Waiting in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger was becoming a little annoyed.
Her best friend in the whole world, one Harry James Potter, was being even more mysterious about his date then she had been about hers (Viktor Krum, currently standing next to her) and it definitely didn't help that The-Boy-Who-Lived was running late; Professor McGonagall had already called for the Champions, and everybody else had been ushered into the Great Hall during which Hermione had seen that several girls seemed to be competing to be TriWitch Slut, but Harry and his date (or dates, she had heard him make that slip of the tongue several times but she wasn't sure if bringing two or more girls to the dance was allowed) had yet to arrive.
Did he even have a date? Ron had found it difficult to find one and in the end had accompanied one of Ginny's friends in third year, a nice (if decidedly eccentric) Ravenclaw girl by the name of Luna Dolphin Lovegood.
Eventually, Hermione spotted Harry walking down one of the spiral staircases.
On each arm was one of the Patil twins, whom she couldn't tell apart as they had gone with the "Double-Mint Twins" look.
In some very specific ways they must have been the most conservatively dressed female students in the room, for each wore a sari, the traditional garment of their homeland. It wasn't completely traditional for it had bright red piping along the edges, probably to prevent fraying.
From what she could and couldn't see the twins possessed flawless skin in a tone just darker than Hermione herself had ever dreamt of getting, along with well toned bodies that stopped just short of being muscled complete with perfectly flat stomachs, small nipples atop their nicely developing upper B cup breasts and it was clear the twins shaved for there was not a single hair below their necks.
The reason for Hermione knowing all of this was that apart from very small patches caused by folds in the fabric to preserve the wearer's modesty (given how the length and angle of the folds changed as the twins moved they were spell based ) the outfits were completely see-through; she could just make out the visual distortion of looking through something, rendering any question of conservatism of outfit a moot point; one would be more thoroughly clad in a string bikini. She guessed the piping also made it easier to find and handle the garments.
Other than the transparent sari the only thing the twins were wearing were red stiletto heels (they looked to be about 4 inches to Hermione's untrained eye) and rather elegant chokers.
The chokers were a simple design; a tube of gold ran around the throat with what Hermione recognized as the House Potter coat of arms mounted on a disc-shaped base on the front; Hermione couldn't tell what was keeping the things so high up the twins' necks.
The only other jewellery they were wearing was a set of rather subdued stud earrings matching that which Hermione had seen Parvati wearing every day, and a navel piercing that seemed to hold a brooch.
What hair the twins still had was immaculately groomed. Eyelashes had been lengthened and straightened, eyebrows had been plucked, thinned and trimmed, while the twins hair had probably received more attention then Hermione's own.
It was also the first time she'd noticed that the twins' wands were identical, just like their owners; their hair was done up into buns but instead of the usual chopsticks the girls had used their wands, all four of which were identical. She wondered where they had gotten such perfect copies of their wands made.
The twins wore very little make-up, just enough for you to know it was there and to enhance the girls natural beauty but without going overboard like the sluts and tarts effect such as Parkinson and Lavender had done. The most obvious was their lipstick, it matched their shoes and the piping on the sari's.
Individually the twins might outshine Fleur, and she was a Veela; together they were clearly the prettiest girls in the room, hands down.
Harry was far more restrained in his mode of dress but still likely to cause problems for he was wearing a black muggle tuxedo.
Whatever else happen tonight she knew this would be all over the cover of the Daily Prophet as the services of the Prophets' Photographer had been obtained as official Yule Ball Photographer and the Prophet's Social reporter, along with one from Teen Witch Weekly, had managed to acquire invites.
"Your friend, he is very lucky to have such beautiful concubines," Viktor mused with a thoughtful little nod. Was that a touch of envy in between the amusement on the Quidditch star's face?
"How do you know that and what does it mean?" Hermione immediately asked - she had a distinct feeling that this would be some of the most important information she would ever hear in her entire life.
"Those - those - vat is the vord? Chokers? Ja, those chokers, they are concubine vones, meaning that most likely they are his concubines or are perhaps merely playing at being so for the night, as for what it means you vill have to ask your friend, I do not know the vords to propely explain it to you - my English you see, it is not perfect as yet, plus the details of any such relationship are not automatically public."
Hermione gave Viktor a sharp side-on look; he responded with a slightly sheepish smile, then said something larynx-mangling in Bulgarian and shrugged helplessly.
"I vould advise that you keep your vand handy tonight, someone is likely to cause a scene and you might vant to silence them before it gets out of hand." he advised.
"Misses Patil and Patil," came the strident Dundee-accented voice of an outraged McGonagall, "You cannae be thinking of attending the Ball in those scandalous getups, and Mr. Potter I am terribly sorry but you cannae take both of these lassies to the Ball!"
"Professor, the twins are wearing outfits that cover them far more completely than many of their peers and nothing is showing that shouldn't, nor will it due to the way their outfits are charmed." Harry pointed out, in that sort of reasonable tone that can under the wrong circumstances in itself be annoying.
"Aye well," McGonagall started to admit, but Harry wasn't done.
"As to the matter of me having two companions, there are no rules prohibiting me from doing so, only one that says as a Triwizard Champion I must have a date to the Yule Ball. Furthermore, if I were to bring only one of the twins the other would have had to miss out and I am not prepared to allow that to come to pass." and as Harry said that his reasonable tone vanished as if it'd never been, replaced by the sort of glare that could've melted lead.
"Be it on your head then Mr. Potter," McGonagall conceded with a sigh; a moment later her anger faded away, replaced by an exasperated but oddly proud smile as she added in a sotto voice, "You've got stanes on yeh, laddie; see that they dinnae get you into too much trouble, aye? I'll hae yer guts fer garters if yeh cost Gryffindor the cup with any shenanigans, now."
"Fair enough." Harry said, all smiles.
As McGonagall sorted the Champions and their dates, instructing them to line up two by two (three at the point of Harry and the twins) Viktor guided Hermione to the back of the line, explaining that he wanted to see how people reacted to Harry and the twins and, further to the point, how said luminaries responded.
As they entered the Great Hall, Hermione could see that many people where stunned and amazed at Harry and the twins, the drooling/ogling from the guys she had expected but the several of the GIRLS were staring as well, it was like they were looking for something; whatever it was they soon found it and most of them stopped. Those that had looked and then stopped were primarily Purebloods and others from long magical lines while those that didn't stop fell more into the Muggleborn or -raised category. Those still seeking fugitive glances were about even.
As they walked past Malfoy on their way to top table she saw Parkinson slap him, Bulstrode punch him in the face and Greengrass cast a couple of spells at him; she also saw Luna Silence Ron and say something to him, no doubt telling him to keep quiet and not ruin the evening; Hermione was thankful that Ron could not cast the counter-curse silently and made a note to learn how to do so.
It might prove useful.
When they got to the high table Percy was most put out when he was asked to relocate elsewhere to make room for Harry's extra companion. Judging by the look on his face, Professor Snape was itching to say something nasty to Harry, but ever since Harry had been selected as the Fourth Champion he had been receiving offers to transfer from schools all over and that had led to the potions' master realizing he was standing on thin ice, not just with Headmaster Dumbledore but with the other two Headmasters and the British press.
At this point Viktor whispered to her that "The girls" and by this she knew he meant the twins "looked to be very much enjoying themselves vhat vith the vay they vhere smiling and preening and it" (here she guessed he meant the twins dresses and they way they came together with Harry) "vas probably their idea" as Harry looked "somevhat - how you say? Uncomfortable, ja?" well, Hermione guessed if she had brought two girls who where basically nude uncomfortable wouldn't even start to describe her state of mind.
When the dancing started Harry didn't do the silly thing and try to dance with girls at once; rather he took one out and danced with her then when the song ended he switched to the other.
Several boys who had not managed to find themselves dates tried to get the twin who Harry wasn't dancing with at the time to dance with them ,but where always refused, some more politely than others - then things started getting interesting, it was time for the Champions to switch partners; Hermione got to dance with Cedric while Viktor danced with Cho, Harry danced with Fleur and strangely Roger did not dance with one of the twins but rather one of the several girls who had not come with dates or whose dates were not that interested in dancing that had taken to hanging around where Harry changed in hopes of getting a dance with him.
The next dance was her with Roger, Fleur with Viktor, Harry with Cho and Cedric with one of the girls trying to get a dance with Harry, who at this had started increasing as people had noticed a pattern.
Finally it was her turn for a dance with Harry while Viktor was with one of the extras Harry had picked up, Fleur with Cedric and Cho with Roger, the weird bit being when Luna came over and danced with one of the twins.
Seizing her chance she asked "Harry, what's going on? You show up with the Patil twins and they're dressed like that, Viktor says something about them being your concubines and now the twins aren't dancing with any other boys but will dance with Luna?"
"Lets just say Viktor was right and everything else stems from that for now. Look, I could do with a bit of a break, but only after I've given Luna a whirl for helping out Parvati, so why don't you give Viktor one more dance then we'll grab some drinks and have a chat with Ron, I don't want to have to explain this more than once."
Explanations
During the next dance, which she shared with Viktor and Harry shared with Luna, Hermione told Viktor she she was feeling a bit worn out and wanted to take a break and could he be a darling and get them something to drink.
When she reached the area where Ron was sitting she saw that Harry and Luna had beaten her there. Just as she got into earshot she heard Harry tell Ron "Okay Ron, I'm about to lift the Silencing Spell, but if it looks like you're about to cause a scene it'll be going straight back up and I won't be taking it down until the Ball is over."
And Harry lifted the spell. Ron being Ron immediately started yelling or, Hermione would have called it yelling if Ron's voice had been raised, Harry had lifted the Silencing Spell allowing him to talk but had clearly set a limit on how loud he could get; whatever the reason for the controlled volume, Ron's rant ran to something about Harry getting all the girls and refusing to share them with him.
Hermione didn't like the sound of that one tiny little bit.
"I warned you that if you kicked up a row I'd silence you again," Harry helpfully pointed out as he restored the Silencing Spell.
At that point Viktor and the twins showed up with Butter Beers for everyone but Ron.
"Ok," said Harry, "Hermione, Viktor, I'm sure you want to know why Padma and Parvati are my concubines and why we didn't deign to tell anyone before the Ball. Well, there are three things that led to the twins' being my concubines, the first is that due to some Indian magic it is believed the twins must share a husband, the second is that the twins father wanted to see to the arrangements for the twins before he died, and as I get the feeling from your expressions you don't know, old man Patil (Just an observation, but Old Man Patil seems kind of disrepectful to the Twins, especially when referring to their late father. I would suggest Mr Patil would be more appropriate - Red) died two weeks after my fourteenth birthday."
"You're right," Hermione said, "I hadn't heard... I'm sorry." and that last was directed to the twins, who accepted it with sad little smiles and nods of acknowledgement.
"Anyway," Harry continued, "The third reason is that they aren't really attracted to each other and don't want to be lonely half the time, and therefore want me to have several other wives to help keep them occupied when they can't be with me, and they didn't think they could ask other girls to be my concubines, at least not with them taking that plunge first."
Throughout his little speech, Harry had been taking occasional sips from his bottle of Butter Beer.
"Now," he continued after a long drink from the bottle, "the reason why we didn't tell anyone anything before hand was that when the girls saw the dress robes requirement for this year they immediately figured out that it meant there would be a Dance or some other formal event over the course of the year. They then decided that it would be amusing if we waited until said event to revel our new status to everyone. As for the dresses, again the girls idea, they wanted to show the other girls at the Ball that I wasn't mistreating them along with teasing every boy in the room with what I got to enjoy. Now, any questions?" Another large pull at the bottle.
"Yes," Hermione asked, "why aren't the twins dancing with any boys other then you but Parvati danced with Luna?"
It was Viktor who responded, "Is fairly standard Clause in the Contract, vhen the girls are sold, that they are not to be vhored out, in most cases that means having sexual intercourse vith any man other than their new husband, unless the girls are being sold to a brothel."
"... sold?" Hermione pounced, not liking where this was going.
"If," one of the twins (Hermione was fairly certain it was Padma) cut in, "The girl is being purchased to ensure to continuation of a family line there may be a Clause allowing her to have female lovers both inside and outside her husband's other wives. Ours has one of these, it allows us to offer girls who are considering joining a taste of what will be expected of them."
"Contract, Clauses?" Hermione had to ask.
This time it was Luna that answered. "Concubinage in the magical world is a form of contract marriage, unlike normal Marriage Contracts and Betrothals, it is always based on a Magical Contract, like the one that forces Harry to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. There is a physical contract written on special parchment and signed in blood, this is called the Contract. Clauses, are as you would expect the various clauses of the Contract, they define things like the girl being sold, what sexual acts are allowed and the girl's right of refusal, and usually a clause that says who the girl may and may not have sexual intercourse with. Other potential Clauses include ones relating to children and divorce."
"... Right,"
"It is important to note that some Clauses may alter other Clauses. For example a Clause relating to children may deny the girl the right to refuse vaginal intercourse at the point of highest fertility in her cycle until a set number and/or gender of children are born. Furthermore," Luna continued, "It is not unknown for more traditional marriages to use Concubine type contracts to enforce certain things. If Harry where to enter into a Lineal Continuation Contract with Susan Bones because she is the last person in the Primary line of succession to House Bones it would have Clauses stating that all children Harry fathers on Susan are to bear the Bones name instead of the Potter one, and there will likely be a specified minimum number of male children."
By this point everyone had finished their Butter Beers and the current song was winding down.
"Ladies," Harry said to the twins as he stood up, "I don't think I going to be dancing with you much any more, so feel free to find someone else to dance with. Viktor, I think some of the horde over there wants to dance with you." and he angled a thumb at the crowd that had formed where he had been switching off between the twins.
"I think that you are right. Herm-own-ninny, you are free to find someone else to dance with," replied Viktor, surprising Hermione by managing to make it not sound patronizing.
"Luna, I don't think Ron needs to stay here any longer, could you see that he gets back to Gryffinor Tower in one piece? You can come back if you want to."
"Sure Harry, I think Ron's got a bad case of Nargle infection."
Knowing that she still had questions that needed answering Hermione stood up and extended her hand, "Padma?"
"Sure" was the response.
Once they where dancing (Hermione was leading) Padma said "Ok Hermione, I can tell you have more questions so fire away."
"Was I that obvious?"
"Yes, now shoot"
"Ok, several times people mentioned the girl being sold"
"Technical term, the way the Contract works is that the girl is goods that are transferred from one owner to another plus there's a ICW Human Right's panel to ensure that all Contracts don't violate the relevant international codes. But in darker times it was used to bind girls to men as sex slaves and it is rumored that in some remote areas that practice still continues.
"Plus in cases where the girl is being contracted specifically to bear a man an heir it is her services as a mother that are being brought" Padma concluded.
"Ok, how do you feel about your father deciding that you would become Harry's concubines?"
"Father didn't nor did Harry, the decision was ours and we merely informed father and Harry of it. Unlike a lot of other girls we don't view concubinage as something bad, our father had one and she is like a second mother two us."
"Your father had a concubine? What did your mother think of that?"
"Yes he did. And mother thinks it was rather romantic."
"What?"
"Hermione, our birth almost killed mother and the post-natal depression almost drove mother to suicide. Mother and father always wanted more then just us, plus at least one boy to carry one father's name. This showed how much her cared about both her, her feelings and her dreams. That way they could have those children and they are fathers' legitimate heirs and mother doesn't have to pretend that father's children by some mistress are hers. They are her children in heart if not in body."
"Ok, how about your father deciding it was Harry you would marry?"
"Again, not father, us. Father always knew we would share a husband and wanted us to choose who, that's why he left India. His impending death only moved the timetable for our marriage up.
"Look Hermione I can tell you want to know more. Parvati's got a couple of books on concubine's and their Contract's in her truck, just for you, we knew you would want to know more. And if you talk to Harry he can get you a copy of our Contract to read, ok?"
"Sure, thanks"
Gryffinor Common Room, later that night
Harry, Hermione and Parvati walked into the common room to see Ron furious and waiting up for them. All three of them sat down on a couch facing him and Harry lifted the Silencing Spell.
"Ron, care to tell us what the problem is?" asked Harry.
"Her" he said, "and you and them" was the surly redhead's response.
"By her I take it you mean Hermione? Care to expand upon that?" salvoed Harry in reply.
"She's dating Viktor. He's the enemy."
"The Enemy? Don't be stupid Ron" retaliated Hermione, "Weren't you the one who was so excited when he arrived? Weren't you trying to get his autograph?"
"I guess. I reckon he asked you one time in the library?"
"Yes, he did. He said he was coming in to the library to try and talk to me but had trouble working up the courage."
"So that's his story."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Clearly he's from Durmstrang, isn't he? He knows you hang around with Harry and is trying to get the inside track on him, information or"
"Viktor has done no such thing Ronald"
"Then he must be trying to get you to help him with the egg"
"I would never do something like that Ronald, how could you say that. I want Harry to win the Tournament. You know that don't you Harry?"
"Funny way of showing it then"
"The entire point of the Tournament is for us to meet foreign wizards and befriend them"
People who were still in the common room where starting to take notice.
"No it's not. It's about winning."
"Ron," Harry interrupted "I'm perfectly fine with Hermione attending the Ball with Viktor. If you have a problem with it maybe you should have ased Hermione to the Ball before he did."
"Now your calling him Viktor too, looking to replace me?"
"Maybe I am with the way your acting, but enough of this, what's your problem with Padma, Parvati and me?"
"I had to go to the Ball with Loony Luna while you took both of them, the least you could have done is let me"
At which point he was cut off by Harry casting Stinging Curse at him and a powerful one at that.
"Ron, that would be whoring them out, something I'm not allowed to do and wouldn't if I could, or appearing to. Further more insinuating that my bound concubines and wives are whores is grounds for an Honor Duel, potentially to the DEATH, for even suggesting it, so I don't want to hear any thing like that from you again, OK?
"AS FOR THE REST OF YOU, as I just told Ron, it is grounds for an Honor Duel to suggest that my bound concubines and wives are whores, so I don't want any one asking to "borrow" one of them and tell your friends. Now if anyone wants to know about the situation, come talk to Padma, Parvati or me.
"And with that I bid you good night." And he stormed up the stairs to the boys dorms.
"Harry wait up a moment" cried out Hermione
"What is it Hermione?" he said in a much calmer tone then before.
"Padma said to see you if I wanted a copy of your contract with her and her sister"
"Parvati" Harry said.
And with that Parvati walked over, raised her head up and presented her choker to Harry who tapped it with the tip of his wand. A piece of parchment appeared in his other hand and he said "Here you go Hermione" and resumed his journey up the stairs.
As Hermione was climbing into her own bed Parvati walked out of the Bathroom attached to their dorm wearing a teddy that while still quite provocative was covering her more then the outfit she had been wearing before and asked "Hermione, can I sleep with you tonight?"
"Ah, yeah sure Parvati" was the response, "but why?"
"Before school started Harry, Pad and I would sleep together every night and I grew to like it, I still can't sleep with Harry or Sis, but now that we are "out of the closet" so to speak I can sleep with you with any major complications" the Indian beauty reply as she slipped beneath the covers of Hermione's bed.
"You slept with him?" she glared angrily.
"Just slept Hermione, all three of us are still virgins" she returned as she snuggled in next to the brunette witch, "We have got to get you some nicer bed things Hermione"
"What's this? Are we all sleeping together tonight?" asked Lavender as she came out of the bathroom.
"Lav, my contract with Harry allows me to have female lovers outside of our marriage, are you sure you want those sorts of rumors started about you?" retorted Parvati as she tried to use Hermione's chest as a pillow.
"Uwww, no thank you" and with that she crawled into her own bed
"What was that about?" whispered Hermione
"Lav has a very traditional Pureblood upbringing, not one of those bigots like Malfoy but there are still certain things she was brought up to think are wrong, Homosexuality is one of them, but I think she protests a bit much"
Thanks to Tommy King, Jack Turnbull and Dark King for their beta'ing and doghead_thirteen for some much needed polish and all the folks at the Caer Azkaban and Seel'vor fan fiction Yahoo groups for all the help I can't keep track of