Chapter 6: The Summer's Adventures
The last few weeks had been interesting, Harry mused as he worked out in the gym. The girls and their friends had kept most of Harry's time occupied. They had done so many things together from playing stupid games, going on picnics, watching movies together to going to the disco. Harry had enjoyed himself on most occasions though there were some things he hadn't enjoyed. Like losing bets.
He remembered the first bet he had lost to Vicky cost him two weeks of washing dishes at her house in the mornings. It was Vicky's daily chore to wash the breakfast dishes and she'd made him do it. Harry had met Mr. and Mrs. Denver who were lecturers at the local university, Vicky's older sister Alice (she preferred to be called Ice) and her younger computer-game-crazy brother, Alex. They were all very nice even when Harry acted a little strange sometimes. It was just that sitting around the dining table in the kitchen with the family sometimes forcibly reminded Harry of the Weasleys and similar mornings at their breakfast table. Then he would remember their revolted expressions at the trial and everything inside him would freeze up. The Denvers didn't mind him zoning out. One of those mornings, Mrs. Denver had asked him why his hair was white and the others looked at him questioningly. Harry had stared at his hands on the table for a while before answering in a low voice with just one word. "Trauma!" His voice and expression had been enough to warn off the others not to ask anything else and they had respected his privacy.
Harry spent a lot of time at the Denvers'. Their little group spent some afternoons watching movies there. One afternoon Harry had gone to fetch the popcorn from the kitchen but stopped when he re-entered the living room. "What is wrong with this picture?" he'd mused out loud seeing the girls sprawled around the room. It had taken him a moment to figure it out. He was the only guy there. The situation had seriously freaked him out and the next time the girls had invited him, he had been assured that Jake and Robb would be there too. Seeing the teenagers 'wasting' sooo much of their time watching movies, Mr. and Mrs. Denver had insisted they all enroll for some of the short courses offered at the U for the community. Harry had been skeptical at first but he had enjoyed himself and learned a lot in courses such as 'Body Language 101', 'Graphology: The art of analyzing handwriting' and 'Persuasion Power: Dealing with People'.
Harry had learnt a lot out of classes too. It was amazing how much you could learn if you were driven enough. Harry had watched the personal trainers at Exizt deal with difficult and complaining customers with an unwavering smile. He had watched the girls shopping for outfits, how they bargained on the sales items, how they manipulated him and the other boys into going with them and how they dealt with unwanted attention from some of the boys at the mall. But the disco night had been the biggest eye-opener.
Harry hadn't been too comfortable with the idea but decided he'd just go for the experience. And boy what an experience it had been. His hair had been considered some funky new style and drew attention all night long. Harry turned out to be a surprisingly good dancer once Vicky had managed to coax him onto the dance floor and then he had to spent a good hour dancing with the girls. When he'd taken a break, he'd noticed Ice with a group of friends on the opposite side of the dance floor. Vicky had pointed out some other friends too. There had been one guy who had caught almost everyone's attention when he entered. Vicky explained that he worked as a stripper at the club for the three a.m. shows which they sadly wouldn't be watching. That gorgeous creature had moved with such a catlike grace, his every move mesmerizing. He had been wearing a sleeveless black sequined top that glittered with every movement and a pair of enticing leather pants. He had joined a girl at one of the tables and even danced with her later. He had gotten a great deal of catcalls and some loud and rude offers that he had silenced with a look. Harry had to admire his style, how he commanded respect and obedience despite working as a stripper. Harry didn't doubt that if it hadn't been for the man's attitude, the girls and even some of the guys wouldn't have kept their hands to themselves. Harry himself had suffered that kind of attention. He had been completely unprepared to be shoved against a dark corner by one of the 'bad girls' in a tight outfit and wild makeup. Never would he forget the suggestive things she had whispered in his ears as she ran her fingers over his slightly-muscled torso, her tongue darting out to flick over his ear. Vicky had effectively put an end to that by flinging some scathing remarks at her before dragging Harry away. Harry thought she was jealous. Sometimes she did act rather possessively towards him. It had been fun. They had gone back a few more times. Harry had kept his eyes on the male stripper whenever he saw him and though he wouldn't admit it to anyone else, he had taken to practicing the man's style. Hey, if it helped keep the reporters at bay, he'd be willing to try anything.
And then there was Vicky. She had taught him a great deal all by herself. She had seemed like a fun-loving child at first but Harry soon realized that she was anything but. Harry remembered one day when they had just newly become friends, he had been in the park with them, sitting in his usual place on the wooden planks, feet dangling a few inches above the grass. The girls had been chatting and the topic of back-stabbing best friends had come up. Harry hadn't heard much after that. His mind had returned to the painful memories his ex-best friends had given him. Thanks to the dementors, those were some of the clearest memories he had. Ron burning his things in the dorm, Hermione crying silently as he was shoved outside the school gates. He had held on to a sliver of hope, trusting Hermione's logic to come to his rescue. He had thought she would know he hadn't been the one responsible for all the deaths, just like she had known he hadn't put his own name in the Goblet. The first day of the trials she had avoided his gaze, focusing on the trial while Ron had glared venomously every time Harry had looked at Hermione. But as the trial progressed, she had turned against him. Mad-Eye Moody or rather Barty Crouch had presented all the evidence on how Harry had cheated right from the First Task. Ludo Bagman had testified that 'Harry had tricked him into betting on Harry to win the Tournament and planned to cheat Bagman out of all his money' in hopes that the court would somehow take care of the goblins who were after him to get their money. And somewhere far away, Voldemort had learnt of his link to Harry through the scar from Wormtail's description of the events of Harry's First Year at Hogwarts. Voldemort hadn't wasted a moment. He had worked complex magic to gain as much control over Harry's mind as he could, resulting in Harry saying some damning things during the trial. Harry had tried to fight the dark magic and the pain in his scar, he had tried to tell Dumbledore and the Weasleys and Hermione but no one listened to his pleas. He had been unable to find a way to stop Voldemort, unable to research a way to block the link since he didn't have any friends or any books. And his best-friends' testimony had only helped make the case stronger against him, he thought bitterly.
He was so lost in those dark memories that he forgot where he was. So lost that he hadn't heard the girls talking to him. And then Vicky had told the others she knew exactly how to snap him out of it. She had marched over to where Harry was sitting, grabbed his face firmly with both hands and kissed him thoroughly. Harry had been jolted out of his memories, so surprised to find himself being kissed for the first time that he hadn't been able to move or think until Vicky had finally released him. He had stared at her openmouthed until the girls' laughter had caused him to flush and snap his mouth shut. Vicky had licked her lips, staring at him thoughtfully then announced "You taste good!" which had made the girls giggle again. Harry had attempted to stare menacingly at the laughing girls but the effect was spoiled by his flushed face and deciding there was nothing for it, he had escaped.
Harry's fitness program had gone much better than expected. He now had more fit body and a respectable height thanks to his grueling workouts and carefully planned diet. He had pushed himself pretty hard even when Ashley had told him to take a break or call it a day, knowing that a strong body and good height were essential for an intimidating presence. As the holidays were coming close to an end, Harry decided to add the finishing touches to his transformation by getting a tan. So he planned a beach vacation for the three weeks before he had to return to Hogwarts. When he told his group of 'friends', they had been disappointed that he was leaving but happy for him all the same. The mention of the beach and a tan had brought on another long discussion about Harry's so-called carnal appetites. The girls never tired of teasing him about that stupid priority quiz result. Vicky remained pretty quiet for a while before snapping her fingers and dashing off to call her dad. The next day Vicky dragged Harry to her house where everyone was having breakfast. Just when he thought he would finally be getting away from Vicky's amorous assaults, she announced that the family would be joining Harry for the vacation. Vicky's family had been planning a vacation since her dad's promotion and moving into the big house in this neighborhood but they couldn't agree on where to go. Now they had decided that Harry had the right idea and wouldn't it be fun if they all went together? Harry really couldn't see any way out of the arrangement and he knew that they meant well, but he still tried all the feeble protests before reluctantly giving his flight number and hotel reservations to Mr. Denver.
So here he was, taking a final swim at the large Exizt swimming pool the evening before his flight. Ashley had given him all the instructions on maintaining his form and fitness. He had finished buying all the clothes he'd need, visiting the boutique with Ashley the week before and all the times the girls had taken him to the mall and talked him into buying some leather and denim things as well as sporty branded outfits. The Dursleys were still too freaked out by him to do much more than grunt or sniff when he'd told them he was going off. He had said his good-byes to all the people he had gotten to know over the summer and only one person was left. He wanted to thank Ashley for all that she had done. She was busy with a phone-call just now but he knew she'd have time for a chat since the place was almost empty. She was the only person he'd told about Azkaban and everything and he was grateful for her silent support. She hadn't asked any more questions since the day he'd first told her even when he could sense that she wondered about some things. She also had the uncanny ability to sense his moods and she would plan jogging or kickboxing on the mornings when he showed up after suffering heavy nightmares. Harry climbed out of the swimming pool and picked up his bathrobe which was lying near the glass panel that separated the swimming pool from the gym. Ashley approached him as he was busy tying the sash.
"Ashley!" Harry grinned as he looked up and saw her.
"You've come to say goodbye?" she asked as she came closer to him. She looked sad but serene.
"Yeah! I...I wanted to thank you for all...." Harry glanced down not knowing how to form the words to thank her. He didn't notice how close she had come.
"For all the things I have done? But I haven't done anything" she said coming even closer.
"You've done so much, Ashley. You've completely changed me" Harry said earnestly.
He was caught by surprise when she hugged him fiercely.
"Goodbye Harry. It was nice knowing you" she smiled sadly, a single tear escaping her eyes before she turned around and walked away.
He wanted to go after her, tell her he'd probably be back next year but he decided to let it go. Instead he headed for the changing rooms, strangely at peace with everything. He would miss her.
Harry picked up his bag and left Exizt, pausing at the huge gates to take a final look. And then he was off to his final night of sleeping at the Dursleys. This time tomorrow, he would be on a flight to a beach paradise.