Chapter 21
Saturday 25 May 1996
Hogwarts, Scotland
The last two months had been rocky. In Harry's friend group, the last half of March had been dominated by two bits of news. First, Hermione's first relationship nearly imploded before it even really got going. For almost two weeks after Gryffindor's quidditch victory over Hufflepuff, Justin suffered for his indelicate revelation to Harry, Katie, and Ginny in the hot tub. Hermione had been mortified, and almost immediately stalked off. Silencing wards had meant Harry didn't hear the shouting match that followed, but Hermione gave him the high points several days later.
While she wasn't quite ready to dump Justin over it, Hermione spent most of the month sequestered in either her library, Harry's, or the Hogwarts library. Justin saw very little of her during that time, frequently communicating through intermediaries. Harry was a popular one, as he was Hermione's closest friend willing to take time to help. Ron was too busy with Susan to be bothered, and Neville felt he didn't know Hermione well enough to speak to her on Justin's behalf. Ginny helped some too, but Harry ended up carrying most of the burden.
Eventually, even Harry had tired of carrying their water for them, and sat Hermione down and gave her an ultimatum. Either she patch things up with Justin or cut him loose. She'd opted to talk things out, and by April, things had improved dramatically. It would, however, be quite some time before Justin got another hand job from her.
The other bit of news in March was of more widespread import. Dumbledore had been shocked when he was informed of the Death Eater attack at the quidditch game. Around noon that day, Amelia, in her role as head of law enforcement had insisted that Dark Mark wards be installed, regardless of his teaching staff. Dumbledore had balked until Snape announced his intention to resign, taking the wind from Dumbledore's already flagging sails. Harry hadn't been there, but he was told later that the old man had been practically crushed.
To reinforce their position on the whole issue, Harry put in an appearance at dinner in the Great Hall. He, Sirius, and McGonagall then reiterated what needed to be done for the safety of the school to the Headmaster. With Snape already one foot out the door, Dumbledore didn't have any other reasons not to install the ward stones. That was done, as Madam Bones had promised, by the end of the day on Sunday.
Several hours later, Cassius Warrington was found unconscious draped over his trunk in the Slytherin seventh year boys' dorm. Likewise, Marietta Edgecombe was discovered in the Ravenclaw sixth year girls' dorm unresponsive on the floor. They were both arrested by Aurors on the charge of being a marked Death Eater and escorted from the school without ever being revived. Harry had wondered that Marietta had been marked so young. Katie pointed out that she'd turned seventeen back in November, and so was of age. Harry just shook his head in disbelief. She'd been in his trunk for the first meeting of the Young Aurors. Cho, Marietta's best friend, hadn't taken the news well. Harry thought the loss of both her boyfriend and her best friend in the course of a year was too much for her to bear.
The next morning, Dumbledore had announced Snape's departure at breakfast. Harry hadn't been there for that, either, and so didn't find out until later Monday morning that Auror Hammer had been seconded to Hogwarts to fill in as Snape's replacement until the end of the year. To Harry – indeed, to practically everyone but the Slytherins – Auror Hammer was a welcome addition, especially as OWLs began to loom large in his future.
On the quidditch front, not much had changed. Practice continued as usual, and nothing really was said about the attack, or the pool party after. Instead, Angelina focused on reviewing the plays that worked from the game against Hufflepuff, and used her omnioculars to replay plays from the game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in December and, after it happened, the game between Ravenclaw and Slytherin from the first Saturday in May.
Angelina began using Ginny, Demelza, and Jimmy as stand-ins for the Ravenclaw chasers, to run the plays she'd recorded. Harry thought it was a smart use of the resources she had available, and could only make the starting chaser line better when it came to game day.
Jimmy and Demelza acted like nothing had happened. How they were able to pull that off, Harry had no idea. Katie, too, was astonished that they didn't start dating after their performance in the pool. They were more playful in the showers perhaps, but that was the extent of it.
March passed into April. The big news that month was the expected resignation of Dumbledore from the position of Chief Warlock during the Spring meeting of the Wizengamot. Lord Quincy Abbott, Hannah's father, was elected to replace him. Lord Abbott was a good choice from Harry's point of view. He was young – younger than Dumbledore, anyway – energetic, light, believed in the rule of law, was a resident of Middleborough, and while he respected Dumbledore, he was in no way Dumbledore's man.
At the same meeting, Harry spearheaded a law that required populated areas, and other areas abiding by the laws of the Ministry which were frequented by witches and wizards, be protected by Dark Mark wards. This included the Ministry, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Ottery St. Catchpole, and Godric's Hollow. While several of those areas were already protected, this made it mandatory. The law passed easily, especially after Sirius pointed out how many Hogwarts students had been marked. When a grey member had protested the bit about St. Mungo's, Amelia pointed out that the mark was an automatic death sentence, so there was no point in trying to help them, as they'd just be pushed through the veil anyway.
The measure passed easily, especially since the dark faction had been whittled down again. Lord Travers had died in February and replacement was his son, a middle-aged man and a marked Death Eater, who was unable to come to the sessions. The dark faction was down to only eight votes.
Most of April was taken up by revision and preparation for the fifth years' OWLs. Katie gamely helped wherever she could, telling Harry and his friends what was on her tests, what answers she gave, and what her scores were. Leanne and the seventh years mostly agreed with Katie's explanations, but added some things that Katie had forgotten. It was about the second week of April when Harry learned that the OWLs didn't change year to year, and that by focusing on certain aspects of the tests, Harry could both improve his scores and minimize his work.
As April turned into May that work continued. Harry spent most of his time either in his library, studying at the Abbey, which had become his favourite study spot, or, increasingly, on the Potter House quidditch pitch, practising for the game against Ravenclaw.
"All that hard work's about to pay off," Angelina told the team as they stood in the changing rooms at the Hogwarts pitch on game day. "We've practiced against their tactics. We know their strengths and weaknesses. Harry, I'm trusting that you can handle Chang."
"Sure," Harry nodded. He'd played the Ravenclaw seeker before, and he was long over his crush on the Asian upperclassman.
"Fred, George, I know you can take their beaters to the cleaners. Keep the bludgers off us and on Davies," Angelina ordered. "He's the star. Bradley and Chambers are good, but Davies is their powerhouse." The twins nodded seriously. "Ron, we've gone over their plays and fakes. Just keep the quaffle out of the hoops."
"You got it," Ron nodded, more confident now that he had two games under his belt. While Slytherin had been easy, Hufflepuff had managed to get some shots on goal. He had a seven to one success rate defending, not great, but better than the other keepers at school.
"Alright," she said, thrusting her hand into the middle of the group. "Lions, on three. One… Two… Three… LIONS!"
Harry followed the other starters out onto the pitch, the reserves trailing behind. He rose up and waited for the quaffle to enter play. The snitch disappeared before that happened, and when he went to look for it, it wasn't near where he'd last seen it.
Overhead, Cho was already executing her search strategy. Harry left her to it and started his own search. He hadn't gotten a good look at the snitch before it left, so he didn't know this snitch's particular capabilities.
He started by checking on the other players to see if the snitch was marking anyone. It wasn't. Then, he circled the hoops on both sides of the pitch to see if it was hiding there. No luck. He watched each of the other balls as they moved around the pitch, but no glint of gold told Harry the snitch was following them, either.
By this time, it was nearly fifteen minutes into the game, and Harry started circling the pitch just beyond and below the stands, checking the perimeter. He was about halfway round, when Cho dove for the ground. Harry was too far away from her to see if she'd seen something, but he pulled his Firebolt about, angled it down, and sped off for the spot Cho would end up near the ground.
As he got closer, he started searching for the snitch Cho was chasing. Flying hard, he drew a straight line with his eyes between Cho and the ground and came up empty. Thinking he might've missed it, he started back at Cho, and was surprised to find her glancing at him. When she caught him looking, she shifted gaze back to in front of her as the ground grew ever closer.
That's when Harry caught the trap. She was pulling a Wronski Feint, but the execution was so sloppy as to be laughable. She didn't start the move with Harry behind her, she wasn't diving at the right angle, and she wasn't committed to the move. The glance made that clear. Harry never would've checked to see if the other seeker had taken the bait.
Harry gave her a mental eye-roll and pulled up, opting to cut through a Ravenclaw play, disrupting a pass from Chambers to Davies. Katie caught the quaffle instead, and sprinted for the Ravenclaw hoops. Harry kept rising higher, until he was above the fray, and started circling.
Then he tried a trick he'd used before against Hufflepuff. He positioned himself on the edge of the pitch with the sun to his back and looked for glints of gold. This time, though, he was higher, and the golden glint would be easier to see against the dark background of the ground. It took him five minutes before he caught the first glint, but it turned out to be Davies watch. He returned to the search.
After another five minutes, Cho tried another Wronski Feint, but it was even more poorly executed than the last one. Harry aborted pursuit before he was level with the other players. Cho should've known the Wronski was his signature move, and he wasn't likely to fall for it. Harry rose back up to his overwatch position.
Thirty seconds later, he saw it: the glint of gold. It was on the far side of the pitch about twenty meters right of Ron, near, but not next to the right hoop. Harry tried to be nonchalant about it, and flew lazily across the pitch, weaving back and forth in a zigzag pattern. He'd turn his head to appear to be scanning, but kept his eyes locked on the golden ball that became clearer with every moment as he closed the distance.
Harry had no idea where Cho was, or what the score was, or what the crowd was doing. He was focused on that ball, and focusing on trying to look like he wasn't focused on the ball. A minute later, the ball hadn't moved much, and Harry was floating over Ron's head.
"Ron, where's Cho?" Harry asked, still not looking anywhere but the ball.
"Mid-pitch, my right, a little below the other players," Ron reported.
"Thanks," Harry said, then suddenly hauled right on his broom and dove, spiralling as he went, aiming right for the snitch. The snitch caught on that it had been spotted then, and fled as fast as it could directly away from Harry. Harry poured on the speed, closing the gap quickly. The ball started zigging and zagging. Harry heard a bludger pass overhead, but it wasn't close, so he ignored it, putting on more speed, weaving left and right, following the snitch with such single-mindedness that everything else fell away.
The snitch shot straight down. Harry tipped over as quickly as his broom was able, and headed for the ground. It closed fast; the broom was still accelerating. Had Harry not been wearing glasses, the wind would've stung his eyes. Instead, he was able to follow with a sharp pull back on the handle as the snitch abruptly shot back into the sky. Behind him he heard a shriek and a crunch. Harry didn't take his eyes off the snitch to investigate.
Pushing his broom to the limit, he shoved it past 150 miles per hour, closing on the ball now that there was no chance of him crashing into anything. Another bludger passed close by, but Harry couldn't afford to manoeuvre. It missed him anyway. With one hand firm on the handle, he carefully extended his hand as the snitch closed to a few meters. Two seconds later, his fingers closed about the ball and the match was over. He hauled back on the stick and slowed down, performing a lazy loop and coming to a stop before sinking slowly back down.
As he descended, he heard Lee announce, "Gryffindor wins! The final score is 260 to 40." The crowd cheered. Harry looked down. Madam Hooch was collecting the quaffle from Alicia. Near the base of the Gryffindor hoops, Madam Pomfrey was attending to someone on the ground. As he came closer, he recognized Cho. She looked a little beat up, and her broom was in at least three pieces around her. He felt bad that she was hurt, though it wasn't his fault, he had actually been chasing the snitch.
Presently, his feet touched the ground. He handed the snitch to Madam Hooch, and collected a victory kiss from Katie. Then the entire team congregated around Angelina.
"We just won the bloody quidditch cup!" she shouted. The team cheered and clapped and back slapped each other. The rest of Gryffindor streamed onto the pitch and carried the team off to the Gryffindor common room.
When the team reached the common room it was set up for a party, but Professor McGonagall was stood there in the middle of the room with a dour look on her face.
"Congratulations on getting us the Quidditch Cup this year," McGonagall said in her severe Edinburgh brogue as the team pulled up short. The rest of the house piled in around them, forming a wide semicircle. Dead silence hung heavy as they waited for McGonagall's next pronouncement. "Some celebration is doubtless in order. However!" she paused for effect. "You would do well to remember that you all have school on Monday. There are assignments due, and exams to prepare for. Furthermore, if I should see any, and I mean any, improper behaviour, or contraband items, there will be very serious consequences. Do I make myself clear?" The entire room nodded in silence. "Good. Now, I believe I have some work that needs tending to in my office. It should take me until exactly four o'clock this afternoon. Good day."
Then the head of house walked through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea, and exited the portrait hole, closing it behind her. When the portrait clicked shut, the room erupted in cheers and the party kicked off. McGonagall had given them five hours of unsupervised time to do with as they would, and there was plenty of time after that, if Harry wanted to carry on in Pottershire. Still, Harry would be responsible, for himself at least. He claimed a couch near the window with Katie and sat back to watch the party unfold. Hermione and Ginny joined them.
Ron, on the other hand, had no compunction about being responsible. It took just a bit of prodding for Seamus and the twins to get Ron to call his house elf and bring them some firewhiskey which Seamus used to liberally spike the punch. Ron himself appeared partial to brandy of all things, as he was swigging from a bottle of that as he regaled some of the fourth-year girls who weren't his sister with his heroic tales of daring do at the keeper's position.
Someone turned on the Wizarding Wireless and people began to dance. The music was loud and fast. Soon the air was stale with sweat and booze. Harry opened a window, but it didn't help.
"D'you wanna get outta here?" he asked Katie. Katie nodded.
"Pool?" she asked. Harry grinned, but shook his head.
"We've got loads of time," Harry replied before Katie could look disappointed. "Eden?"
"Yes!" Katie agreed. "You lot wanna come?" she asked, turning to Hermione and Ginny. Hermione shrugged.
"Sure," Ginny said.
"I'm gonna go tell the team," Harry told Katie. "Why don't you lot head up to my dorm?" Then he was gone. He found Fred and George, neither of whom were interested in leaving the party. The girls weren't either. He found Jimmy and Demelza, surrounded by a bunch of younger years. "We're going to Eden, wanna come?" he asked them softly. They traded a look, then nodded. "Upstairs, my dorm, two minutes." It took him less than ten seconds to find Ron.
"Ron, mate," Harry called out, trying to get through the gaggle of girls surrounding him. "Going to Eden, wanna come?"
"Nah, mate," Ron shot back, eyes glassy. "I'm good here." He put his arms around two girls.
"Behave, Ron," Harry said. Ron waved him off. Harry spotted Lavender Brown in the crowd of girls. "Don't let him do anything stupid," he begged her.
"Good thing I'm not stupid," Lavender shot back with a grin. Her response didn't bode well for Ron and Susan's relationship. Harry figured Ron needed to make his own mistakes. Lee and Leanne also begged off. Harry shrugged, and left. As he was mounting the stairs, he felt someone tug his sleeve.
"Where're you going?" Neville asked when he stopped and looked back.
"Eden," Harry replied. "This party's not really my thing, so Katie and some of the rest of the team are gonna go soak up some sun."
"Can I come?" Neville asked. "This isn't really my thing either. It's rather… loud."
"Sure you don't wanna hang out with Hannah today?" Harry asked.
"She's in Middleborough with her parents today," Neville told him.
"OK," Harry agreed. "Sure, come on." He entered his room, and saw everyone there. "Nev wanted to come. Is that OK with everyone?" He got shrugs and nods. "Great. Let's go."
Five minutes later the seven Gryffindors were on Harry's private train speeding toward Eden. They had an early lunch in the dining car on the way. Conversation was light and focused mostly on schoolwork. Harry, Hermione, and Neville worked out a study schedule for the next two weeks so they could pool their talent revising for the OWLs. Katie promised to help.
The teens were all ready for some sun when the train pulled up. Harry led them out of the station, through the house, and into the garden. Neville was looking about with interest. He'd not been there before, so the garden was new to him. It was quite small compared to the one at Potter House, though it did have a large rectangular fountain in the middle, giving a clear view from the back porch to the white sand beaches beyond.
At the edge of the beach, Harry started stripping. Neville's eyebrows rose.
"German beach, Nev," Harry reminded him. "Clothing optional." This was news to Jimmy, Demelza, and Ginny, but they were used to team nudity and began stripping. Demelza and Ginny were excited to be able to work on their all-over tans. Even Hermione began shedding her clothes without prompting.
"I'm not sure…" Neville waffled. "Hannah's not here."
"Neither is Justin," Hermione pointed out. "The only couple here is Harry and Katie, and they've not done much that I've seen."
"Except for the blow jobs and hand jobs," Ginny said with a grin.
"I didn't see that," Hermione objected as she dropped her knickers. Harry hadn't seen her nude before except as she'd stormed out of the hot tub, and he not gotten a proper look at her then. He took a quick look to rectify that. He was pleased to discover she had heard of proper feminine grooming. Her small brown bush was neatly trimmed into an attractive triangle. It actually looked a lot like Katie's, he noticed as he glanced between the girls.
"And we didn't see you give Justin a handy either," Ginny reminded her.
"Don't remind me," Hermione groaned. She looked around. "Are there towels to lay on?" she asked Harry. He glanced around.
"I don't see any," Harry said. "I'll go grab some from the house." He ran back to the porch and called for Dobby who quickly provided him a stack of large fluffy towels. At that moment it occurred to Harry that he could've done that from the beach. He returned to find everyone nude, standing about. "Here you go," Harry said, passing out towels to everyone.
Neville quickly held his folded towel in front of him. Harry didn't see the reason. They were all nude and Neville didn't have anything to be embarrassed about. He was slightly pudgy, but not fat. Most of it was in his face, at any rate. Whatever fat he may or may not have had didn't affect his dick size, either. Harry was impressed. Neville was about the same size he was. It was at that point Harry realized that he was hiding his erection, not his nudity, per se. Harry didn't care. He was past concerns about semi-public erections.
"Anybody else up for a swim?" Harry asked. Everyone opted to join him, claiming a spot on the beach with their towels and heading for the water. They played and splashed for a while, then Katie had an idea.
"Who wants to chicken fight?" she called out from waist-deep water.
"What's a chicken fight?" Neville asked.
"The boys each take a girl on their shoulders and then each team tries to push the others down," Katie explained. "The last team standing wins."
"Sure," Ginny said quickly. "I'm up for it."
"Me too," said Jimmy. Demelza nodded too.
"There are seven of us," Harry pointed out, glancing around.
"I'll sit this one out," Hermione said.
"I think I will too," Neville added.
"Oh, come on Neville," Ginny begged. "I need someone to ride on."
"What?" Neville choked.
"Katie's gonna be on Harry's shoulders, and Demelza's gonna be on Jimmy's," Ginny pointed out. "I need you to carry me or I can't play."
"Alright," Neville agreed reluctantly. "How do we do this?"
It took a bit of figuring out, but Harry crouched down in the water and Katie climbed on his shoulders. It was a move the others emulated. As he stood, Harry grasped Katie's ankles and pressed them against his stomach to keep them still. As he moved she shifted a bit, and Harry could feel her public hair rubbing against the back of his neck. It really turned him on. Fortunately, his waist was concealed by the water, if only barely.
"Everybody ready?" Katie called out once the other two teams were set. Harry could see Hermione was already on the shore spreading out her towel to get some sun.
With nods of agreement, the game was on. Harry assumed Katie was the only one who'd actually played this game before, as she was giving Harry directions on how to move and who to go after, while the others were gaining their bearings. Ginny caught on fairly quickly, and was soon ordering Neville about like a Napoleonic general directing his steed.
Katie, sensing hesitance, went after Demelza first, and was making progress against her when Ginny showed up. Ginny distracted Katie momentarily, but Harry had a brainstorm and swept Jimmy's feet with his own leg. Jimmy lost his balance and he and Demelza came crashing down.
"Ha! You're out!" Ginny called to the pair when they surfaced. It was a foolhardy thing to do, as it was a distraction Ginny could ill-afford. Katie grabbed onto Ginny's arms. Then tapped Harry with her heel. Harry backed up quickly, pulling Ginny with them. Neville was thrown forward and was unable to counter, and toppled forward. Harry backed up enough to avoid Neville, but Ginny managed to grab hold of him to slow her fall. When she hit the water, her face grazed his cock, which was still very erect. Her contact didn't help matters, either.
"Yeah!" Katie shouted. "We won! Harry and Katie forever! Woo!"
When she resurfaced, Ginny put on a fake pout as she watched Katie celebrate. Harry winked at Ginny and then threw himself backwards into the water, dunking his girlfriend.
"Berk," Katie cried when she came back up, but her tone was playful. She splashed him with water, and Harry retreated into chest-deep water and splashed her back. Katie followed. "C'mon, Ginny," she called to the nearest person she could find. "We need to teach Harry some manners." Ginny dutifully waded after her teammate, splashing Harry as she went. Harry backed up a bit, but not much, and the girls caught up to him in neck-deep water. Katie, being slightly shorter than Harry, wrapped her arms and legs around Harry from the side to keep her head above water. She kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Ginny then looked around. Neville was already wading ashore, apparently done swimming and unwilling to be roped into any other games. Jimmy and Demelza were off in their own world, playing and splashing and dunking.
"I wish I had a tall boyfriend to hold onto," Ginny sulked. "I'm treading water here."
"You can hold on to Harry if you'd like," Katie offered, unwrapping her legs to let Ginny get closer. "I think there's enough room for two."
Before Harry had a chance to register his thoughts on the subject, Ginny took advantage of Katie's offer. She wrapped her arms around Harry's other side.
"Did you see Neville," Ginny asked from her side. "I had no idea he was so well hung. If he wasn't spoken for, I'd try to snag him. I bet he'd feel great." She sighed and stared at where Neville and Hermione were laying out and chatting. "Merlin, between Harry and Neville, I'm so turned on."
"It's a challenge to hold back," Katie agreed. "I'm surprised that Ron's so…"
"Small?" Ginny asked. "Yeah, especially since the twins are at least average."
"If Ron doesn't watch it, his small prick's gonna get him in trouble," Harry observed.
"Oh?" Ginny asked, curious.
"When I left he was half in his cups and surrounded by your dormmates," Harry informed them.
"Susan won't like that, I bet," Katie sighed. The trio lapsed into silence.
"Now what?" Harry asked.
"Now we use you as a starting post for racing," Katie said as if it was obvious.
"What?" Ginny cried. "Racing? C'mon… I can't swim very well."
"Tough," Katie grinned. "Last one to reach Demelza and Jimmy's a rotten egg!" With that, she pushed off, and swam towards the younger teens with swift, sure strokes. Ginny gamely followed along, with no hope of catching her, alternating between bouncing off the bottom in an awkard walk and doggie paddling. She arrived almost a full minute after Katie did.
Harry watched as Katie then left the other teens and started swimming back to Harry. Harry watched as Ginny sighed and followed half-heartedly. Katie reached Harry and again wrapped around him. She was panting a bit with the effort, her rising chest pressing her breasts into his side.
"You're pretty fast," Harry observed.
"How would you feel about helping Ginny out?" Katie probed.
"Huh?" Harry asked, confused.
"She needs some… release," Katie explained. "Would you be willing to give her a stimulating massage under water?"
"You want me to finger Ginny?" Harry clarified quietly as the girl was getting closer. Katie nodded. "You're sure?" Harry pressed.
"Yep," Katie agreed. "Just this once. You can do me at the same time if you want, and I'll do you in return."
"You're serious?"
"Yes, Harry," Katie said. "If you're OK with it, you should do it."
"Does she want me to?" Harry asked as Ginny finally reached him, grabbing him about the shoulders.
"Why don't you ask her?" Katie suggested.
"Ask who what?" Ginny wanted to know.
"Would you like Harry to get you off?" Katie asked bluntly. "Just once… today… right now in the water?"
"You're offering to let Harry frig me off?" Ginny asked, astonished. "Why?!"
"You look like you need it, and I believe that Harry can tell the difference between engaging in casual sex with someone he's physically attracted to and being in love with someone," Katie replied. "I also think you're mature enough to know the difference." It was an unspoken cue that Ginny should realize that any offered sexual contact between Katie's boyfriend and the redhead would be without emotional attachment.
"And you're willing to?" Ginny asked, still somewhat shocked.
"I suppose so," Harry shrugged. It was hard with both girls hanging on his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"
"Let me think about it," Ginny said.
"As you will," Katie said dismissively. She then pulled Harry's face to his and kissed him wantonly. After only a moment, her hand was no longer necessary, and it disappeared into the water. Harry felt it brush past his chest and across his stomach, until her hand came to rest where he most wanted it. She wrapped her fingers around his cock and started caressing it. Harry moaned into her mouth.
His hand was practically in position already because of the way Katie was hanging on him in the water. It was one simple twist of his wrist to get his fingers between her legs so he could return the favour. It was Katie's turn to moan out her pleasure.
On his other side, Ginny began to wriggle. Harry could tell she was getting uncomfortable, though he couldn't discern the reason.
"Alright there, Ginny?" Harry asked when he came up for air.
"No!" Ginny hissed. "I'm all worked up. Merlin this is hard."
"It doesn't have to be," Katie told her.
"Fine," Ginny groaned. "Do me, Harry." Without skipping a beat, Harry twisted his other wrist and sought out Ginny's cunny with his fingers. He found it quickly and as his index finger passed over her clit, she hissed, "Yessss." What escaped her lips after that were unintelligible moans.
They stayed like that for several minutes. To the outside observers dozens of meters away, it just seemed like they were standing there. Occasionally they'd look at each other, but that was all. Closer, Harry could hear the increased breathing of both girls as he drove them each towards their goals. Katie and Ginny would moan softly, easily audible as close as they were, and every time they did, he got harder.
Suddenly Katie stopped jerking him off, and for a moment Harry wondered why until he felt a second hand touching him. He looked at Ginny.
"What?" she gasped out between moans. "I wanted to return the favour." He felt Katie release his cock.
"Go ahead," Katie instructed Ginny. Ginny didn't need to be told twice and eagerly wrapped her fist around Harry's engorged member. She was inexpert compared to his girlfriend, but eager. Katie, meanwhile, rested her head on Harry's shoulder and continued moaning.
The new hand pleasuring him ruined his concentration, and it seemed like only seconds later he shuddered and his seed spilled into the water. Ginny was close behind, dunking her head underwater to muffle her cries of pleasure. Hearing the other two climax led Katie to hers, and she claimed his mouth groaning her pleasure into his kiss.
When she recovered, she leaned back slightly, turning her head up.
"God, I needed that," Katie said. "Thanks, babe."
"You're welcome," Harry said. "It was my pleasure."
"I think it was OUR pleasure," Ginny corrected. "And I should be thanking you both for sharing."
"No problem," Katie said. "I know it's tough not having a boyfriend on the team. I was always so worked up in the showers, and I didn't want to scare Harry off by trying something too overt. It was… frustrating."
"You could've said something," Harry observed.
"I finally did," Katie pointed out. "It just took me a few years."
"Well, I for one, am pleased you did," Harry said simply, giving her a quick kiss and a winning smile.
"Let's head in," Katie said. "I'm starting to prune."
The threesome split up and swam in to the beach. There they joined Neville and Hermione. Demelza and Jimmy were still playing out in the water.
"Are they behaving?" Katie asked Hermione, indicating the two teens splashing about.
"More than you were," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. "I swear, you lot are hedonists."
"How did you know?" Ginny asked, shocked.
"You had all the subtlety of a five-year-old weeing in the pool," Hermione snorted. "You were both clutching Harry not moving for at least five minutes. What else could you possibly have been doing except wanking each other off?"
"Weeing," Harry pointed out.
"Ew," Katie said. "Please tell me you didn't."
"No, I didn't," Harry countered. "That'd be gross."
"If you'd been doing that, you'd still be hard as a rock," Hermione pointed out, nodding at Neville who, despite his best efforts at blushing the erection away, was still sporting an impressive steel girder between his legs.
"Aw," Harry cooed. "And here I thought you hadn't noticed." He sent his best friend a disarming grin.
"I would've had to be blind not to notice," Hermione shot back.
"I don't think Justin would like to hear that," Katie pointed out.
"I know," Hermione sighed. "I've decided what Justin doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Isn't that lying?" Neville asked.
"Have I done anything I need to be ashamed of today?" Hermione asked rhetorically. "I don't think so. Nothing I've done today I would count as cheating on my boyfriend. I've not kissed another. I've not touched another where clothes would usually cover. I've not been touched by another there either. However, after our history, I don't think it'd be wise to tell him I came to an exclusive nudist party."
"I think you're wrong," Harry said. "I think you should tell him."
"I don't know, Harry," Ginny opined. "Things were great between me and Michael until I told him about the quidditch showers. Then he started to get all sneaky and possessive. I tried to ignore it, but when he broke into the changing room, I just couldn't ignore it anymore."
"You caught him wanking off to Demelza!" Katie protested.
"He was what!?" Hermione cried. "Ew."
"My point is," Ginny pressed, trying to get the conversation back on track. "Is that he didn't start doing that until I told him about us all showering together."
"When you hugged me after you broke up with Michael, I told Katie right away," Harry said. "I didn't want to hide anything from her, and she said it made her trust me more."
"But my tits touched your chest, and your dick touched my cunny," Ginny pointed out. "Yeah, it wasn't in a sexual way, but it violated Hermione's list for cheating. You were right to tell Katie. I think Hermione's in the right not to tell Justin."
"Should I tell Hannah?" Neville asked, suddenly pale. "I had Ginny on my shoulders during the chicken fight."
"Was the touch sexual?" Hermione asked. Neville blushed but shook his head. "But she was naked." Neville nodded.
"I think that's up to you," Katie offered. "Justin's not here because he wasn't invited. Hannah's not here because she's busy."
"Why wasn't Justin invited?" Neville wondered.
"Harry never said he could be," Hermione informed him.
"You never asked," Harry countered.
"I think we can chalk that up to miscommunication," Ginny said. "Why didn't you ask?"
"I… I don't know," Hermione said, stuttering as she considered it. "I suppose it never occurred to me."
"It never occurred to you to invite your boyfriend to a nude beach?" Katie asked with surprise.
"I suppose I was thinking there wasn't enough time…" Hermione trailed off.
"And what happened last time," Ginny added. Hermione nodded.
Just then Demelza ran up, chased by Jimmy. They were laughing.
"I'm gonna get you!" Jimmy called out, grabbing Demelza's wrist, but she fell back onto a vacant towel. Jimmy, off balance, fell on top of her. They lay there giggling.
"You lot alright?" Harry asked, smirking.
"Yeah," Demelza agreed. "Jimmy just can't seem to keep his hands to himself."
"Do I need to have a talk with the boy?" Harry asked, putting on a stern fatherly persona even as he lounged on his towel wearing a grin.
"Nah," Demelza replied when Jimmy's eyes were shot with fear. "I don't wanna scare him off."
"OK. Just be sure you're being safe, Demelza," Harry continued the act with his fake gruff voice. "I don't want any little Jimmy's running around before you're married."
"Oh, my God!" Katie laughed. "Harry, you're terrible." Ginny collapsed in giggles of her own, while Jimmy and Demelza attempted to will themselves invisible, blushing hard.
"Harry, stop it," Hermione chided. "Let them be. How would you've like it if the twins had been embarrassing you and Katie at that age?"
"We weren't quite so… friendly at their age," Katie pointed out.
"That reminds me," Ginny said casually. "Demelza, is Jimmy as good with his hands it looked like in the pool?" Demelza blushed mightily, but summoned up her Gryffindor courage.
"Better," Demelza replied. "Now that I've trained him up a bit, he's a real pro." Hermione's mouth flopped open. Harry and Katie laughed. Jimmy looked proud. Neville was lost.
"We'd been wondering if that was a one-time thing," Ginny mentioned. "So you've, erm, kept it up?"
"He's been getting regular private lessons," Demelza confirmed. "He's at least as good as I am now."
"Christ," Katie swore. "It's only been three months! He's already that good?"
"He's a quick study," Demelza nodded, smiling at Jimmy, who was still laying half on top of her.
"Has he learned anything else besides how a finger should work?" Ginny pressed.
"He might have some more experience," Demelza said evasively.
"Will we start seeing that in the showers next year?" Ginny wanted to know.
"Perhaps," Demelza's answer provided no satisfaction to the redhead.
"Will we be seeing more of you and Harry in the shower next year?" Ginny asked, turning to Katie.
"Perhaps," was Katie's humorous echo.
"Oh, c'mon," Ginny pleaded. "With the seventh years gone, you'll be the only show in town!"
"Maybe not," Katie said, glancing at Demelza. "Who knows what next year'll bring."
"Yeah," Harry added with a smirk. "Maybe Ginny'll kneel in the middle of the shower and have all the boys wank onto her face like Cho."
"Ew," Hermione said shortly. Ginny, however, grinned.
"If you're wanking onto anyone's face it's gonna be mine," Katie said firmly.
"With pleasure," Harry said, waggling his eyebrows at his girlfriend. He kissed her and lay back on his towel. "God, I love this beach."