A/N Well I started this story a looong time ago, December 2008 in fact, and never had a chance to come back due to so many ridiculous reasons I'd spend the next day and a half explaining them. To any dedicated fans who've managed to wait that long for this chapter or who got an email from a Story Alert or Author Alert I apologize profusely for the wait and intend to make up for my extended absence by updating my story regularly (at least a chapter or 2 per week if not more). To new fans, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter or any other aspects of the series written by none other than J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 4: Training

Harry stirred slowly, eyes cracking from sleep as he groggily opened them. Turning his head slightly, something tickled his nose yet when he reached up to scratch it his hand was stuck under a soft weight. Attempting to see what was restricting the movement of his arm he attempted again to turn his head and realized that tickling his nose was, in fact, hair!

Suddenly his memories of last night rushed back to him and it took every morsel of self control he possessed not to jump out of bed. As he regained more control of his senses he began to realize the depth of his situation. The hand he had tried to move was curled under Estella's body, pulling her to him, and the other rested lightly on her hip. The most embarrassing knowledge came from the fact that upon investigating the sensations he felt in his lower regions he became keenly aware of the throbbing located in his swollen loins, which at that moment were pressed firmly to Estella.

Bloody hell… Perhaps she hasn't woken yet and I still have a chance to save myself. With that thought as his inspiration, Harry began the slow process of extricating his arm from under Estella without disturbing her too much, albeit without much success as he only managed to rub his hand over her as he tried to find some leverage.

Giggles emanated suddenly, bursting Harry's concentration and startling him into yanking his hand out from under Estella, all caution thrown to the wind as he searched for the source of the sound.

"If you really wanted to feel me up that badly all you had to do was ask." Harry realized the giggling had come from Estella and his face turned a cherry red as she turned to see him.

"No I-I… I mean I was…" His stuttering only seemed to amuse Estella further as she burst into a fit of laughter at Harry's expense.

"It's ok," she said as she calmed herself down, "maybe I like it." She winked and slid out from beneath the covers, grabbing a bag containing her clothing and heading out down the hall to the bathroom. Harry stuffed his head into his pillow, his muffled screams of frustration drowned out by the sound of the bathroom shower.

The two finished cleaning up quickly and headed downstairs at the sound of Vernon's subdued call. They went outside to see him already in the car, avoiding looking at the two while Estella glared daggers at him. The ride to the studio was silent which Harry was grateful for, he hadn't wanted any trouble.

Helen hustled them into the doors without as much as a word to Vernon, not trusting herself to speak. "I can't believe that repugnant, pompous, oversized, ignorant fool!" she exclaimed as soon as the doors slammed shut. "Oh if I'd been there I'd have wrung his stump of a neck into oblivion! You're not too sore are you Harry?" She asked suddenly, inspecting him tenderly as if afraid he might break.

"I'm fine Aunt Helen," he replied embarrassedly at her ministrations, brushing her hands away, "Estella and Sirius have fixed me up and taken great care of me." He blushed at this, remembering the previous night with Estella.

"I'm sure they did," Helen replied knowingly with a smile and proceeded to direct them the Potter Extension. When they entered she directed them to changing rooms to dress appropriately for the dance lessons, Harry in sweatpants and a tight shirt and Estella in tights and a tank top. The first half hour was spent working on Harry's flexibility, balance and fluidity with them working on various yoga poses and exercises which he held no great talent for but attempted nevertheless, not wanting to give up so easily.

The next hour was spent working on steps to various types of dancing – the foxtrot, swing, rumba, waltz, etc. Harry had a throbbing headache by the time they finished that section, unable to remember the steps to the dances or their various individual complexities though Estella assured him it would get easier with time, though her amused laughter at his attempts made him feel as though she most likely hadn't struggled so much in the beginning. Finally his last half hour was spent in more enjoyable partnered practicing, where Estella was able to correct him with a gentle tug or whisper in his ear. He found himself enjoying himself and the time flew by until Sirius came to split the pair for Harry's physical conditioning. Estella parted with a good luck and a wink before heading to a nearby table to watch the remainder of his workout.

Harry quickly changed into shorts and met Sirius at the track around the Quidditch pitch. True to his word, Sirius set them off on a 2 mile warm up jog that Harry felt was begun at a pace much too fast for that length, leaving him with a painful stitch in his side by the end. The weight training included a great deal of what Sirius called kamikaze repetitions, forcing Harry to burn out on a particular workout at 70% of his maximum weight, then after a brief respite, burn out at a lower weight, moving down in increments of 5-10 to 25% of his maximum weight. It seemed that no matter how sure Harry was that he'd reached his limit for a set Sirius always managed to push an extra rep or 2 out him every time.

When it came time for flying Harry was so strained he could barely lift the broom. His exercises included a great deal of precision flying, including diving and flying between hoops at breakneck speeds, causing several painful crashes and injuries. Harry felt he was finally getting the hang of the exercises until Sirius added another element, bludgers. He was forced to concentrate intently on the tasks he was set towards while making sure to keep a tab on the whereabouts of the hazardous brown spheres, pressing him to the limits of his endurance. When his godfather finally called a stop he was so exhausted that he collapsed onto the ground as soon as he touched down near Estella's table, unable to hold himself up.

"So…have fun?" Estella asked, grinning widely down at him. He groaned and attempted to roll over, too tired even to reply. "Here take this," she said, holding out a vial of a murky brown fluid, "It's a potion that works like an accelerated protein to help your body heal faster so that you can keep working out every day at peak condition." He drank the concoction in one painful swallow, surprised to find that it had a pleasant taste. His body began to tingle and he felt an unpleasant urge to climb out of his skin as his muscles vibrated in reaction to the potion. Suddenly his soreness numbed to a dull ache and though he remained fatigued.

"Well you've had a good day kid," Sirius said good-naturedly, strolling up casually towards the pair. "Still a great deal of improvement to be made but a few more weeks of this while taking that accelerant and you'll notice yourself filling out a lot more." Harry groaned at the thought of several more weeks of this training but simply got up and headed to the showers, incapable of responding.

When Harry and Estella finished showering and changing back into casual clothes Helen led them to the library where she gave them both lunches and told them she'd return soon. Settling into chairs across from one another they ate their lunch in silence.

"You said you were homeschooled your whole life right?" Harry asked, breaking the peaceful quiet. At her nod he continued, "Don't you think you'd prefer going to a real school? You'd be around a lot more witches and wizards and you'd be able to see more people your age."

"My brother became my legal guardian towards the beginning of the summer so he plans to have me go to Hogwarts this year, its where our parents went and where he would have gone had they not died and forced him into working at such a young age."

"So you two have really been on your own this whole time? How'd you manage from so young?"

Estella shuffled uncomfortably and her eyes clouded, as though recalling a painful memory, before replying, "Well… I was just a babe when my parents died so my brother had to take care of us himself. He knew spells to keep food from going bad so we lived at home for a time, not having any family to turn to and not wanting to be taken in as orphans for fear of being separated. Things would have continued like that until we were forced to find food or someone found us but then the Death Eaters came." Harry's jaw clenched as he heard this but he refrained from commenting. "My parents were pure bloods so they had come to recruit them to Voldemort's army but when they found us instead they attempted to capture us but my brother fought them off and escaped with me. He went into hiding, carrying me around and finding food and clothing to for us, always moving to avoid detection and capture. When Voldemort was defeated he had been so used to hiding and living alone that he simply continued hiding out with me and raised me the best he could. It was a hard life but we managed. I've grown up away from the city and from wizardry in general so I've missed out on the whole traditional childhood."

"Well that's something we have in common I suppose," Harry said with a slight smile. "I don't think growing up under a cupboard not knowing your history when you're the most famous wizard in the world is really considered a traditional childhood either." Estella laughed at this and curled up further into her chair, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. "So I don't suppose you've had any experience with boyfriends then have you?" Harry asked suddenly after a pause, before turning away looking uncomfortable at his outburst. "Er… I mean not that you couldn't have attracted guys or anything because your very attractive and all of course, but um… you know I thought maybe you'd have been kept away from people for the most part or something I guess…" Harry rambled on awkwardly, attempting to make up for his blunder and stuttering horribly as Estella giggled in amusement.

"It's ok I understand your question," she said, saving him from further embarrassment, "and no I don't have much experience with boyfriends other than what I've read in my books. I love to read, it's like living in my own little world away from everything." She said this last bit dreamily, closing her eyes and envisioning herself in her own fantasy.

"Yea, I can't say I read much but I can understand wanting to escape, to be able to write your own story and not have to worry about how things end up. To be in such control over your life seems extraordinary, but like they say, happy ever after only exists in fairy tales."

Estella studied Harry at this, watching his shoulders slump as he thought of how his life would be had he been in control of the pen in control of his fate. Rising slowly she joined him in his chair, causing him to snap out of his reverie. She plucked a book from a shelf and put her head on his chest and began to read. Rigid in surprise, Harry cautiously relaxed and put an arm around her, enjoying her warmth and peaceful companionship. By the time Helen came back to retrieve the two they had already curled up and fallen asleep. Smiling at the image she simply turned off the lights and returned to work, content to allow them their moment of peace.

When the time came for Harry to return home for the day he was even more reluctant than the previous day. Only the promise of a tour with Estella kept cheered him as he headed inside the Dursley's home. Changing into some of his nicer jeans and Estella's favorite shirt he headed outside and down the street towards Estella's home.

Reaching the house, he found Estella already sitting outside waiting for him and embraced her affectionately before leading her off. Pointing out various homes and their oddities with a businesslike tone, Harry proceeded to escort Estella around the neighborhood in a tour guide fashion.

"If you look to your right you'll see a small residence within which resides an elderly woman with an insatiable fetish for felines. In fact, if you direct your attention to the lower left corner of the building you will see several small kittens toying with what is likely to be the woman's false teeth." The two burst into laughter at this and had to hold on to one another to steady themselves.

"So Potter's got himself a girl now has he mates?" Harry and Estella sprang apart at this and glared at Dudley as he walked towards them with his usual gang of miscreants. "So what's a floozy like you doing with his lot anyway? Couldn't find a real man to touch you anymore?" The gang of boys laughed at this and moved in to surround the two.

Estella simply glared at him as he moved in on her, waiting until he was in range to strike. She moved with unnatural speed and grace, kicking her leg between Dudley's legs and felling him instantly before grabbing his arm and twisting it around his back into an obviously painful position. Dudley could do little but groan in protest, clutching his stomach in agony.

"Now," Estella began, a fury in her eyes that dared the boys to make the mistake of taking another step closer, "what part of leave us alone don't you understand?" She pulled viciously on Dudley's arms with the last the words, turning Dudley's moans to a whimper. "Now if you don't think you can handle such a complicated request then I can make sure to break a bone in your body every time you don't. Do you understand me?" The calmness in her voice as she said the final portion scared even Harry as Dudley managed to squeak out a weak agreement.

Giving one last painful twist to his arm, Estella released Dudley and he shot off down the street, his crew in hot pursuit. Angrily brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, Estella began walking down the street, hips swaying violently, stopping only to turn and look curiously at a dumbfounded Harry. "Coming?" she asked simply, tapping her foot impatiently. Harry snorted in amusement before jogging to catch up, still unbelieving of the situation.

"Where the bloody hell did you learn to do that?" he asked after a moment of incredulous silence. "That was fantastic!"

Estella simply shrugged and replied with a wink, "I've picked up a few things here and there," causing Harry to explode into a fit of laughter that had barely subdued to a chuckle when they finally returned to Estella's home.

"Well I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then huh?" Harry asked morosely, reluctant to leave.

"Yeah, thanks a lot though. I've had so much fun today, even with your cousin's interruption. I'm so glad to know you." She leaned up and gave Harry a peck on the cheek before running inside, blushing furiously.

Turning dazedly to leave, Harry thought he say a pair of eyes in a window but they were gone as suddenly as they'd appeared and he decided it must have been a trick of the light and headed back to the Dursley's with the same bewildered expression.

A/N Hope you liked this short chapter. I'll most likely upload the next chapter tomorrow or the day after. Please R/R Thanks!