A/N: I really thought I only needed a couple hundred words to get Harry and Ginny and the rest to the Burrow for dinner. Obviously, I was mistaken. I want that scene to stand on its own, so here's the bridge I wrote to get them there.
Secret to the Arrows' Success Revealed
By Harlow Hayes, Quidditch Reporter
It's no secret that the Arsenal Arrows are one of the hottest teams in Great Britain right now. Although currently second in the League behind the Holyhead Harpies, this reporter has it on good authority that the standings may soon change in the Arrows' favor – thanks in no small part to the team's new training regimen.
"Sex, and a lot of it," revealed Captain and Keeper Damacles Clarke in an exclusive interview. "The more orgasms we have, the better we play, and now that there's not a single virgin among our starters, we're going to be unstoppable."
Although he remained coy about specifics, it's likely that Clarke was referring to Seeker Harry Potter, whose sexual status has remained something of a mystery until now. Most recently linked in public with socialite Katerina Bellows, she and Potter enjoyed a brief but intense romance earlier in the season.
"Potter is sexy as hell and wonderful at using his hands – and other parts," confided Bellows. "But alas, our schedules were too much at odds to make a relationship work for the long term. I'm delighted to hear that he's finally having sex; we would have crossed that bridge ourselves, had we been able to stay together. The connection we had with each other was truly remarkable – I doubt he's found anything close to as serious with whatever witch he's sleeping with. But that's Harry for you, he'll do anything to help his team win." Indeed, Potter himself showed up at the conclusion of the interview and did not deny it.
So, there you have it, the secret to the Arrows' success. Given the size of the team's fan base, this reporter wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few eligible witches (and wizards) willing to volunteer their time and services in pursuit of more victories. While Clarke implied that it was the quantity of partners that made a difference, one can't help but wonder if quality is even more important. If, as Miss Bellows believes (and she would know better than most) that Harry Potter jumped into bed with a mediocre witch merely to help his team win, wouldn't it follow that he'd play even better matched with someone his sexual equal? Keep an eye out, Quidditch fans; if you can figure out who it is that Potter's shagging, it will be that much easier to find him someone better. The team will thank you.
"It's worse than I thought," Harry groaned, flopping back on Ginny's sofa. Ron and Hermione were there too, having been woken early by the arrival of the Prophet, and Zoya Bellows' article. Ginny was frowning over her copy of the paper, one hand grasping his in what Harry assumed was a show of support. On the other hand, she might have been holding on so tightly to prevent herself from Apparating straight to the Prophet's offices and hexing "Harlow Hayes" a second time.
"This is just . . . it's just . . ." she sputtered. "The nerve of that woman, insinuating that . . . I just . . . arghhh." Ginny jumped up. "What time is it? I need a drink." She stomped off to the kitchen.
"I guess it was too much to hope that she'd leave it alone," said Ron. He was carefully shredding the photo that accompanied the article – the old one of a completely wasted Harry kissing Katerina Bellows on his hazing night. "But when there wasn't anything in the Evening Prophet last night, I thought maybe she didn't have enough from Dam to go on."
"Obviously that didn't matter," said Harry. Ginny came back with a bottle of Firewhiskey, which she plunked on the table but didn't open. "Probably not a good idea to get pissed right now," she said. She leaned into him. "I'm so sorry, Harry."
He put an arm around her and kissed her hair. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong."
"I told you not to stop the interview before it even started, even though we all suspected there was something wrong," she said. She cuddled into Harry and took his hand again. "We should have blocked the Floo and prevented it from happening until you'd cleared it with Violet."
"But then we wouldn't have known that Harlow Hayes is actually Zoya Bellows," said Hermione. "At least there's that."
"And if she hadn't been able to contact Dam at all, she probably would have come up with some angle implicating Harry anyway," said Ron. "Something even worse."
"I knew Hayes was trouble, but Dam really didn't get a chance to say that much," said Ginny. "And yet, she fabricated that ridiculous story." She turned to Harry. "But it still had an element of truth in it, didn't it? I mean, she didn't actually come right out and say you'd been a virgin, but it's not difficult to read between the lines, if that's what people want to think. And she made it sound like you agreed!"
Harry shrugged. "At least she was honest about the fact that I didn't sleep with Katerina," he said. "I guess she knew I'd be able to refute that." He looked carefully at Ginny, trying to gauge whether her anger had any deeper source. Zoya had basically told her readers that Harry didn't care about the witch he was with, and suggested that fans try to figure out who she was. He knew Ginny wouldn't believe for a second that she wasn't his "sexual equal" or whatever nonsense Zoya had written, but he wasn't sure that Ginny fully understood what it meant to be the object of such public scrutiny. They hadn't really been friends during his Hogwarts years when Rita Skeeter's quill had made his life miserable. Even the attention she'd gotten more recently in the press had been mostly focused on magic and her work with the Aurors. If anyone got wind of the fact that Ginny was at all connected to Harry emotionally – or even just physically – she wasn't going to have a moment's peace. He touched her arm.
"I'm sorry this is going to make your life more difficult," he said. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure no one finds out until you're ready to tell people."
"Until we're ready to tell people," Ginny said firmly. She shrugged. "The legions of random fans don't really bother me, but I'll need to figure out what to tell Robards and Kane and everyone at work." She gave him a fierce look. "Because I won't let them use . . . us as a reason to force you back to the Aurors or whatever it is they want you do to with me."
"Yeah, cause only Harry gets to figure out what he wants to do with you," joked Ron.
It broke the tension. They all laughed, and Harry gave Ron a grateful look.
"Just promise me you won't make a comment like that at dinner tonight," he said with a shudder. "Fan-witches and reporters and the Aurors are one thing. Your family is another entirely. Bill probably knows a half-dozen curses that could make my bits shrivel up, right there in the middle of supper."
"He wouldn't dare," said Ginny darkly. "Or I might have to adjust my Bat Bogey hex into something a bit more personal – and painful." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "What might I call it, the Bat Climax hex?"
"BatSemen," said Hermione with a snort, while Ron and Harry winced.
"I still think a better course of action will be to just keep it a secret," said Harry. "Especially since it sounds like Dam is going to be there too." He ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe we shouldn't even take a chance that we're seen leaving here or arriving there together," he said to Ginny. "You can Floo there or whatever, and I'll take Dam side-along a few minutes later."
Ginny nodded. "But that's not for hours. Right now, I think Harry needs to sneak off to see his secret witch," she said pointedly.
Ron jumped up immediately, pulling Hermione with him. "Can we go to your flat?" he begged. "I'm may be accepting of all this, but I don't really need to see how quickly the poster changes again."
Harry bit back a joking retort that it would probably take longer than Ron was used to; thanks to the poster Harry and Ginny's sex life was already on much more display than Harry liked or Ron would want to know. Besides, he needed Ron fully on his side.
"I'm going to have to see Dam so the two of us can talk to Violet soon anyway," said Harry. "She'll need to issue some sort of statement about he actually meant." He grimaced. "And what I supposedly meant, agreeing with him."
"So I guess you can go back to your own flat, Ron," said Ginny. She sighed. "The poster's safe for a while."
"I didn't say I had to see Dam immediately," Harry pointed out. He stepped closer to Ginny. "I think we at least have time for a few activities the poster won't be able to detect," he said low in her ear. "I could really use a shower."
Ginny brightened immediately. "I have plenty of hot water," she said.
HPHPHPHP
An hour later, Harry was glad to have taken the time to be with Ginny before going to Dam's flat to talk to Violet. At least his last memory would be a good one, he considered. Because he was pretty sure the Arrows' publicist was going to kill him and Dam both.
She'd come right through the Floo, not content to merely talk through the flames, and now was pacing around Dam's flat like an angry, caged tiger.
"What the hell, Dam? When that reporter contacted you, why didn't you message me right away? You know all requests for interviews, and I mean ALL, have to go through me."
While Dam sputtered and mumbled about hangovers and early owls and she said she'd talked to you already, Harry let his mind wander back to Ginny's flat. They'd left a trail of clothes from her door and Harry had purposely pretended to have trouble with his trousers so that he had an excuse to stop and watch as Ginny walked, naked to the loo.
She turned and looked back to where he was standing, trousers bunched around his ankles and penis sticking straight out at her through the flap in his pants. "Problem there, Potter?" she asked with a smirk.
"Not at all," he said, giving up the pretense and pushing off the rest of his clothing. "I'm just enjoying the view."
Ginny gave him a heated look. "How do you feel about the view of me on my knees with you in my mouth?" she asked wickedly.
Harry closed the distance between them immediately. "Yes please," he said thickly, pulling her into the loo.
". . . you thinking, not contacting me yourself? Harry?" Violet snapped her fingers in front of his face and the image of Ginny, clutching his bum as she sucked him off under the warm water, evaporated. He shook his head to clear it.
"Sorry?" he said.
"I asked why you didn't contact me as soon as you realized the reporter wasn't on the up and up?" asked Violet. She gave him a shrewd look. "You did suspect she was lying before you interrupted the interview, didn't you?" Violet wasn't stupid; she knew that while it was entirely likely that Dam hadn't realized anything was off with Harlow Hayes, there was little chance Harry would have missed it.
"I knew," he admitted. "But there were two Auror trainees with me, and Gin . . . both of them thought we should wait to see if we could get any information about the reporter first. And we did," he finished a bit defensively. "We found out that Harlow Hayes is actually an alias for Zoya Bellows. She's the sister of that woman who broke into the building disguised as a laundry service worker."
Violet frowned. "Really? Are you sure?" She looked through some notes she was holding. "Hayes can be a bit . . . aggressive in her questioning, but a lot of the reporters are." She frowned. "Do you think she was trying to break into the building? The fireplaces are warded to keep people from coming all the way through unless Bill Weasley has personally approved them, but I don't like the fact that she was able to Floo-call so easily." She looked over at the Keeper again. "No more talking to reporters without me, no matter what they say, okay?"
"She seemed nice," Dam protested. "It gets boring talking about Chaser formations and how we maintain our brooms and all the other things most reporters ask. She told me her article was going to have a bit more color and personality."
"No shit," said Violet bluntly. "I'm sure her readers were delighted to learn that the entire team wants to have more sex. We're going to have to triple our security force." She looked at Harry. "Was any of what she wrote true? Do you have a . . . friend I should know about? Is there a risk she could go to the press herself?"
"No," said Harry quickly. "I mean, yes, there is someone. And she's more than a friend. She's . . . but no." He shook his head. "You don't need to know her; no one needs to know her. She'll keep quiet, I'm positive." He flushed, thinking suddenly of how not quiet Ginny had been only an hour before.
Harry was still breathing hard from his climax when he conjured a bench for Ginny's shower and seated her there, gently spreading her legs open before dropping down in front of her. "My turn," he said, leaning in for his first taste. Ginny mewled with pleasure, her soft moans first muffled by the sounds of water on tile, but they grew louder the more Harry delved into her. When he flattened his tongue against her clit, she screamed and bucked against him so hard she nearly fell off the edge of the bench and when she clamped her thighs around his head and told him not to move, Harry held his breath and until he nearly passed out. He didn't still his tongue though, and Ginny's intense "fuck, Fuck, RIGHT THERE" echoed throughout the loo.
"Hmmm," Violet said, bringing Harry back to the present. "Are you sure? There's going to be a lot of attention on trying to figure out who she is. If I knew her identity, I could prepare a statement ahead of time."
Dam barked a laugh. "Good luck with that," he said. "Potter's been totally shut up about who she is. I'd think she didn't exist, except for the fact that the poster keeps telling us how many times he's shagged her." He smirked. "But don't worry, I'm invited to dinner at the Weasley's tonight. Ron and Ginny can't wait to get the rest of the family involved in figuring out who this witch is. I should have a name for you tomorrow."
"Not if I can help it," said Harry. There wasn't much he could say without risking giving away that fact that both Ginny and Ron were as interested in keeping Harry's secret as Harry was. Throw Hermione into the mix and Harry was rather confident he and Ginny would be able to get through the evening unscathed.
"Forget that for a minute," said Violet. "What do you mean, there's a poster that tells you how many times Harry's had sex?" She looked at Harry. "Is this something you knew about?"
As Dam explained, Violet rubbed her eyes and Harry got the impression she was thinking she needed to ask for a raise. She finally sighed. "It's in your flat?" she asked Harry. "And there's no way to take it down?"
"Not until I've been with the team a year, no," he said.
"And you expect that the . . . number is going to continue to increase?" she asked delicately.
"Umm," said Harry. "Yeah, I expect it will." He swallowed, hoping neither Violet or Dam could see the sudden twitch in his trousers as his mind jumped to just how high that number might get before he and Ginny could finally take the poster off the wall. Honestly, if it was something they could keep to themselves, maybe in the closet of her flat or something, it wouldn't be so bad, he considered. What kind of things might the poster say, as the number of times they made love grew and grew? He shook his head and focused on Violet again.
". . . keep everyone out of your flat then," she was saying. "And don't let anyone know about it." Violet directed that remark to Dam. "We have enough trouble keeping the fans out of the building already."
"Yes ma'am," said Dam contritely. Violet sighed again.
"I'm going to my office to try to come up with some sort of press release to explain all this," she said. "I'll get in touch with you if anything changes." She looked pointedly at Harry. He nodded.
"We'll be at the Burrow," he said. "I'm taking Dam side-along later. Just me. Ron and Ginny are going separately with Hermione." Harry didn't know why he felt the need to mention that detail, but he was grasping for anything he could that would make tonight feel like just another friendly family meal at the Burrow. It wouldn't be, he suspected, but he was pretty sure he'd throw himself under the Knight Bus before he'd let Ginny's family – and Dam – know what was going on between the two of them.
He hoped it wouldn't come to that.