Chapter 1
Saturday, 9 September 1995
Hogwarts Castle, Scotland
Sweat dripped off his brow and into his eyes as he dismounted his broom. Harry Potter was exhausted. Gryffindor's first quidditch practice of the year was over and it had been brutal. The beaters had been targeting Harry, while the chasers tested Ron. Fortunately, the Slytherins that had been watching had lost interest, and left after about half an hour, and there had been no injuries. Still, Harry was done in. It took a monumental effort for Harry to pull himself the few feet to the Gryffindor changing rooms. Ron Weasley, on the other hand, was a barely contained ball of energy.
"Where are you going?" he asked, pulling Harry towards the castle with one hand, while pulling off his keeper's helmet with the other, revealing a wild mop of red hair.
"I need a lie down," Harry answered, running a hand through his own unruly black hair and sniffing tentatively at his armpit. "Shower first, though."
"Are you kidding?" Ron bubbled, the excitement of completing his first practice with the Gryffindor quidditch team begging to be expressed. "That was amazing! I need to go tell Dean and Seamus how well it went."
"It was just like every other practice ever," Harry shrugged, old hat after three seasons under his belt. "You get used to them." It would've been four seasons, had Hogwarts had quidditch last year, but alas, the Triwizard Tournament had pre-empted quidditch to the disappointment of many, including Harry.
"Are you coming?" Ron asked impatiently, gesturing to the castle.
"I'll be along," Harry replied, grasping the handle of the changing room door. Ron shrugged and ran off, practically dragging his broom behind him as he sped towards the castle, still wearing his quidditch kit. Harry watched him go for a bit, silently shook his head at the red head's excitement, and pushed the door open and entered the changing room.
In the changing room itself there was an open space with a chalkboard and some chairs, behind which were two aisles of dark red lockers that ran back to the showers. The boys' aisle, on the left, had two rows of five lockers and a flat bench in the middle, and the girls' aisle, on the right, had one row of five lockers and a bench against the right wall, for a total of fifteen lockers, enough for a starting team, a reserve team, and one extra player, should the captain recruit that many. There hadn't always been boys' and girls' sides. Originally, only boys had been allowed to play. When girls had been allowed on the team, almost a century ago, red and gold curtains had been hung across the entrance to each aisle, to provide a modicum of privacy for the changing players. The girls all thought it was terribly sexist of the staff that they presumed there would be fewer girls playing than boys and assigned them the aisle with fewer lockers.
Pushing the curtain aside, Harry found his locker, opened the door, and pushed his broom inside. He quickly shucked his cape and jersey, throwing them into his locker for later. The laundry bin was out in the communal space.
He peeled off his armour and threw the various pieces in his locker before standing to take off the rest of his uniform.
He heard the door open and the curtain move on the girls' side. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell were talking casually about their prospects for the year. Moments later, the boys' curtain opened, and Harry was joined by Fred and George Weasley. Apparently, only Ron had been excited enough about practice to skip basic hygiene after.
Nude, Harry headed towards the doorway at the far end of the aisle, passing the twins en route, and grabbing a fresh towel off the table next to the door. The twins barely acknowledged his presence, as they were busy stripping and chatting about beaters bats. Through the door, he passed the toilet stalls and sinks and entered the shower room. There, he hung the towel on one of the pegs on the wall before starting a shower.
Harry thought magical showers were great. There was no waiting for the water to heat up. There were stasis charms on the plumbing that kept water hot regardless of how long it sat in the pipes before being used. Furthermore, he never had to worry about running out of hot water. He dialled the water to the right temperature and stepped under.
Harry always took the first shower on the left, closest to the towel pegs. He was usually the first one in and it was easy, when he was done, to reach over and grab the towel off the peg, even when his glasses were fogged up. Though, since Hermione had taught him the right charms, that wasn't a problem anymore.
After getting his hair wet, Harry turned around under the spray, letting the hot water massage his shoulders. He closed his eyes and luxuriated in the feeling. He could feel the water pounding his aching muscles and driving the exhaustion away. A few moments later he heard the twins enter and turn on their own showers.
Since he'd known them, the twins had always taken the showers at the far end of the room, one on each side. He supposed it was a twin thing. Harry didn't know where Ron would shower… if Ron ever decided to avail himself of the showers. Harry hoped Ron wouldn't try to be his shower buddy. When he'd been on the team, Oliver Wood had been the only one who'd varied where he showered, picking one across from or a few away from Harry usually. Oliver had been careful not to make Harry uncomfortable by picking a shower next to him. With ten shower heads and only four boys, there was no reason anyone had to shower next to anyone else. Or… there wouldn't've been.
"S'it alright to come over?" Harry heard Angelina ask. He opened his eyes and saw the black seventh year poking her head into the shower.
"'Course, love," George called from the back. Well… Harry assumed it was George. He'd been dating Angelina since Harry's third year, or at least, that's when the… shower shenanigans... had gotten out of control.
Harry remembered when he'd first seen Angelina's head pop around the doorway and asked to come in after his first practice back in 1991. He had barely passed eleven at the time, and he hadn't known what was going on. Blushing violently all over, he'd quickly turned away from the door as the three nude chasers had entered. The girls, of course, had their own showers, just like the boys. Like their lockers, he would later learn, there were only five showers instead of the boys' ten. Harry had glanced at Oliver who had shrugged and went back to washing.
Harry remembered vividly that the sophisticated and worldly twelve-year-old Katie Bell had come over next to him and asked with only a slight blush, "D'you mind if I shower here?" Harry hadn't even been able to look at her, and merely shook his head, his face redder than a cherry tomato. Farther down the room, Angelina and Alicia had showered next to the twins. "This feels so weird," Katie had commented conspiratorially just a few moments later. "Is it weird?" Harry had nodded. "It's kinda fun though, right?" she'd continued. Harry had been so surprised that he'd looked at her. He instantly regretted it, as he'd completely skipped her ocean-blue eyes, cute button nose, and straight chestnut hair, his eyes being instead drawn to her budding breasts with her hard pink nipples and between her legs where there was just enough curly dark hair to be interesting. He'd become instantly aroused. He had quickly finished his shower and left, without saying anything or looking at anyone else, mortified at his reaction.
After the next practice, Katie had pointed out the Weasley twins, and Oliver, who were all sporting erections themselves as well as openly watching the girls and said that Harry shouldn't be so embarrassed. Harry looked over, and saw the twins had a spotting of red hair at the base, and were about the same size he was, despite being two years older. Oliver's was bigger than the twins, though not by much, but he sported a lot more dark hair at the base.
Things hadn't changed much that year. After every practice, the girls would come over to shower. Their stated reason was 'team building,' 'showers don't work right,' or 'it's so lonely over there' (it varied depending on who was asked). Harry's second year things had changed a bit. The twins, Angelina, and Alicia started goofing around more, especially after Oliver was done with his shower. They would playfully smack each other's rears, or 'accidentally' drop the soap, or brush up against each other with increasing frequency. Katie stayed out of it, showering quietly next to Harry, though she watched their antics as much as Harry did.
Third year had been when things had changed dramatically. The first few practices hadn't been too different from Harry's second year. Then, probably two weeks into the fall term, Angelina had started making out with George in the shower, and Alicia had started with Fred as soon as Oliver had left. They progressed quickly to groping. Harry watched, gobsmacked as the two fifteen-year-old couples writhed against each other in a wet, soapy, slippery mass of flesh. He hadn't wanted to intrude into their private time – though they certainly hadn't seemed like they minded Harry or Katie watching – but it was hard not to. Even if he'd closed his eyes, he still could've heard them. Besides, it had been an unbeatable learning experience for Harry. He learned far more from just watching them mess about in the showers than from weeks of listening to Dean and Seamus bragging in the third-year boys' dorm.
By the end of October that year, the fifth-year couples had begun shagging right there in the showers. Harry could vividly remember the day that it had first happened. Angelina, who seemed to be driving the train at every step, had turned around in her boyfriend's arms, moaned, "Merlin! I'm so turned on. Shag me, George," bent at the waist under the spray, and leaned against the shower wall. Without another thought, or sparing Harry and Katie a glance, George had grabbed hold of his cock and slid it between her legs before beginning to thrust. Once he'd gotten a rhythm going, he reached around and groped her breasts. His pale white flesh thrusting into her dark skin was burned into Harry's brain. Beside him, Katie's jaw had been nearly on the floor. Once George and Angelina had started, it didn't take Fred and Alicia more than a few minutes to follow suit.
For the rest of the year, it seemed like Harry and Katie had had their own private sex show. Harry watched as the four engaged in sex in every possible configuration that couples could: standing, kneeling, sitting, lying down, man on top, woman on top, side by side, oral, anal… the permutations were almost endless. Sometimes Fred and George would high five each other while shagging their girlfriends side by side. Other times, one of the four would wave to Harry and Katie, obviously getting off on being watched.
When quidditch had been cancelled Harry's fourth year, he had been extremely disappointed he wasn't going to get to watch the four of them have sex anymore. It had made excellent wanking material.
Thus, Harry was unphased when Angelina and Alicia scurried naked past Harry and leapt into the arms of their boyfriends at the far end of the shower room.
"Mind if I shower here?" Katie asked, as she entered and took the shower next to Harry. It never failed. She always asked, and she always took the shower next to Harry. Even if Oliver had been in the middle shower, she would squeeze in between them and shower.
"D'you have to ask?" Harry said with a grin, looking her in the face. "I think we'd be safe engraving our names over all six of our showers now, just so Ron doesn't try to steal one of them if he ever decides to use one."
"Ew! He needs a shower," Katie fake grimaced, then smiled. "It's always polite to ask." A moan from the far end filled the brief pause. "Hey you four," Katie called. "Just because Ollie's not here anymore doesn't mean you can skip the cleaning and get right to the shagging. Wash off first. That's just gross."
"If it's gross then don't watch," Angelina called back smugly. "I'm sure you and Harry can occupy yourselves for a while." Harry blushed and briefly looked over at the mass of slippery skin at the far end of the shower. He immediately wished he hadn't. He'd gotten used to shower boners, but it'd been more than a year since he'd last gotten one, and he instantly realized that everyone was more than a year older, and it showed. The foursome at the end were seventeen, not the thirteen-year-olds he'd first encountered, or even the fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds he'd last seen two years ago. Angelina and Alicia had fully developed tits and arses. They all boasted full bushes, and the glimpses he got of the twins told him that they were sporting more than five inches apiece.
Then he took in Katie. She'd blossomed as well. She sported a neatly trimmed, but mature brown bush. Her hips had swelled. Her waist had narrowed. Her breasts had grown out… Her breasts… His brain stopped.
"32-26-32," Katie said with a grin, breaking him out of his trance.
"Erm... what?" Harry asked, eyes finally darting back to her face.
"My measurements. I'm 32-26-32," Katie repeated, giving her breasts a squeeze. "A C cup, in case you were wondering."
"God, I'm so sorry," Harry said, mortified.
"Harry, relax," Katie laughed. "We've been sneaking looks at each other – and those hedonists," she jerked her thumb at the writhing mass of flesh at the far end of the shower, "for four years now. I think we're to the point that we might as well admit that we like looking at each other naked, and just say it's OK to stare when you want to. I'll not be offended if you look. OK?"
"OK," Harry agreed, relaxing and smiling. His eyes dropped again to her breasts. "They're quite… spectacular."
"You've seen, what, three pairs?" Katie laughed, "And now you're a connoisseur?" Harry shrugged.
"I like them," Harry shrugged. Then he leaned in and whispered, "They're bigger than Alicia's and perkier than Angelina's. I think they're perfect." He leaned back and caught her blush. "And you've got great nipples. They're very… symmetrical, and… defined, and… rosy."
"Oh, Harry! You're sweet," Katie laughed lightly. Then she let her own eyes travel south. "I'm not the only one who's grown! You're what six... seven inches now? Some nice hair down there too."
"Six and a half," Harry shrugged. "You think I should trim it up?" He idly ran the fingers of his left hand through the curly hairs. Seamus claimed the girls liked guys to be hairy. The twins trimmed.
"Maybe in a year or so, but now it's perfect," Katie told him. Harry nodded, pumping some shampoo into his palm, then rubbing it into his hair. "You know…" Katie paused, and her eyes narrowed. "What happened to your hand?" Harry jerked his hand down to his side and partly out of her view.
"Erm… nothing, just a scratch," Harry lied, hiding his hand.
"Fuck off," Katie spat, suddenly upset. "Show me your hand." She reached across his body, brushing his stomach, and grabbed his hand. It wasn't the first time she'd touched him in the shower, but it was the first time she'd done it on purpose.
"Katie!" Harry groaned. "Don't..." Katie raised his hand up and peered where 'I shall not tell lies' was faintly engraved in his hand. Her eyes went wide.
"Harry," Katie said, concern plain in her voice. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He tried to pull his hand back. Katie tightened her grip on his wrist.
"Fuck that," Katie swore loudly. "What the absolute fuck happened, Harry? Tell me!"
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Alicia asked from the sex scrum. Katie whipped her head around, but kept her hand clamped on his arm.
"Harry's been hiding an injury," Katie informed them. "He's got 'I shall not tell lies' carved into his hand." Alicia and Angelina abandoned the twins and came over to look. The twins reluctantly followed.
"Damn, Harry," Alicia said concerned, as she looked his hand over. "What..." Had the conversation not been so serious, Harry would've been immensely aroused by having three very nude girls clustered quite close around him. Instead, he'd gone flaccid.
"Umbridge had me writing lines in detention," Harry said, giving up. "She had this special quill." Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry-imposed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, had a horribly faux-sweet demeanour coupled with a godawful curriculum and an intense dislike of Harry. Her hatred stemmed, so far as Harry could tell, from his public assertion that Voldemort had returned to a body following the final task of the Triwizard Tournament several months earlier. After failing in, though escaping punishment for, her poorly executed attempt at murdering him over the summer by siccing dementors on him, she had taken to torturing him into silence vis-a-vis the resurrection of Voldemort.
"That bitch made you use a blood quill?!" Katie cried out. "How many times?"
"'As long as it takes for the message to sink in,'" Harry recited, making air quotes with his fingers. Katie glared at him, almost like Hermione would. He caved. "About three hours a night for three nights. I was writing the phrase about six times a minute..." Together the twins whistled, impressed.
"That's… over a thousand times a night!" Katie shouted furiously.
"I think this calls for some serious payback, Gred," George said.
"I agree, Forge," Fred replied.
"This calls for the Aurors," Katie interjected, before they could go off on a rant.
"What are they gonna do?" Harry asked. "My word's no good with the Ministry. Thanks to the Minister everyone thinks I'm an attention-seeking liar."
"No," Katie disagreed. "Your word's no good with the Minister. The Ministry's different. Are you done showering?" Harry nodded. He'd been done since just after Katie had entered, but had remained behind enjoying the spray because… hot nude sex show. "Go get dressed. We're gonna get you some help." Harry nodded, and Katie released his hand. He turned the water off and grabbed his towel. As he went to go, Katie added, "And don't run off before I get out there." Harry nodded, and started drying his hair.
He exited the shower and went back to his locker. Since they all showered together, there was no real need to cover up, so he dried what he needed to and began dressing. When he was done, he grabbed the dirty laundry from the bottom of his locker and threw them into the laundry bin before grabbing a seat in front of the chalkboard. Just after he sat down, he watched the three chasers dart out of the boys' curtain and into the girls' aisle, drying as they went. This was more time eating into his homework, and he was sure Hermione would be all over him about that when she heard.
Katie emerged five minutes later, fully dressed, and threw her own laundry in the bin before snagging Harry's left hand and pulling him up.
"Let's go," she said firmly. Harry followed docilely.
"What's the plan?" he asked. "Aren't we waiting for the others?"
"No," Katie replied as they left the changing rooms. "The twins are putting some ideas together for some personal revenge, but you and I are going to inform the Ministry."
"OK," Harry agreed, still unsure as to how they'd be doing that. Katie led Harry into the castle, and down to the kitchen corridor to a stack of barrels. She looked furious and determined, but he finally asked, "Why are we here?"
"That's the entrance to Hufflepuff House," Katie said, pointing to one of the barrels. She leaned against the wall, beginning to relax.
"What do we do now?" Harry asked, confused.
"Wait until a Hufflepuff comes by," Katie shrugged. "I don't know how to get in."
"Why do we..."
"Because Susan Bones is a Hufflepuff!" Katie said exasperated. "We're gonna have her write her aunt, who's the head of Magical Law Enforcement. Blood quills are strictly controlled magical artefacts. Umbridge can't just use them to discipline people! It's against the law."
"Oh," Harry said softly, drawing back and leaning against the wall near Katie. "In that case, I don't think she'll believe me."
"Harry, Madam Bones isn't Dolores Bloody Umbridge," Katie said harshly. "She'll believe you."
"I hope Hermione's not too mad at me," Harry said, dropping the previous subject. "I'm supposed to go to the library to finish a paper."
"This is bigger than school," Katie stated. "Hermione will have to untwist her own knickers this time. You can do that work tonight and tomorrow. Since I'm keeping you here, I'll even help." That got Harry's attention. He glanced up at her.
"Really?" he asked.
"What subject?" Katie wanted to know.
"Herbology and Transfiguration," Harry informed her.
"I got an O on my Transfiguration OWL last year, and we'll snag Longbottom on the way to the library," Katie promised. She thought for a moment. "He can probably help here too."
"Why?" Harry wanted to know.
"I'm sure he knows the law, even if he's too meek to say anything," Katie explained. "He's an heir of an ancient and noble house, after all."
"Like the Blacks?" Harry understood.
"And the Potters, and the Boneses, and a load of other families," Katie agreed, surprising Harry.
"I'm in an ancient and noble house?" he asked in a strangled voice.
"Yeah," Katie agreed, sounding confused. "Didn't Ron say anything?"
"No," Harry answered. "Nobody did."
"Gringotts?"
"No," Harry replied. "Those tellers are..."
"Not the tellers," Katie cut him off, exasperated. "Your account manager."
"I don't have an account manager… do I?" Harry asked, confused.
"I'm almost certain you do," Katie told him.
"How do you know this stuff?" Harry wondered. "Are the Bells ancient and noble?"
"Nah," Katie waved him off. "We're not ancient, we're not noble, and we're definitely not both. We Bells work for a living. My dad owns a shop in Carkitt Market, right off Diagon Alley. My stepmum's a teacher."
"I..." Harry was about to say something when a barrel opened, and two second year Hufflepuff girls walked out.
"Hey!" Katie called over to them, surprising the two. "Is Susan Bones in there?" One of the girls nodded. "Can you go get her for us? We've got a problem her aunt needs to know about." The two girls looked at Katie, and then at Harry, eyes wide, and nodded before dipping back into the barrel and disappearing. Two minutes later the barrel opened again, and the two girls appeared with Susan and her friend Hannah Abbott.
"You guys were asking for me?" Susan asked.
"Yeah," Katie said. She turned to Harry. "Show her your hand." Harry dutifully showed the redhead where the writing was scratched into his hand. Susan inspected it.
"What..."
"Umbridge is forcing him to write lines with a blood quill," Katie growled quietly. Susan and Hannah both gasped. Then Harry watched as an evil smile spread across Susan's face.
"That's against the law," she pointed out rhetorically. "It would be a shame if Auntie Amy had to come to Hogwarts and arrest the stupid pink toad for that."
"Our thoughts exactly," Katie agreed darkly. "Would you be willing to write your aunt for us? After all, Harry is the heir to an ancient and noble house. That used to mean something."
"Still does," Susan replied, then turned to Harry. "Tell me about it."
"Served a few detentions with the toad for suggesting that Voldemort was back," Harry told her. Susan winced at the name but recovered quickly. "She didn't like that I was 'lying' about Voldemort being back so she had me write lines with her special quill. She had me at it for about three hours a night for three nights."
"He wrote the damned line about three thousand times," Katie interjected.
"Can you provide a memory?" Susan asked, pulling a vial out of her robes. Harry nodded.
"I can, but I don't know how," he said.
"Don't worry," Susan replied, withdrawing her wand. "I can take the memory; I just need you to give it. Concentrate on your first detention, where she told you to write lines and you did it. It doesn't need to be the whole thing, just the first few minutes of you writing lines. I'll fill in the rest in my letter." She opened the vial and held it up near his head. She placed her wand against his temple and Harry felt the memory teased from his mind before it dropped into the vial, which Susan then capped and returned to her robes.
"Thanks," Harry said softly. He wasn't used to getting help from others, especially not those not named Ron and Hermione.
"No problem. Umbridge is a menace," Susan said. "I think I'd help anyone trying to get her, even if it was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I can't tell you how many times I've heard Auntie Amy complaining that the pink toad has blocked one of her investigations. I heard about you being attacked by dementors over the summer. What she's done to you… she might as well have just used unforgivables on you. She tried to kill you and now she's torturing you."
"Maybe she'll try to imperious me next," Harry muttered, then snorted. "That wouldn't go over so well."
"Why?"
"I threw off fake Moody's imperious in class last year," Harry told her. "I doubt she's a better witch than he was a wizard."
"That's a handy skill," Susan replied. "I'd keep that to yourself. Anyway, I've got a letter to write! Ta!" She waved brightly, turned, grabbed Hannah, and skipped back into the Badgers' den.
"See?" Katie asked when they were alone again. "Easy! Now, let's go find Neville and do your revision."
As they walked back to Gryffindor tower, thoughts roiled in Harry's mind. Deciding that brooding never solved anything, he plucked up his Gryffindor courage and just asked.
"Why are you helping me?" Katie stopped when he said that and turned to look at him with a confused look on her face.
"What d'you mean, why am I helping you?" Katie asked rhetorically. "I'm your friend, right?"
"I suppose," Harry said. "I mean, we're teammates."
"Harry," Katie said softly. "We've been teammates for four years now, even if we didn't play last year. We've shared a house for that long, too. I think of you as my friend. Aside from Leanne, you're my closest friend. You're my best friend who's a bloke."
"But we don't hang out," Harry pointed out.
"Quidditch? We practised two or three times a week for three years," Katie shot back, "That's a lot of time hanging out." Katie softened her tone. "What, you think that I picked the shower next to yours every single time because I didn't want to walk any further into the shower?" Harry shrugged. "I like you, you daft git! I think you're a really nice bloke. Do… do you not think of me as a friend?" She suddenly seemed scared.
"No! I mean, yes." Harry said, eyes wide, shaking his head vigorously. "I do! I… I guess I just… I'm an idiot. I never really considered the team good friends, but I suppose you're right, we do spend an awful lot of time together. Sorry. I mean besides Ron and Hermione; I don't have any really close friends. Neville would be next, I guess, and Seamus and Dean will play cards or chat with me sometimes. But yeah, you're my friend." Katie looked relieved.
"Any friends who're girls besides me and the other chasers?" Katie asked.
"No," Harry said plainly. "Just Hermione."
"Not Cho?" Katie pressed, a knowing smile.
"What!?" Harry asked, strangled. "No! She's not my friend. I mean, she helped me in the owlery earlier today, but..."
"It's OK, Harry," Katie said with a laugh. "You think she's cute."
"I..."
"You don't have to lie," Katie told him. "We can all see it."
"I think a lot of girls are cute," Harry said defensively, not really believing how this conversation was turning out.
"Who?" Katie pressed. "Who can I set my best bloke up with?"
"Well… Cho," Harry ticked off, thinking about it. "Obviously. Erm… Fay Dunbar's quite nice. I'd not say no to Hermione if she asked, though that one would be awkward because she's my best friend. Erm… Well..." He suddenly paused and looked at her.
"Who else d'you fancy?" Katie prodded. Harry glanced at his shoes as he walked. This admission would be difficult.
"Erm…" Harry fumbled, blushing. "You."
"Did you just say that so we can shag in the showers?" Katie asked saucily. A huge grin on her face.
"What? No!" Harry practically shouted, an atomic blush exploding on his face. "I… I think you're a nice person."
"And…" Katie drew out.
"And you're quite fit," Harry finished, still blushing.
"In that case..." Katie leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. It was brief, but Harry started at the contact. It was nice, one of the nicest things he'd ever experienced. "Thanks. That was sweet." Harry touched his fingers to his lips, feeling them. Suddenly, he was seized by a thought.
"Do… d'you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me next time?" Harry asked as he lowered his hand. Somehow, that had been easier than he'd thought it would be. He liked Katie, but unlike Cho, he wasn't tongue-tied around her. He wondered why that was. No answer came to him.
"Sure," Katie replied brightly. Then she asked the sixty-four thousand galleon question. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" Harry considered it for a half a second.
"Yeah," he nodded, smiling broadly. "I think I am."
"You just wanna see me naked again," Katie laughed.
"I can see that anytime in the quidditch showers," Harry shot back cheekily. "But I wouldn't say no, that's for sure."
"True," Katie laughed again. "I'd love to be your girlfriend, Harry." She leaned in and kissed him again. Harry was certain he'd found a thing he liked better than quidditch. "C'mon, enough dallying, boyfriend. Revision awaits." She drug him off down the corridor, but he followed along with a wide smile on his face.
"Can I ask you a question?" Harry mused as they walked. "And get a real answer?"
"What?"
"Well," Harry began, unsure how to word it. "I mean. Why did Angelina really bring you guys over to our shower in my first year? Had they been over the year before, or what?"
"Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia had been reserves the year before," Katie informed him. "It had been a pretty full team. Gary Pritchard, the captain that year, had a full slate of starters, and five reserves. Except for Oliver, the Weasleys, Angelina, and Alicia, everyone was seventh years. There were four girls, including Angelina and Alicia. Angelina told me they showered on the girls side that year."
"So, why'd she bring you over?"
"'Cause she was a horny thirteen-year-old, and she'd heard the other teams showered together," Katie revealed.
"They do?" Harry asked surprised.
"Yeah," Katie laughed. "Obviously the Slytherins do, because they're all male, but apparently the other teams do too."
"How do you know that?" Harry wondered.
"Interhouse gossip," Katie revealed. "I heard most of it from Heidi Macavy and Tamsin Applebee, from the Hufflepuff team two years ago."
"What'd they say?" Harry was dying to know.
"Apparently, what happens in the Gryffindor showers is tame compared to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," Katie said. "That year, you probably remember Hufflepuff fielded four boys and three girls. There were another three girls and two boys on the reserve squad. Well, none of them were dating, per se, but they were all showering together, and well… orgy might be the kindest word that could be used if the gossip's to be believed."
"What about Ravenclaw?" Harry asked. "I thought Cho was the only girl they had two years ago."
"She was," Katie agreed. "Heidi was dating Jeremy Stretton last year. He was a Ravenclaw chaser two years ago. According to him, Cho was in the boys' shower after every practice, and…"
"And?" Harry pressed.
"And every one of the boys did stuff to her," Katie finished.
"They all…?" Harry trailed off.
"Jeremy said bukkake was the most common," Katie explained. "The boys would all stand around and wank onto her face. According to Jeremy it was her idea. She'd also blow them, shag them, and give them tugs. She also took on two boys at a time. Apparently, everyone got off pretty much every day."
"Why would she do that?" Harry muttered, suddenly less keen on Cho Chang.
"Dunno," Katie shrugged. "People are weird. She might've been lonely since she was the only girl, or she might have a really high sex drive, or she might just be an attention whore. You'd have to ask her. I wouldn't, though. That'd be in really poor taste."
"Why did you come over to shower with us?" Harry asked.
"A few reasons," Katie answered. "I mean, Angelina and Alicia were both gonna do it, and being new to the team, I wanted to be a team player. It's not fun showering by yourself, either. Plus, I was curious about what you blokes looked like."
"I'm glad you came over," Harry agreed. "I learned a lot about girls and sex. It's pretty fun."
"It's gonna get more fun soon," Katie grinned. "When we're ready."
"You mean, you wanna..." Harry blushed.
"Shag in the shower?" Katie asked rhetorically. "Eventually, sure. Don't you?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded. They stopped at the portrait of the fat lady. "Mimbulus mimbletonia." The portrait swung open.
"You go get your books, and grab Neville if you see him," Katie instructed, heading for the girls' stairs. Harry hurried off, ignoring Ron still animatedly telling Dean and Seamus about practice in the common room. Ron still hadn't changed out of his quidditch gear. Harry could smell him from across the room.
In his dorm, Harry found Neville reading on his bed.
"Hey, Nev," Harry said, going to his trunk and rummaging for his books.
"Alright, Harry?" Nev replied.
"Pretty good, yeah," Harry answered. "You wanna go to the library? Katie and I are gonna go do revision. I was gonna work on Herbology and I could use some help."
"Sure," Neville agreed, rising and grabbing his own revision. Harry had found him to be a fairly helpful individual, all in all. He usually found himself wondering how Neville hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff, but then he would show some brief flash of bravery. As they left, Neville asked, "Practice go alright?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "Ron did pretty well after he worked out his jitters."
"Good," Neville said.
"I got to talking with Katie afterwards," Harry continued. "She told me I was from an ancient and noble house and a bunch of other stuff I didn't know."
"You didn't know?" Neville asked, shocked.
"No," Harry said. "No one ever told me!"
"If I'd known that, I would've told you!" Neville protested. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I thought you knew." They came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Over by the fireplace, Ron didn't even notice. Harry watched as Katie came down the girls' stairs. It struck him that he was watching his girlfriend walking up to him. He broke into a goofy smile.
"Hey," he said dumbly.
"Ready?" she asked with a smile of her own, hefting her bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, pushing the portrait open and letting her go first.
"I can't believe Dumbledore or the Weasleys never told you," Neville said once they were out in the corridor.
"Told him what?" Katie asked as they started towards the library.
"About his family," Neville brought her up to speed.
"I know!" Katie gushed, then turned to Harry. "Maybe they thought you already knew."
"A lot of people think they know me," Harry said simply. "I don't know if anyone does."
"I can tell you what I know about the Potters," Neville told him. "And maybe, if you're willing, you could tell me about you."
"Me too," Katie added.
"What about the Potters?" Harry asked.
"Well, they're ancient, meaning they've been in Britain since before the Norman conquest," Neville explained. "Actually, they've been in Britain since before the Roman invasion. They've traditionally lived on the English-Welsh border, near Gloucester. I believe Potter House, the ancestral manor, is actually on the banks of the Severn between Gloucester and Wales. Or it was. I recall my Gran saying it'd been destroyed during the war.
"Anyway," Neville continued. "The Potters are also noble. They've been Earls of Mercia since the title was created back before the conquest. Sometime in the middle ages, they married into the Earldom of Gloucester. They're also Baron Gryffindor and Baron Despenser if I'm not mistaken."
"Baron Gryffindor?" Harry asked, floored. "Only a true Gryffindor..." He muttered.
"What?" Katie asked.
"Dumbledore told me once that 'only a true Gryffindor' could summon the Sword of Gryffindor," Harry told her. "I didn't know he meant it literally."
"Because of all the families merging, the Potters hold three permanent seats on the Wizengamot," Neville pushed forward. "You should actually get eleven votes, though."
"What?" Harry asked, confused. "That's crazy."
"For the Potter seat it's one vote for the seat," Neville explained. "An additional vote for the Despenser barony, and three additional votes for each earldom. Gryffindor's a separate seat, which brings you one vote for the seat, and another for the barony. You also hold the Peverell seat, which is only one vote, as it's a non-noble seat. Viscounts get two additional votes, Marquesses get four additional votes, and Dukes get five additional votes, but the Potters don't hold any of those titles."
"What does the Queen get?" Harry joked.
"As the Queen's representative, the Minister gets seven additional votes," Neville informed him quietly.
"Wow," Harry said.
"The multiple votes per house is how the dark faction of the Wizengamot can get their agenda passed," Neville told them. "Lucius Malfoy only has two votes, but controls twenty-five other votes by proxy. All told, the dark faction has sixty-three votes, compared to the light faction's forty-one, and Malfoy is pulling another seven votes from the greys with a marriage contract between Draco and Pansy Parkinson."
"How many votes do the greys control?" Harry asked.
"Forty-eight," Neville answered. "Together, the light and grey can defeat the dark, but without the support of the greys, the light faction can't hope to challenge the dark."
"How does Malfoy control so many votes?" Harry wondered.
"He has two votes for his family," Neville said. "One for the seat, and another for his barony. He also holds the Lestrange family's five votes by proxy, the Gaunt family's one vote by proxy, the Slytherin family's two votes by proxy, and the Black family's seventeen votes by proxy."
"The Blacks have seventeen votes?" Harry marvelled. "I really need to work on getting Sirius free."
"Wait… what?" Katie asked, confused. "He's a murderer, and he's after you! Why..."
"Neither of those things are true," Harry cut her off gently. "He's my godfather. He wasn't my parents' secret keeper, so he couldn't betray them. He didn't kill Peter Pettigrew, or any muggles, he was framed for it by Peter Pettigrew, who hid for years as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers..."
"Ew!" Katie groaned.
"He was never tried, nor was he convicted, of anything," Harry concluded. "Escaping from Azkaban wasn't made a crime until after he did it. The only thing he's guilty of is being an unregistered animagus. I have memory proof of all of that."
"Then that's another thing we're going to get fixed," Katie said seriously.
"What do you mean, another?" Neville asked.
"Harry's been tortured by Umbridge," Katie informed him. "She's making him write lines with a blood quill." She grabbed Harry's hand, pulled back the sleeve of his robes, and showed Neville the scratches.
"That's illegal!" Neville gasped, seeing the words there.
"No kidding," Katie deadpanned. "That's why we had Susan Bones write to her aunt and gave her a memory from Harry to send along."
"So, what else can you tell me about my family?" Harry asked, desperate to shift the conversation away from his torture.
"Erm… The Potters have long been allied to some other light houses, including the Boneses and the Longbottoms," Neville said. Harry looked at the floor, thinking. "I'm sorry, Harry," Neville pleaded. "If I'd known you didn't know, I would've told you!"
"Who else are we allied to?" Harry asked, waving Neville down.
"Erm… not sure," Neville replied. "I know the Longbottoms are also allied to the Abbotts as well as the Boneses." He trailed off as they'd reached the library. Harry opened the door and looked around. Hermione was seated at one of the tables, and the three moved off in that direction. Hermione looked up at them and smiled.
"Herbology first, or Transfiguration?" Katie asked quietly as they sat.
"Herbology, I think," Harry replied. "Since Neville was kind enough to come."