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This was made at the request of a long-time reader who wanted to know what would happen if Sarah and Harry allowed the effects of the flowers in an earlier chapter to overwhelm them. I hope you enjoy!
Harry was thoroughly screwed, there was no other way to put it. He had messed up worse than he had thought possible even when considering his old life. What he had done, there was no undoing or magical fix. Not unless Mortem decided to send him to an alternate world of an alternate world… Harry wondered if that were possible.
If it were, it would most definitely be something of interest to him, especially since it would mean there are essentially an unlimited number of worlds — that was something he seldom thought about considering the circumstances he found himself in. All of that aside, he had to focus on the here and now; the problem he'd made for himself was still right beside him. She wouldn't magically go away and the actions they'd gotten up to thanks to that damned plant would stay between them until the end of time.
Sarah rolled over, her chest briefly becoming visible before he looked away. He couldn't help the redness that came to his cheeks or the memories that took a hold of his mind when he saw her nude form sprawled out in the bed. What they had done was something he shouldn't have, least of all whilst he was a guest of their home who was supposed to be trustworthy. Merlin, he'd made a deal with her mother that he'd keep her safe and here he was in her bed.
Elaine will kill me, Sarah's mother will kill me, Sammi will kill me… just about the only ones that won't are other blokes.
"What do we do?" Harry asked himself silently as he looked towards her make-up station, the floor-length mirror only crudely reminding him so long as he looked at himself.
"Harry?" Sarah said, her voice reaching him for the first time since their hour or so of fun.
He turned back to her after swallowing the lump in his throat, only completely doing so when he saw that she was holding the sheets to her neck for privacy. "Yeah… uh, Sarah?"
There was nothing he could say that would fix their friendship and he knew as much from the moment she spoke. It was the cause for his lack of words because truly, he didn't have a clue in the world as to what he should say to her. An apology would likely anger her, if he left without anything he'd probably end up murdered and if he got annoyed, well, it wasn't her fault in the first place.
Those plants in the garden, the ones they'd smelled that got them all randy, it was their fault. Why they weren't grown in a place that saw no traffic or had some sort of warning easily, readily visible was a mystery to him.
"I guess we had some feelings towards one another after all, huh?" Sarah asked, a blush rising to her face as she looked away from him and in the direction of the oceanic view her room had.
Harry swallowed again, her neck on display with the various marks he'd left behind on it. He had a few himself, all of those would have to be covered before anybody else saw them. If they weren't, there'd be hell to pay.
"I've liked you since we met. We spoke a lot at Hogwarts, your family invited me and took me in, there's nothing I dislike about any of you… this is weird now though, isn't it?" Harry couldn't help the small, nervous chuckle that escaped him once he was finished.
What could he say or do that'd make them go back to being friends rather than a more intimate position in each other's lives. The odds that he'd ever be able to see her again in the library or Hogwarts itself without thinking of this activity were very unlikely.
"I don't mean that sort of like," Sarah said, her blush getting worse as she continued to pointedly look anywhere that wasn't at him. "That plant only enhances a mutual attraction whilst removing inhibitions. If neither of us felt this way towards one another, it wouldn't have happened to this extent — the most we would have done is snog, not… not… I guess this is a bit weird, yeah."
That's a good thing to know even if that only further incriminates me, Harry thought as he nodded once to himself in an almost imperceivably small gesture.
"We should probably talk about this before we leave your room. What should we do? I guess that's the first question," Harry wanted to ask all of them at once, but he didn't do so.
If he did, she would get freaked out and he would panic. The odds were pretty high that he'd panic regardless, but he did want to at least minimalise the chance of that happening. It wouldn't do if he had a meltdown after shagging Sarah. That definitely sounded like something that'd happen though, if one paused to stop and take a look at how unfortunate he could be.
Does always work out though, doesn't it? Ron would say so even if Hermione would glare at him.
"You're engaged to Elaine, aren't you?" Sarah asked curiously, the sheet falling an inch, if that as she sat up to look at him. "It would be very hard to act like this didn't happen, but we could just move on from it if you'd want to? There's mind-magic that could even wipe the memories, but that'd be a stretch too far, I think."
Sarah finished with a small, partially-forced laugh and for the first time since she woke up, she looked at him. It wasn't filled with lust or passion as it'd previously been, nor was it filled with nought but the look of friendship. There was a warmth in her eyes that wasn't present before their party under the sheets and if anything, that made him feel even worse.
At least some portion of her wanted the two of them to be together. Her affection for him had grown and even now as he looked at her, he felt some sort of attraction that hadn't existed previously or if it had, one that had been very weak. Hesitant as he was to use the word bond or similar words, it truly did feel like he had some sort of attachment with her now.
"We should probably open the window, cast a few charms for the air and get dressed — that final one is for me, so turn away," Sarah's voice was light and friendly-sounding as always, almost as if her earlier shyness had gone away that easily.
He was happy and nervous at the same time, for because of that, he no longer saw the girl as another one altogether. Sarah was Sarah, even if the plant had made her bolder than usual. There was no changing that and whilst he did as she asked, he couldn't help but wonder what a life with her would be like; the rustling of clothing while she hummed beautifully only made his thoughts of such a life more enjoyable.
Together, as a couple, the pair would be one of the most respected in Magical Great Britain. His heritage and her roots, her personality and his, the two of them were already widely considered some of the most polite, popular students at Hogwarts. It was a far cry from what he was used to, but having so many varying groups of people across all four houses to spend time with had only seen him grow with next to nothing negative attaching itself to him.
In other words, even somebody as self-doubting as him had seen the many dozens of positive changes.
"You said it doesn't cause any feelings, it just makes you act on them with lower, uh, inhibitions?" Harry asked again, turning around once he felt her hand on his back.
Sarah, still faintly blushing, nodded a few times with her smile in place as was usual of her. "That's right!" she said before her blush grew a little bit, still, she continued on with barely an ounce of embarrassment visible. "If we didn't want to do what we did with one another those few times that we did them, then we wouldn't have. It's as simple as that even if my mother could explain it ten times better than I am. I guess I should have paid a bit more attention to her though, huh? I don't imagine this would have happened otherwise."
"It's not your fault, that spot isn't all that great for that type of plant to be. I mean, what if your sisters or brothers smelled it while they were going for a walk?" Harry asked, a bit of his anger leaking into his tone despite his best intentions.
Sarah, thankfully enough, knew that it wasn't directed towards her. "Well, that may be my fault. The portion of the garden we were in is usually meant for my mother and me alone, but with you here, I completely forgot about a bunch of our recent works," Sarah laughed lightly as she shook her head, undoubtedly thinking about the many ways that could have been avoided. "I hope you're not too cross with me, actually, since I guess this is technically my fault even if I worked on the other portions more so than that one."
"It's still not entirely your fault," Harry said immediately, defending her as she fought to lay the blame solely at her feet.
"What's not her fault?" Came a voice at the door, one that was entirely too cheerful and polite-sounding when one considered the discussion the pair was having with one another.
Sarah saw the panic on his face, rolled her eyes at him and called back through the door to her mother. "Nothing mama, Harry was talking about Vee and how she messed up with Marcus — another girl is stealing him from her because she doesn't want to admit her feelings."
"Tell that Veronica Weasley she is an idiot for me, won't you darling?" Allie, Sarah's mother said before he heard her say something else more quietly to herself and in Greek. After she did that, the pair could hear her footsteps walking slowly away from Sarah's bedroom door.
That was very nearly the end of me, wasn't it?
"You were so nervous, Harry," Sarah said with a teasing poke at his ribs. "Mama would have understood what we did if she came to know, her barriers and the way she thinks of love are different to where you're from. Sure, she would have encouraged marriage between our two houses, but that isn't so bad after what we've just done, is it?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at Sarah, temporarily forgetting their circumstances in favour of their typical banter back and forth. "How can you be so calm and collected after that? Aren't you worried about what Elaine, your family or anybody else will say?" Harry blinked a few times, a little more timid as he looked at her. "You never said earlier what you think we should do either."
Sarah shrugged. "I don't know," she said, sounding honest as ever. "We could continue the same way we've always been if that's what you'd want, but that would probably be a bit… weird like you said earlier. I don't see a reason that anything has to go negatively though, it's not like what we've done is completely illegal or anything. It will have to be you that deals with Elaine if you talk about this though, definitely not me."
Harry snorted. "She's likely to go easier on you, really. I doubt she'll hear anything I have to say out, much less act rationally if I ever told her willingly without any reason to actually do so," he stopped and rubbed at his temples, his eyes staying locked on Sarah's. "So… if there's no reason anything has to change, what do you think about grabbing some food?"
He didn't say how badly he hoped she agreed nor did he inject too much emotion into his voice. It was obvious that much relied on the pair of them moving forward despite sleeping together and while it would change much as the days went by and they thought on their actions, Sarah was certainly not one to go about cursing him. If anything, how she reacted to their intimate hour was barely different from anything else save for her initial shyness which was very much out of character for her.
"I'm not surprised you're hungry, that's one of the common side effects," Sarah stopped and pondered, her smile a bit devious but still friendly as ever even as her earlier blush came back. "While I'm not very experienced in those types of activities, I can certainly say it felt far more pleasurable than usual — this was the first time we've used it on people, however accidentally it was too, so I guess I will b—" Sarah stopped herself and shook her head.
She didn't need to say that she'd be writing down or using her memory to study the effects her mother's creation had. He was thankful she didn't and even more thankful when she grabbed his hand to lead him to the kitchens.
Food was a most welcome distraction, especially with how hungry he currently was.
Suppose that works up an appetite, doesn't it?
Weeks later, months later, even a few days after they did what they did, Harry couldn't get it out of his mind. That day, hour truly, with Sarah was something that was so deeply ingrained within the confines of his mind that he couldn't stop recalling it even when Elaine made her passes. He felt like shite, completely and utterly, but what could he do?
It wasn't right of him to say it wasn't willingly that he did it, for the plant had only, in Sarah's own words, 'removed his inhibitions'. The attraction had already been mutually present and the day after he returned home, the memory fresh as the vision of her on her back was, he couldn't stop thinking about that attraction. Her personality and looks, her family and their home, everything about Sarah, regardless of its relation to her, was perfect to a point that he couldn't believe.
That was why he would seek her out and speak with her again. There wasn't any other reason he'd be loitering near the entrance to the Hufflepuff entrance, especially not when a large portion of her house wasn't completely fond of him as those of Slytherin or Gryffindor were; that was very weird to him too.
"Harry, looking for Sarah or Sammi?" Asked Kathy, one of the two younger Goldhorn girls as she stood a few feet from him with her hands on her hips.
"I'm looking for Sarah, I don't think she's in for the night already, is she?" Harry asked, breaking from his spot against the wall so that he could move closer to Sarah's younger sister.
Kathy shook her head and pointed down the hall. "Sarah's still in the Great Hall eating, she arrived late from the library with Sammi and looked a bit nervous. Is everything alright? The two of them seemed weirder than they usually are."
Why would they be acting nervous?
"I'm sure everything's perfectly fine and if it isn't, I'll be the first to tell you, yeah?" Harry asked with a smile on his face, one as friendly and warm as any other that he gave. The Goldhorns all deserved it too, for even before his adventure with Sarah that led them under the covers, they were his favourite people back in this time as he was.
The Carrows were a close second, but their distance and lack of emotions couldn't beat the Goldhorns' genuine sweetness down to every single member of their home. Even the oldest sister and youngest, the two that could be the most hostile, had their moments of sincere manners that reminded him who they were related to.
"Thanks, Harry. Tell Sarah I'll make you my best friend instead of hers one of these days, you're the nicest boy in all of Hogwarts so I can't let her hog you!" Kathy said with a wide toothy smile before she skipped off with a wave tossed over her shoulder in his general direction.
He waited until she was out of sight before he made his way towards Sarah, towards the Great Hall. There were words that need to be said between them, ones that were far too awkward to write or wait for their next conversation, he decided the latter half of that after months of continuing on as if nothing had happened. It was impossible and he couldn't do it any longer, but he wanted to check on her too.
That would happen before any of their topics came up.
Harry scanned the Hufflepuff table — one that was far more empty than usual thanks to it being a Friday late evening at this point in time — and very quickly saw where Sarah was sitting alongside her sister, Sammi. Kathy had been right, the two of them did look nervous but it was easily Sarah that took his eyes and not for her usual beauty. Something about her seemed distinctly off and while he couldn't place it, he knew whatever had happened hadn't been positive.
With a lump in his throat and a deep feeling of dread pooling in his stomach, he strengthened his resolve whilst moving towards her. Whatever had happened to the two girls, he would be there to help fix it.
"Sarah, Sammi," He greeted, pleased that he was able to get the words out with how tight his throat felt and how numb his tongue was getting. "What's wrong?"
Sammi looked at him and for the first time since he could recall their friendship, he saw a look of partial contempt joined with the usual friendliness in her eyes. "Why don't you toss around a few ideas and I'll tell you what's come about?"
"Sammi," Sarah said with an infliction of warning in her tone before she moved her eyes to Harry. "Hi Harry, I was actually just about to go and look for you. It turns out that we may need to speak about our little tryst together — don't worry, Sammi knows. There's no secret we ever keep from one another."
Almost immediately after Sarah was finished speaking, Sammi grumbled and crossed her arms. "As if I have a choice in the matter," she said, her eyes going to Harry just as Sarah's had and with her usual friendliness. "If I don't let her tell me what's going on in her life, she'll go to somebody like Veronica or our mother. I don't imagine either choice would have ended up going all that well for you. You can thank me for being a follower of Aphrodite too, in that regard, else you'd be gelded."
Gelded… gelded… I think tha- oh.
Harry swallowed and managed a smile despite the threat. "Thanks for following Aphrodite?"
Sammi snorted and Sarah's usual angelic, epitome of beauty-sounding laughter came out.
"Come on then, let's get to somewhere a lot more private so we can talk about this," Sarah said, her hand already grabbing him and pulling him towards the exit of the Great Hall. "Don't look so worried either, it's not like what I have to tell you about is the end of the world."
Even after her reassurance, Harry wasn't feeling all that confident. But Sarah was his friend and as such, he trusted her. She was probably one of the few that he could say that about too because there were many and more that he wouldn't trust here in this past version of Hogwarts; Aster and Reinhard, the two of them he was still a bit on the fence about the more he thought of them.
Corene was fine and Elaine was fine too. He wasn't really afforded the luxury of not trusting Elaine.
After nearly five minutes and while he was in a courtyard, alone, with Sarah, she spoke. Privacy charms were up as usual, lest the two of them have a fly on the wall or a beetle on the ground.
"When you get news, do you like having the person giving it to you rip the bandaid off or do it slowly so that you barely feel it?" Sarah asked with her head cocked in a Corene fashion while she dangled her feet and gazed at him with her typical smile.
That's never a good thing for somebody to ask, now is it?
Harry swallowed and ever so slightly narrowed his eyes at her. It wasn't done as a hostile action or something along that line, but more as a means of suspicion and nervousness. "I think I'd rather the person rip the bandaid off, at least that way I'll finally know what the issue is."
Sarah smiled brightly at him and nodded once. "Perfect, I like it when people are straightforward — I'm pregnant!"
Harry blinked once. Then he blinked four more times. He took in a deep breath too, it was hard to breathe and an act he had to think about as his mind fought to process the two words she'd just said to him.
Another breath came, then he coughed since he forgot to exhale. In and out, that's all h- no, that wasn't the time to use those words even if it was related to breathing.
"You're, uh, you're sure?" He asked after nearly ten minutes of horrible, conflicting, anxiety-inducing feelings as he stared at Sarah and she watched him in silence.
"I'm pretty certain. Our mother taught us a spell to check and after a few bouts of morning sickness, I finally used it," Sarah rubbed at her stomach, the action either by choice or some maternal instinct he'd never gotten to witness. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, especially with us still in Hogwarts. It's just, I don't have it in me to get rid of him."
"Him?" Harry asked, his voice barely working as his throat constricted.
Sarah nodded once, confidently and sure of herself. "Him," she said again. "When you're carrying something in your body, you just know these things. Call it a witches instincts."
Harry nodded a few times absentmindedly; maybe his mother had felt those exact same feelings in regards to him.
"What should we do then? It's not like we can continue on as if the day never happened — that was what I was coming down to ask you about too. There's no way I can continue on without thinking about, well, you," Harry rubbed at the back of his neck and looked away from Sarah then, too many emotions running rampant through him.
Some form of squeak or noise similar enough to that came out of Sarah and not a second later, he felt her arms encircle him regardless of any passerbyers. "I can't tell you how much hearing you say that means to me. It's been hard, acting like we never got as intimate as we did, but it was better for the both of us to go on like that until we were ready to accept it," she pulled his face towards her so that she could look into his eyes. "You know this'll be very difficult, right?"
He nodded once even as his arms came to circle her body of their own accord. "I know."
Sarah smiled at him as bri— no, brighter than ever before. "I'm sure knowing you, you're confident as ever that this'll work out."
Harry nodded again and after a quick look around, pressed the softest of kisses to her lips; it was distinctly different from the usual aggressive ones Elaine would initiate. "It will."
Just like that, their new relationship began. It was one that was focused on a life they'd created in a moment of passion, together.