The Quidditch Chronicles X
I can't wait for everyone to meet Sophie. I know mum and dad are going to love her. My friends have really welcomed Sophie and Dailey and I'm glad everyone gets along. Of course it's hard not to like Sophie and Dailey is really funny. Luella, Tabitha and Brigette promised that they would help Sophie with the crazy holiday social calendar. Shopping and introductions and all that. It's worse for a girl because they can be really judgmental, but Luella, Tabitha and Brigette rule the social scene so I'm no too worried. Once introductions are made though, things are easier.
Cal and his friends sat in the white silk covered VIP section of Club Shark complete with, you guessed it, a shark tank for a dance floor. The smoky, pounding club was the most exclusive nightclub on the island.
Tabitha took a cigarette from Fabian's monogrammed silver cigarette holder that was lying on the arm of the long couch. Cal pulled a little black plastic lighter out of the pocket of his blue linen shorts and lit it for her before helping himself to a cigarette.
He hadn't realized how much this part of his life would change now that he had a girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
The word still seemed a little foreign to him. A million beautiful and willing girls crowded the dance floor, but not a single one elicited an ounce of desire in Cal anymore. It was all too easy to go after one of them and he just didn't care anymore.
Still, it was different. How do you be a boyfriend without a girlfriend? When it came right down to it, Cal had about as much relationship experience as Sophie. He was so afraid he was going to screw something up. He figured he was safer behind the gauzy shade surrounding the little VIP lounge.
"So are you and Jonah like done for now, then?" Cal asked Tabitha.
Tabitha just rolled her eyes, "Who knows? I mean you know how we are: we hook up, we cheat on each other, we fight, and we hook up. You'd think I would know by now that we just don't work, but he's Jonah" Tallulah shrugged nonchalantly.
It was typical behavior of the two. This time it was Jonah who Tabitha had caught kissing some random girl in the elevator back at the hotel the day before. Inevitably, they would get back together and then she'd cheat on him before the last four days of vacation were up. As long as they were "on" and didn't actually fuck anybody else, all was forgivable.
Tabitha stamped out her cigarette, "Let's dance then, I don't really want to witness Colin and Brigette shagging" she said nodding to an adjacent white silk chaise where Colin and Brigette were very close to providing a full peep show, " Besides I'm so over this whole sitting thing"
Caliber followed Tabitha onto the dance floor and they shimmied their way through the throngs of people into to the center of the dance floor. He wasn't sure if this was allowed, but Tabitha was a friend only and always had been. As beautiful as she was, with her glossy honey colored locks, deep green eyes and full bee stung lips, he had a girlfriend and that mattered more to him than anything. Besides he knew what it was like with Tabitha, they had hooked up before, but the only reason they were dancing now was because they had just been talking to each other. He was basically interchangeable with Fabian or some other random guy.
It wasn't more than ten minutes later when Jonah came to repair things with Tabitha. Cal fought off the advances of several model-gorgeous girls before stepping out of the club into the sweet Caribbean air. He walked away from the little village till he was alone on the beach. Cal stuck his hands in the deep pockets of his shorts and tilted his head back to look at the full pale moon in a sea of brilliant stars, he wondered if Sophie was awake yet back in England; eating her breakfast, laughing with Dailey, maybe, just maybe thinking about him.
Truth be told, Sophie was hardly ever not thinking about Cal. She missed everything about him the kisses, the jokes, the charm…the arrogance. She laughed quietly to herself and poured a glass of pumpkin juice.
Dailey walked into the kitchen and noticed Sophie's wide smile. Her hand went to her face to feel if there was anything wrong.
"What? Oh Cal syndrome" Dailey said grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter "Give it three to six months, that whole new boyfriend bliss will wear out"
"You were the one who pushed me to go for it with him"
"Well, yeah but you two are like freakishly cute and in love"
"Three days and nine hours till he's back in England"
"Yeah and I'm going to New York. Aren't you even a little bit sad about that?" Dailey teased.
"No, because then I get to stay with the Potters" As soon as the sentence let Sophie's mouth, she visibly paled.
"Oh no, I'm staying with the Potters. The Potters, as in HARRY Potter"
"I thought you weren't impressed by that"
"No, I'm not impressed by the fact that people worship the ground Cal walks, just because Harry Potter is his father. But the guy who saved the universe, I would say that it is a little intimidating."
"Well I guess when you look at it that way; yeah it is kind of scary"
"Dailey! You're not helping"
"Don't worry I'm sure he's super nice and welcoming and everything."
"I just thought of something else though. I mean, I'm living with Cal for a week. As in we're going to be in a house, with bedrooms, with beds" said Sophie perturbed.
"Sophie I know it's totally cliché but if he loves you and respects you, then Cal won't push you for anything and he probably knows you have little or no sexual experience."
Sophie shook her head and a little blush rose in her pale cheeks, "It's not like that though. He's it. Like I know that, I know he's the one. I mean I don't think now is the right time and I know he'll wait for me. But all we've done is kiss and even then it hasn't been really physical and with that whole aspect of us, I don't know what to do."
"Well trust me, if anything like that does come up you'll be fine. It's more natural than you think" Dailey leaned conspiratorially, "And well if something happens, when you get back, I want all the details. All of them."
Caliber fastened the last button on his Johnston & Murphy herringbone coat before stepping out of the black town car, his chauffer holding the door open. The weather here in London was easily eighty degrees cooler than the tropical climate of St. Barths and Cal tightened his deep green cashmere scarf around his neck.
He knocked on the door of the unassuming Winchester home.
"Hi, come on in, Sophie's just putting some last minute things away, you know toothbrush that sort of thing" said Dailey opening the door into a comfortable living room.
Cal took off his coat and hung it on the rack before following Dailey upstairs and down a cream carpeted hallway.
"Hi!" said Sophie excitedly a wide smile on her pretty face. "I'm so glad you're here, sorry I'm not ready just give me five minutes" she said throwing her little arms around Cal's neck, quite a fete considering Cal was at least a foot taller.
Cal's face lit up upon seeing her and he hugged her back tightly before kissing her lightly on those little pink lips.
"I missed you" he said before kissing her again.
"Where's the rest of your luggage? I'll bring it downstairs so Jonathan can put it in the car."
"It's in Dailey's car. Who's Jonathan?"
"Our driver he's waiting in the car."
"Oh, well okay I'll be right back then." Sophie said dashing back into the bathroom, Dailey right behind her.
"He has a driver" said Sophie to Dailey once away from Cal.
"Soph, his parents are billionaires, he probably doesn't have to put his underwear on by himself" laughed Dailey.
"Merlin, did you see how tan he was from the Caribbean, he's looks even more gorgeous than usual" said Sophie her blue eyes twinkling.
"Sophie, are you ready to go?" called Cal from downstairs.
The two girls went downstairs to meet with Cal by the front door. Cal and Sophie hugged Dailey goodbye before closing the door and walking down the driveway to the car.
"Good morning, you must be Miss Harlow, I'm Jonathan the Potter family driver" said the thin gray-haired man shaking Sophie's hand.
"Please just call me Sophie" she said unsure of how to act.
He nodded, "Caliber are you two ready to leave then?"
"Yeah, thanks Jonathan" Cal said as the chauffer opened the door and Sophie and Cal slid into the toasty leather interior.
"Mum, Dad we're here!" yelled Cal into the enormous entrance hall of Potter Manor about three hours later in Godric's Hollow. Lluvy one of the Potter's house-elves took his and Sophie's coats.
Sophie was in awe of the vast room with its high ceilings reaching to the third floor of the mansion. The black and white marble floored room with its dark mahogany wall panels and grand sweeping polished and intricately carved staircase was at least three times the size of her flat.
"Hello darling" said the perfectly elegant Ginny Potter amazingly chic in dark jeans tucked into black leather boots and a black cashmere sweater, her long red hair swept into a chignon. She hugged her eldest son tightly and he kissed her on the cheek. Sophie smiled at the little display of affection.
"You must be Sophie, it's a pleasure to meet you" Ginny said giving a light welcoming hug to the beautiful, petite and surprisingly modest girl that Cal had brought home.
"It's wonderful to meet you as well, Mrs. Potter"
"Hey Cal" said Harry walking into the entrance hall holding Cal's youngest brother under his arm who had what appeared to be a pair of Quidditch patterned boxers over his head, and his arms grasping his father's leg tightly.
"Hey Dad, this is Sophie. Sophie this father" Cal said.
Sophie was silent for a moment, completely star struck. But at the same time, he looked completely normal in jeans and a white polo.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Potter", she said finally.
"The famous Sophie, we've heard a lot about you" said Harry good-naturedly. "This" he said pointing to the four year old, "is Dane, Cal's brother. Dane say hi to Sophie"
Dane lifted up the waistband of the boxers to reveal a pair of green and gold eyes exactly like Caliber's. "Hi" Dane said waving before pulling the waistband back down over his eyes.
"Where is everyone?" asked Cal as the five of them walked into an ornate sitting room. The ceilings were high and reached up to the second story, the walls were covered in the same paneling as the entrance hall and the floor was a deep, thick crimson carpet, and a wall was lined with long high arched windows looking out over the snow frosted main gardens and a fire was roaring grandly.
"Well, your cousins Jamie and Jeffrey are over, those are my brothers Fred and George's boys" Ginny added for Sophie's benefit, "and they and Maxim and Jude are in the garden house doing who knows what. Delilah is over and she and Charlotte are up in Charlotte's room. And Tierney's taking a nap."
"I hate to be a bother, but my luggage is still in the car" said Sophie a little timidly.
"Don't worry about it, Jonathan took it upstairs and one of the house-elves probably already has it unpacked" said Harry.
"Oh speaking of which, we put you in the bedroom two doors down from Charlotte's. Caliber can show you where it is later" said Ginny serving everyone a cup of tea from a silver platter brought in by the same house-elf who took their coats. Sophie wondered how many of them the Potters employed.
Just then there was a loud bang followed by the sound of footsteps running down a hallway that Sophie assumed led to a door out onto the stone loggia which in turn led down to the gardens. Four boys were then running down the slick marble floors of the gallery going past the sitting room.
"Hold it!" yelled out Ginny her voice already scolding.
The four boys slid to a halt and turned looking sheepishly at everyone. Their clothes were soaked and hair standing on end with dirt on their faces.
"What were you doing?" she asked accusingly. Maxim, Jude, Jamie and Jeffrey looked at each other all hoping they wouldn't have to explain.
"You know what never mind. I really don't want to know", said Ginny, "wash up, and don't touch anything till you do"
The boys turned to leave. "Wait, where are your manners? Say hello to our guest"
"Hi Sophie, I'm Maxim, I don't know if you remember or not but you gave me detention the first week of school", said the sixth-year who looked almost exactly like Caliber and Harry.
"Nice to see you again", said Jude who already knew Sophie because he was a prefect. Sophie liked Jude, he was definitely the quieter one, he would rather have Cal or Max be in the spotlight. Of course he wasn't immune to mischief, but with his long dark reddish-brown hair that lay just so skimming those light green eyes, he attracted attention anyway.
"Yes, you as well" Sophie said smiling. But she almost burst out laughing when she realized who Jamie and Jeffrey were. Jamie and Jeffrey both fifth years were always in trouble, playing pranks and causing mayhem, they were definitely a source of grief for the Hogwarts staff. They each bore a slightly horrified expression on their freckled faces when they saw Sophie holding hands with Cal.
"Hi" Jamie said waving coyly; Jeffrey also gave a little wave. Their cheeks were flaming in embarrassment.
Cal looked at Sophie and they both burst out laughing while the four boys walked away.
"You guys didn't tell us Cal was dating the Head Girl" whispered Jeffrey none to quietly as the four boys shuffled out of the room.
Not more than a minute later high-pitched screaming came from upstairs somewhere. Sophie jumped but no one else seemed the least bit fazed.
"Ow! Stop, okay I'm sorry!" yelled Maxim running down the stairs, a younger red-headed girl Sophie recognized as Cal's sister Charlotte running after him with her wand held out.
"Things around here are a little chaotic, but you'll get used to it" shrugged Harry still holding Dane who was entertaining himself by making weird faces in the silver platter the boxers now pushed back on his forehead.
I know that these chapters aren't coming as fast you would like them, but ballet is really my priority over everything else. I have to say though; I've been absolutely amazed at the response I've received to this story. It's really incredible and I'm so grateful. I'll be sending each of you a thank-you email, but I figured you would want a new chapter more. Luckily I've already got two pages of chapter eleven finished so that will be up much faster, hopefully by the end of the week. Thank you all for your support, I'm trying to write faster.