Ron spit out his beer. "Naked!" Ron exclaimed loudly causing people in the pub to look at the two friends. Harry hung his head but Ron started on a roll. "What were you thinking? Mum's going to flip." Ron hesitated before trying to find the positive. "But you said it was a charity thing. Maybe mum won't see it. It's got to be some special edition Quidditch issue so there's a good chance she won't notice."
Harry felt a little better, looked up and said, "You really think so?"
Ron snorted and said, "No. Someone will show it to her. You know that if Fred or George see it, they're sending it straight to mum. Your only hope is that it's a small piece." Then Ron laughed and went on, "I mean the picture, not you."
Harry had his hopes up that the picture would go unnoticed. The magazine wasn't coming out for a couple weeks, so Harry relaxed a bit. When Witches Weekly came out on Monday things quickly changed. Mrs. Weasley was checking the mail, turned copy of the magazine over and nearly fainted. On the cover were Harry and Kristi. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that they were naked and pressed tightly against each other with only a very, very small banner of the French Quidditch Team covered their most private parts, but that was the only part that was covered. Since the cover was a magical picture, it moved. Oh, how it moved. The picture showed Kristi looking like she enjoyed nibbling on Harry's ear. You saw her naked body slide up his chest a bit when she did this. That wasn't the biggest problem either. The biggest problem was the look on Harry's face when she did nibble on his ear. That look was what made the picture almost obscene. The change in Harry's expression left no doubt what he was thinking.
At this same time all across the wizarding world, there was an almost simultaneous, "Oh my." Ginny had done the same thing at the lunch table at Hogwarts, as had many girls around the school. Hermione hadn't seen the picture until a girl in her study group came running up, pushed the magazine under her nose and said, "Look at your roommate!" Once she saw the picture, Hermione couldn't believe it. Harry had told her that he was doing the photo shoot but didn't mention anything about this. Hermione wasn't listening to what the other girls in her group were saying; she was trying to understand how the Harry she knew could do this.
The headline read, "The Perfect Couple: Rich; Powerful; Gorgeous". The article went on to describe how Harry and Kristi seemed to have it all between them. They each were professional Quidditch players so they had money and were a very powerful couple, both in terms of access, but in Harry's case true magical power. And it was obvious they were a gorgeous couple. The picture and article were making news everywhere.
Harry was at work and right after lunch knew something was up by the way his male co-workers were laughing and the female ones were staring. Finally Harry found out what it was when one of the Unspeakables 'accidentally' dropped a copy of Witches Weekly in front of him. Harry was half amused and half annoyed. He knew that taking the picture would be a source for gossip but didn't know it would be on the cover of Witches Weekly. Worrying about what Kristi would think, he immediately apparated to her place. When Kristi opened the door and saw him standing there with those worried bright green eyes, she just started laughing. "It's a good picture, don't you think?" She laughed pulling him in.
Harry started smiling as well and said, "You're not upset about this?"
"Upset? Hell no. We took the picture. I'm didn't expect to see it on the cover of Witches Weekly but I'm not upset. Are you?" she asked, not sounding upset at all, in fact she sounded pretty happy.
After seeing her reaction, Harry wasn't upset at all, a bit embarrassed, but not upset. "Not at all. At first I was shocked but that passed pretty quickly. I just wanted to make sure you were ok," said Harry relieved that Kristi was handling it well.
"Oh, I'm great. Did you really make that face? Damn, that's sexy," she said kissing him again.
"I guess I did. I mean you were nibbling on my ear, what did you expect?" Harry joked back.
"I didn't think I had that effect on you," said Kristi, raising her eyebrows.
"Then you were blind!" Harry joked. "I guess this means we're an official couple. I mean, once you're naked on the cover of a magazine together, it's kind of official."
"I'm ok with that. How about you?" Kristi asked clearly pleased.
"Definitely," Harry said pulling his official girlfriend into a long kiss. The couple spent the rest of the day reading owls that Kristi received from her friends. They were all congratulations and things along those lines. Harry felt happy, he now had a real girlfriend again and the world seemed to think it was a good thing.
Hermione wasn't home when Harry got there but Sirius was there waiting. His godfather just couldn't stop laughing. "Why didn't you just shag her for the world to see?" Sirius kept joking. "Oh James would have just loved this," Sirius said clearly enjoying Harry's discomfort.
The teasing from Sirius actually helped Harry even feel better about doing the shoot. The only think he was nervous about was what Hermione would say. Sirius was still there when she got home, and they actually heard her before they saw her. "What did you think you were doing?" Were the first words out of Hermione's mouth. Sirius burst out laughing. "You said you were doing a photo shoot, not posing naked!"
Harry was red and feeling like Professor McGonagall was scolding him. "Well, it just kind of happened. They suggested us posing together and then Katie suggested something like this and one thing led to another and before I knew it, we were naked."
"Katie? Who's Katie?" Hermione demanded.
"You know Katie Bell. She played on the
Griffindor Quidditch team," Harry stated and then heard Sirius say, "Just
bloody brilliant." His godfather laughed harder.
"So, you posed naked for Katie Bell! What were you thinking?" Hermione roared.
"It just kind of happened; Katie suggested it and Kristi seemed ok with it. It was supposed to be just for the charity magazine, I didn't know it would be anyplace else."
"Harry," Hermione said shaking her head, "you and Kristi are news. Everybody wants to read about you. Didn't you think that having a naked picture of you two would be a big deal?" Hermione asked but Harry just shrugged. "You are so clueless. I'm going upstairs," Hermione said before storming out of the room.
Sirius was still laughing but said, "I would give anything to see how James would have handled this. My advice is to keep your clothes on whenever someone has a camera. Oh man, Moony is going to love this." Harry didn't see Hermione the rest of that evening.
Harry was fortunate that the house-elves took care of his mail. He only read things from his close friends and official mail and never cared what other people sent him. Harry had never even asked Winky what happens to all that mail.
The next day at work, the teasing was non-stop and to make it worse, Harry got summoned to the Ministers office. Harry had completely forgotten to think about what Mr. Weasley would say. He couldn't remember ever being this nervous before. Harry appeared in front of Jill the receptionist who just blushed profusely and shook her head before motioning him to go on in. Harry took a deep breath and all kinds of bad images flashed through his mind. Slowly he stepped into the Minister's office and shut the door.
Harry stood there trying to figure out the expression on Mr. Weasley's face. The Minister was silent for a minute then finally spoke up. "Ok, I have three things to say. First is my official Minister of Magic position. I know that you don't want a career in politics, but we would like for you to carefully consider your personal actions in the future as the personal actions of Ministry employees reflect directly on the Ministry as a whole. Having said that; we have received mainly positive comments about the picture. It seems the public really likes you and Kristi so it has actually been good publicity for the Ministry. It makes it seem we are more modern and the young people are especially pleased. I'm sure that if the Giants ever see it that they won't mind. Actually, I can't think of any other race that would be bothered by the picture so it shouldn't reflect badly on your position."
This surprised Harry but he still didn't say anything. "Now, since Mrs. Weasley and I consider you part of the family, here's my 'stand in father' position." The man hesitated for a second making Harry worry even more. "What were you thinking? You can't just go posing naked with women. Mrs. Weasley about had a heart attack when she received her magazine. It took everything I had to keep her from sending a howler to your office. Keep your clothes on in public. You know Fred and George are never going to let you live this down."
Harry now felt really bad. He never wanted to disappoint Mr. & Mrs. Weasley. "Ok, since you and I are a bit more than co-workers, here's my friends position. I think you and Kristi make a great couple and I know you're both celebrities. I'm happy you two seem to be getting along so well and think you deserve to be happy, but do it clothed."
After much apologizing, Harry left feeling very embarrassed but also relieved he hadn't done anything to cause problems for the Ministry. Harry felt bad for not even considering how it could reflect on the Ministry, and even worse for how it would make Mrs. Weasley feel.
That next normal night out with Ron, they met at the Leaky Cauldron. Even Tom the owner was giving Harry a hard time and placed a copy of the magazine in front of Harry when he brought the drinks. Ron was the loudest. "Mate, what did you have to go and do that for? Everybody keeps showing me this picture of you naked and asking me what I think. I think that I wish it was just Kristi naked, that's what I think," Ron exclaimed. "I'm surprised mum didn't send you a howler. You know Ginny is furious with you."
Harry tried to just stay at work or at home until he thought things were dieing down. Just when it seemed the Witches Weekly cover was forgotten, the special Quidditch issue came out with three more pictures of the couple and the teasing started up again.
Harry was reading on the sofa one night when Hermione came down and he noticed she had on a very nice outfit. "You never dressed like when you studied with me. You look really nice."
Hermione actually blushed. "Well we're going to study after supper."
"I wouldn't count on him letting you study much," Harry said raising his eyebrow.
"Get your mind out of the gutter Potter," Hermione said with a wink before she left.
Finally, Sirius and Kelly's wedding brought a break in the routine. Sirius didn't want a big bachelor party, so Lupin and Harry just rented the Leaky Cauldron and took close friends there. The Weasley boys, Lupin, Hagrid and even Snape showed up. Snape had totally changed since regaining his magic after Voldemort's defeat and wasn't exactly fun to be around, but wasn't spiteful anymore. They joked, played practical jokes and talked for many hours, and all of the men drank way too much. Harry took Sirius home with him so he wouldn't see the bride before the wedding. When the two got home, they were both having another brandy and talking. Harry got quiet and Sirius asked what was wrong.
Since Harry had too much to drink, he was in a talkative mood. "Women," Harry said quickly. "Why does it have to be so hard?" Harry asked.
Sirius laughed and said, "That's just the way they are. It won't get better either."
"How did you know Kelly was the one?" Harry asked.
"I've known her for a long time and we got along good back then. When I saw her again, it just felt right. It wasn't the same as before, we just have a connection," Sirius said sounding very happy.
"You don't think you could have had the same thing with someone new?"
"Maybe but Kelly and I were friends before things happened. That's worth a lot. She's seen me when I wasn't trying to impress her so she knows what I'm really like. It would take a long time to get that with someone new."
"Yeah. Falling for a friend would be the best if things worked out. But, look at Ron and Hermione, they're still good friends but you can tell something's different. And, they ended their relationship very logically and on good terms. How can you risk a good friendship?"
Sirius thought. "Are you talking about someone in particular? You're not thinking about Cho again are you?"
Harry mumbled and said, "No, I'm not thinking about Cho. You know, she was my first crush and I had my head in the clouds and thought it would be the perfect thing." Harry got really quiet and then spoke more firmly, "You know what I feel the worst about? A few years ago, I couldn't sleep because I thought some madman was going to kill everyone I cared about and now I'm whining about my love life. What's happened to me?"
Sirius almost chuckled, "Harry. That's what most eighteen year olds worry about. You've never had a normal child hood. No one should have gone though what you did. I don't know how you came out of it so normal. What you're feeling now is what most young adults feel. Don't let it bother you. Do whatever you feel makes you happy. Everything else will work itself out."
There was silence for a while and Harry asked, "So, is Kelly perfect?"
Sirius laughed and said, "Hell no! But, she's close enough for me and that's all I care about. Now you have to ask yourself, is the woman you want close enough for you?"
"What if I'm not sure if I've really got the woman I want? I can't keep holding out and hoping that the perfect woman will suddenly realize she likes me," Harry was quiet for a minute and then continued. "Kristi is great. You know I can't find anything to complain about with her. I'm just being stupid. Thanks Sirius. This helped a lot. We better go to bed, you're getting married tomorrow," Harry said before heading upstairs.
What he didn't see was Hermione ducking back into her room.
Harry finally rolled out of bed the next morning and felt terrible. He went to the kitchen where Sirius and Hermione were talking. "How can you look so good this morning?" Harry asked Sirius, his head still throbbing.
Hermione handed Harry a smoking mug and said, "Because he drank this. Now it's your turn."
"You really drank this?" Harry asked before being hit by Hermione. Quickly downing the mug, he felt it burn all the way down. But, within a few seconds he started feeling better. "Man you're good. What would I do without you?" Harry said smiling.
"Probably stay in bed all day. No, on second thought maybe you'd just walk around naked all the time," Hermione replied drawing laughs from Sirius.
Harry made a face at her and grabbed some breakfast. He could tell Sirius was nervous. "In a few hours, you'll be joined to Kelly for the rest of your life. You'll never be able to look at another woman. She'll be telling you when you have to be home and you'll have to ask permission to come visit me."
Sirius made a face and started to say something when Hermione spoke up, "You make it sound like a terrible thing. So now you think marriage is that bad do you?"
Harry looked at them both and said, "Well actually, I think it sounds just about perfect. I couldn't be happier for you Sirius and can't wait until it happens to me."
This wasn't what Hermione expected to hear, but Sirius just thanked his godson. Lupin appeared a couple minutes later and told them both to go get ready. Hermione said she didn't have much to do but the boys knew it would take her longer than any of them to get ready so they forced her to get started.
The wedding was being held outside near a lake outside of Hogsmeade, and was kept really small with just close friends. Harry was standing around admiring the setting when he first got there because everything was so beautiful. He didn't notice someone walking up behind him until he felt arms come around him from behind and give him a hug. "Hey Envoy," Kristi said before kissing Harry's neck.
Harry turned around and said, "You shouldn't do things like that to me in public." He smiled and kissed her but was interrupted by a punch in the back.
"Make sure you two keep your clothes on," Ron joked. Ron wasn't Kristi's favorite person but she always made the effort to be nice around him. Harry was surprised that she had set Ron up with a tryout for the professional keeper position. Ron rubbed some people the wrong way. Maybe it was growing up in a full house of kids, because Kristi was more of a loner and really, so was Harry.
The wedding was beautiful and short. Lupin stood up with Sirius and Kelly's sister stood up with her. This was the first time Harry had seen a wizard wedding and even though it was small, he tried to take in every aspect of it. Harry kept looking at Sirius and could tell his godfather was very happy.
After the ceremony, the guests were having a celebration and Harry heard someone ask Sirius about having children. He saw Kelly blush and Sirius gave some comment about no specific plans. Harry had never considered that they would have children, but knew Sirius would make a great dad and hoped he got the opportunity.
Harry was on his way back to Kristi with drinks when Hermione came up, "So, what do you think about them having children?"
"I think it would be great. They'd both be amazing parents," Harry said with a little sigh.
"You wouldn't mind him having a baby of his own?" Hermione looked at him.
"Not at all. It could teach me a thing or two as well. I've never been around babies before and could learn a thing or two before... you know," Harry said with a shrug.
"I'm sure you'd do fine Harry. Not planning on that anytime soon are you?" Hermioine asked raising an eyebrow.
Harry actually looked terrified. "Oh no. As you keep pointing out, I'm pretty clueless on a lot of things. I need to grow up a lot more before something like that happens."
Hermione smiled, "I'm glad you said that and not me."
The bride and groom left and before long, the celebration was over. Ron and Parvati invited Hermione, Harry and Kristi back to their place for a few drinks. Kristi reluctantly agreed and Harry appreciated that she was making an effort to spend time with Harry's friends. When they got there, Ron found out he didn't have much to drink so he and Harry said they would run out.
The girls were alone talking. Well, actually it was Hermione and Parvati talking most of the time but finally Kristi did ask Hermione about school. "It's much harder than I expected. I don't know what I was thinking taking so many classes."
Kristi chuckled, "That's exactly what Harry tells me you say most days. He has confidence you'll be the best student there."
Hermione said, "He's just saying that to be nice."
"I don't think so; his exact words were, 'There's no doubt she'll do great things,'" Kristi said. "I envy you Hermione. Harry and I are getting along great but I see how proud he is whenever he talks about you. You'll have something with him that no one else could ever have."
Hermione got a warm feeling when she thought about this. The fact that Harry talked so nice about her to Kristi helped as well.
Harry and Ron were walking to the store when they heard. "Potter." Turning they saw Draco Malfoy near the Three Broomsticks.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Ron spat. Malfoy was the person Ron hated above all others.
"I wasn't talking to you Weasel," Draco spat back. "I want a word with Potter."
"Ron can hear anything we talk about Malfoy. What do you want?" Harry said sounding impatient.
"I want to make you a business proposition," Draco stated.
"Harry doesn't want to do business with you Malfoy," Ron spat.
Harry just said, "Specifically what do you want Malfoy?"
"I'm willing to pay you whatever you want to use the spell to make my father magical again," Malfoy said without emotion.
Ron laughed. "Oh yeah, that's just what Harry will do. Here Mr. Death Eater, have some magic back."
Malfoy looked like he was going to attack Ron but Harry said, "If you attack
him, I am authorized to use any means necessary to stop you. Remember, I am an Auror. Now, why would I want to give Lucius back
his magic after everything he did to me?"
"Because I can make it worth your while," Draco offered.
"There is nothing you have that would ever make me give him back even a little bit of magic Malfoy. Not after what he's done," Harry said amazed that Draco would even ask. "Your father tried to frame Ginny for the Chamber of Secrets. Your father was there when Voldemort tried to kill me after the Third Task. Your father was there when Cho was attacked and when R.J. was killed. Your father was in on the raid of the Unspeakables. I will never do anything that could benefit him."
"You don't know what it's like for him Potter. He was powerful, respected and now people are treating him like dirt. I can't stand to see him like this," Malfoy said obviously bothered about the current condition of his father.
"I say you're just lucky that you didn't become a true Death Eater before it happened, or you'd be the same as him," Harry said. "I would never help your father."
"I tried to do this the nice way Potter. My father still has considerable assets, and I intend to use them to get his magic back. You can willingly help me and I would be in you debt or you can force me to take other measures," Draco said with an evil hatred in his eyes.
"I'm ready to deal with any other measures you think of Malfoy. Your father can still be a businessman so he shouldn't complain," Harry said.
"You had your chance. Malfoys still have friends. Friends that won't take kindly to your decision," Malfoy said before apparating away.
"What do you think he'll do now?" Ron asked.
"Probably call us all kinds of bad names," Harry joked, but in the back of his mind, he knew Malfoy wouldn't let this drop. Ron didn't seem to think twice about Malfoy as they continued to the store. The boys got back to the apartment and found the girls talking friendlier than Harry had expected. Kristi was even involved in the conversations. Harry gave Ron a confused look and Ron just shrugged his shoulders before handing drinks to everyone. They stayed and talked for a couple hours before everyone left. Kristi went back to Paris and Hermione and Harry went home.
Harry and Hermione were sitting around that night when Hermione said, "Thanks Harry." Harry looked confused so Hermione went on, "Thanks for talking nice about me to Kristi."
"Um. You're welcome, I guess. Why wouldn't I talk nice about you?"
"I just didn't expect you to talk about me at all when you were with her," Hermione said softly.
"Why not? You're my best friend and I'm proud of everything you're doing."
"I know, but it's just nice to hear that you've told her that."
"Thanks. I tell that to everybody," Harry said and then remembered he hadn't told Hermione about Draco so he told her about the conversation.
Hermione didn't seem concerned and acted like she expected Draco to try to find some way to get his father's magic back. "There's another study group that is trying to find out if it's possible to restore magic. You know there were a lot of people who lost their magic that day. Some of them were probably like Snape and had changed their ways."
"But we have no way of knowing for sure. With Snape, I was sure," Harry said. "Do you think they'll figure out how?"
"I don't know. There are some really smart students at the school."
"Well, as long as you don't help them, I'm not worried," Harry said and didn't notice the strained look Hermione got.
Hermione mentioned that she wanted to have the study group over this weekend and asked if it would bother Harry. "Not this weekend it wouldn't. Kristi and I are going away until Sunday. I meant to tell you a couple days ago," Harry said.
"This was sudden," Hermione added.
"I'm jus trying to be more spontaneous. Now, back to your study group, you don't have to ask me. You live here as well," Harry said and then thought of something. "But, why haven't you had them before? Embarrassed to let them see you not-so-smart roommate?"
"No, that's not it. I'm not sure a couple of the girls would do much studying if you were here. They still carry around that magazine with the picture of you two on the front," Hermione said.
"Well how do know they're looking at me?" Harry asked and raised his eyebrow. "Anyway, if you ever want to have them over, I can just leave for a while. I don't mind."
Kristi came over early on Thursday and insisted on packing for Harry. She kicked him out of his room so she could pack without him seeing and then he followed to her place. She packed her clothes without letting him see and announced they would be going by floo. This didn't thrill Harry because he always hated the twirling around when you traveled this way. Kristi said the hotel was "Hotel Rolandi". Kristi threw in the powder and stepped in first. Harry followed behind.
They came out in what looked like the entrance to a large lodge. Harry could see snow capped mountains through the windows. He followed Kristi to the receptionist and looked around while she talked to the lady. After getting a room, Kristi led Harry down a long hall and then up many stairs to a door. When she opened the door, they both dropped their bags and went straight to the balcony. The air was crisp but the view was fantastic. Harry stood at the edge of the balcony and looked out. Their room seemed to hang over the edge of the mountain and overlooked a huge lake with mountains on the other side. On one corner of the balcony was a large Jacuzzi tub. "This is amazing. I've never seen anything like it," Harry said in awe of the view.
"Good, I hoped you hadn't. And, look at this." Kristi opened a small closet off to the side of the balcony and there were two Nimbus 2000 brooms. "We can fly off anytime we want."
"Really? Let's go," Harry said always anxious to fly.
"Let's unpack first," Kristi insisted amused at Harry's exuberance for flying.
After unpacking, the couple stepped back out on the balcony and Harry quickly cast warming charms on them. The pair mounted their brooms and took off over the lake. Even though Harry loved the freedom of being on a broom and thought seriously about doing some stunts, he was feeling very content just riding along leisurely next to Kristi for a bit. However, before too long they both started going faster and were challenging each other with moves. Kristi was an amazing flier and Harry loved to watch her and had to work to match her at times.
They saw a flat area overlooking the lake and Harry landed there followed closely by Kristi. It was a beautiful spot and you could see the lodge sticking out from the mountain from here. The couple walked along the edge of the lake hand-in-hand before flying back to their room.
Harry and Kristi had never slept together yet; well they slept together but hadn't made love yet. They had done nearly everything else, but somehow Harry kept putting her off before things progressed. He knew this weekend would be their first time and wanted it to be special. "You know we didn't tell Sirius we were leaving. I'll run down to the desk and have them send a note. I'll be right back." Before Kristi could say anything, Harry was gone. He did ask the desk clerk to send a note, but also asked them for some specific help.
Once the couple was ready for the evening, they walked around the property and then had a leisurely meal in the hotel. The hotel only had a few guests so it almost seemed like they had the place entirely to themselves. The two shared a bottle of wine sitting in front of the huge fireplace, looking out the large windows at the moon over the mountains.
Later, they walked back to their room and got into bed. Kristi snuggled up next to Harry but he only planned on teasing her so he turned her face down on the bed and just lightly ran his fingers up and down her back, pausing occasionally to kiss the back of her neck. Kristi would make soft moaning sounds whenever he brushed his lips on the back of her neck. He kept this up for a while and whenever he thought she was getting used to it, he would let his fingers trail over her rear and down her leg. This always caused her to flinch a little. After a long time of this, he pulled her onto her side and snuggled up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her ear and said, "Goodnight." She just groaned but didn't say anything. They were both out before long.
The two both slept in and Harry woke her up by nibbling along her neck. "I like waking up before you do," he said, toying with her.
Harry was surprised at the look of confidence on her face when she said, "You're really starting to push your luck you know."
They had a large tray with juices and fruit in their room and had this for breakfast. After eating and finally getting ready, they took a carriage tour of the surrounding area. It was just the two of them in a magical carriage without a driver. The carriage would stop whenever they wanted and they took many small side walks to check out the view. Again, Harry was impressed by this side of Kristi. She was all for hiking up trails off the main path.
"We should get back. I made reservations for us tonight," Kristi said and then got a disappointed look. "I really wanted to have a special meal tomorrow, but the hotel said they couldn't do it so we'll have to settle with tonight." The couple went back and took another long shower but instead of going to the restaurant, Kristi led him up some stairs to a large patio on the roof, between two of the peaks of the hotel. There were a few tables up here but no one else was around. The two went to a table near the edge and Harry looking around couldn't believe Kristi had set all of this up for them.
The food was fantastic and they had their wine up on the roof instead of going down to the bar area. When they got back to the room, Kristi led Harry to the balcony where the two quickly got into the Jacuzzi tub. The water was really warm and the bubbles were very relaxing. The shared some more wine and soon Kristi was lying back against Harry saying how great it was to be here. With the beautiful woman leaning into him and with the beautiful setting, Harry was having a hard time thinking about putting off what he expected them to do for much longer.
After being in the water for quite some time, they dried each other off and got into bed. Kristi quickly started kissing Harry obviously wanting this to be their first night of more than just sleeping, but he rolled her over so she was on her back and smiled slyly at her. Summoning one of her scarves, he folded it over and laid it across her eyes so she couldn't see. She was smiling as Harry began the same light motions with his fingers, but this time from her neck, down her chest to her belly and back. Kristi flinched a lot when his fingers roamed over her belly but also made the soft moaning sounds. He would occasionally trace the area below each breast and could hear her catch her breath each time. After doing this for a while, he rolled her back onto her face and she gave a disappointed moan until he started giving her shoulders a massage. Harry warmed his hands and spent a long time massaging her back and was actually happy to see that after a while, she had fallen asleep. As much as he wanted the same thing she did, Harry wanted it to be on his terms before anything more happened.
When Kristi woke up the next morning she hit him with a pillow and actually sounded angry when she said, "How could you let me fall asleep? That back rub was feeling so good. I can't believe you let me fall asleep."
Harry was trying to play it for all it was worth. "Sure, I see how interested
you are in me. You can't even stay
awake when we're in bed."
"I could if you weren't doing your damn best to put me to sleep," she answered back.
After another long day of touring, Harry suggested they go back and get ready for supper. Kristi was still complaining, "I still can't believe that after our romantic meal and wine in the hot tub that you let me fall asleep."
"Oh, I let you? You were the one so bored that you fell asleep on me," Harry joked.
"Harry. I was not bored. I just felt so
comfortable with you doing that. I'm
sorry," she said sounding sad.
"That's ok. You can make it up to me sometime," he said with a sly smile.
After getting ready for their final supper at the hotel, Kristi said, "I'm still upset they couldn't do our meal tonight, it's our last night here."
"That's ok, we'll figure something out," Harry said not sounding upset. When the couple was ready, Kristi headed toward the door but Harry stopped her. "We're going this way tonight," he said holding the balcony door open.
Kristi looked confused but followed him onto the balcony before she said, "What are you up to Potter?" Harry shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the brooms and handed her one.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.
"C'mon trust me," he said before kissing her deeply and mounting his broom. Kristi looked skeptical but did the same. Soon Harry was leading her over the lake and then she saw the table setup in the clearing they had stopped at on their first broom ride.
She looked at Harry with amazement. "You did this? This is why I couldn't get our supper tonight, wasn't it?" She flew over and hit his arm. The couple landed near the table and sat down. The area had already been warmed and was aglow with a magical fire and candles. Harry ordered a bottle of wine and it just magically appeared. Just as Harry had been amazed last night, he could see how happy Kristi looked tonight. The view from the clearing was even better at night. There was a bright moon and the lodge was glowing up on the mountain. Everything was perfect and after the meal Harry asked, "Take the brooms back or just pop?"
"Just pop, I want to get back," she answered with a determined look on her face.
The two apparated back into the room and Kristi quickly gave him a big kiss and pushed him until the both fell back onto the bed. They undressed each other rather quickly but Harry didn't want things to go so fast. He got the scarf again but this time instead of laying it on her eyes, he tied it over them and then instead of using his fingers on her chest, he kept placing soft kisses up and down her body. Tracing the same areas as last night but using his lips instead of hands. Every time she moved her hands to him, he kept pushing them back above her head.
Before long, Kristi was moaning heavily and he finally kissed lower than he had ever touched her. Within just a few minutes, she gave a sudden flinch and held her breath for a while. When she relaxed and started breathing normal, Harry went back to enjoying what he was doing with his mouth. Taking his time, he wanted to make sure she enjoyed this night. It didn't take too long before she was moving her hips to put extra pressure on his mouth and then she began moaning loudly and was holding his head against her while she flinched over and over.
This time when she relaxed, Harry slowly kissed back up her body, tracing circles around her breasts with his tongue before nibbling on her ears. He removed the scarf from around her eyes and kissed her forehead. Harry had slid up directly between her legs and reached down to make sure he entered her the first time. Looking deep into her eyes he slowly slid in and just smiled at the look on her face. He began moving with varying speeds and pressure and after a while, Kristi was again moving forcefully against him until she cried out as he pulled her tightly against him.
After she relaxed again, he held her tight and rolled over so she was on top and after a moment, she began controlling the motions. The light from the moon was illuminating her skin as he ran his hands all over her body. Harry told her a few times how amazing she was and when he was getting the familiar feeling, she was starting to quicken her force and they both collapsed moaning into each other's ear. Kristi was flat on top of him, almost touching every inch of body together and after quite a few kisses, they both fell asleep just like that.
When he woke up, he felt her on top of him even before he opened his eyes. When he did finally open them, he saw her
staring back at him with a large smile.
"You are just full of surprises.
Why did you ever make me wait for that?"
"Good morning beautiful," Harry replied and then added, "I wanted you to respect me in the morning."
"After that performance, I don't think respect is in the picture anymore," Kristi added giving him a very deep kiss.
They shared a leisurely shower and then ate before going back to Kristi's apartment. "Do you really have to go back to work tomorrow?" she asked.
"Yep. I need to work on some advanced spells," Harry replied.
"I wish you'd just quit everything except Quidditch and spend all day with me. Just think of all the things we could do with so much free time," Kristi pleaded and after this weekend, Harry almost considered it.
"You'd get tired of that really quick," Harry said and kissed her. "I'll see you during the week."
They shared a very long kiss and he went home. Hermione was on the couch reading when Harry got home. "You look like you've just had Christmas," Hermione joked.
Harry couldn't hide his smile and replied, "It was a nice weekend. She took me to a mountain lodge." After telling her about the lodge, he asked, "So, how was the study group? Did they all make it through the floo ok?"
"Oh yes, Sirius took care of opening it up for the day. They all really liked the castle but seemed disappointed you weren't here. I think they were impressed with the library, you know I hadn't been paying attention but we've got a lot of interesting books now."
"That's because you keep dragging me to every bookstore in the country," Harry joked back.
Harry began spending most of his free time practicing Quidditch. He really wanted to beat Bulgaria this year and was willing to do anything he could to help make it happen. He spent extra time with the seeker coach after practices and would go out and fly every morning before going to the Unspeakables.
On week, Ron came over acting very weird. He wouldn't sit still and paced around occasionally. "Ron. What's up with you?" Hermione asked and then turned to Harry, "He hasn't normally been like this has he?"
"Nope. Normally he's the loud obnoxious Ron we all love," Harry said and it didn't even get a response from Ron. "Ok Ron; spit it out or Hermione will make some vertiserum."
"Harry, you know I don't have the ingredients to make that," Hermione said and Harry just gave her a look to say "well of course"'. "Oh... Yes Ron, tell us what's with you."
Ron sat down and looked at them both. "I'm going to ask Parvati to marry me."
Harry and Hermione just stared at him for a moment in silence. "What?" finally came out of both of their mouths as they jumped up to congratulate their friend.
"That's great. Do you think it will be a surprise?" Hermione asked?
"We've mentioned it. Since I've been
thinking about asking her, I keep acting like we should wait so she wouldn't
expect a ring, so I hope she'll be surprised.
I'm going to ask her at Christmas when she comes to the Burrow," Ron
said with a large smile.
"Man I'm happy for you. When do you think you'll have the wedding? I mean in the unlikely event she actually says yes," Harry joked drawing a concerned look from Ron and a punch from Hermione.
"I hope the week after Ginny gets out of school. That will allow her to be there and you'll be on the break before the playoffs," Ron said and then asked, "Would you be my best man?"
Harry looked totally shocked, "Me? Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Who else? I couldn't trust the twins and Hermione was the only other choice and well, she's not a man," Ron said, not joking at all.
"I'm glad you're still clear on that," Hermione said laughing.
"I'd be honored to be your best man Ron," Harry said feeling really happy.
Over the next month, Harry had been seeing less and less of Hermione. She had been dating Mark regularly and had study group sessions during the day on the weekends. Harry was spending more time with Kristi and the chaser had even started staying at the castle once in a while.
One morning when Harry woke up from a very restful sleep, he smiled when he realized Kristi was still curled up to him. Her arm was draped across his chest and one leg was wrapped around his. Harry started lightly stroking her back and then tickled her sides lightly. The first thing she said was, "Tickle me and you die." Harry leaned down and kissed the top of her head and told her they should get up.
Kristi leaned up and kissed Harry firmly on the lips. "Good morning," was all she said.
Harry smiled and responded, "It is now."
Kristi got up and went through Harry's drawers until she found a T-shirt that met her approval. She quickly threw this on and a pair of his shorts. Harry was just watching her when she said, "C'mon you said get up." So Harry grabbed another pair of shorts and t-shirt and they went downstairs. Hermione was already dressed and just having breakfast before school.
"You two are sickening," Hermione said when Harry and Kristi walked in. "I mean you just get up, throw on some ratty old things, your hair is a mess and you still make a cute couple."
Kristi responded, "You'd be cute without trying as well Hermione. You should just be comfortable that way. Just get up, tie your hair back and come down."
"You know, I may do that this weekend. That would shock you two." Hermione joked.
During the next week Harry was getting ready for work when Hermione said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm having the study group over Saturday."
"So that means I'm supposed to be gone I guess."
"No, I want you around. I thought that if the other members saw you around, they'd quit thinking you were so special and just act normal."
Harry gave a hurt look. "You really know how to make a guy feel good Hermione. At least Kristi still thinks I'm special."
"Yeah but she hasn't known you for over eight years," Hermione gave him a smile to show she was kidding.
That Saturday during practice, Harry asked the seeker coach to try and give him new things to do that could help against Krum. Harry really wanted to beat the other seeker on a regular basis. He felt like he worked extra hard during the practice and had just finished talking to the coach when Kristi came up and nibbled on Harry's ear.
"Ok, you really can't do that in public. Come spend the day with me, we can shower and then I'm all yours," Harry asked and Kristi quickly agreed. The two apparated to Harry's house and found it totally quiet so they went up to take a shower. They were being playful in the shower and both just had towels around them while they were getting ready. Harry's from the waist down and Kristi's from her chest down which meant it barely was long enough to cover everything. Harry kept messing with Kristi while she was getting ready and it was irritating her so she grabbed another towel and flicked it at Harry connecting with a loud –twak-.
Her eyes got really big and Harry said, "Ok, I'm going to get you now." Harry grabbed another towel and came after her. She screamed and headed out the door with Harry right behind her. At the bottom of the steps she quickly turned to go into the kitchen and suddenly stopped just before Harry crashed into the back of her and they both almost fell down. Around the kitchen table was Hermione's study group.
Harry caught Hermione's eyes and saw she looked furious. He tried to talk, "Um... Quidditch practice... no one home... shower... towel... um forgot. Sorry." Harry grabbed Kristi's hand and they quickly went back upstairs. Kristi burst out laughing before they got to the top but Harry said, "It's not funny. I'm in so much trouble." He remembered that look of Hermione's and knew she meant business.
They got ready quickly and Kristi suggested they go get some chocolate from a little place near where she lived so they did that before apparating to the back yard and coming into the kitchen. The study group still looked at them stunned and Hermione looked as mad as before. Kristi spoke up, "We're really sorry about that. Here's some chocolate from Paris. We didn't mean to interrupt your group."
Harry added, "It was totally my fault. Hermione told me you were coming but I completely forgot. Practice was hard and then when no one was here when we got back, I just forgot. It's totally my fault."
"Yes it is Harry," Hermione said coldly, making Harry feel even worse.
Kristi spoke up again, "Well, let's meet properly. I'm Kristi and this is Harry."
The group introduced themselves and things were getting a little less weird when Harry said, "Well we can go somewhere else so I don't get into further trouble with my roommate who will probably lock me out for the next month and tell the house-elves not to cook for me." The rest of the group laughed. "Oh, I see you know her well enough already to know she'd do it," Harry added trying to keep them happy.
Harry and Kristi turned to leave but Hermione said, "Don't leave. I want the group to get used to you so they can come over more often. And next time, I'll hang a sign or something since you can't remember a bloody thing."
Harry and Kristi went to the living room and began discussing the upcoming Quidditch match. Harry told her he was really worried about playing Bulgaria again.
"Trust me, you'll be great," she said leaning over and giving him a kiss. They both heard some laughing from the other room and knew they had been spotted.
"Sorry Hermione. I won't touch either," Harry said causing laughter from the other room.
Things got better throughout the day.
Most of the students would come in and talk to Harry and Kristi and
after a few minutes they started treating them normally. Harry had to hand it to Hermione; her idea
seemed to be working. It was getting
late when Harry asked the group if they were hungry, and they all were. "Winky
could fix us something here, or I could go out and bring us something back or,
I could take us all out to eat. It's your call. My way of apologizing for getting off on the wrong foot." Harry turned to Kristi and saw her nod in
agreement. The group chose going
out. They weren't dressed to go to
Harry's favorite restaurant in Diagon Alley, but one of the girls suggested a
place near their school. They said it
was very popular and had good food.
The restaurant was crowded when the group got there and since they needed a table for eight, it looked like it may be difficult. The girl who suggested the place went to ask for a table, came back and said, "It'll be about an hour since we have a big group, should we wait at the bar?"
Hermione said, "Harry. Now you can make up for your rude entrance today." She pointed to the hostess.
Harry pulled Kristi over with him and the two began talking to the hostess. The hostess became all flustered and called over two of the waitresses. Kristi was really good at this kind of thing and kept talking to the girls. In just a few minutes, Kristi motioned the rest of the group to follow and they were quickly shown to an area near the window where the staff was quickly pulling some tables together for them. When everyone sat down Harry asked, "Am I forgiven now?"
Hermione smiled and said, "Of course." Then she turned to the group and said, "You see what I have to put up with. He's never going to grow up."
Kristi spoke up quickly, "And, I don't see any problem with that."
A few people ended up coming over since the group knew other patrons in the restaurant. Harry and Kristi both put up with meeting a lot of students during their meal. After eating, Harry paid and they all went back to his home since the students were going to study a bit more. Hermione spoke up, "Ok, you all should feel special because Harry absolutely hates meeting people like that. He wouldn't do it for just anyone."
"I don't absolutely hate it; I'd just rather go visit dementors," he joked. Harry and Kristi said their goodbyes and went to her apartment for some quiet time alone.
When Harry got home the next day he went straight to Hermione. "I'm so sorry about yesterday. I'm just used to you being gone on Saturdays and when you have the study group here, I'm usually gone. It won't happen again."
"It's no big deal. Actually, it worked out pretty good. They saw you messing up and then trying to apologize to them. That makes you seem pretty normal. At least you had towels on," Hermione laughed.
Harry had been preparing for his next mission as envoy. He was supposed to travel to Romania to meet with some vampires. He had reservations about this meeting since he still felt angry with vampires for killing R.J., but he also knew that R.J. wanted better relations with wizards so he wanted this to work for her. Harry was leaving the day after his next Quidditch match and was supposed to return before the morning. France won their match and was still undefeated this season. Harry didn't go to the celebration since he had to leave the next day. After getting up late, he practiced Quidditch until it was time to eat. He sat around talking to Hermione until after supper, and then he told her that he expected to be back before morning and then apparated away.
The ministry had made the arrangements and told him he was to meet with two representatives outside of an old pub on the outskirts of a small village. It was already dark when he arrived. The area seemed like something right out of some old Muggle horror flick. After waiting for longer than he expected, Harry finally saw two figures walk towards him from further down the lane. They seemed to stop so he began approaching them.
Harry got close to the two figures and one extended his hand as if to give a handshake. Before Harry could even get his arm extended, he felt two piercing stabs of pain and fell backwards onto the ground. Glancing down, Harry saw an arrow sticking out of both sides of his left thigh and another poking out of his left shoulder. He immediately recalled his last meeting with vampires and reacted to the two he could see. Harry went to grab his wand and saw the sudden movement of something dark just before it hit his head. In the back of his mind he heard a familiar voice, "just do it," and then vaguely remembered himself changing.