Also, I've been wondering if I should have included an angst warning at the beginning of this story...
It's funny, I live in a city named Marietta... It's just west of Atlanta. So it's odd to think of it as a name (no offense intended to anyone name Marietta; my own name is too easy to make fun off)
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Harry mind was blank as he walked home; Cho had fallen asleep, so he left. He really didn't want to be there when her parents got home.
Was this what a person was supposed to feel after loosing their virginity? Nothing?
Would Cho want more, or was this a one time thing? How could he tell Sirius?
There was just too many questions...
Harry stopped when he realized he was home. Yes, Sirius' house was starting to feel like home, now. Even Sirius seemed slightly more relaxed now than he was at first. Harry just didn't understand what Sirius' problem with the house was. Not only that, but Sometimes his god-father seemed almost desperate, for something... Harry had no idea what.
Was it really any of his business?
Harry opened the door with key Sirius had given him. He half expected for his god-father to be sleep, as it was past midnight, but Sirius was waiting for him in a chair pretty close to the door. He didn't look happy.
Sirius rushed forward with a look of relief on his face, hugging him tight, before backing away, glaring at the teenager.
"Where the hell have you been?" The man demanded. He had sat there for the last couple of hours frantic with worry that someone had kidnapped Harry, or that he had gotten lost!
"With Cho." Harry stared straight at Sirius with expressionless eyes.
"'With Cho'? For the past five hours, Harry? What could you have possibly done for-. Oh." Sirius started to smile, but then he really looked at Harry. His hair was mussed, worse than usual, his mouth was red, and his clothes were definitely not in the same condition they were in when Harry left. The only problem was Harry looked miserable and ashamed.
"I'm sorry, Harry." Sirius said quietly. /Sorry? Is that the best I could say? If I hadn't pestered Harry.../ But, there was nothing more he could do. Loosing your virginity, not that that was the reason he wanted Harry to go out, was supposed to be enjoyable. Not this...
/I can't do this, Sirius. I can't be like everyone else./ Harry told himself. "I'll be fine." Harry said, willing the man to believe him. /But I can pretend to be./ "It was fine."
Harry walked as calmly as he could to his room and curled up on the bed.
Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine.
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After standing in the door way for a moment, Sirius broke. He needed it! He had tried, really, but everything was better...
Sirius dashed into the kitchen, his face contorted in desperation. He knew it was there, in the back of a drawer, hidden where Harry would never look.
His bottle of heaven.
With it, everything would be fine.
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Harry's sessions with Dr. Atrum had started to turn painful. However, the doctor stated that sometimes things got worse before they got better; that made sense.
They had just finished discussing the Dursleys. They had abandoned him, the doctor helped Harry to realize. Perhaps, they had never wanted him. After all, it was the government that sent him to live with his aunt. Neither her or Uncle Vernon had asked to take care of him.
But Harry was given a strange sort of hope from this; Sirius had come for him. Even if maybe he shouldn't, his god-father wanted him.
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"What happened after you went to New Madison." The Doctor asked.
Harry, who was sitting across from him, seemed to think for a moment. "Nothing, really. Nothing happened. Everyone was nice, but I wanted to get back in the car and leave with my uncle. I wanted to see Dudley. Aside from that, nothing happened."
"I see." Atrum seemed to think for a moment. "And Mr. Black wasn't the first to adopt you?"
"No." Harry's eyes averted to the window at this point, refusing to glance at him.
"Who adopted you?"
"The Prewetts."
Atrum made wrote in his notebook for a moment, like he did most meetings. "What were they like," he asked gently.
"They were... clean. They liked things tidy. And proper." Harry said in a low voice.
"What about your first week there?"
Harry didn't say anything for a full minute. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Very well." Dr. Atrum closed his note book.
"What do you write?" Harry asked, looking at the notebook.
Atrum smiled, before turning to place the book in his desk. "I like to keep notes. When you have several patents, for lack of a better word, it helps to write down specific details. It keeps me from mixing you up, with, say, the neurotic smoker who comes after you. Not that it's really that hard to tell you too apart. There's a world of difference."
"Which one of us are normal?" Harry couldn't resist asking.
"Both of you are normal, Mr. Potter." He reached forward to lay his hand on Harry's, who, of course, pulled away, frowning. "I apologize." The doctor gave him a sheepish look. "I'm a very... tactile... person. It's going to get me in trouble one of these days. Especially in this profession."
Harry nodded, understanding. Sirius was the same way, although his touch might considered comforting. Harry simply didn't feel as comfortable around doctor.
"Well, you're god-father is probably waiting for you. Have a good afternoon, Harry."
"Thank you." Harry said mildly before getting up and closing the door behind him.
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This was day. He had to end things with Cho. They could only be friends.
Actually, she had been the one to ask Harry out, now and again, after their first date. Cho said that they were dating, and told her friends. Often, Harry wondered if she was really interested in him. Cho tended to get distracted when they were together.
She would hang on to him, doing things like kiss his cheek, while they were around her friends. Cho said she like the effect she had on him, that she was tired of over-confident jerks who acted like they owned her.
Cho never tried to sleep with him again, something that relieved Harry. He was fine with Cho when they were alone away; she didn't ask to many questions about him, they talked occasionally, although they didn't really have any common interest. Mostly, Harry would listen to her talk about what she liked. And she talked about other guys in the school, sometimes. Then Cho would seemed to remember that she was on a date with him and go quiet.
Sirius didn't really seem to care anymore that he went out with Cho, although he never stayed out late again.
Something about Sirius seemed different. He was more unkempt, less happy than he started to be. He seemed angry with himself.
Harry had tried to talk with him about Cho, trying to figure out how to tell a girl you only wanted to be friends, without hurting her.
Sirius didn't have a reply, he only stared at Harry, before resting his face in his hands.
So Harry had to face this alone. He spotted her with Marietta, talking at Cho's locker quietly in between classes.
"...really doing it!" Harry heard Marietta excited whisper.
"Yeah, I didn't think I would last this long." Cho pushed her dark hair behind her ear.
"So, you are still with Roger, right?" Marietta asked Cho, who nodded.
"He understands that it's a bet. That I'm not really cheating on him."
"But you did sleep with Potter right. Hey, didn't his name used to be Prewett, you know, back in primary."
"Yeah, I don't know what happened, but I won't be sleeping with him again." Cho seemed to look regretful for a moment, but quickly covered it.
"He wasn't good." Marietta nodded; it was expected. They knew he had to be a virgin, a guy like him. Thats why Potter was chosen.
"Actually, he wasn't bad, although it took some prodding." Cho arched her eyebrows suggestively. "But his body looks so gross. It looks like he was in a car accident, or something."
"Really?" Marietta sneered slightly, looking grossed out. "Well, you will be ending it soon, won't you. Get back with Roger, right? You've already proven that you could do it. You're one of us now."
"Yeah, I'm going to end it. I can't be seen with a looser like him, now, after all," the haughty tone had a bitter edge, that Marietta ignored.
"We're all going out later, Cho. Are you coming?" Marietta looked down at her watch and realized she needed to get to class.
"Of course I'll be there." Cho answered and Marietta left to go to her locker.
Cho turned to get a book she needed, when she saw Harry behind her. The hurt glare in his dark green eyes told her that he had heard everything.
"Harry..." she started, trying to say something. Anything! But he back away, before turning tail.
Cho felt a tear slip out her eye as she realized what had just happened. Marietta must have seen him there, but she basically let Cho say that she was using Harry right to his face.
She didn't try to follow Harry, but Cho did decided on thing. Maybe she needed to rethink who her friends were.
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