with your guardianship.”
“So…  just as a sister?”
She shrugged.  “Yup, as a sibling.  As a sibling with the right to inherit my titles, actually.”
She snorted.  “And when Mom gets even by adopting you?”
She shrugged.  “I might actually learn what it’s like to be a noble.”
There was a second of silence.
“C’mere, you,” Arienne began, and tackled Hailey, knocking her down on the mattress.





“Um…  Hailey?”
Hailey looked down at Arienne, who was tucked in under her arm.  It was fast approaching dinner time- but this would also be the first time Arienne had ever initiated a conversation.  “Mm?”
“Do you know…”  Arienne paused.  “Why you seem so…  motherly?”
Hailey had to think about that one.  Why was she motherly?  She knew she behaved differently as Hailey than as Harry- she felt differently, after all.  But why…  motherly, and not sisterly, or like any other girl?
She heaved a sigh.  “That’s…  a good question.  Maybe it’s because I’m part magic, and magic is…  well, quite old?”
Arienne snorted.  “I’m part Japanese,” she informed her, “but that doesn’t mean I know jujitsu.  Or that I’m any good at it- Mom had me learn taekwondo instead, and that’s Korean.”
She sighed.  “Yeah, but how else can you explain how I seem to just…  know everything there is to know about magic, even stuff I’ve never heard of before?”
She tilted her head.  “You…  know magic?” she asked.  “Can you teach me magical karate?”
Hailey blinked.  “Magical Karate…?” she muttered.  “I don’t think there is one…”  She paused.  “Though I suppose multicasting, chain-casting, and minicasting would all count as magical ‘martial arts’...  despite being high-level techniques.”
Arienne winced.  “So you can’t…?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I can teach you something,” she observed.  “I’m just…  not sure exactly how much of a something it’ll be, nor how effective I’ll be at teaching it.”  She scowled.  “And I’ll need to be Harry for classes, so it’ll have to be in the evenings.  Maybe even just the weekends, since I don’t turn back if I don’t get enough sleep.”
Arienne wrapped her arms around Hailey, as if to stop her from leaving.  “You know basically all magic, right?  That means you can disguise yourself effectively, right?”
There was a pause.
“...  Yes, I suppose I do,” Hailey agreed, “and I can.  I think.”  She paused.  “We…  might need to use the Room of Requirement a lot.”
She snorted.  “So we can use my invisibility cloak.  It’s large enough for a good three or four people.”