The Protagonist System

85 The Greengrass Is Always Greener

I waited for the spinning to stop before I stepped out of the grand fireplace into the Greengrass Estate. Before me were four people, my classmate Daphne, her father, her mother, and my betrothed, Astoria.

“IEEE! You're GORGEOUS!” Astoria shrieked and lunged at me.

As if I had practised it hundreds of times, I easily sidestepped and avoided her attack, carefully grabbed her arm and swirled her around in the other direction, and pointed her right at Daphne.

“AHH!” Daphne yelled as her little sister plowed right into her at full speed and the two of them tumbled and fell onto the floor in a heap of tangled arms and legs.

The father looked shocked beyond belief as he stared at his daughters and they started fighting and trying to get away from each other on the floor, messing themselves and their fancy clothing up. The mother on the other hand, giggled like a little girl at watching the same scene.

“Mister Greengrass, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance in person.” I said and held a hand out for him to shake.

Cyrus Greengrass didn't move his eyes from staring at his daughters on the floor as he shook my hand absently. “Same.” He said and let my hand go.

I had the distinct feeling he had a whole speech prepared for this first face-to-face meeting and had been completely distracted by his daughter's completely unexpected antics. I actually felt relief at avoiding the stuffiness.

“Mrs. Greengrass, I can clearly see where your daughters inherited their beauty from.” I complimented her and held my hand out to her.

Ivola Greengrass tore her amused gaze from her daughters and gave me a quick and thorough examination with just her eyes. She definitely liked what she saw. “It's a pleasure, Mister Potter.”

I kissed the back of her hand, which seemed to amuse her and made her blush. I remembered how sheltered Daphne was and wondered if she was the same, because if she was, then I could have a lot of fun trying to innocently flirt with her. I pushed that thought aside for now, though.

“Please, call me Harry. We're going to be family when I'm of age in 3 years.” I said and she let out another little giggle. I leaned in and whispered. “Is that laugh natural or do you practice it?”

Ivola looked even more amused now. “A little bit of both, Harry.” She whispered back.

“Charming.” I breathed and let her hand go and stepped back.

It was just in time, because Cyrus reached into the pile his daughters had made and plucked Astoria up from the floor, since she was the smaller one and easier to lift. He flicked his wand at her to clean her up and Ivola flicked her own wand to straighten up her very messed up robes.

It didn't help much after a scuffle like that and a house elf dressed in a cross between a maid's and a nurse's outfit popped in. The female elf snapped her fingers and little sprinkles of magic flowed over Astoria to put her back to rights and fixed her clothing and her messed up hair. Daphne finally stood up and glared at her little sister, so the elf gave her the same treatment.

“Hopsy?” I asked and she nodded, so I knelt on a knee to be closer to her height. “Nanny told me to tell you hello if you popped in.”

Hopsy looked surprised. “Youse bees Nanny's favorite?”

I nodded back. “That's what she claims, even though we all know she adores Amy.”

Hopsy laughed a high pitched laugh. “Course she doos! Amy bees the lady of the house!”

I chuckled and stood up. “That was my thinking, too.”

The four members of the Greengrass family stood there and watched us as if we were the most fascinating thing on the planet.

“I'm sorry for distracting you.” I said to the elf and also meant it for the Greengrasses. “When will supper be ready?”

“Youse don't bees worrying about that. Hopsy comes and gets youse when it's time. Teas and biscuits bees in the sitting room.” Hopsy said.

“Thank you, Hopsy.” I said and she smiled and popped away. I looked at the stunned faces of Cyrus and Daphne and then at the amused faces of Ivola and Astoria. “Shall we sit and talk for a while?”

“YES!” Astoria shouted as she darted forward and grabbed my hand before anyone else could. She led the way and pretty much dragged me behind her. I had a hard time not laughing at her taking charge like that, because she was a lot more forward than Daphne was.

Daphne and her parents followed us and we all settled in the large sitting room. Astoria claimed the small love seat and was snuggled up to my side as if she was a cat and I was a nice scratching post. The blank look on her father's face and the amused look on her mother's, let me know exactly what they thought about their youngest daughter being so bold with someone she just met for the first time in person.

“I hope you liked the present I left for you.” I said to no one in particular, just to see the reactions I would get.

Daphne blushed and nodded, so the diamond bracelet was well received. Ivola also blushed and nodded as she gave me a pointed look, so she might think an emerald necklace might have been a bit too much. Cyrus looked quite happy, probably because I had given him the first quarter of the bride price, with another quarter to be given each Yule until I was 17 and the balance was due.

Astoria looked excited about her gift of a new wardrobe that I would pay for. We would be shopping for it and she would be allowed out of the house to do it, which made her extremely happy. I wouldn't be telling her parents that it wasn't the clothing that was the gift, it was the excuse. The gift was getting Astoria out of the house to have fun.

“We're leaving first thing in the morning, right after breakfast.” Astoria proclaimed.

“You don't think that's too early?” I asked her and made up a cup of tea for her.

Astoria and her mother let out matching giggles.

“She would have dragged us out to get started on it already, if you hadn't promised to come along and make a whole day out of it.” Daphne informed me and made her own cup.

“I'm a calming influence?” I asked and all three females shook their heads.

“You're the excuse to not tear through all the shops immediately.” Ivola said and both Daphne and Astoria nodded.

I chuckled and handed Astoria her tea before tending to my own. “I'll be sure to let the shop clerks know of your restraint on my behalf.”

The three of them let out soft laughs and then we all enjoyed the tea and a few biscuits. After a short time, we all sat back and relaxed.

“How do you like school so far?” Ivola asked me.

“It depends on if you want me to be honest or maintain the school's reputation of being the best.” I responded. Both hers and her husband's eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Honesty, please.” Ivola said after a moment of contemplation.

“Half of the classes are garbage and have horrible teachers.” I said and all four of them gasped. “Potions class is laughable and Snape can't teach. I've done a better job than him teaching the others in class and I'm only a first year student.” I lightly chuckled. “Mind you, I've had years of brewing experience because of my adventures.”

This shocked the adults and Astoria let out a sigh as she stared at me with adoration. Daphne had a blank expression on her face and seemed to be fighting to not speak.

“Defense Against the Dark Arts is taught by a drunk that Bumblemore probably pulled out of Knocturn Alley after a night of debauchery.” I said and they gasped. “History of Magic should be filled with the antics of wizards across time and the ghost of the most boring professor only talks about goblin rebellions. He doesn't know the names of any of the students or what year it is.”

The four Greengrasses stared at me and didn't speak.

“I've heard Divination is taught by a drunk as well. I've also heard that Muggle Studies is taught by a pure blood witch that's never been outside Hogsmeade and the book is almost a hundred years out of date. There's practically nothing she could teach other witches or wizards about what the muggle world is really like.” I finished and they continued to stare at me. “But, that's just my personal opinion.”

“That... you...” Cyrus mumbled.

“But that's neither here nor there, since there's nothing I can really do about it.” I partially lied. I didn't want to tell them that I could easily remove them and force the school to hire replacements. The problem would be that the replacements would probably be a whole lot worse. The current DaDa professor being the proof of that.

“If the people knew what you really thought about the school...” Ivola whispered.

I held up my hand to stop that line of thinking. “I don't have a bad opinion of the school. Hogwarts as a whole is great. Transfiguration is top notch with Madam McGonagall, Charms is fun with Professor Flitwick, Herbology with Professor Sprout is fun with how much she enjoys her work, and Professor Kettleburn is as happy as ever to teach Care of Magical Creatures after some mysterious person appeared in his room and healed him of all his injuries.”

“When did that happen?!?” Daphne asked with a gasp.

I opened my mouth to say just before we left for the Yule break when I was giving out presents, then realized my mistake. I had just given away that I knew something that no one but the person doing the healing would know. As if they knew I messed up, probably because some guilt showed on my face, both of the adults squinted their eyes at me.

“Yes, Harry. Do tell us how you would know about what happened late at night in a professor's private rooms in the castle?” Ivola pointedly asked me.

I lowered my hand and sighed. “It's not what you think.”

“Is it because you are... that way... and that's why you're okay with marrying our sick daughter?” Cyrus asked. “To cover up your... peculiar... and illegal proclivities?”

I needed to nip that thinking in the bud right this moment, so I turned to Astoria. “I believe I owe you a particularly good snogging, my future wife.”

Astoria's face immediately lost the doubtful look and grabbed me by the neck to pull me into a sound kissing. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her one of my best kisses, usually reserved for a girl that had just given me a particularly spectacular blowjob or a great shag.

After a few seconds, Astoria moaned fairly loudly and her hands started to roam over me. I didn't stop her and she grew bolder and grabbed me in places that surely surprised both her parents and her sister. When her hands tried to open my pants to see my erection directly, I had to stop her and broke the kiss.

“We are in public, my dear.” I whispered to her and saw her disappointed face. “Do you have somewhere we could be alone?”

“FOLLOW ME!” Astoria yelled and jumped to her feet, grabbed my hand, and dragged me from the room. We quickly reached her room and she slammed the door after pulling me inside. “Lock it!”

I waved my hand at it and it clicked and then glowed blue for a second. “Done.”

Astoria beamed a smile at me. “Now show me what I made you do.”

I had to chuckle at her confidence and pulled off my outer robes before I motioned to my pants and cast a cushioning charm on the floor.

Astoria let out a giggle and knelt as her hands dug at my pants, opened them, and slid my boxers down just enough to show her what she had caused. “Oh, Harry.” She moaned and gave me a look of love and desire. “We can't... um... you know.”

I chuckled again and tucked myself away. “I read the contract and I know we can't do anything below the waist until 6 months before we marry.” I said and helped her stand. “That leaves us only a few options for playing, if you're up for it.”

Astoria pulled her fancy dress down to show me her budding chest. “I'm hoping I'll take after mum and not Daphne.”

I grinned and scooped her up into my arms in a princess carry. “My dear, I honestly don't care how big or small your beautiful breasts are. We have 3 years before we're allowed to consummate, so a lot can change in that time.”

Astoria hugged my neck as I carried her over to the bed. “But... Harry...”

“Yes, I have slept with other girls and I've made no secret of that.” I told her and she looked sad. “It's all right, my dear. I'm learning everything I can so that our wedding night will be one that you will remember for the rest of your life.”

Astoria's sad face changed to happy. “I love you, Harry!”

I laid her down on her bed. “I can't say that back yet, Astoria. We need to get to know each other in person before I can confess something so important to you.”

Astoria blushed and looked down at her bare chest and up at me.

“Ah, matching you would be appropriate, wouldn't it?” I asked her and she nodded several times. I pulled off my suit coat, vest, and shirt, making it as sensual as possible.

Astoria stared at me and her blush flowed down her neck as I revealed my rippling muscles. Her hands reached up and rubbed my abs and then my pectorals. I twitched one and then the other to make her giggle, then I laid down beside her and started to make out with her as I gently fondled her bare chest. She returned the gesture and her fingers tweaked and pinched one of my nipples, so I did the same to her.

“Mmmm.” Astoria softly moaned into my mouth and closed her eyes to lose herself to the snogging session. It seemed to go on forever and went by almost instantly, because Hopsy popped in and interrupted us.

“Suppers be ready in a few minutes and youse be cleaning up and dressing rights.” Hopsy said.

I broke the kiss and Astoria made a sad sound. “Thank you, Hopsy. We will be right out.”

Hopsy nodded, gave Astoria a happy smile and a nod of approval, and popped away.

Astoria giggled. “Well, at least there's someone else in this house besides me that approved of this.”

I laughed and climbed off of the bed. I quickly dressed and used a bit of magic to clean and straighten my clothing, then I helped Astoria to put her back to her pristine self.

“Harry.” Astoria said and put a hand on my chest. “Thank you.”

I knew what she was talking about, because I had treated her like she was normal and not like she was made of glass. “My dear, I am only just getting started. Our shopping trip tomorrow should give your family some clue that you're not some fragile thing that will break if handled normally.”

Astoria blushed and then smiled smugly. “You really wanted me to handle you today, didn't you?”

“I did and then my nanny advised me to keep my hands firmly above your waist.” I told her and she giggled. “Damn me and accepting proper behavior.”

Astoria laughed and took my hand to lead me to her bedroom door. I dispelled the spells I used and the door suddenly opened and Daphne and her mother fell into the room. I helped Ivola stand and Astoria helped Daphne. Both of them blushed from embarrassment at being caught. Astoria gave them searching looks.

“I didn't silence the room.” I said and Astoria's eyes widened slightly, then she giggled. “That's right. Unsupervised supervision. They could hear us and couldn't see us, so they know we kept to the contract clauses.”

Astoria nodded as she took my hand again and we left the room. Her mother and sister left right behind us. Supper was a quiet affair and I didn't mind. It was easier to eat and play footsie with Astoria sitting across from me. She was surprisingly good at it, despite not practising before. Was it instinct or her desire to tease me as much as possible before I had to leave?

When the meal was over and Cyrus gave a toast to the future, we all took a small sip of table wine. Before he or his wife could invite me back to the sitting room for another chat, Daphne spoke.

“Since we are leaving so early in the morning, why don't we invite Harry to stay with us for the night?” Daphne asked the room.

The look of surprise on her father's, mother's, and sister's faces was priceless.

“It's just a logical conclusion, isn't it? Why make him go home, sleep fitfully as he waits for the morning, then he has to get up extra early to rush here to be ready for us when we leave?” Daphne asked. “We could save so much time and trouble if he stayed here instead.”

Complete and utter silence answered her. However, Nanny had given me advice for that, too. Don't play hard to get if the option to stay the night was offered.

“Who am I to object to your sound logic, Daphne?” I said and saluted with the small wine glass. “I humbly accept your offer of hospitality for the night.”

Daphne beamed a smile at me, completely happy at my acceptance. I suspected that she was a little eager to ask me what Astoria and I did and had to get me alone for that. Of course, once she did get me alone in the guest room, I was going to offer to show her what we did. I wouldn't silence the room, either.

Unsupervised supervision was a great way for me to tease the other two females of the house and I was sure that Daphne would enjoy the experience even more than her sister did.