Well, I have to admit that this is one of my favorite chapters in the entire story. Hopefully, you will all like it as much as I do.
Now, for the kiddies, this chapter definitely earns a good solid PG rating. There is a rather intense kissing scene in this chapter. Nothing further happens (hate to disappoint you that are hoping for more) but in deference to those who would prefer not to read anything about Harry and Cassie snogging on the couch, you can skip the entire area bracketed by asterisks and not miss any of the plot.
And for those of you who are anxious for the kissing and want more of it, you can read the area between the asterisks twice!!!
Please let me know what you think. I love hearing from you, either by e-mail or by review. Thanks to all you faithful readers! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much.
Chapter 35
A Knock at the Door
They were strolling back to Harry's house the next morning. Well, okay. Harry was strolling and Cassie was being practically dragged. It had taken quite a bit of talking to get Cassie to agree to come back. "I'm not afraid, Harry. I'm not. Really." Harry imagined that both his eyebrows had taken permanent residence at the top of his forehead at those comments. He was trying to annoy her, egg her on, and the raised questioning eyebrows had done the job. He had tried simply asking. She had said no. He had tried begging. She had said no. He had tried explaining why he needed to be there. She had said no. He had accused her of being frightened. She had said . . . . "I'm not afraid." And she had come with him. He felt kind of devious about it but he had been away too much the last few days and he knew it. So, they would spend today together at his house. He planned to spend the next day there, too. But he didn't tell her that. He would wait and see how today went.
The thought had crossed his mind that he could always stay at home by himself but that thought held no appeal to him at all and he wondered how he had managed to survive all the time before she was such an important part of his life. And somewhere in the back of his mind was a question of how he was going to manage to survive when she could no longer be there. That was a question Harry ignored. He didn't want to know.
He didn't really have anything planned in particular. He still had three videos that he had not watched, but he did not really want to spend all day watching television with her. They could always play chess. She seemed to enjoy that the last time. Other than that, he guessed they were just going to have to improvise. It shouldn't be too hard. They had always managed before.
They soon arrived on his street. Two times before, things had gone very smoothly. This time, they didn't. Harry rarely saw his neighbors; he hardly even knew they existed and he was quite sure they didn't know about him. After all, there was usually no house there at all for them to see much less wonder about its occupant. When Harry and Cassie turned the corner, Harry pulled the now very well-worn piece of parchment out of his back pocket but then had to wait. An elderly woman was out in her yard, apparently taking out the trash. Cassie was startled by the delay and with Harry's attention off her she started looking around at the little houses nearby. Harry could feel her body stiffen and knew at once what had happened. "Harry, I think we're on the wrong street. I don't see . . . ." Before she could finish the sentence, Harry turned to her, grabbed her by the arms, and kissed her, hard.
"You've got to trust me for just a minute, Cassie, okay?" She nodded, and did not turn again to look at the place where his front door usually stood. Finally, finally, the door shut behind the woman and Harry handed the parchment to Cassie. "Let's hurry." Cassie was about to speak, but Harry closed her mouth with his and he was very gratified to hear the familiar pop of his house's appearance.
As he drew away from her, she looked at him and said, "I just have one question, Harry, about this whole kissing thing."
"Yeah?"
"What do you do when you come here by yourself?" Harry just stood there, gulping air like a fish, but Cassie didn't wait for an answer. She headed up his steps and he jogged up them quickly behind her.
"It is good to see you here again so soon, Miss. I hope that you have a pleasant day." Harry muttered the password and smiled to himself as the door opened, he stepped through closely followed by Cassie. He tried to shut the door quickly, but she hadn't quite gotten out of the way and both of them heard a very disgruntled voice saying, "How was that, Harry? I was as polite as . . . ." Then the door was shut and Harry started locking the six locks. Cassie waited without saying a word until he turned from the door to meet her steady gaze.
"I threatened it." That was all Harry said. She just nodded. Then he took her hand and pulled her close to him. "I wanted you to feel a little more welcome here than you did last time." She nodded again. Her small hands were all over him and it was only after a moment that Harry realized she had reached under his T-shirt and taken his wand. He had a momentary feeling of panic. What was she going to do with it? But she just put it carefully on the table. Then she put the piece of parchment down next to it. She met his gaze calmly, as though accepting that this was part of his life and she needed to get used to it. Harry put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so glad you came with me today. I like having you here." She nodded yet again and stepped forward to meet him, her mouth raising expectantly for his kiss. His hands tangled through her hair which hung long down her back today but he didn't bend.
He glanced around, remembering how the night before she had felt against him when she was . . . . oh, yes. Harry made a quick half turn so that now he was facing the door and she had her back to it. He made one small step forward and then another until she was pressed against the door panels. He looked down at her, wondering if she was nervous or frightened. She wasn't. Her eyes were bright with what Harry thought looked suspiciously like excitement. Now he bent and kissed her, feeling her against him like he had the night before. This morning, her mouth tasted of mint and chocolate. Harry moved a little, angling his mouth against hers for a better angle. Cassie made a little mewling noise in the back of her throat and Harry decided that he wanted to hear that again. His mouth lifted off hers for a moment, green eyes clashing with blue. His hand cupped the back of her head and he bent down to kiss her again. Yes, there it was, that soft eager sound. "Cassie." He stepped back when what he really wanted most was to press forward. His mind struggled for purchase in the midst of the fog of emotions that swirled through him. He smiled at the look on her face. She looked like he felt. "I think . . . . I think we need that timer." She gasped in surprise and the air shifted. He took another step back and pulled her away from the door. "I think that's enough of that. I did have something else in mind entirely when I invited you over here."
"Oh, really. What?" Her voice was slightly hoarse but teasing.
"Chess." He said simply and turned, leading her into the small living room. "Do you remember what you learned last time?"
"I remember, Harry, but I have to admit I've been cheating a little."
Harry looked at her, unsure of exactly what she was saying. "What?"
"I'll call it cheating because I was using something that belongs to you." Now Harry was really confused. Cassie darted back to the entry hall, where she had dropped her purse. She snatched it up and turned to Harry, pulling a small package out of her purse at the same time. "I bought this for you." Her voice turned somber for a minute. "It was supposed to be a going away present, but . . . . Well, I realize that this doesn't come close to the telescope, but . . . . You said you always lose when you play against Ron, and I thought it might help a little." Harry took the package from her, surprised but pleased that she had thought enough of him to get him a gift. He was still always very surprised when he got presents. And the fact that it was not expected, like it would be at Christmas or his birthday, made this even more special. He sat down and opened the wrapping, embarrassed that his hands were shaking a little, but she made no comment.
It was a book - of chess strategy. He laughed, suddenly realizing what she meant about cheating. She had been reading his book. He smiled up at her, and opened the book to the first chapter, "Opening Moves." "So, Cassie, did you learn a lot from my book?"
"Quite a bit. Shall we play?"
She apparently had learned "quite a bit" because although Harry did win in the end, it took quite a bit of effort on his part and by the time he had finally called checkmate, more than two hours had passed. It had been a very enjoyable morning, with lots of talking and teasing and laughing. He had kept his ears open for any noise from Sir Lionel, even leaving the door to the bedroom open a sliver and the door to the back hall open wide so that he could hear if the old knight called his name. Cassie went back to the bathroom once and Harry sat on pins and needles until she emerged. He had turned the painting back toward the wall again this morning in anticipation of her coming but she may still have heard the snoring and just peeked in. However, Harry felt like there needed to be some level of trust between them, even if it was small. He had kept too many secrets from her.
After the chess game, they both sat on the floor for quite a long time before bothering to move. It was very enjoyable, just talking to her about anything and everything and nothing in particular. Harry glanced at the clock and gasped. No wonder he was hungry. It was well past noon. "Cassie, aren't you hungry? I know I am."
"Harry, you are always hungry. How many times a day do you eat?"
"Do you mean counting snacks, or just actual meals?" He was teasing, helping her to her feet. "Because I'd have to say probably about eight, if you count snacks." She didn't appear surprised.
"I bet."
When they got to the kitchen though, she was less than pleased with the offerings Harry had for lunch. "Well," he said in way of defense, "I haven't exactly been home to go shopping now recently, have I? I've got plenty to eat, just not a lot of, um, vegetable stuff."
"First thing tomorrow, we'll have to go to the store. Maybe we can even go this afternoon." She was looking with slight distaste at the frozen pizzas that Harry was centering on two different cookie sheets. "Don't you think one will be enough for both of us? I'm sure that I won't eat more than one piece."
"They're really good -- not the cheap ones. And anyway, I can easily eat two by myself, so it won't be wasted." He shut the oven door and set the timer so that he wouldn't forget about them. Not that his stomach would let him. He was starved. He'd been too nervous to eat much breakfast. "Can't shop today, Cass. I really want to stay home today. And you do realize that every time we come back we have to go through the whole address reading-kissing thing, don't you?" She didn't comment on his shortened version of her name or his casual mention of how they got into the house.
"Yeah, I kind of thought so. All right, first thing tomorrow, then, we shop and then bring the groceries here, okay? That way we only have to come inside once." Harry nodded. She really was a little bit of a pain when it came to his eating habits. Oh, well. At least she wasn't constantly nagging him to study. He bit back a grin, knowing that if she demanded an explanation that it would be difficult. He hadn't told her much about Hermione - not like the things he had told her about Ron -- but what he had said basically boiled down to the fact that Hermione was a bit of a nag, which was very true. Cassie would not be flattered if Harry told her that she reminded him of his friend.
The pizzas were done a few minutes later and Harry pulled them out of the oven and cut them. True to her earlier statement, Cassie only wanted one piece while Harry managed to eat almost a whole pizza before he got embarrassed and put the rest into the fridge. He promised himself that he would eat the rest later. After they quickly washed up the plates, cups, silverware, and pans, they stood in the kitchen looking at each other for a moment. "What did you want to do this afternoon, then, if you don't want to shop?" Cassie seemed a little nervous to ask this. Harry was not sure why. Maybe she thought she was being too forward.
"I don't know. What sounds nice to you?"
"Do you still have the three videos that we rented yesterday?"
"Yeah. I haven't had any time to watch them, silly. I was a little busy last night, if you remember." Cassie flushed slightly at the reminder of the evening before. Harry didn't really want to watch a video, although all of them looked pretty good. He preferred to spend time just talking to her. He was not used to sitting still for long periods of time watching television. Maybe it was a little different for Muggles. He knew that Dudley did this the entire day - not that he liked to compare this beautiful, funny, interesting girl with his disgusting cousin, but still.
He supposed that watching television with her did have some advantages. Usually, they got to sit very close together and if the movie was boring, he got to play with her hair or her hands and sometimes sneak kisses. Plus, she usually didn't nag him about eating during videos - this seemed to be expected. Not that he was hungry now but two hours was a long time. And if they watched two . . . So, a little later he watched as she bit her lower lip and studied the three boxes in front of her.
"I can't decide. I like all of them. . . .Oh, let's do this one. It's funny." He sighed as she slipped it into the machine and flipped on the television. This VCR thing was not working out the way he thought it would. It was supposed to give him something to do when he was not with Cassie, to keep him from going insane in the house. Instead, he had only watched movies when she was here with him and he wanted to be doing something else. He didn't press too far into his brain to figure out what the something else was. Considering the rather strict rules he was now operating under, it was better not to think about it. Then she was sitting very close to him, as he had expected, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders.
The movie was, actually, fairly funny and Harry laughed quite a bit for the first 30 minutes or so. Then, he shifted a little to get more comfortable and Cassie moved a bit to allow the adjustment and her hair was in his face for a minute and he suddenly lost all interest in what was happening on the small screen across the room. Because right now, he had a beautiful girl right next to him, and she was infinitely more interesting. He reached up and tugged on one of her curls. It straightened under his fingers but when he let go, it popped back into shape and Harry was fascinated with the way it picked up the light, almost changing colors as it straightened and curled under his hand. Cassie didn't say anything but Harry had a feeling that she was very aware of what he was doing because she had stopped laughing at the movie and she was holding herself very still. He found another curl and pulled gently on it, watching as it curled back over her ear. He tugged on it a little harder, wanting her to turn to look at him. Instead, one of the gold clips that she had holding her hair back popped off and the whole weight of her hair fell against her cheek. Harry's eyes widened a little bit. "Oops."
"Oops? You did that on purpose." She had turned now, her eyes sparkling. "Put it back in." He swallowed. He hadn't expected that. It seemed very - sensual somehow, fixing her hair.
"Okay. I'll try." He let his fingers grab the curtain of hair by her cheek, pulling it up over her ear but then he couldn't get the clip to go in right. After a few futile attempts, trying not to laugh at how silly he was making her look, he said, "This is ridiculous. I can do this. I know how to make it match the other side of your head." She was still facing away from him, pretending to be very annoyed, but she was smiling.
"How's that?"
"Like this." And his free hand reached up to the other side of her head and pulled out the second clip so that yet another curtain of hair fell against her other cheek. She stopped pretending to watch the movie, now, and turned to face him.
"What is it with you and my hair?"
"I like it. It's pretty and it feels nice."
"It's not going to look pretty if you keep messing with it." She took the clips from his unresisting fingers and moved to put the first one in. He pulled it out again. She bit her lip. Harry stared at her. She wasn't mad, yet.
"By messing with it, what do you mean, exactly?" He pretended ignorance. She didn't answer. "Do you mean, kind of like this?" And he took both hands, now free of the clips, pushed them up into her hair, and . . .
"Aaagh! I can't believe you just did that! Is that how you take care of your own hair? No wonder it always looks like that!!!" But she was laughing and Harry laughed, too. He had messed her hair up pretty badly, his large hands doing a fairly thorough job of canceling any brushing she had done to it that morning. She turned to face him completely on the couch, pulling her legs up and turning so that she was kneeling in front of him, her hands on his shoulders. "How would you like me to do that to you?" And she put her hands in his hair and did a similar rubbing motion. Of course, in his always-tousled hair it made little difference. She pretended to study the results. "Actually, I think that looks better." He laughed and put his hands on her waist to steady her as she looked like she was about to tip over. Suddenly, they both stopped laughing.
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He cleared his throat, not looking away from her. "Are you still wanting to watch the video, Cassie?"
"Um, not really. Maybe we could . . . . I mean, what shall we do instead?" Harry had reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote, not even breaking eye contact with her for this. He just pushed buttons with his thumb until he heard the television turn off and they were in complete silence. He reached up and removed his glasses and put them down by the remote. She now was a little out of focus, but Harry could see her well enough for what he had in mind.
"I thought that maybe I could kiss you."
She drew in a breath and held it. "Yeah. I think I'd like that." Since she was kneeling, she was actually a little taller than he was at the moment as he was still sitting and it was a unique sensation as he tilted his head up to meet her lips. They kissed for a few minutes that way, her hands on his shoulders again, clutching the material of his T-shirt like she thought he might suddenly leave. His hands were still on her waist and he tugged carefully on her shirt, pleased when it was freed from the waistband of her jeans. He let his hand slip just under the hem and he touched the bare skin of her back like he had wanted to a long time ago. It was just as soft as he had imagined. They pulled apart then, unsure of what to do next. "Has it been 15 minutes?" she asked, breathlessly. He just shook his head.
He pushed down on her hips so that she wasn't kneeling above him anymore but was instead sitting with her bum on her feet which were still on the couch. This brought her to his level exactly and it didn't take more than a gentle tug to pull her over to him. His hands left her waist now although Harry promised himself that he would be back to revisit that soft area of skin in a minute. He said, just a breath away from her mouth, "I think the rules say that we can only kiss with lips, which means no French kissing, right?" She nodded, and if to test his resolve, her little tongue darted out to moisten lips that were swollen from his kissing. Harry groaned in his throat. Did she know what that did to him? Probably not. He forced his mind back to his statement. "But they didn't say we could only kiss on the lips, did they?" She shook her head slowly, as if unsure where this was leading. "Good, I didn't think so." His lips, instead of settling over hers found the underside of her jaw instead. She tasted so sweet. He carefully kissed along her jaw to her ear, where he spent several long minutes exploring its tiny whorls and curves and found that when he bit gently on her earlobe, she shivered almost uncontrollably. He was holding her head still in his hands and tilted her head to the side as his mouth found the soft skin right behind her ear where he had stroked the night before. She gasped, drawing in a deep breath, her hands clutching yet again at his shirt and then releasing it to find purchase in his hair instead. He repeated the whole process on the other side, blowing a small puff of air on the skin he had moistened with his mouth a second ago, and holding her carefully as she shivered again, breathing his name on a sigh so soft that he thought he might not have heard her correctly. He pulled back a little to look at her. Her eyes were almost closed, her breathing rapid. When she felt his gaze, she dragged her eyelids open.
"Oh, Harry. I want to kiss you like that."
"I . . . ." He tried again. "I wouldn't complain."
She shifted a little closer to him, and kissed him on the jaw, mimicking his earlier kiss. Harry could feel the slight raspiness of his skin against hers as she moved her lips carefully along to his ear. He thought that he had never felt anything so exquisite as the soft press of her mouth against the skin under his ear and almost jumped out of that skin when she blew a warm puff of air over him, as well. His hands tightened convulsively on her waist where they had settled again. He wanted to run his hands up under her blouse, but didn't. He didn't want to spoil the moment. It was hers, right now. Instead of tracing his jaw again to his other ear, she made her way in gentle kisses over his forehead, taking little detours to his eyelids and eyebrows. He stiffened slightly, then, as she continued, knowing what was coming, but he didn't stop her. Her soft kiss soothed the ever-present pain of it and he groaned his approval as she softly kissed the mark on his forehead. She kissed it again and he thought he might melt. Finally, maybe sensing that things were getting too, . . . . something, she continued down to his other ear and as her teeth closed gently around an earlobe, Harry leaned back, no longer able to hold himself upright. She remained sitting on her feet, watching him. They were both breathing pretty fast and Harry closed his eyes to get the enchanting picture of her out of his mind but it didn't work, so a moment later, he opened them again.
"Harry . . . . I hate . . .to . . .spoil the moment . . ." He started. Was she going to insist that she needed to leave? Was she going to tell him not to touch her again? She had enjoyed it. That was obvious from the deep breaths she kept taking. "But my feet . . . are asleep. I've got . . .to move."
She may as well have been speaking a different language. He had no clue what she had said. "What?" He felt drugged, like her words were coming from too far away to reach his ears.
"I've got to move my feet." She did, then, rather desperately and this time the cry that escaped her lips was not one of pleasure. "Oh, ow, ow!" She shook them desperately, trying to get some blood back in them. She tried to stand up but they wouldn't support her weight and she half fell back onto the couch. Harry quickly regained his senses.
"Here, I'll rub them for you."
"I don't know if that's . . . a good idea." But tears were rising in her eyes. They were obviously very numb and were hurting badly. So, she scooted away from him on the couch and stuck her feet onto his lap. He removed her shoes and started gently rubbing her feet. She was groaning again but this was not from pleasure. It hurt for him to touch her, but he knew that was what she needed.
He was thorough, careful, separating each toe and rubbing it, and also spending time on her heels and insteps. She had beautiful feet, he decided, even through her socks. He was concentrating so hard on her feet and ankles that it was not until she had stopped groaning completely and he decided that he was done that he looked up at her. She had given up supporting her weight on her hands, apparently, for she was now laying down on the couch, her head against the other arm-rest and her eyes were closed. She looked so relaxed that Harry thought she had gone to sleep. Some of her hair was in her face and Harry had a moments' guilt at what a mess he had made of her beautiful curls. He bent over to push it gently to the side, deciding that having Cassie sleep on his couch this afternoon would be very nice. But as he leaned over her, her blue eyes opened and he stopped suddenly. His left hand was braced against the top of the couch, supporting most of his weight. His right hand was on the cushions of the couch next to her shoulder. It was that hand that he had planned on using to move the wayward curl. When their startled gazes met at that moment, she smiled a warm welcoming smile and brought both her hands up to the front of his T-shirt. "Thanks," she said and gave one hard quick pull on the shirt. His right arm collapsed and he literally fell onto her. He had a brief thought that he should get up, but then she was slipping her arms around his neck and she was kissing him and he lost all motivation to do so. He slowly slipped the left hand off the back of the couch to her shoulder where it worked its way under the sleeve of her shirt, stroking her skin softly. His right hand had found its way down to where her shirt was untucked. Her skin was warm and soft and his touch raised goose bumps on it that he could feel under his fingers.
His mouth left hers and tracked down to the underside of her jaw again. That had been so nice before. But this time, he didn't stop there. He found himself kissing her neck, now, planting soft little kisses on the sensitive cord there. He tracked that down to the delicate edge of her collarbone where he allowed himself the guilty pleasure of his tongue darting out and tasting the salty tang of her skin. She gasped, not expecting that. Her hands were pushing under his shirt, feeling the warm skin of his back. He wished he had that liberty, but he knew if his hands went up under her shirt, they would not stay on her back. Her quick breaths, practically pants, were driving him insane. They pushed her even closer to him and he had an almost overwhelming desire to pull his feet off the floor, bring them onto the couch, and settle his weight even more solidly on her. He wanted to feel her softness under him completely. He continued discovering and tasting her neck and throat and, wanting to have even more skin to kiss without material in the way, he undid the top button of her shirt, pushing the collar aside and kissing the softness he uncovered. He kissed her mouth again, briefly, to assure her that he had not forgotten it. He shifted again, settling his weight more directly on her as he lost himself in the enjoyment of kissing her. His hands went back to the buttons of her shirt, intent on opening another one so that he could . . . . She moaned something he didn't understand. He thought vaguely that he should probably figure out what she said, and he decided he could do that in a minute. She moved a little under him and Harry groaned. He lifted his head finally and looked up at her. "What?"
"Harry. Harry, I . . . think we . . . better stop."
"Yeah, you're right." He nodded with his words. He didn't stop, though. She liked what he was doing, that was obvious. She kept making those little noises and grabbing at his back to pull him closer, despite what her mouth said. Just a few minutes more and then he would stop. Harry continued to kiss her neck and pulled her blouse a little to the side so he could continue kissing her other shoulder.
Cassie pushed Harry up a little as she breathlessly exclaimed again, "Harry. Harry . . . I . . . I really . . . think we better stop or . . . we may . . ." He nodded again, knowing she was right. A moment later, Cassie pushed as hard as she could on his left shoulder. Harry wasn't expecting the sudden shove and he lost his balance. He was unable to catch himself and he slid onto the floor.
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He lay there for a minute, staring at the ceiling, unable to process exactly how he had come to be there. He remembered . . . oh, yeah. She had asked him to stop, twice. He felt hot color flood his cheeks. What was he thinking? What would she do? He had a sudden sinking feeling. She would want to leave, of course. He didn't blame her. He was unsure what to do. Should he sit up and apologize? What would he say? Sorry that I . . . . lost control there. Maybe he could just crawl away and never have to face her. No, that wasn't really an option. What was she thinking? He wanted to know, but he didn't want to at the same time. Just when he had decided that he had to say something to her, a rather flushed face peeked over the edge of the couch and looked down at him.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Sorry I shoved you onto the floor."
"No. I deserved it. I'm sorry that I . . . ."
"You shouldn't apologize. I kind of . . . well, I liked it. I mean, I wanted you to do that. I pulled you down on me, remember?"
"Oh." They both laid back down, her on the couch and him on the floor. They didn't say anything. Harry's breathing gradually slowed to close to normal. He finally sat up. She had her arm up over her eyes. He could tell that she was embarrassed, even though her color was normal and her breathing was slowed. There was just something about the way she was holding herself.
"Hey." He pulled her arm away from her eyes. She turned her face into the back of the couch, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. "Your mum's fifteen minute rule is making more sense all the time, isn't it?" She stiffened, but then her shoulders moved and Harry thought she was laughing even though he couldn't hear her.
She finally turned to meet his gaze and he squinted, trying to focus. "I . . ."
"Look, we were both to blame, okay? But we stopped. So let's not blame each other or ourselves." Cassie nodded in response and sat up. Harry grimaced and picked up his glasses from the table. "I guess, you want to . . . go home now, huh?"
"Oh. Do you want me to?" She was speaking softly, hesitantly.
"No. I want you to stay longer. But we'll just be careful, okay? No kissing." They sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally Cassie said,
"So, what shall we do instead? I don't think I want to watch the movie anymore."
"No. How about another game of chest?"
Harry registered the shocked look on Cassie's blushing face. Harry's eyes widened into a horrified expression and his face turned crimson as his own words finally sunk into his brain.
"I mean chess. Chess - let's play chess! Oh, I can't believe I just said that. I'm so sorry."
Cassie's shock turned to laughter at Harry's horrified expression. She reached out to Harry, touched his shoulder and smiled at him, "Funny, very funny. Chess sounds fine if you want. But, do you have any other games?"
Harry thought for a moment as he picked himself up off the floor and settled onto the couch next to Cassie, careful not to touch her. "Well, I have a deck of cards. I learned a great game when I got here called Solitaire. Ever heard of it?"
Harry quickly realized he had again said something wrong as Cassie stared at him like his spaceship had just landed. "You just learned Solitaire? Everyone knows Solitaire." She laughed, shaking her head. "Haven't you played cards before in your life?"
"We play cards. I've played cards at school lots of times," Harry replied a little defensively, "We just play games other than Solitaire."
Cassie smile broadened. "I didn't mean to insult you. That's fine. Let's play cards. I can show you a few new games - something more interesting than Solitaire."
While Harry fetched the deck of cards from his bedroom, Cassie stepped into the bathroom to brush her hair and touch up her make-up. Harry came out of his room and stood at the open door to the bathroom enjoying watching her. She smiled at him self-consciously and finally said, "Don't watch me. You're making me nervous." Harry just laughed and continued to lean against the door frame. She looked like she had been thoroughly kissed. He thought she looked lovely even with her hair all messed up (from his hands, he thought with a thrill) and her makeup all off (from his mouth, he remembered and felt very satisfied and a little embarrassed). Cassie finished freshening up and they made their way to the living room. Harry moved the chess board to the desk. They sat across from each other with the coffee table between them and spent the next few hours playing cards and visiting.
They had just finished a third game of War (a game that Harry thought was fairly amusing) and were discussing dinner options when they were both startled by a loud knocking at the front door. Harry froze. Cassie looked at him quizzically.
"Harry, I think someone is knocking at your door."
Harry had gone pale and was thinking frantically to himself who it might be. Had that old wizard, Alfred Gottshawks, accidentally revealed his presence in London? Who could possibly even see his house? Were there Death Eaters at the door ready to kill him and . . .his thoughts turned even more frantic as he thought of Cassie and the danger she was in.
On her part, her initial puzzlement was turning to a mixture of frustration and concern as the pounding increased in both volume and frequency and he made no move to respond. "Harry, I don't think they're going away. Why don't you answer the door?"
The knocking was growing even louder and they could now hear indistinguishable sounds coming from the doorbell. Harry imagined that it was insisting on the password. It wasn't Dumbledore out there, then.
Harry still hesitated and looked concernedly at Cassie and hoped that he didn't look as panicked as he felt. "You don't understand. No one should be at my door."
"Well, someone obviously is. It's probably just a salesman or something."
Harry shook his head. She didn't understand at all. "My house is invisible to people on the street. No one can see it unless they know where it is." He could tell by Cassie's expression she did not understand but he didn't want to take time to explain, even if he could think of a way. Finally, when Cassie turned like she was going to answer the door herself, Harry grabbed her arm. "All right. I'll answer it. Just find a place and hide." Harry took a deep slow breath and walked into the entrance hall. He looked back to check that she was out of sight. She was still standing right where he had left her. "Hide!"
"There's nothing to hide behind!" She obviously was starting to sense his panic, because she screamed this back at him.
"Go in the . . . the hall and shut the door! Don't come out!" Harry saw that she moved out of the line of sight of the door so he approached the front door, which was now practically being shaken in its frame by the force of the banging.
Harry grabbed his wand off the table. He then cautiously looked out the little window in the door. No one was there. All he saw was a completely empty porch. He jumped back as there came another even louder pounding at the door. He was close enough to hear the words in the yelling now. Along with the doorbell's repeated requests for the password, he heard, "Please let us in! Let us in! Dumbledore sent us to get something. Please!" Then, "We don't know the bloody password, so shut the hell up, you stupid git!" More pounding and then "Open the bloody door!" Harry recognized the voices in an instant and quickly unlocked all six locks and swung open the door.
He was met with a scream, a rustling of fabric, and then at Harry's feet appeared an arm and some bushy brown hair. A wand rolled noisily across the porch in the sudden shocked silence. Ron's pale face appeared an instant later as he shoved the invisibility cloak off his head and exclaimed, "But you're dead! Dumbledore told us you were dead!"