Author's Notes: Lonely, I am so lonely...

Chapter VII

Saturday, very early in the morning.

When Hugo opened his eyes, the first thing he was aware of was a blinding pain in his back. The second thing was Lily still pressed against his chest.

The third thing was three pairs of eyes which were looking at them.

He started, but calmed when he noticed that none of the visitors was looking at him with hostility. Hagrid seemed to find the scene tremendously cute for his eyes were shining and a dumb smile was visible through his beard. Madam Pomfrey was sighing, but she didn't seem to want to hex them as Hugo had imagined she might have done once she found him there. Professor McGonagall was sitting on a chair and drinking a cup of tea, looking just as if she had a cup of tea in the Prefects' Bathroom every other day.

"Good morning," said Hugo softly.

Lily nuzzled her nose into his jaw and hummed something.

"Good morning, Mr Weasley," said the Headmistress. "Miss Potter, Madam Pomfrey brought you a cup of tea."

Lily's eyes opened wide at the woman's voice. She finally noticed that they were not alone and that she was naked, and brought both hands to her chest with a little shocked cry of surprise and embarrassment, before sliding off Hugo's lap and disappearing underwater.

"Lily!" exclaimed Hugo, he stretched a hand where her tail was disappearing amongst the rocks and blinked as he stared at his palm. He brought his hand back to his face to have a closer look at it. His palm was covered in colourful scales, big and small ones, and they shone in the light coming in from the window. "What…"

"She's shedding her tail," said Madam Pomfrey matter-of-factly. "Professor Slughorn asked us to save a few of her scales for his potions."

Hugo looked at them, mouth wide. Lily was not a potion's ingredient! He was about to tell them just that, when Lily herself emerged from the water, wearing his Chudley Cannons tee-shirt.

"Good morning, professors," she greeted them meekly, swimming towards them.

"Good morning, Miss Potter," replied Professor McGonagall. She waved her wand and a cup of tea levitated towards her. Lily grabbed it and leant her elbows on the edge of the tub, sipping quietly.

Hugo crossed the tub to join her and couldn't help noticing how much the scales had retired from her body. Her round and pretty bottom, which he had seen so many times half-hidden by her bikini at the beach near Shell Cottage – and had fantasised about just as often – was half-human again. And suddenly, he hoped that she was either wearing something longer or that they were alone.

The professors didn't seem to notice, though, and Hugo just floated next to her and grabbed the edge too, pushing himself out of the water and sitting near her arms. The Headmistress levitated a cup towards him too.

"Thank you," he said, as he grabbed it. "You're not… hum… you're not mad that I'm here…?"

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I knew you'd be here, Mr Weasley," she replied. "Why do you think I left the door open last night?"

Hugo blinked. "Oh, I thought… I thought I wasn't allowed to…"

"We figured that you might have helped Miss Potter feel a bit better, since she was so prostrated yesterday. And in case she didn't want you here, we trusted that you'd be respectful enough to leave her," replied the Headmistress.

Lily glanced at him and smiled. "He did help me," she told them, and Hugo felt his chest swell with pride.

"So you're feeling better, Miss Potter?" asked Professor McGonagall.

She nodded. "Much better," she replied, "I think I'm ready to go back to my lessons."

Hagrid laughed heartily. "Maybe next week, Lily," he chuckled, "when you grow back your legs."

"Also, it's Saturday today," murmured Hugo, winking at her.

She pouted slightly, but nodded again in understanding. Her tail splashed around a little and Hugo could see how much smaller it already was, especially compared to a few days back. "But I'm super behind with my homework," she complained, "and N.E.W.T.s are in a matter of weeks."

"Well, isn't it lucky that Mr Weasley has taken some very thorough notes for you to catch up in all your subjects, Miss Potter?" asked Professor McGonagall with a small smile on her lips.

Lily's eyes were shining as she looked up at him. "You did? For me?" she asked happily.

Hugo swallowed and tried to look everywhere but at her. "Well…"

"Alas, I'm afraid Mr Weasley has been rather distracted lately," continued Professor McGonagall, "he's had a lot on his plate, and on his mind."

Lily still looked at him, eyes wide. "Oh… me?" she asked softly. "Because of the magic?"

Hugo nodded. "Yeah… but I've got some notes, you know…"

"And, if you'd like, Miss Potter," suggested Professor McGonagall, "some of your friends were really anxious to visit you. If you are happy to let them in, I'm sure they can help you catch up too."

She nodded fervently, but Hugo wrinkled his nose at the idea of having to share Lily with her super-excitable, and super-emotional, friends. He made a mental note to suggest a timetable so that he didn't have to listen to Alice telling Lily that he hadn't wanted to give her the tokens of their friendship.

"Perfect, then," said the Headmistress, as she stood up, "I'll let them know that they can finally come in to see you. Is there anything you need, Miss Potter?"

She looked at her, eyes wide. "Food? Human food," she asked, "and maybe something a bit longer to wear?" She blushed and lowered her eyes, as if she was well aware of her nudity now.

"But of course," said Madam Pomfrey warmly. "I'll see to that."

"And you don't worry for my classes, Lily," said Hagrid gently, "consider it passed." He winked and Lily's smile brightened up, her tails splashing in excitement.

"Thank you, Hagrid!" she gushed.

He nodded and smiled. "And I'm sure Professor Slughorn will be happy to slip you an 'O' if you bring him some of your scales," he added, winking again.

"Hagrid," sighed Professor McGonagall, shaking her head.

"Yeah," protested Hugo, "she's not a potion ingredient!"

Lily's little hand shot up to cover his mouth. "Shush you," she chastised, "I'll make sure to bring the last scale that I shed. Can I have a box to put them in, please?"

Professor McGonagall shook her head again. "I meant that that was not good work ethic," she sighed, "but I'll turn a blind eye, Miss Potter, just because what happened to you was not your fault."

"Thank you, Headmistress," said Lily brightly.

Professor McGonagall nodded and chuckled. "If that's all, Miss Potter, I'll let you get on with your day." She looked at Hugo and added, "Mr Weasley, don't you have anything to do this morning?"

He grinned. "Just a couple of Herbology essays to write with Michael and John for a project that Professor Longbottom gave us, but maybe I could skip them in favour of spending some more time with Lily?" he asked. "She does look a bit prostrate still…"

"I'm perfectly fine," Lily assured him. "And we need those essays, so go and write them." She smiled. "I'll see you this afternoon and if you could bring me my books, I'd be forever grateful."

Hugo sighed as the possibility of both spending time with Lily, and skipping essays, evaporated in front of him. "Alright," he agreed. He lowered his head to kiss Lily's forehead and finally stood from the edge of the tub and made his way to the door, turning to wave and smile as Hagrid patted his back and chuckled for Merlin knew what reason.

"Mr Weasley," called Professor McGonagall as the door closed at their backs, "how do you feel?"

"Much better," he replied cheerfully, "thank you."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Good to hear, Mr Weasley."

"I know," he replied with a grin.

oOoOo

Saturday at lunch, again.

Hugo noticed, with great satisfaction, that Alice, Susan and Becky were not at lunch. While in the library, they had gone on and on about visiting Lily as soon as they finished their essays, so much so that Madam Pince had to shush them the whole time for their continuous chatting.

At least, if they were visiting her during lunchtime, he wouldn't encounter them when he went to see her later that afternoon. He still had to put all his notes together to give them to Lily, but he hoped that the three girls had at least done something intelligent and brought her their own notes.

He gobbled down one last glass of pumpkin juice and stood up, he boldly told two of his fellow Gryffindor Quidditch players that they would play the final against Slytherin with everybody on the team next week. He asked how trainings were going on, and if any of them had any notes from the last Potion lesson that he somehow really didn't absorb.

After having gotten the notes he needed from Mary, who now looked slightly guilty for having asked to replace him as Head Boy, he walked back to Gryffindor Tower.

He went to his dorm, hastily donned his swimming trunks and pushed the books he needed into his bag, before making his way downstairs again.

Downstairs. In the Common Room. Where a little crowd had gathered around three very angry and very wet young ladies.

"She splashed us from head to toe!" whined Becky.

Alice placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Yes," she hissed, "and look at our homework! Ruined!" She raised a piece of parchment where the letters were melting slowly into a big puddle of black.

Hugo walked towards the group of people who were gasping and nodding and shaking their heads at the heart-rending tale. "Did Lily do this to you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes! And it's surely all your fault," snapped Susan as she saw him, her finger pointing straight at his chest, "you've had a bad influence on her."

"Yes!" Alice piled on. "She's never been like that before!"

Hugo stared at them; they looked rather comical with their wet locks plastered to their foreheads, and the little makeup they were allowed to wear was starting to drip over their cheeks. He pushed back the laughter in favour of a serious answer to their accusations. "I'm sure she didn't mean any harm," he told them diplomatically. "She splashed me the first time I went to see her."

"But she screamed at us too!" protested Becky.

"Yes," whinged Susan, "she was horrible."

Hugo darkened. "Well, what did you do to her?" he snorted.

The three girls looked at him as if he had just slapped them. "Nothing!" they protested altogether.

"We were just making some small chat!" said Becky.

"And we brought her the books she needed, and gave her our notes," added Alice. "And look at us! I'm never going to talk to her again!"

"Me neither," agreed Susan.

"Exactly," hissed Becky.

They looked at Hugo, probably waiting for him to fall down on his knees and implore them to forgive Lily for whatever she had done to them. Instead, he just shrugged a shoulder and folded his arms across his chest. "Whatever," he said nonchalantly, "I'm sure she'll cope without you."

The little crowd gasped at his words, and the three girls started to scream things at him, but Hugo just raised his chin and made his way to the Portrait Hole without turning his head to look at them once.

oOoOo

Saturday afternoon.

When Hugo pushed the door of the Prefects' Bathroom open, the first thing he noticed was that Lily was not in the bathtub. Not completely at least.

She was sitting on the edge of the tub, her back arched as she was furiously copying notes and reading from the big tome in front of her. Her tail – if one could still call it that – was almost completely gone and underneath it her legs were more and more visible. Her creamy thighs peeked from under the flowery dress that Madam Pomfrey must have collected from her trunk. Her hair was almost completely dry, as if she hadn't been in the water for most of the day, the only things under the clear liquid were the last few fins that she lazily sloshed around.

He took a step towards the tub and almost slipped. He blinked and looked more closely at the tiles. Every inch of the floor and part of the walls too were covered in water, as if a bomb had exploded into the tub.

"Did you see them?" hissed Lily without even looking up at him.

"You mean the three very disgruntled young ladies you drenched from head to toe?" he asked, as he shed his clothes, and walked to her in his swimming trunks with his books in his arms. "They said you splashed them and screamed at them." He snorted and shook his head. "Little liars."

She raised her eyes on him, slapping her hand on the book. "I did!" she snapped. "I did splash them! Those three… argh! I wanted to push them underwater!"

He furrowed his brow as he sat next to the book. He closed it and placed it where it was not too wet, before sliding closer to her. "What did they do?" he asked her gently.

She crossed her arms and looked away, darkening, and she didn't un-darken even when he wrapped his arms around her and drew soothing circles on her back.

"Were they horrible to you?" he whispered to her.

"Yes," she sighed.

"What did they do?"

She took a deep breath. "They said I smell!" she finally bit out, looking up at Hugo with brown eyes filled with rage. "They said that there was a really stinky smell of fish in here, and they asked me how I could even stand to stay in such a place!" She stiffened her muscles, her arms knotting even more tightly over her chest. "And they made fun of my tail! They said that they had seen real mermaids when they were on holiday in Greece, and they didn't have this sorry excuse of an appendage, but a majestic, long and colourful extremity that ended with many beautiful fins."

He opened his mouth to show all his indignation to her, but she beat him.

"And they kept badmouthing you! Saying you've been horrible to them and wouldn't give me those stupid bracelets that they kept making," she growled. "I hate them."

He looked down at her and smiled. "Did you tell them that you had a beautiful tail until the other day?" he asked her softly. "That it was the most gorgeous tail that a mermaid could ever hope to have."

She tried to suffocate her smile in favour of more cute pouting. "Really?" she asked softly.

Hugo nodded. "And that the only ones that smell are them? Especially Alice right after a Quidditch match," he went on.

She let out a giggle. "She does smell, doesn't she? Michael calls her Alice in Smellyland, when she can't hear him," she confessed in a whisper.

He pulled some locks of hair behind her ears as he made her look up at him. "And I hope you believe them when they say that I've been horrible to them," he murmured, "and I'll be horrible to every person who bothers you with their antics…"

She grinned at him, before stretching her neck a little and kissing him. She was gentler than what she had been when she was still under the complete influence of the Mating Magic, but she opened her mouth straight away, teasing his lips with her tongue and letting out little moans and groans as he responded with the same enthusiasm.

He snogged her for long, wonderful minutes, skimming his hands down to her sides and feeling her naked bottom under the flowery dress.

When she finally withdrew to breathe she lowered her eyes. "Sorry," she murmured.

"For what?" he asked, leaning his forehead against hers.

"For the kiss, it's just… the magic isn't gone completely, yet," she whispered. "I guess."

He nodded. "I bet it'll go away with the last of your scales." He stretched a hand towards her knee and pushed a big one until it slid off her skin. He let it fall into the water and looked at it as it drifted away.

Lily grabbed it before he could even understand that she had moved away from him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her as she opened a box filled with scales.

She looked at him as if he was stupid. "I need them for my 'O' in Potions, remember?" she asked him impatiently. "I've spent the whole morning plumbing the depths of the tub for those."

He wrinkled his nose at her. "Isn't it going to be weird for you to know that next time we brew a potion we might be using a piece of you?" he asked her. "I think it's horrible."

"I'm going to get an 'O', Hugo, if Slughorn wants my non-mermaid hair in exchange of an 'O' in my N.E.W.T., I'd shave my head for him," she told him seriously.

He shook his head. "Cheater," he accused her with a grin.

She cocked an eyebrow. "I've been unable to attend my lessons for days, when we're only weeks away from our final N.E.W.T.s, and it's all your and Mark's fault," she told him, poking his chest with a finger. "I suggest you shut up and just tell me what an intelligent and wonderful girl I am, otherwise…"

He grasped the hand that was still poking him and grinned. "Otherwise?" he whispered.

She grinned back at him then, with the quick mermaidish movements that he still hadn't gotten used to and she still didn't seem to have lost, she threw herself into the tub, bringing him under the water with her.

He had just the time to take a gulp of air before he was being kissed again, bubbles tickling him everywhere as she pushed him back and against the smooth tiles of the tub. He distractedly noticed how it seemed as if there were fewer rocks in there.

Her hands closed around his waist and she brought him up again.

He took a deep breath as his head emerged. "Cheater," he coughed again, but she was kissing and licking and nipping at his neck and murmuring against his skin and he just couldn't find other words to add to that one.

"You know what's great?" she asked as she pecked his collarbone.

"What?" he breathed, blushing for his throaty tone.

She giggled. "Madam Pomfrey said that my gills are the last thing that will go away," she told him. A mischievous light flashed in her eyes and then she dove into the water with a grin over her face.

He looked at her through the water, wondering if she expected him to follow her, his wand was somewhere near his books though and somehow the last thing he wanted was to move now to find it. So, when he felt her lips teasing his chest, he just brought his arms high above his head to grab the edge of the tub and keep his head above water.

She grabbed his sides, running her fingers gently over his muscles.

"Lily!" he gasped, his legs kicked the water as a reflex, and she bit his waist as her hands reached the elastic band of his trunks.

Suddenly, his legs stopped kicking and he stayed as still as possible, letting the water around him settle to have the clearest view of his cousin and what she was doing. Not that he couldn't imagine that by simply her movements.

He took a sharp breath, his muscles stiffening in his body as her hands pushed down his trunks over his hips.

"Bloody hell," he gasped as she wrapped a hand around him. He felt his stomach tighten and his heels pushed against the tiles as he tried to move his pelvis forward and against her hand… no, hands…

No, it was something even better.

"Shit, shit, shit," he murmured, turning his head to push his forehead against his arm. He didn't even have to look at her to know what she was doing, he could feel her fingers on his stomach and her lips teasing him so bloody slowly, kissing the underside of his cock, all the way to its head and down again, licking him and scraping her teeth slowly over his foreskin.

He heaved a sigh, trying hard to delay his release. His hips moved forward though, and she finally opened her lips to take as much as she could of him in her mouth.

He scrunched his eyes up, gritting his teeth as his feet slid from the smooth tiles. "Fuck," he growled as he pushed himself even further towards her. He wanted to stretch a hand and grasp her hair, but the idea of moving anything that was not his pelvis made him dizzy.

He was so hard, he thought he was going to explode. And when his release finally bubbled over the edge, he thought that he did just that. "Coming, Lily, I'm coming…" he babbled to himself rather than her. His eyes rolled back into his skull, and he felt his balls tightening, as the force of his orgasm made him groan out loud.

She stayed down there until his stomach unclenched under her fingers, then she tucked him back in and swam up again, throwing her arms around his torso she leant her head against his chest, kissing and licking him.

"Shit," he breathed as he let her hang onto him.

She looked up at him. "Language, Hugo!" she scolded playfully.

"That was…" words failed him, for none of his girlfriends had ever done that to him.

"Good?" asked Lily, with a grin in her voice.

He looked down at her. "Where did you learn that?" he asked in a whisper, slightly afraid of the answer.

She grinned broadly. "Oh, it's part the mermaid magic," she told him matter-of-factly, "you know they are great seductresses. They know everything about sex."

"And the other part?" he asked softly.

She shrugged a shoulder. "Part is James and Teddy's secret stash of erotic magazines," she replied calmly, "some issues are really educative, you know."

He nodded in agreement. "I know," he replied.

She giggled again, but when he let the edge go and turned them around until he had her pressed against the tiles, all that left her mouth were pretty, breathy moans that he proceeded to smother with his kisses.