Waiting was the worst part. Now that Maddy had settled on a plan of action, the minutes shuffled by with agonizing slowness. Nearly two days stretched between her decision in Divination on Thursday morning, and Saturday's Quidditch match.

Maddy fretted all through her Friday lessons, unable to care about or focus on anything but her own discomfort and the Event that lay ahead. Her stomach was a twisting ball of snakes that rolled and clenched unpleasantly. She was by turns too hot and too cold; too queasy to eat and too anxious to sleep.

During meals in the Great Hall, Maddy's eyes kept drifting toward the Gryffindor table, where Pettigrew sat with his roommates.

What if they were caught? What if her mother found out? What if doing it with him did not break the hex? What if he turned her down?

Maddy squirmed in her seat, and tried to force herself to swallow another bite of bread.

Maybe the hex was not so bad. Maybe she was getting used to it. Maybe she did not need to go through with this ridiculous plan after all.

Nighttime was worse. Maddy lay in the darkness, listening to her roommates' snores, as the seconds crawled over her like ants. Feeling as if she were suffocating, she threw open the bed hangings, gulping the cool night air.

Silvery moonlight streamed through the high dormitory windows, falling across Maddy's bed. She flopped back against the pillows, her flailing hand catching the edge of something concealed beneath. The book Indira had given her.

Maddy pulled it out and rolled onto her belly. If she could not sleep, reading might help pass the time, and perhaps knowledge would allay some of her fears. Shoving her plait impatiently over her shoulder, Maddy turned to the section on penetrative sex.

The book said that sex was something people did for many different reasons, but most often, they did it because it felt good, and because they wanted to feel close to the person they were doing it with.

Would it feel good with Pettigrew? Would she like doing it with him? Certainly he would enjoy it. Everyone said boys wanted as much of it as they could get all the time. He would be grateful Maddy was letting him do it to her.

No, that was not an empowering way to think about it. She was going to do it to him. Her choice to take his cock inside her, and his seed.

Maddy had some qualms about that, but she would just have to risk it this time. If she fell pregnant, she would go to Madam Pomfrey. And if she ever decided she wanted to do it again, she would ask the matron about a contraceptive potion. Once she had done it, there was nothing stopping her from doing it as much as she liked.


It was not yet dawn when Maddy gave up trying to sleep. The full moon had long since set, and she had put the book away, tossing and turning as she rehearsed bits of conversation to try on Pettigrew.

Slipping silently out of bed, Maddy tiptoed to the bathroom, and drew herself a bath scented with sweet-smelling, soothing herbs. As she stepped into the steaming tub, Maddy's belly clenched painfully. A surge of panic gripped her. It was not just nerves upsetting her stomach; she had forgotten that her time of the month was almost due.

Not today, she begged her body silently, sinking into the hot water. Please, no.

If she started to bleed before she could finish things with Pettigrew, it might be a week or more before she contrived another opportunity.

Scrubbed, powdered, and wrapped in her winter cloak, Maddy slipped unnoticed into the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling reflected the stormy sky, heavy with rain, echoing Maddy's tense mood. It was still early. Only Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were well-represented, as the Quidditch players and their supporters ate a hurried breakfast, eyeing the threatening ceiling with trepidation.

Maddy chose a place at the end of the mostly-empty Slytherin table. She could not make herself eat, however, and she was too restless to sit. After only a few minutes, she gave up trying, and went to loiter in the entrance hall.

The Quidditch players were the first to emerge. They paid Maddy no heed, apart from Indira Patil, who gave her a curious look and a nod in passing. A few more people gradually trickled out, tugging their hoods forward and pushing through the heavy oak doors, sending gusts of cold wind swirling through the hall.

Maddy's pulse sped up when she caught sight of her quarry, hurrying across the hall with one of his roommates. She stumbled forward, hoping her anxiety did not show on her face.

"Hey, Pettigrew," she called.

The two Gryffindor boys turned. Pettigrew looked surprised, and his friend, suspicious. Neither appeared to have slept much more than Maddy.

"What d'you want, Yaxley?" sneered Sirius Black, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

Maddy ignored him. "I think you must've picked up my book by accident the other day in Divination. I was hoping to revise today, but my notes are in it. Can we trade back?" She held out his copy of Essential Semiotics.

Pettigrew blinked at her. "Oh. Um. We were just headed down to the Quidditch ..."

"I know," said Maddy apologetically, "but I really need it. Please?"

"All right," Pettigrew relented. "But you'll have to come up to Gryffindor Tower if you want it.

Black rolled his eyes. "I'll save you a seat. You'd better hurry, though. I'm not keen on sitting in the rain by myself."

"Where's your other friend? Lupin?" asked Maddy, as they started up the great staircase.

"Oh, he's ill."

Maddy's heart sank. "If he's resting, I don't want to disturb him."

"You won't," Pettigrew assured her. "He's in the hospital wing."

She almost sobbed with relief.

At the landing, Maddy paused to shrug out of her wool cloak, draping it over her arm.

Pettigrew's eyes slipped sideways, and he nearly stumbled.

"You look nice," he said, then added hurriedly, "I mean, you always look nice, but - er - is there a special occasion today that I forgot about?"

Maddy smoothed the lustrous blue silk of her robes, bending a little to make sure Pettigrew had a good view of her décolletage.

"I just like to dress up sometimes at the weekends. It's boring wearing school robes all the time."

Pettigrew realised he was staring, and shook himself. "Sorry, I'm a little overtired. I was ou- up late last night."

"Were you doing anything fun, or just school work?" asked Maddy, as they resumed their climb.

"Just arsing about with friends," said Pettigrew vaguely. "I guess the time got away from us."

Maddy glanced sideways at him. "You get along well with your roommates, don't you?"

"Yeah. They're the best."

"Black doesn't like me much."

"It's not personal," said Pettigrew apologetically. "He just doesn't like Slytherins. I suppose they remind him of his family."

"The Blacks are practically wizarding royalty," said Maddy. "You'd think he'd be happy about that."

"That's part of the problem."

"He has a problem with pure-bloods?" asked Maddy, frowning.

"Sort of."

Maddy halted, turning toward him. "But you're a pure-blood, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but -"

"That's good," said Maddy.

Pettigrew blinked in slow confusion. "Is it? I suppose so."

Maddy tilted her head, watching him. The halls around them were quiet. They were alone.

"Do you like me, Pettigrew?"

Pettigrew's ears and the tip of his nose turned pink. "I'd've thought that was obvious," he mumbled. "Y'know, you can call me 'Peter'. If you want to."

Maddy smiled. "Would you like to kiss me, Peter?"

His pale blue eyes widened, and he nearly toppled down the steps in surprise.

"D'you want me to?"

"If you like."

Peter's gaze fixed on her mouth. Maddy waited. Leaning forward, he pushed out puckered lips - then drew back, blushing furiously.

"I - look, I haven't - how do you start?"

That surprised Maddy. She had guessed he would be inexperienced, but this was beyond anything she had imagined.

"It's easy," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Like this."

She leaned close, and pressed her parted lips to his. She kissed him, not as she had ever kissed Rabastan, but as Bellatrix had kissed her the first time, soft and slow and inviting.

When she raised her head, his face wore a dazed expression.

"Wow."

"You liked it?" she asked, amused.

"It was brilliant. Cheers," he added, as an afterthought.

The entrance to Gryffindor Tower was guarded by the portrait of a plump, handsome witch dressed in elegant pink robes. Peter asked Maddy to turn her back and put her fingers in her ears before he gave the password.

"Sorry," he said, as they stepped through the opening in the stone wall behind the portrait. "It's nothing personal."

Maddy had visited the tower on a handful of occasions, with Venice and Karima, and was met each time with suspicious glares. Today, the common room was deserted. There was no one to see her follow Peter up the winding steps to the dormitories.

Surreptitiously, Maddy wiped her sweating palms on her robes, as she sat on Peter's bed, watching him root through the large trunk at the foot. She had made it this far. Her heart pounded, its throb echoing between her thighs.

"Here you go." Beaming triumphantly, Peter presented the Divination textbook to her.

Maddy swallowed. "Cheers."

Giving him her best flirtatious smile, she set the book aside on the nightstand.

"You can kiss me again, if you like."

This time, she put her arms around him. He copied her awkwardly, as if he did not know quite where to put his hands. Under other circumstances, Maddy might have found it a pleasant change from Rabastan's grabbing and pinching, but as matters stood, Peter's lack of initiative was maddening.

"Do you want to touch me?" she murmured, breaking the kiss.

"Yeah, sure."

Tentatively, he stroked her arm.

"I meant here."

She took his hand and placed it on her breast.

"Oh!"

Peter's eyes went round. He gave an experimental squeeze.

Maddy kissed him again, surreptitiously tugging at the knotted lacing over her hip that held the wrapped silk in place. The front of her robes gaped open, and she slid Peter's hand inside. He gasped against her mouth, fingers curving around bare flesh. She was not wearing a corset.

"Um, what's happening?" he asked. His breath was shaky and shallow.

"We're just having some fun. Isn't this better than being out in the rain, watching some Quidditch match?"

"Sure. I just didn't think - is this all right?"

He stroked her awkwardly, his thumb grazing her nipple. It tighten into a stiff bud.

"It's a good start," she told him. "But what about you?"

Her fingers went to the fastenings of his robes. Peter did not stop her, and when Maddy tugged at the black linen, he let go of her breast and helped her pull the robes over his head. Like most wizards at this time of year, Peter wore long woollen underwear, buttoned down the front, that covered him from neck to ankle. A noticeable bulge strained at the buttons of his fly. An echoing thrill of excitement shivered between Maddy's legs. He saw her looking, and flushed redder than ever.

"Er, sorry. That just happens sometimes."

"Can I see it?"

Peter gaped at her. "You want me to ... take it out?"

"Please?" said Maddy winsomely. "I'll touch it, if you like."

Hesitantly, he fumbled at the straining buttons. His cock sprang free as if eager for escape.

There it was. The means to her liberation. It was bigger than Maddy was expecting. She had imagined something smaller, based on Peter's stature, but it was easily as long and as thick as Rabastan's - perhaps even as large as his brother's. The throb of heat between Maddy's thighs grew more insistent at the sight of it. She reached out a hand, and delicately ran her fingertips along the shaft.

Peter sucked in a sharp breath, watching her with wide, staring eyes.

Maddy folded her fingers around him and leaned in closer, letting her robes fall back from her shoulders. She kissed him again, longer this time, letting her tongue slide into his mouth. She liked the hot, thick feel of him in her hand, and the velvety softness of his skin. She liked the whimpery sound he made when she squeezed and stroked him. But most of all, Maddy liked the feeling of power - of knowing she was the one in control of the situation. She did not need to impress him; he would be grateful for as much, or as little, as she decided to give him. She could bring him off by hand if she wanted to, or she could do up her robes and walk away. Or she could take his hand and slide it under the blue silk, and between her thighs.

Peter squeaked as his fingertips brushed slippery wet heat. He jerked away, breaking contact.

"Maddy! I - um - are you sure this is OK?"

Maddy cocked her head, giving him a curious look. Rabastan had only ever called her "Yaxley", even when his cock was halfway inside her, and he had never once asked whether she was all right with any of the things they did together.

"Don't you like it?" she asked.

"I do! I just - I don't understand -"

"What's to understand? It feels good."

She shrugged the rest of the way out of her robes. Underneath, she wore nothing but her stockings. Leaning back against the pillows, she drew her legs up onto the bed, letting her thighs fall open, giving him a full view of what she was offering.

Peter's eyes nearly started out of his head. He watched, mesmerised, as she stroked herself.

"I want you to touch me, Peter. Here."

Hesitantly, he moved toward her. "Um, how should I -?"

Rabastan had never asked her that either. Maddy took his hand once more, and guided his fingers to the nub of her pleasure. She moaned softly. For the first time in weeks, being touched there felt good.

"Just there, to start with," she panted. "That spot's called the 'clitoris'. It feels really good when someones strokes it. Or licks it."

"D'you ... want me to lick it?"

"Not just now."

Pleased by his willingness to learn, and take direction from her, Maddy shifted his hand downward, and slid his finger inside her.

"D'you know what that is?" she asked breathlessly.

"It-it's your ... um ... I don't want to call it something rude."

"Vagina," she said, watching his face. "That's the proper word. It's where your penis goes. D'you want to put it in me?"

"Really? You want me to do that?"

Maddy nodded. "If you want to," she said, thinking she might scream if he did not put it inside her right now.

Peter was pink and breathless with excitement. "OK. Sure. If that's what you want."

"Take these off first," she commanded, tugging at his woollen underwear.

He hurried to obey, struggling out of the close-fitting garment, and tossing it aside. She pulled him down on top of her, spreading her legs wide apart. This was it. This was the moment she had been longing for. Maddy had never wanted anything so much in her life as she wanted his cock inside her.

"How do I -?" he panted.

"Just put it in!"

His hips moved, and Maddy felt the blunt head of his prick sliding against her wetness. Peter moaned.

"Oh - oh - that feels brilliant!"

He began moving up and down, grunting, rubbing on her, but not in her. Maddy was seized by a sudden panic that he would finish without ever getting inside, and the whole episode would be for nothing.

"Stop it! Stop!" she cried, shoving him away.

Peter tumbled off her, looking as if he had been Confunded.

"I'm sorry!" he gasped. "Did I do it wrong? Are you OK?"

"No, it's -"

She had thought it would be simple - that their bodies would just naturally fit together, once they were in the right position. How many times had Rabastan almost done it to her "by accident"? Peter's cock poked up pinkly, glistening wet, as if taunting her. Maddy glared at it in frustration, wanting to scream.

It was obvious he would not be able to finish in the right place without guidance, but she had never done it before, either. How could she be certain of getting what she needed from him?

"Lie back," she ordered, putting her hand on his chest and giving him a shove.

Awkwardly, Maddy turned over, and threw her leg over him, straddling his hips. This was something she had never attempted before, but there was an illustration in the book Indira had given her that explained how it was meant to work. She fished around between her legs, catching hold of Peter's prick.

"Don't yank it like that!" he squeaked.

"Sorry," Maddy mumbled. All her concentration was focused on aligning his anatomy with her own, and finding the right angle.

It took a couple of tries. The head of Peter's cock nudged tantalisingly at Maddy's opening. She shifted her hips. And then -

Peter made a choked sound. He stared up at her, eyes round, mouth open, breath coming in shallow gasps. Maddy felt herself opening, swallowing him up, easing him into her, thick and hard and glorious. She moaned as she sank down onto him, drawing him deeper inside her than Rabastan had ever been, until he filled her, all the way down to the root.

Maddy held herself there for a moment, to savour the sensation. It did not hurt at all. In fact, it felt marvelous. If liking this made her a slut, in that moment, Maddy did not care.

"Maddy?" murmured Peter.

"Shut it," she panted.

She moved her hips, experimentally at first, and then with conviction. She was in control. She had made this happen. She had brought him here to serve her own desires, not his.

Maddy rode him, exultant, rising and falling with each ruthless thrust. It was only a few seconds before Peter made a helpless, sobbing sound, arching up off the bed. She felt him twitch and throb inside her. But she was not finished with him. She had to be sure.

Driving her fingers between her legs, Maddy bore down on him, touching herself. The ache of her need burned with an intensity she had never known before. Tension coiled in her belly. She clenched her teeth, pressing on her clit, rubbing it as hard and fast as it demanded, squeezing the wonderful, thick pressure inside her.

Release broke over her like a wave. Maddy threw back her head and gave a cry of triumph as it shuddered and pulsed through her, radiating outward from the molten-hot centre of her pleasure, clinging to the softening prick inside her, shivering along her limbs, until she felt the tingle of it from her scalp to her toes.

Peter stared up at her, stunned. Suddenly Maddy could not bear for him to look at her anymore. She rolled hastily off him, her face hot, and stumbled to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Knees trembling, she collapsed onto the toilet.

There was a knock at the door. "Maddy? Are you all right?"

She swallowed. "I'm fine. Just - give me a minute."

She had to check, to know for sure. Hesitantly, she touched the sensitive flesh between her legs, still twitching with the echoes of her climax. Closing her eyes and biting her lip, Maddy stroked herself, slowly and gently at first, and then quicker, as the hunger welled up within her once more. Only when she brought herself to a second quivering orgasm, did she let out her breath in a sigh of relief.

The hex was broken. Her body was her own again. She was free.

Pulling on one of the four dressing gowns that hung on hooks beside the door, Maddy splashed cold water on her face with hands that shook. She frowned critically at herself in the mirror, fixing her disheveled hair, and wondering whether she looked different now. Whether anyone would be able to tell.

When she emerged, Peter sat on the bed, looking uncertain, a pillow held across his lap.

"Er, that's M- Remus's dressing gown," he said.

"Close your eyes," she ordered.

She tossed the garment aside, and quickly wrapped her own robes around herself, securing them with a knot, and checking to make sure she was decently tucked in, before giving Peter permission to look.

"So," said Peter. "That was ... um ... thanks."

"Sure," said Maddy, turning away and stepping into her shoes.

"I mean, it was good!" he clarified hastily. "I was just ... surprised, I guess. I never thought you liked me."

"Yeah, well ..." Maddy shrugged uncomfortably into her wool cloak.

"So, what happens now?" asked Peter. "I mean, with us?"

Maddy turned and glared at him, drawing her wand. "Now, you swear to me that you will never tell anyone about this. If you do, I swear by all that is pure and powerful, I'll hex your bollocks off, and you'll have to wear them on a string around your neck. I can do it. D'you understand me, Pettigrew?"

Peter reeled back, alarmed. He nodded furiously.

"Swear it."

"I swear I won't tell anyone!"

"Not even your friends?"

"Not even them!"

Maddy lowered her wand. "OK."

She turned to go.

"Maddy, wait -"

"What?" she snapped, whirling back.

"Your Divination book."

"Oh. Cheers," she muttered, taking it from his outstretched hand.

"So, do you still want to meet up tomorrow?" Peter asked shyly.

Maddy scowled at him. "You think just because I let you fuck me one time -"

"I didn't mean anything like that!" he said quickly, holding up his hands. "I only meant - for Divination revision."

"I have plans tomorrow," Maddy lied, looking away.

"Oh. Maybe some other time, then?"

"Maybe."

She hurried down the winding staircase, pausing to make sure the Gryffindor common room was still unoccupied before she made her escape through the portrait hole. But once she was safely away, and her footsteps slowed, Maddy found herself wondering whether she might not arrange to meet up with Peter again sometime. She did need help with Divination, after all. And he had seemed willing to learn about licking.