Chapter Three: Hello, Good Night

She turned her face to mine, sleep in the corners of her blue eyes and her hair matted down on one side, and despite it all, I couldn't help thinking she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Long, thin hands reached across me to flip off the light next to us, and I felt her distinctly female body crawl on top and over me.

I smiled rather gleefully, recalling the night before. It had been wonderful, and crazy, and all out frightening at a couple points, but it could have been worse so I wasn't complaining...

Except that my shoulder hurt like hell from falling, and I was bruised all over, and how was it fair that every time I found a girl worth sleeping with she did more sleeping than anything else?

Groaning, I scooted back in the bed to get more comfortable and she cradled her head against my shoulder. I moved my arm gently to hold her more protectively, suddenly glad that things had turned out the way they did, and honestly thrilled to see where they might lead over the next two days.

"Good night, Harry," she whispered, before yawning and closing her eyes. I watched her as she drifted off, and I ran one hand over her cheek, enjoying the soft skin touching my palm. The sunlight was still streaming through the windows, bright and irritating, but I didn't resist a delirious smile as I was so bone-tired that I couldn't even contemplate rising from the hotel room's magnificent bed.

A glance at the clock next to the bed showed the time as seven-thirty. It wouldn't be sufficiently dark until somewhere around nine.

Good night, indeed.

As I stood there, staring blankly at the tall, brunette twins that had just stepped out of their room and were conversing in French, it slowly dawned on me that I had no hope of finding my room without someone's assistance. I had been stranded near the elevators for a while, hoping an attendant of some kind would walk by, but I gave up rather quickly and trekked back to the receptionist's desk.

Delphi's story still weighed on my mind, stifling the good mood I had been in earlier that day. I couldn't help feeling that very important information had been left out of our conversation, and only visiting the base and the caves would give me the answers I craved. That left me simultaneously dreading the day I'd leave Greece while also feeling like the day could not come quickly enough.

Lost in my thoughts, it became obvious that I'm horrible with directions when my mind is preoccupied. It took me a few minutes to divine where I was in the hotel, but I reached the lobby eventually. I was pleasantly surprised to see Deni milling about; unfortunately, she wasn't near as cheery as she had been thirty minutes earlier.

"I am so sick of this!" she muttered, obviously convinced she was alone. I listened to her argue with herself about something, quite possibly her career decision; judging by the way she kept referring to her job as a 'fucking waste of her time' she probably wouldn't be working at the Callirhoe much longer. I was also surprised to see how vulgar she was when irritated.

Surprised, and a little aroused. Gods, Deni is hot when she's angry.

"Deni," I said softly, so as not to startle her. She immediately looked as if someone had spooked her, her mouth forming an 'O' of surprise and her right hand creeping towards her midriff where her wand was most likely hidden. I filed that interesting tidbit of information away for later. I gave her a friendly smile, and Deni's worried frown slowly became a grin. "Is something wrong?"

She pushed her bangs aside, revealing a tiny scar on her forehead that actually looked a lot like mine, though hers was smaller and in a different spot. I caught myself staring, enraptured by the sunlight dancing on her round face. "Oh, nothing," she said, waving a hand as if to say it wasn't that important. "I'm just... seriously fed up with my job today." She blew her hair out of her face, gracing me with a friendly smile. There was no trace of the angry scowl she'd worn moments before.

I nodded, slightly unsure whether she was okay or not. If she didn't want to talk to me I guess I'd find out soon enough. "So," I shrugged, grinning at the girl. "Quit and run away with me for the afternoon."

She laughed, her eyes scanning me up and down. "As good an idea as that sounds, Harry, even running away with a millionaire for the afternoon won't solve all my problems." I wondered to myself what kind of problems a well-paid, multi-lingual, excruciatingly attractive blonde would have.

"Bah," I said. I had hoped she would have just said yes, though I honestly expected to be turned down. "I guess I can't ask you to uproot your life for me, eh? We haven't even properly met yet." I offered her my hand. "Harry James Potter."

She shook my hand lightly. Her eyes traced their way up to my scar, which for once, didn't bother me in the slightest; I wanted this particular person to stare at me.

"Well, I've already seen you thousands of times in the newspapers, and I've read a few books where you're mentioned, so I suppose I know you as well as anyone," she said, her voice sly and demure. "I'm off right now anyway. Why not take me for... I don't know, some coffee? It's still pretty early."

I couldn't help it; my eyebrows raised in surprise. Did I really just ask a beautiful girl on a date and get an invitation in return? No way was I going to pass up this opportunity. "Sure. I'd like that," I said, trying not to sound too eager. "I was actually coming to ask your help to find my room. Do you think you could lead me there before we go?"

She smiled. "No problem," she said. "Just follow me."

I wanted to hang back and admire her assets a bit longer, but instead I chose to walk beside her, only glancing at her rear when her attention was turned elsewhere. When I almost collided with a man pushing a cart full of dirty linen, she glanced at me with a challenging look in her eyes.

"Do you mind not staring at my ass the entire time?" she asked, though not nearly as rudely as she probably should have. I couldn't help but wince, and for a moment I was ashamed of myself for my wandering eyes. "Not that I'm against it," she assured me, laughing, "it's just kind of off-putting when you keep running into stuff."

I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. "Touche," I said, chuckling at my own expense. "You caught me red-handed. In my defense, it is a rather distracting ass, and I'm pretty sure that guy had it out for me."

She shook her head, still smiling. "I'd imagine everyone has it out for you," she whispered. I wondered what she meant by that, but I decided to keep the conversation rolling.

"Well, I can't say I'm not used to it." I paused. I wasn't really trying to go down that path this early. "Besides, if it wasn't for the whole Boy Who Lived thing I'd probably be working in an apothecary or something droll-"

"Hey!" she said, swatting my arm playfully. "My cousin works in an apothecary!"

My grin intensified. "Let me guess... greasy hair, pale skin, big, hook nose, and no matter how many times he showers he still smells like dust?"

She chuckled. "She happens to be very tan, and every time I've been around her she smells perfectly fine." When I gave her an 'oh, really?' look she added, "Well, her hair is kind of greasy... and she does have a big nose..."

"Aha! I knew it!" I said, and we both dissolved into quiet laughter. We had arrived at my hotel room, and I paused at the door with my keycard. "Er..." I was momentarily indecisive, and made up for my hesitation with a quick, "Would you like to come in?"

She also hesitated, looking as though she was considering the offer. After a few seconds she nodded. "Okay, but... no funny stuff. I do have a rape whistle, you know."

I just gave her a look. "Excuse me? Harry Potter, Dark Lord slayer and all around good guy, at your service." I bowed, also opening the door to my room at the same time. She gasped suddenly and I immediately pulled my wand from its holster, swirling around with a curse on my lips.

"Oh my god," she breathed, peering into the room. "It's..."

I turned, still a little wary, and found the most beautiful hotel room I had ever seen. "It's amazing," I said, a little awed, especially considering I was the one who would be staying in the room. She nodded beside me, looking at least as stunned as I felt.

"I was going to say 'fucking amazing'," she laughed, walking into the room proper. I joined her, though my eyes were more on her than the room surrounding me. When I did turn away I saw that she was right; everything in sight did look remarkably high-priced.

There were lights of all different colors and varieties; some fixtures lined the ceiling, others jutted out the walls and the floors in green, yellow, red... the combinations seemed limitless, and it definitely added a sense of luxury to the condo. "My eyes kind of hurt," I confessed, blinking rapidly.

"This is the most expensive room here," she said, walking past a full bar and sliding one hand over the vividly red countertop. "I'd imagine you must have dropped a pretty penny to get this one, especially during the summer. I mean... this countertop is made of enameled lava, Harry. That's four hundred dollars a square foot!"

Obviously Delphi didn't mince words when he told me he wanted me to enjoy my stay. It occured to me that my new boss had paid for this room, acting as if it was worth every knut just to have me here. Delphi must be an extremely wealthy, well-connected man.

"Honestly, Deni... I didn't pay for this. It's, well... it's complicated."

She snorted, sitting primly on the edge of a leather armchair. "Isn't everything?" My concentration wavered for a moment, as my eyes were drawn to the edge of her skirt, where bare skin met smooth, black silk. She shifted her legs then, crossing them and giving me another one of those challenging looks. I belatedly averted my glance, my face and neck feeling rather warm.

"I'm not really supposed to say. It's kind of... I don't know. Top secret? Confidential?" I knew that I sounded tremendously lame, but I had reservations about telling her too much. She rolled her eyes, obviously agreeing with my unspoken thoughts. "Essentially I've been given a job opportunity. A really, really well-paying job opportunity on another continent. And I will have to do some really, really..."

"Really, really?" she asked rhetorically, cutting me off. "Look, Harry... I understand there are some things you're not going to immediately reveal to me. You want to talk about it? Talk. You want to keep it secret? Cool. I've got secrets too." She smiled. "What's my middle name?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, caught off-guard. Her middle name? How the hell was I supposed to-

"What's my middle name?" she said a little louder, whipping her hair around.

Getting irritated, I snapped, "I don't know? You tell me."

"Secret is my middle name," she said with a straight face. Despite myself I laughed a little, though it really wasn't that funny. Maybe it was because I was nervous, and she was the first girl I had ever met from outside the country. Still, it seemed like Deni knew how to push my buttons right off the bat, and that reminded me distinctly of 'oh-what's-her-name'.

"Whatever, Deni," I shrugged. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's just that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, or even allowed to. Suffice to say I'm not going to be staying in Greece very long."

She didn't look too saddened at the news, though I noticed she looked away from me. "How long?" she asked, her eyes roaming the hotel room.

"Three days counting today."

She nodded. "So," she drawled, "we'd better get started. If we're going to," she waved her hand. "What was it you said? 'Run away for the afternoon'?"

Right.

"Just let me grab my things." Reaching in my left pocket I removed the luggage I had prepared the night before. A quick flick of my wand returned the bags to their usual proportions. Deni took one look at my luggage and laughed.

"Wow, Harry," she said, giggling. "You don't exactly pack light, do you?"

"Well, obviously I'm going to be on the job for a long time. No popping back and forth to Manchester just for a change of clothes." She nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer.

"Manchester, huh? You're not one of those soccer hooligans... are you?"

I rolled my eyes. "First of all, in England, and everywhere else in the world, it is called football." She rolled her eyes in return, which brought the grin back to my face. "But I've never really been a fan. I've seen a few games... even flew my broomstick over Old Trafford during the derby two or three times, but I'm much more interested in Quidditch." I puffed out my chest jokingly. "I was pretty good during Hogwarts."

"That makes sense," she said, cutting her eyes at me suddenly. "Of course you would call flying a three-foot stick over a hundred miles an hour a sport." She shook her head, though I could sense she was just joking around. "Did you know that more people die from falling off a broomstick than Apparition accidents, Portkey pileups, Floo flubs, and broken Portals combined?"

"Totally worth it," was my immediate reply. "Have you ever been on a Firebolt?"

She scrunched up her nose. "Is that the latest broom model?" I nodded, and she snorted. "I don't think I'd like it much. I have a healthy fear of heights. We don't even have Quidditch in the States, except at the professional level." She suddenly reminded me of Hermione, who had always abhorred flying and had no problems telling Ron or myself to go 'bugger ourselves' every time we asked her to join us.

"Well, I doubt you'd keel over dead if I took you on a ride." Wand in hand, I summoned my Firebolt, which flew from its case as quickly as if I had been riding it. "I promise not to go fast..."

"No."

"Please?"

She bit her lip, worriedly looking out of the window closest to us. We were already ten to fifteen stories up, and it must have seemed even farther to Deni. I considered challenging her just to see if she would rise to the bait, but if she didn't like riding brooms I wasn't going to push the issue.

Surprisingly, she relented. "Alright, Harry. I will ride with you if you promiseto go slow." She paused. "And not Harry Potter slow... realpeople slow."

For some reason I thought this was hilarious. "Are you trying to say I'm fake? In any case, I promise to go slow."

She nodded, looking lost in thought. "How are you going to get out of this window without the Muggle guests seeing you? It doesn't matter who you are, Harry; if you break the Statute of Secrecy they are going to toss you out on your ass-"

"Calm down," I laughed. "I've got this under control."

I turned and summoned my Invisibility Cloak for good measure. "Do you need a coat?" I asked, having manipulated the cloak so that the inside was turned her way, rendering it easy to see.

"That's probably not a bad idea," she said. "It's warm outside but it'll probably be a lot colder once we're flying."

I smiled and handed her the cloak. Deni quickly draped it over her shoulders and turned away, and I was forced to stifle my laughter as I followed her to the window. With a flick of my wand the window raised itself, allowing us an unimpeded view of the hotel's gardens.

Deni looked down and gasped in shock. She threw the cloak off of her on reflex and I couldn't reign in my laughter any longer; I pointed at the blonde girl, imagining my face must have been as full of mirth as hers was afraid. "I'm sorry," I said through my guffaws. "It was too tempting to pass up."

"Well, I'm tempted not to fly at all!" she shot. Her face relaxed as she realized everything was fine and that I had just given her an Invisibility cloak to use on our journey. I stopped laughing, though the smile was probably still etched on my face. She sighed, and I noticed the good humor slowly returning to her eyes. "You're a jerk."

"I know," I laughed. "My ex-girlfriend tells me the same thing every time I see her."

She snickered. "Is that... the Weasley girl? Jannie? Jeanie?"

"Ginny, actually. She's kind of a jerk in her own right, as you might imagine. Her brothers are a lot easier to get along with now that I've stopped... y'know..." I trailed off, unsure how to communicate that I had been having regular sex with the girl without really wanting to commit to her.

Again, she snickered. "Fucking her without giving a fuck about her?" With her left index finger and thumb she made a circle, and then ran her right index finger through it repeatedly.

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way, but I wasn't as cruel as it sounds. Even now I still care about her; I just can't promise her the type of life she says she wants to live."

She hummed to herself, tapping her index finger on her chin. "And what kind of life is that?"

"Honestly?" After her encouraging nod, I answered her question. "I'm pretty sure she wants to settle down near her parents. They have seven children, of which she's the only girl, so she's always been spoiled and been given just about everything she wants that they can afford. To make things worse, she wants to live exactly like them, and she doesn't care about actually making something of herself or seeing the world or... well, virtually anything that I do care about. Every job opportunity I had was 'too dangerous, Harry'; every time we went somewhere she was paranoid a Death Eater was going to pop up and lay us out in the street." I took a deep breath, partly to shut myself up; I hadn't intended to say so much about someone I really hated talking about, especially to a girl I had just met.

I shook my head sadly. "The only regret I have is that I didn't end it sooner; in fact, I should have never even kissed her."

I thought back to the Quidditch game Ginny had won, in my sixth year and her fifth, and the kiss we shared in the common room after the game. It was a brilliant time for us, and we had some great fun together, but I knew I could never turn back now that I'd decided to move on. I was truly over her, and Ginny knew it as well, but I wondered if Deni would think I was still pining for what I lost.

"Wow," she said, her lovely smile back in full effect. "Who would have thought you'd have such melodrama on your hands after Voldemort?"

I immediately recognized that she was using Voldemort's name, though I wasn't sure if that was bravery, ignorance, or just because she was American and had never been forced to deal with the Dark Lord. Either way, I decided not to mention it. Eventually I answered her probably rhetorical question. "Me, for one. Right after the second Battle of Hogwarts I had a gnawing feeling that things would only get worse for me. Sure enough, Minister Shacklebolt wanted me to join the Auror corps, Rita Skeeter wouldn't stop hounding me about a book deal, the Daily Prophet reported every single facet of my home life, and most of my friends started to look at me like I was larger than life."

She nodded in understanding. "So all of this... breaking up with your girlfriend, taking this job, visiting Greece... all of it was so you could get out of the public eye?"

I shrugged. "Well, I'd be lying if I said it was all to get out of the public eye, but that played a major part in the decision. Mostly it was because I wanted to try something different and, even though Ginny was being way too paranoid, she was kind of right - people do want me to suffer, and if I allow them to control my life, I will always be stuck in that same position. Leaving England is the first time in my life that I have total freedom to do what I want when I want."

I swung my right leg over the broomstick, hoping to get in the air so we could change the subject. It just wouldn't do to bore the poor girl to death... though I'd probably scare her to death on the ride anyway. "Enough about my life. I'm here to forget about the past and focus on the new, vastly improved future."

I tried not to make eye contact, unsure what to say after being so forthcoming about my personal affairs. I didn't know what was causing me to reveal such secrets to her when I was usually bound and determined to keep them to myself. I couldn't remember the last time I had spoken freely with anyone about my life, much less a girl I just met an hour ago.

A few moments passed in silence before she joined me on the broomstick, taking up position behind me and wrapping her long, thin arms around my waist. She whispered in my ear, "The future is too unpredictable. Let's just focus on the present, hmm?"

I nodded, not really trusting myself to speak. The broom lurched beneath us, as we exited the hotel room the unconventional way, dropping from the window and soaring over the gardens. Her screams of fear and delight accompanied my own boisterous laughter as we headed outside the city. I wasn't really sure where I was going, but then again, it didn't matter to me; whatever happened between Deni and I, I knew that this was going to be the most memorable part of my trip to Greece.

"Where do you plan on taking us?" Deni screamed in my ear. We had been flying silently for a half an hour, her arms still painfully tight around my midsection. It was apparent that she was enjoying herself, but had I flown like I normally did, she would have been screaming in fright. Fortunately for her, I had no problem drifting lazily through the clouds, taking my time to see an overhead view of Athens and the surrounding area.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," I yelled, turning my face slightly so she could understand me better. "You said you wanted some coffee. Do you know any good places around here?"

She shivered against me, perhaps afflicted by the word 'coffee', which would have kept her quite a bit warmer in the brisk wind. "How about.. anywhere near the ground." Through my peripheral vision, it looked like Deni was starting to get a bit peaked.

Laughing, I guided the broom slowly downward, flying in a circle until we reached the ground. When her feet touched down, so did her arse, which hit the grass rather heavily. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine..." she said, grumbling something significantly more explicit under her breath. "I'm just not used to flying like that. Is it always this nauseating?"

Chuckling, I said, "Pretty much. You get used to the sensation after the first few times, but it's always there, y'know? Personally, I think it's the second best feeling in the world."

"And what's the first?"

I shook my head, not really embarrassed, but probably still blushing. I avoided the question. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She snorted, standing, and using my proffered forearm to steady herself. "I'm sure I can guess." She made an 'O' shape with her mouth again, though it was significantly more devious this time around.

I laughed as she stood up straight and removed her hand from my arm. Frowning slightly at the loss of contact, I changed the subject. "It looks like there is a coffee shop right up the street, if you're still interested. You seem like you could use something warm."

She nodded fervently, before grimacing and closing her eyes. "Oof," she murmured, holding her head in her hands. "I feel like we just flew through a hurricane. I probably can't even walk straight."

With a silent wave of my wand, her eyes opened wide and she looked at me curiously. "One Steadying charm, courtesy of Hermione Granger." I answered the unasked question on her lips, adding, "Hermione and her husband Ron were my best friends in school. She hated flying, for pretty much the same reason you do - Hermione gets headsick about thirty seconds into a flight." Placing my wand back into my holster, I smiled. "Feel better?"

"Loads," she replied, sarcasm dripping off the word. She sounded a little more grateful when she added, "Thanks, Harry."

I nodded. "No problem. Shall we?"

We set off, walking in the direction of a shop with a huge cup of java hanging over the entrance. Deni placed her hand back on my forearm and I returned her smile. "So, did you get all of the flying out of your system? Or should I take a barf bag back with me?"

I wasn't quite sure what a barf bag was, but I assumed she was talking about getting sick on the return flight. I shook my head. "No, no... we can Apparate back when we're finished."

"Good," she muttered. "But I am not side-along Apparating. Last time I almost choked to death."

Something niggled at the back of my brain. I almost said, 'Where were you Apparating to' but that was obviously none of my business and I didn't want to sound like I was making a big deal out of it. I was reminded of the Parthenon, where a person's intentions could spell their own demise, and I wondered if her 'almost choking to death' was a sign of her being deceitful in some way.

Still, Deni had not given me any reason to suspect betrayal, and I thought it would be a grave injustice if I ruined a beautiful day in Greece over something as silly as getting my feelings hurt. After all, everyone had a life story, but not everyone's was happy. My first few times side-long Apparating I had trouble too. I backflipped out of the Floo at the Weasley's a few weeks ago, so who was I to judge her for having similar problems?

I cleared my throat, the conversation having grown stale during my reverie. What the hell was I going to say to negate the fact that I now saw this beautiful blonde girl as some kind of threat? Was I really becoming so paranoid that I judged everyone before I even knew them? "How about that cup of coffee?" I said, hating how gruff my voice sounded.

She didn't comment, but for some reason, I didn't expect her to. She was savvy, and sharp as a tack, so there was nearly no way she didn't pick up on my hesitation.

"So... no side-along Apparating. We'll just meet at the Parthenon and walk back to the hotel." I laughed. "Maybe you can actually lead me there... I got lost on the way the first time around."

"Really?" She scoffed. "You must get lost pretty easily..."

She had echoed my thoughts from earlier, but I thought it prudent to at least defend myself. "I know exactly where we are."

"Where?"

I pointed at the sign to the right of the entrance. "Moscato."

She laughed and pointed at the same sign. "Moschato. Moscato is a type of wine."

"Anyway, that's where we are. Told ya I knew it." We argued good-naturedly about who really knew where we were as we entered the coffee shop and sat down at a booth. Before long, a waitress came over to take our orders.

"Mocha Latte," I said immediately. I didn't want Deni to have to order for me, and hopefully that was a type of coffee that the entire world could understand. Fortunately, the waitress nodded politely and turned to Deni, who carried on a full conversation with the waitress before she ordered.

After a few moments had passed, I spoke to my companion. "So, Deni... tell me more about America. What's it like compared to here?"

"Honestly, it's not that much different to me, but I could see how someone else from America would have trouble adjusting. I grew up in a household that spoke Greek, as my mother was born here, but I was raised in America, where nearly everyone speaks English. I'm sure it's the same in England." She nodded to me, and I smiled encouragingly. "But we've always had our little counter-culture, so coming here is kind of a dream come true as far as that's concerned. It's just that... this place is so massive, and I don't like straying too far from the hotel or my apartment. It's just..."

"Not safe?"

Deni shook her head. "I don't feel like I'm going to get attacked or anything. It's more like I don't trust people here the way I do back home. It's kind of difficult to explain unless you've lived here a while." She smiled. "Maybe once you've been... wherever it is you're supposed to go... for a few months, you'll..."

She just kind of trailed off. "Anyway, I miss home a lot of the time. Sometimes I think about transferring back, or starting from scratch and trying to get a job in New York, or Dallas, or Santa Fe... But it is a lot simpler staying in this dead end job, making just enough for it to be worth the mobs and the traffic, and..." She paused, as if thinking of the right words to say. "All these horribly tanned older men... it's so much worse than in New York." She pretended to shiver, and made a seemingly disgruntled face that I just found rather cute.

Laughing, I said, "I've heard about those... but in England we mostly have older men with no tan whatsoever. It can be rather cold, y'know, even in summer."

"Oh, trust me, New York is freezing, especially compared to Athens, but you can still see tons of overweight, hairy-chested men roaming around, looking for women like me to hit on." She shrugged, looking away from me. "I guess I should take it as a compliment, but... I don't know... I just get so tired of every guy I meet checking me out non-stop! It's like I can't even have a conversation with a man sometimes!"

I turned my eyes away just in time, having been looking down her blouse with a ferocity I didn't know I was capable of. Were those real?

I drummed my fingers against the table. "Are we really so boring that we're talking about old men on a date?" She laughed, breaking the suddenly somber mood. Thinking on my feet, I asked the first question that came to mind. "So, Deni... what is your real middle name?"

"Danger," she drawled, winking at me. I rolled my eyes and she relented, giggling quietly. "My middle name is actually Andrea."

"Deni Andrea Bonet..." I murmured, trying out her full name for the first time and finding it rolled off of my tongue. "That's beautiful."

"Thanks," she said shortly. I assumed she had heard similar comments thousands of times in her life, so I changed the subject, just hoping I could keep her talking long enough to soothe my own unease about the date.

As it turned out, the longer we sat there waiting for our respective coffees to show up, the more details I picked out from our conversation, and I was actually able to shed some light on Deni's background. Her mother and father had met when he was working for the Blues, the police force in the United States. He was stationed for a few weeks in Greece, protecting the American camp during the Quidditch World Cup in Athens, when one night he saw a man pulling a tall blonde woman into one of the unoccupied tents. Sensing that she was in trouble, Alexander Bonet ran in, wand blazing, and caught the drunk man trying to forcefully disrobe the woman.

Francine Loris, frightened for her own life, ran to Alexander and wrapped her arms around him, crying into his blue robes. He took pity on her, as she was embarrassed that the man she had come to the World Cup with had treated her like a common whore, and Alexander promised her that he would tell no one about her ordeal, to which she broke down in tears again. When he asked her if she needed a place to stay, she eventually told him that she had been living with the man for a week or two, and she had nowhere else to go. Alexander immediately offered her his living quarters, which were sparse but at the very least had running water and food.

By the time the next World Cup rolled around, the two of them attended as a married couple. It was only a year or so later that they had Deni, who claimed to be an only child.

"They spoiled me rotten, I think," she informed me, smiling at the memory. "I mean... okay. One day we went to a fair... y'know, the Muggle kind with the mechanical rides and the goldfish bowls and stuff?" It sounded vaguely familiar so I nodded. "Well, we were all having the best time, but I saw this stuffed doll I really really wanted. So, my dad goes to play the shooting game, but he's awful at it, and the best he can win is a smaller version of the doll I wanted."

She chuckled. "I was maybe... 4, 5 years old when we went, and I had just started watching Looney Tunes regularly." My face betrayed me then, confused as I was, and she laughed in response. "It's a cartoon they play all the time in the States. Y'know, a big funny rabbit eating a carrot, saying 'What's up, Doc?' Anyway," she said, noting my blank look. "That's the doll I wanted and when I only got the little one, I threw a temper tantrum. All of the dolls pulled themselves off the prongs on the wall and walked straight over to me, talking to people as they passed and chewing on their carrots."

I laughed at her story, though I'm sure it would have been heartier if I knew what the hell she was talking about.

"You should have seen the look on my parents' faces... not to mention the Muggles freaking out all over the place." She laughed uproariously. "But I didn't even get a slap on the wrist, because my parents were so thrilled I had performed accidental magic."

I smiled contentedly. "Oh, I can top that 'accidental magic' story."

"I bet you can top every single one of my magic stories, Harry," she laughed. "For better or worse, you're a walking and talking legend. The easiest fight against Voldemort would be more interesting than anything I've ever done, I'm sure." Deni's voice turned serious a moment later. "Do you think you could tell me one?"

I was usually reluctant to divulge any information about my skirmishes with Voldemort, and on this occasion I felt no different; I shook my head in the negative, "I'd really rather not talk about Voldemort. Some of those memories are the worst of my life, so... it's a bit difficult reliving them, even though I've definitely come to terms with everything that happened. I hope you understand."

She was frowning, I could tell, but she pasted a smile on her face nonetheless and let the issue die. "Okay. How about the accidental magic story then?"

That was actually a happy memory for me, so I had no qualms opening up about the day at the zoo ten years previous. "Well, as you probably know, I didn't grow up with my real parents. My Aunt Petunia and my Uncle Vernon resented me for having magic when they did not; my Aunt was mostly jealous because my mother was more beautiful and talented than her, and my Uncle wanted to, in his words, 'stomp the magic right out of me' so it's no surprise that I had no idea I was even a wizard." I snorted. "Merlin, how I would have tortured the three of them if I had even an inkling that I was stronger than them. They weren't impressed when I finally got my Hogwarts letters either, but that's another story for another day."

She nodded encouragingly and I continued. "Anyway, for my cousin's twelfth birthday my Aunt and Uncle decided to take him to the zoo. The babysitter was busy, probably feeding her thousands of cats, and I had to tag along as they didn't trust me alone in the house."

"Flash forward to the zoo, and I'm walking behind everyone, unnoticed, trying to avoid getting in my cousin's way because he loved to shove me unannounced to the concrete. Eventually, we made our way to the reptile's den, where the big snakes are. Dudley steps up to the glass to mock a particularly large boa constrictor, and... I have no idea how, but I made the glass disappear just as he put his full weight on it." I laughed aloud, momentarily joined by her quiet titters. "Then, to make matters worse, the glass reappeared once he was on the inside. Fortunately for him, the snake slithered out of its den and onto the pavement; unfortunately for everyone else, there was a snake on the pavement."

"I can imagine your Aunt and Uncle were pleased..."

"Beyond pleased. They were ecstatic to be able to punish me."

We both erupted in laughter, causing the waitress who had just brought us our steaming hot drinks to look at us with undisguised curiosity. Deni turned to the woman and said a few words in Greek, causing the waitress to smile at me and walk away. I followed her with my eyes, wondering why the woman was sashaying away from me, back arched and ass out.

"What did you say to her?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she said, winking. "If you do happen to come back to this coffee shop, I'd suggest staying away from the man staring daggers at you."

I glanced over to find a rather burly man eyeing me with a fair amount of hatred. He was speaking animatedly to the waitress and pointing in my direction. The waitress rolled her eyes when the man's attention was turned my way, and seemed to be patiently trying to calm him down. I smiled, waved, and ducked my head, drawing my companion's laughter.

We drank our drinks slowly, and it was long after mine had been cold that we decided to leave. We had already paid, so we walked hand in hand towards the exit. I smiled, gripping the door handle, when I noticed a man lurking on the other side.

"Who is that..." I said, mostly to myself. Deni looked up with a smile on her face, meeting my eyes. "What is that guy doing?"

As I was opening the door I realized something was off, but it was too late; sensing sudden destruction I leapt aside, pulling Deni to the ground with me and yelling, "Everybody down!"

The few patrons in the shop screamed in fright as the front of the building exploded with the force of more than a dozen spells; I felt the structure begin to collapse and I immediately rushed Deni to her feet, guiding her with my strength across the stone floor and back towards our seats.

Deni was repeatedly screaming, "What the fuck is going on?" Her face was painted red with exertion and she was breathing heavily, so I suspected this was her first time in a dangerous situation. She wasn't going to be much help to me, and she would most likely endanger herself in the process, which would force me to...

"Deni, I need you to listen very closely." Her eyes locked on me immediately, and I smiled at her to ease her fear. "Apparate to the Parthenon and return to my room. If you see anything suspicious..."

She nodded and straightened herself, preparing for her Apparation. It was at that same moment the second barrage of spells came, smashing through the few windows that were left standing and covering the man and woman who had argued over me with shards of glass. With a gut-wrenching shock I saw that the woman's eyes had been pierced, and her screams joined the noise from the spellfire.

"Oh my god!" Deni screamed, tears running down her face. "What the fuck-"

"Apparate now, damnit!" I grabbed her to side-along Apparate but it soon became apparent that neither of us would be able to use Apparation; the strongest wards I had felt in some time were draped over the destroyed building like a blanket.

I pushed Deni back again and turned to defend us. If we couldn't escape I would put up one hell of a fight. It suddenly occurred to me that I was as ready as I could be for this, and that I had been craving this rush of exhilaration for years now, and I was finally going to have an opportunity to expend that pent up energy.

I raised a shield and turned to Deni, who was on the ground and looking at me for directions. "Move to the back!"

I took two steps and felt the building lurch again; a piece of the ceiling the size of a piano fell, and I rolled at the last possible second, striking the wall next to me with my body but thankfully avoiding being flattened.

My ribs ached as I tried to stand, and it took me quite some timeto reach my feet. I could see that Deni hadn't been harmed yet, and that helped seal my resolve to keep her in one piece. I screwed up my concentration and yelled the first incantation I could think of, aimed directly for my broken coffee cup.

"Portus," I intoned, thinking of the password I would like to use. 'Holy fuck' sounded like a good enough one at the moment.

"Holy fuck!" I screamed, causing Deni to look up in fright. I swung my arm around her, pulling her to my side and hugging her tightly just as I felt the jerk in my navel.

I was aiming for the hotel room, but I honestly had no idea where we'd end up; I decided, against the rush of guilt and fear, that any place was better than a demolished coffee shop, and any outcome was better than seeing Deni and I crushed. I felt additional guilt at the thought I was leaving more than one person to their death, but there was no time to change their fates; I could literally feel the earth shaking uncontrollably, and whatever was going to happen next would be the end of all of us.

With an abrupt and altogether too familiar jolt of pain I felt something heavy slam into me, followed immediately by Deni's limp body. I gasped, hurting like hell and bruised all over, but I checked her out without a moment's hesitation. I sighed in relief as I realized she had just fainted during the portkey.

A further glance around revealed that we had fallen through the canopy of my bed in the hotel room. Deni's head was on my shoulder, and I was in no hurry to move. I didn't think I could move either.

I tried to listen for any signs of movement outside my room, but the adrenaline from the skirmish had left me and I found myself weak and weary. I felt the first signs of magical exhaustion; the tindrils of unnatural fear creeping up my spine, along with the tingling sensation in my wand arm, had me more than a little worried about intruders, but it wasn't long before I slowly began to drift off. Just before I fell asleep it occurred to me that although today was certainly memorable for many reasons, evading another murder attempt wasn't quite what I had been hoping for.

Some time passed as my thoughts drifted aimlessly into dreams, but eventually I was roused by Deni rolling closer to me. She turned her cheek against mine, leaving my hand painstakingly close to her partially exposed chest.

Well, I guess this day wasn't so bad after all.

-End of Chapter Three