| INTIMACY | - HPxTMR

Chapter 12 [Consorts]

28th September 1997- Sunday

One week later, Harry was once again sat on his window seat, observing as the clouds drifted by in the greying sky, dulling his once bright garden with a dreary shroud. It was beginning to grow colder outside, now that summer had come to a close and Autumn had begun, signing that he was nowadays less inclined to accept invites for outdoor tea or to socialise at all, leaving him more bored than usual.

As he had his rank elevated recently, in such a short amount of time compared to others, showing that he had the Emperor's interest, the others were less likely to retaliate to his refusals. That is, if they were of a lower rank than him, but as of yet, only one of the higher ranking concubines, Regulus, had invited him for tea. It was slow progress to the next title than he would have liked, but much faster than he had actually expected. Still, he wasn't powerful enough yet. Still, days, when he wasn't included due to his rank, were more common than he would like.

"Is the gift ready to be sent, Anya?"

Anya, who had been preoccupied with fluffing up the pillows on the setee, turned towards him with a shallow bow, a pillow still in her hands. "Yes, Master. It's wrapped as you ordered. Shall I head to the celebration to deliver it now?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, It's best if you drop it off early before the First Prince arrives. I can't be accused of attempting to curry favour with him, then." As if he'd actually try something like that with a seven-year-old. He was much more inclined to get the elder siblings, who were older or around his age, to like him first. Hopefully, the rest of the royal children would follow suit after that. If they didn't, well, it was his majesty's favour that mattered the most anyway.

"I will go promptly, and leave you in the other's care."

Today was the First Prince's 7th birthday, a big deal in the Wizarding world, and for the Empire as a whole. A child's 7th birthday is synonymous with the sudden exponential growth of their magic, whilst their 11th is the stabilisation of that influx of magic. Therefore, it being the Prince's day of magical growth meant it was to be even more celebrated than the usual birthday.

However, Harry, nor those below the rank of Concubine, were invited to his birthday celebration. His mother, the late Noble Consort Evangeline, wished for him to be as far away from his father's harem as possible, and therefore stated that those who weren't legally married to the Emperor couldn't approach him, as he was a Prince. As the vast majority of harem inhabitants were usually in the lower ranks, eighteen out of twenty-five in his Majesties, this kept her only son and the probable heir to the throne safe from most machinations.

Instead, Harry had decided to send along a present to the young Prince, even though it had a high probability of being thrown away by those more suspicious of his escorts.

Harry sighed, turning away from the window to collapse on one of the armchairs instead, picking a book off of the shelf at random to begin reading.

'The Basics to Healing Magic'

Life was so boring nowadays.

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30th September 1997- Tuesday

After lunch on Tuesday, with no prior engagements, Harry decided to take a short walk, if only to alleviate the boredom he was feeling from his monotone routine.

Wake up. Have breakfast. Get ready. Attend the meeting. Possibly have tea. Lunch. Reading. Dinner. Sleep. Repeat.

The weather was perfect for a short stroll, although a little cold, and Anya had assured him that he'd have a hot bath awaiting him on his return to the Palace. Therefore, he was in quite a content mood, happy to close his eyes and hum softly as he walked through the streets. The Court was still rather quiet, the lack of children meaning that quite a few of their maids and Eunuchs were off until they came back (excluding their primary maids, of course, who were either with them at Hogwarts, or taking care of their rooms until they arrived back for Christmas).