Chapter 4
Tuesday, 27 August, 1996
Potter House, Pottershire
Harry was quite busy that morning, preparing for Katie's birthday celebration. He'd insisted, of course, that it be held at his home, as it was far larger and more accommodating than her parents' homes. She'd agreed, but putting the plan into practise had meant that there were actually two parties.
The night before, Harry had accompanied her, Sam, Brenda, and Nick to Bristol, and thence to Swindon, where Brenda's parents lived. There, they dined with Sam's parents, as well as Katie's mum's parents, the Millers. Harry had been relieved that neither the Bells nor the Millers seemed at all ill at ease in the Muggle world, and had he not known they were magical, he would've assumed they were normal grandparents.
Sam had explained to Brenda's parents that they were planning a destination birthday for Katie the next day, hence the separate party. The other grandparents hadn't wanted to impose on the main event, and found a quiet dinner more to their taste.
Katie's real party was to be a larger affair, though still smaller than Harry's had been. Madam Longbottom, the Weasley parents, and the professors wouldn't be in attendance. Neither would Seamus, Parvati, Sally-Anne, Fay, Padma, or Luna. Somehow the Slytherins had made the cut, though Harry wasn't complaining. He found that the more time he spent with them, the better he liked them.
The first item on the agenda for the party was lunch, for which Harry went all out. The somewhat shocked guests were surprised to find no fewer than five meat and two vegetarian entrees. There were three types of potatoes, and six vegetable dishes. This was complimented with four types of bread. The cake was a magnificent chocolate sponge covered in chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.
Much like Harry's party, presents followed, as Amelia and Tonks had to get back to work after. Sam and Brenda had gotten Katie a set of expensive tennis racquets and a sleeve of balls, pointing out that there was somewhere she could easily play now. The other adults had gone in on a joint gift as well. Katie gasped as she pulled out a professional grade set of chaser armour for quidditch.
"This is, just… wow," Katie stammered, at a loss for words. "Thanks."
Laying the new armour gently aside, she moved on, opening sweets, clothes, and books from the others in attendance. Finally, she got to the last gift: Harry's. He presented her with a small wrapped gift. Tearing the paper off, she saw a small ring box and her eyes got wide. Opening it, she found not a ring, but a key.
"What?" she asked, confused. She pulled the key out of the box and examined it. The head was black plastic, and featured silver wings inlaid on one side. Turning it over, the other side read 'DB7'.
"The rest of the present's down in the garage," Harry said, cluing her in. Katie's eyes got wide again, and without another word, she ran off. The rest of the party followed her at a more sedate pace.
By the time Harry entered the garage, Katie was already sitting in the driver's seat of her brand-new grey Aston Martin DB7 i6 convertible. She had a bright smile on her face.
"I love it!" she gushed, grinning at Harry. She, along with Harry, had been receiving driving lessons the past week in Harry's Ford Fiesta from Sirius. She was more familiar with cars than Harry. As a result, they found she was the better driver, though Harry was no slouch.
A few minutes later, Amelia said that she and Tonks had to go, so Katie reluctantly abandoned the car, and led the adults upstairs to bid them farewell. Harry, Hermione, and a few others followed, but most ran right for the pool.
Harry and Hermione ended up in the parlour, which had been cleaned in their absence, the gifts stacked neatly on a side table, and the paper removed. The others left them alone, choosing instead to set up in the game room. Ron had said something about chess, while Susan challenged Hannah to billiards. It seemed like things were settling down on that front. Ron and Susan could coexist, so long as neither acknowledged the others existence. It was clear Susan was still angry about their breakup, while Ron was a good enough person not to want to antagonize her.
"So, how was Majorca?" Hermione asked, referencing the two-week trip Harry and Katie had taken at the beginning of the month. It had been part of his Christmas present to Katie. Harry looked around and saw they were alone.
"Interesting and disappointing," Harry said vaguely.
"How was it disappointing?" Hermione asked, confused.
"The beaches were quite crowded and far dirtier than I'm used to," Harry explained. "I guess I'm spoilt by the Resort."
"Did you spend a lot of time on the beaches?" Hermione asked, nodding.
"Not really after the first day," Harry replied. "I mean, we'd walk near the beach, or eat near the beach, but we didn't go to the beach usually. We spent more time looking at cultural sites, and we spent a good bit of time hiking."
"What sorts of cultural sites?" Hermione pressed.
"Some Roman ruins, and a medieval bath complex," Harry said. "There were some others as well, but those stand out. I think when I go on holiday in the future, it'll be to see cultural and natural sites and not to relax. I can do that here."
"That makes sense," Hermione agreed.
"Well, that's the parents sorted," Katie said, entering, then stopped and looked around the empty room. "Where's everyone else?"
"Take a guess," Harry smirked. "The puritans are in the game room. The libertines are in the pool."
"So, which are you?" Katie asked sidling up next to Harry and kissing him on the cheek.
"You're both definitely libertines," Hermione faux sighed.
"And you're not?" Harry asked. "You get naked pretty quick for a puritan."
"Let's not forget the public sex," Katie joined in, causing Hermione to blush.
"It was a hand job!" she protested. "Once! Underwater! In a pool in a private house! And you didn't even know about it until he told you! Need I remind you Harry, you manually stimulated two separate girls at the same time? And Ginny told me about the time Katie performed fellatio on you in the shower."
"Relax, Hermione," Harry grinned. "We're not here to judge. You can be a libertine. It's perfectly alright. Personally, I enjoy it."
"Me too!" Katie piped up. "It really gets my motor running."
"I think it's about time we joined the party," Hermione said, unwilling to discuss it further.
"Pool or game room?" Harry asked. To her credit, Hermione actually thought about it for a moment.
"Game room," she said at last.
"Really?" Harry prompted. "I only ask because I'm pretty sure Justin's in the pool."
"Then I suppose I could swing by and check on him," Hermione decided.
"That reminds me," Harry said casually as they made to leave the parlour, "how was France?"
"Fine," Hermione bit off sourly.
"Doesn't sound fine," Katie pointed out. "Sounds like our trip to Majorca."
"I'd heard it wasn't quite what you'd hoped," Hermione supplied. "To be honest, this wasn't either. We had to cut short our trips to the beach."
"Why?" Harry asked, though he had a niggling suspicion.
"Justin couldn't keep his eyes to himself," Hermione revealed.
"He's had so much practise here though," Katie protested. "I mean, he's been to the topless beaches here, and he's spent time at the pool."
"Yes, well, his eyes do stray occasionally here, but there, he was practically gawking," Hermione informed them as they descended the stairs to the basement. "I suppose I'd never noticed before how many extremely attractive women populate beaches in the south of France and choose to do so without tops. Unfortunately, I'm now aware." It was clear she found the whole thing distasteful. She sighed.
When they entered the hall, they were nearly bowled over by Tracey, who was flustered and wearing only a large white towel.
"Oh, there you are!" she panted. "Come quick! There's… a problem."
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned. He immediately broke into a jog to cover the short distance to the pool. Before she could respond, he threw the doors open and revealed the ongoing confrontation.
Everyone was nude, which wasn't surprising; the silence, though, was. Harry could hear the bubbling of the hot tub at the far end of the room. He looked to the right, and saw the Weasley twins pinning Justin to the wall, his feet dangling a few inches off the ground. They weren't using magic, instead relying on their quidditch muscles. One of the twins had his forearm across Justin's neck. It looked like he might be having some difficulty breathing.
"Let him down!" Harry called as he approached. The twins looked furious, but complied, pulling back and letting Justin drop to the floor, where he collapsed, sucking in great gasps of air.
"What the hell happened?" Harry asked, upset, but confused.
"This prick raped Alicia," one of the twins said.
Harry glanced behind the twins where Lee was standing protectively in front of their girlfriends. He glanced over in the other direction, where the Slytherins were all standing just beyond the doorway, with Jimmy and Demelza on the pool deck behind them.
"Anybody got the whole story?" Harry wanted to know.
"He was in the hot tub with us," Blaise explained. "They were all over there, shagging as usual. We were watching a bit. Justin maybe more than the rest of us. He made a few comments about how hot it was. We tried to shut him down. Then he suggested we do that. We ignored it until he put a hand on Millie's thigh."
"I removed it," Millie said. "Then I said I wasn't interest, and if he tried again, he'd lose his hand."
"He was quite put out about that," Blaise continued the story. "Said he just go join that party. Daphne said…"
"I told him he had about as much chance of being welcomed by them as he did with us, and that if he knew what was good for him, he'd stick with Hermione," Daphne interjected. "He declined to accept my advice. That's when he left the hot tub and approached them."
"He was rubbing his dick as he walked," Tracey revealed. "It was disgusting."
"We watched him go over there," Blaise said. "One twin was on his back with Angelina sitting on his face, while Alicia was on her knees blowing him. The other three were beyond them messing around together, and, I guess, couldn't see. Angelina was facing them, so none of them saw him approach. Without so much as a how-do-you-do, he just kneels behind Alicia, who's got her bum in the air, and shoves his prick into her."
"I knew right away it wasn't Fred or Lee," Alicia said, moving out from behind Lee. "I pulled off Fred, looked over my shoulder and saw it was him. I just… I screamed and tried to pull away. By then, though, he had grabbed my hips to help thrust." She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
"I looked over when Alicia screamed," Fred added, moving back to comfort Alicia. "I… I don't remember pushing him up against the wall, but I did."
"You were like a man possessed," Lee chuckled. "You pulled out of Leanne so fast… You were over there almost before I knew what'd happened. Then you grabbed his arms and pulled him away from Alicia, lifting him up at the same time… Merlin, you're strong!"
"OK," Harry said, cutting Lee off. "I think I got the picture." A noise behind him caught his attention. Turning, he saw Katie holding back a red-faced Hermione. She looked more furious than he'd ever seen her. He looked back at Justin. "Is that what happened?" he asked the boy, who'd managed to pick himself up off the floor, and couldn't seem to decide if he was angry or scared.
"They're making me look like the bad guy here!" Justin protested.
"So, you didn't try to have sex with Alicia?" Harry pressed. Justin glanced at Hermione, and said nothing. "Answer me!" Harry shouted. He was growing impatient with the intransigent boy.
"Well, yeah, but…" Justin stuttered.
"No buts," Harry stopped him firmly. "You did. Did she say you could?"
"Erm, no…" Justin shifted uncomfortably.
"Sounds like you're admitting to rape," Harry observed.
"They didn't talk first!" Justin protested. "They just started fucking!"
"Oh, come on, Justin!" Harry snapped. "You've seen them shagging before. I know you have! Don't you think they've talked about it before now?"
"I dunno," Justin shrugged, looking like a slapped puppy.
"You're an idiot," Harry sighed.
"Of course we've bloody talked about it!" Angelina shouted at the same time. "You don't just shag somebody without asking!"
Harry again took in the whole scene. No one was looking friendly to Justin, and Harry couldn't blame them. None looked less friendly to the boy than his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend.
"Might as well let her go," Harry said to Katie, resigned to some altercation taking place. Katie released her without a word, shrugging as Hermione rapidly closed the distance on Justin. As she went, she drew her fist up as though to strike.
The boy went white, opened his stance, raised his arms in front of his face, winced, and shut his eyes. That was what did him in. If he'd left his eyes open, he might've had a chance to counter Hermione as she did her best impression of Alan Shearer and kicked him right in the bollocks. Her lower shin impacted his balls, actually lifting him off the floor a few centimetres. He let out a strangled cry, gasped in pain, and crumpled to the ground. He vomited, but still had the presence of mind to curl up into a ball as Hermione continued to kick him repeatedly in the back.
"You ARSEHOLE!" she shouted. "You BASTARD!" Harry had to look away as Hermione's verbal attacks dissolved into unintelligible sobbing as she continued to assault him. No one else seemed interested in what she was doing either.
"D'you want to press charges against him?" Harry asked Alicia as Hermione's verbal emasculation of Justin continued. He saw her thinking about it.
"I wouldn't even know who to file them with," Alicia said at last as she hugged herself protectively. "I just never want to see the prick again."
"I don't know if I can guarantee that," Harry said. "But he's definitely earned a ban from Pottershire."
"Good enough for me," Alicia agreed. "At least I'll be able to holiday without seeing him."
"Alright," Harry nodded. Fred had already started to move to comfort the girl, as the rest of her friends closed in. Harry knew she'd be well looked after. Then he slowly went over to where Hermione had worn herself out and was now just standing over Justin, shaking with rage and sadness and bawling her eyes out. Harry carefully pulled her to him and held her. "It'll be alright, Hermione." She turned into his hug and just cried.
"Dobby!" he called. The elf popped in. "I need you to take Justin to the hospital in Baile Beag. See that he's tended to as best we can. When he's discharged, take him to Middleborough, then let me know. I need to remove his name from the list with permission to enter Pottershire. Also, let Orym know he's not to be allowed back once he's left. He's banned from my lands."
"Dobby will," the elf nodded. Then he grabbed the red and swollen lump that was Justin Finch-Fletchley, and popped away.
"I'm sorry that happened," Harry said to everyone. "I didn't think 'don't rape people on my land' was something I'd have to spell out for anyone. Apparently, I was wrong. For that, I apologise. Please, try to enjoy the rest of the party." He pulled back from Hermione slightly. "Hermione, let's get you someplace you can sit, OK?" Hermione sniffed, still shaking like a leaf, and nodded.
With Katie in tow, Harry led Hermione down the hall to the garage. He didn't want to risk going upstairs and having the rest of the party see her. She needed every last ounce of pride she had left. Harry led her over to his Range Rover, and opened the back seat.
"Think you can handle driving a bit?" he asked Katie as he climbed in after Hermione.
"Sure," Katie agreed, already opening the driver's door and reaching for the keys on the dashboard. "Where to?"
"Traveller's Rest, I think," Harry said. Traveller's Rest was a brick and stone English country manor house, that wouldn't've looked out of place in 1800, with outbuildings, set adjacent to a small crossroads community that included a pub, shop, and ten small homes. It was fairly close, about twelve miles west south west of Potter House.
"Righto," Katie said, trying to lighten the mood and started the car. Harry gave her a smile and then turned to concentrate on Hermione.
Hermione had curled up against the far door, but had largely cried herself out. She looked exhausted, and her hair was limp. Harry put his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. She didn't say anything or even shift position the entire drive. It wasn't until they reached Traveller's Rest that she moved.
Katie had pulled the Range Rover up in the centre of the small community, right in front of the pub. She was a bit far from the kerb if she was following Sirius' instruction, but Harry didn't think they'd be hit by anyone here. Harry got out and helped Hermione down.
"This is lovely," she said, sniffing as she looked around.
"Come on," Harry smiled at her. "Let's get you a tissue or something." With that, he headed into the pub. Inside, like outside, it looked as though it were right out of a Jane Austen novel. Dark wood was everywhere, and the plaster walls were limewashed. Light was by window and gas lamp. "Have a seat," he said, heading over to the bar. He looked around, and finally found some cloth napkins. "These'll have to do for now," he apologised.
"Thank you, Harry," Hermione replied, looking at him gratefully through shining eyes. "And you, Katie. I'm sorry I ruined your birthday."
"You didn't," Katie replied quickly sliding into a booth across from Hermione. "Justin did that. Nothing was your fault. And my birthday's not really ruined, just… postponed temporarily."
"Winky!" Harry called as he sat next to Hermione. The little elf popped in immediately.
"Yes Harry?" she asked happily.
"I don't know who the cook is at Traveller's Rest," he prefaced. "Can you have them make us some chips and lemonade? I'd really appreciate it."
"Winky will," she responded, then popped away. Almost immediately, another elf popped into the pub, but this time behind the bar. This elf was also female, and she went to work preparing the food.
"Are you gonna be OK?" Harry asked as the elf worked.
"I think I'm still processing what just happened," Hermione admitted. "I mean, how could Justin do that?"
"Because he's an idiot," Katie offered. "I didn't want to say anything before, Hermione, but I caught him staring at other girls a lot."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Hermione asked, looking hurt.
"It wouldn't've made any difference," Katie shrugged. "He knew you didn't like him staring at other girls because you've told him so. You knew he was doing it. I just saw him doing it when you weren't around. Plus, it's not my job to police your relationships."
"What?" Hermione asked, confused.
"You're my friend," Katie allowed. "And I want you to be happy. But I'm not gonna continually bag on your boyfriend to you, especially for minor things I know you already know. That's like sabotaging your relationship. Besides, I don't really care if Harry stares at other girls, and he doesn't care if I stare at other blokes."
"Why…" Hermione asked, seeming lost.
"Because we love each other," Katie said with a small smile, "we trust each other, and casual nudity and watching other people get off was kinda baked into our relationship from the beginning, thanks to the quidditch showers."
"We never really had that," Hermione admitted. "I never really trusted him ever since he told you lot about the…"
"The hand job?" Harry grinned. "Hermione, you have a right to privacy if you want. I'll not push you for details, but we're adults, or practically so, and adult things like hand jobs, and blow jobs, and shagging happen. Sometimes they happen behind closed doors, and other times they happen in more open settings."
"What you do is up to you and your chosen partner, and those limits can be fluid, but you need to talk to them, and decide what they are," Katie added. "Be clear about what you want, and what's OK. Where's the line? You say you didn't want him staring. Does that go for you too? I can say with one hundred percent certainty that you've looked at Harry's cock. When does a glance become a stare? Two seconds, five?"
"I've not…" Hermione stammered, suddenly blushing.
"Please!" Katie laughed. "You've done it. I've seen you. I don't care. I know you're not trying to steal him away. He's fit as hell. Go ahead, look! If you're lucky, I might even let you touch it."
"What?" Hermione asked, her voice strangled.
"What? You think Harry just gave Ginny a hand at Eden that time without my OK?" Katie grinned. "We talk about things. We set boundaries. Sure they shift, but we talk. I know Harry knows our limits. I'm confident that he won't break them."
"And I know she won't either," Harry added. "That said, if we decide to shift them, we can."
"How far?" Hermione asked, recovered from her embarrassment enough to become curious.
"We've talked about swinging," Harry shrugged. "We're not there yet, but maybe soon. Who knows? I know for a fact though that I don't want an open relationship."
"How is swinging not an open relationship?" Hermione wondered.
"If I'm having sex, I want Katie there," Harry clarified. "And I don't want her having sex without me there. Open relationships mean dating other people. I don't want that. I only want to date Katie."
"Definitely," Katie agreed. "That's a line for me as well. With everything out in the open there aren't secrets. But again, we've not decided to do that yet."
"Yet," Hermione repeated.
"Oh, come on," Katie sighed. "You've seen the twins, Angelina, and Alicia. You've seen Lee and Leanne. I'm sure it'll happen at some point."
"How can you be so blasé about this?" Hermione asked earnestly.
"I guess I just see the world differently than you," Katie shrugged. Hermione absorbed that thought for a while. While she was thinking, the cook popped over with a plate of chips and three lemonades.
"Here you are, Harry, Miss Katie, Miss Hermione," the elf said. "Happy Birthday, Miss Katie. If you be needing anything else, just call for Trixie." With that she popped away.
"How'd she know?" Katie marvelled. Harry shrugged and dumped some ketchup on the chips. Then eagerly popped one in his mouth. "These are fantastic!" Katie said after trying some.
"My God," Hermione said, after several minutes of though. "Am I the problem?"
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief. "No!"
"But I had the no looking rule!" Hermione said self-pityingly.
"Yeah, but you also went topless on the beach and got nude with him in the pool," Katie pointed out. "You gave him plenty to look at instead. I'm betting you gave him more than a hand job as well."
"Of course I did!" Hermione revealed. "We were together for six months, more if you count when we were just friends. I gave that bastard everything," she finished angrily.
"And he repaid you by cheating in the most awful way," Katie added. "That's not your fault."
"How could he have possibly thought that was acceptable?" Hermione wondered. "Even if we'd not been together it would've been wrong."
"It'll take a while, but you've gotta let it go, Hermione," Harry said sagely. "Accept that you were tricked into loving an arsehole and move on. None of what happened was your fault." He took her hand. "Besides… I didn't want to say this at the time, but… you can do better."
"Really?" Hermione asked harshly. "Who? Seamus? Cormac McLaggen?"
"God, no!" Harry laughed. Then he got a little more serious. "I'm not certain about the details of what he and Tracey are doing, but I think Blaise might be available. He seems a decent bloke. Kevin Entwhistle looks OK, or Oliver Rivers in Ravenclaw…"
"Aside from Blaise, I don't know them," Hermione reminded him. "Which leaves me with the same problem I had with Justin. You have no idea how lucky you are, do you?"
"Oh, I know I'm lucky, but why do you think so?" Harry grinned at her.
"Because you had a pre-existing relationship with Katie," Hermione explained. "You had all the nudity and sex built in. It gave you a basis to trust each other. She didn't do anything with anyone else before, so you know she won't now."
"And that's why you wanted to date Neville," Harry realised. "Because you already had some level of knowledge about him, making it easier."
"Yes!" Hermione agreed. "Instead, I had to build that with Justin, but I failed." She finally picked up a chip and popped it in her mouth. "Mmm. These are good."
"More like he failed you," Katie corrected.
"Look," Harry said. "We could sit here all day talking about how Justin's a bastard, and wondering how he could've possibly done what he did. You can blame yourself for his actions until Hell freezes over, and it won't do you any good. Here are the facts: Justin's a bastard. He did what he did because he wanted to, and either didn't think about you and Alicia, or didn't care. What Justin did isn't your fault. Got it?" Hermione nodded. "Good. Now, we're gonna finish this plate of chips, drink our lemonades, and then I'm gonna drive you up to Traveller's Rest, you're gonna wash the tears off your face, and then we're gonna get back to the party and enjoy ourselves, OK?"
"Sure, Harry," Hermione smiled. "And thanks." She reached out and squeezed his hand on the table. Katie smiled at them and grabbed another chip.
-oooo-
"I'm glad you're shot of him," Tracey said an hour later as they sat in the hot tub back at Potter House. "He was sorta a creep."
"He was always staring at the girls," Blaise agreed.
"It's probably why he always got in the hot tub with us at these parties," Daphne reasoned.
"Don't worry," Millie consoled her. "You'll be quite easy to set up with someone new." Harry mentally sighed. When would Millie, and the rest of Hogwarts realise that she was a catch? Apparently, all girls thought they were worthless, unlikeable tolls.
"Right!" Hermione scoffed lightly. "Who'd want to date me?"
"Katie," Harry said with a sly smile. "You remember that conversation we had the day we started dating?"
"The one where you told me who you thought was fit?" Katie grinned, guessing where he was going with his train of thought.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "What did I tell you?"
"Well, let's see…" Katie drew it out, tapping her lip with her finger as though thinking. "As I recall you said you fancied Cho… and Fay Dunbar…"
"Really?" Hermione asked, amazed.
"And then, I believe your next words were something like, 'I'd not say no to Hermione if she asked me.' I was fourth on your list of fuckable classmates."
"Me?" Hermione asked.
"Sure," Harry smiled at her. "You're my best friend. I love you. Plus, you're quite the fit witch."
"What, I didn't make the list, Potter?" Tracey asked jokingly. "I'm hurt."
"Honestly, if I'd known what Millie looked like under her robes, she'd've been first," Harry allowed, smiling at the tall girl. "And if I'd known what Cho got up to in the quidditch showers, she'd not've made the list."
"What's that?" Millie asked.
"It's not something for polite conversation," Harry rebuffed.
"We're hardly polite here," Blaise pointed out. They were also alone. After the incident with Justin, the Weasley twins and their entourage had decamped to the theatre to watch a film. Jimmy and Demelza had also left, though none of the Slytherins knew where to.
"She's done the whole team," Katie revealed. "I've heard Bukkake's a popular practice in the Ravenclaw showers."
"Ew," Daphne gagged.
"How does any of this help Hermione?" Millie asked.
"I doesn't," Katie said.
"We should focus on her," Millie pressed.
"You don't need to," Hermione protested.
"Hogwash," Millie said. "I know it's Katie's birthday, but she has a bloke already."
"I guess that's up to her," Katie said. "What sort of relationship do you want?" she asked Hermione.
"I want what you have," Hermione told Katie.
"If you wanna shag Harry, we'll have to talk about it first," Katie said simply. Harry raised an eyebrow at Katie. "What?" she asked. "Are you telling me you wouldn't if she wanted to and I was OK with it?"
"No," Harry replied wryly. "But I think what she meant was she wants a fulfilling, trusting, loving relationship with a close friend."
"I don't think one of those is gonna drop into her lap tomorrow," Katie countered. "In the meantime, why shouldn't she work through some of her issues by shagging a close friend she won't be dating? You're not gonna cheat on her. You're not gonna disrespect her. She can see how we work up close and personal. I think it's perfect."
"What about Blaise?" Harry countered.
"What about me?" Blaise wondered.
"She doesn't know Blaise well enough to shag him casually," Katie overrode Blaise. "Besides, we don't know how involved he and Tracey are."
"You could try asking," Tracey interjected with a smirk.
"I wouldn't be comfortable doing that, anyway," Blaise told them. "No offense to you, Hermione, but my heart's taken, and if she shoots me down…"
"Which I will," Daphne piped up, rolling her eyes.
"Then I've got Tracey here to keep me happy," Blaise finished.
"Even I'm out of luck with him," Millie sighed. "If I were you, I'd take them up on the offer," she advised Hermione.
"But…" Hermione protested, looking around the group for support.
"Think of it as a learning experience," Tracey said, nudging Blaise and smiling. "I'm doing it. I don't love Blaise, and he doesn't love me, but since we're in the same boat, there's a camaraderie there. There's no fear. We know it's not gonna last, but we can enjoy what we have while we have it. If you can enjoy that with Harry – even if he's not really your boyfriend – until you can get together with Longbottom, you should take it."
"What…" Hermione stammered, looking appalled that anyone but Harry knew about her crush on the Gryffindor.
"Oh, please," Daphne snapped. "Everyone knows you're pining for that boy. Even he knows. I'm sure Finch-Fletchley knew. It's probably why he didn't give a damn about you. At least Harry cares enough about you to try to protect your feelings. Go into it with your eyes open, enjoy some – what I can only imagine from the size of his cock is some good sex – and learn what you can about how a proper relationship functions so when you and Longbottom do get together, it'll work."
"I… I don't know," Hermione said. "I think I should probably focus on other boys. I mean, who's to say if Neville and Hannah will ever break up? I should try to find someone I can be with."
"Your loss," Tracey shrugged.
"How would that even work?" Hermione asked Katie. "I mean, would I live here? Sleep with you? Eat with you?"
"I suppose that'd be something we'd talk about," Katie said, returning to what was becoming a theme for her.
"You're really negotiating a second girlfriend for me?" Harry asked Katie, amazed.
"Not really a second girlfriend," Katie replied, smiling. "More like a doctoral candidate studying relationships. Sometimes they need to do some hands-on learning. Think about it."
"Is this how it worked with Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"You hooked up with Weasley?" Tracey blurted, shocked.
"Not really," Harry said, embarrassed.
"He fingered us together underwater once," Katie revealed. "She needed to get off and her ex had been gone for a while. We talked it over in the moment and did it. Nothing's come of it since, and now she's got a boyfriend she likes and trusts."
"Is that a service I can negotiate for?" Millie asked, blushing.
"Depends," Katie grinned. "What d'ya got?"
"Aside from these?" Millie asked, lifting her tits out of the water. "Not much." She looked sad, suddenly. "I'm probably gonna have to take you up on your offer of tuition, Harry."
"I'm so sorry, Millie," Harry said, reaching across the tub and patting her shoulder. "Your dad?"
"Yeah," Millie sighed. "I'm living with Daphne full time now, and dad's cut me off. Technically, he's kicked me out of the family."
"Whatever you need, Millie," Harry promised. "I meant it when I said I'd help."
"Does that include orgasms?" Millie smiled weakly. Harry looked at Katie, questioningly.
"You should," Katie told him. "Everyone deserves some happiness."
"You're sure?" Harry clarified. "What're you OK with me doing? Fingering only, kissing, groping, oral, shagging?"
"Fingering, kissing, and groping, and she can touch you," Katie said. Then she looked at Hermione. "D'you mind if we swap places? I wanna be next to him."
"OK," Hermione agreed, unsure what was about to happen. After a bit of rearranging, Harry was sitting between Millie and Katie, with Hermione on Katie's far side next to Blaise. The other Slytherins were silent, watching with interest, even Daphne.
Harry kissed Katie, looking into her eyes for a long moment, gaining reassurance and confidence.
"I love you," he told her, kissing her again. Then he turned and slid closer to Millie. The large girl wrapped him up in a hug, drawing him close and kissed him. Millie kissed differently than Katie, Harry noticed. She wasn't as confident, but she put in a lot of effort, using lots of lip and almost no tongue.
Harry's hand snaked up and found one of her massive breasts. It felt like he was palming a very soft cantaloupe with a nipple. He massaged her breast and Millie moaned into his mouth. Slowly, he kissed down her neck and onto her shoulder before trailing kisses down her chest. When his lips covered her nipple, she sighed. He flicked the nipple with his tongue and she jolted under him, making an interesting gurgling sound.
His hand trailed under the water and to her legs. He pushed her legs apart and slid his hand up her thigh until he hit her sex. His fingers passed through her curly public hair and found her cleft. When they parted her, she shuddered and groaned.
It was then he felt a hand on his cock. He didn't even need to look to know it was Katie's. She started sliding her hand up and down his shaft, pleasuring him as he pleasured another girl. As he suckled at Millie's breast, he once again thought about what a fantastic girlfriend he had.
"Yessssss," Millie whispered.