-Author's Note: I managed to wrap up this chapter with some difficulty. There were a few things that I kept going back and rewriting. It didn't help that an idea for a Luna/Harry story popped into my head and I started working on that. This chapter is likely to be the last for a while with this story because I am at a hard literary wall with the fact that I have an idea of what I want to happen next but I have no idea of how to write it out.
As an important note, this chapter contains a bit of smut near the end.
Harry Potter and the Last Hunt
Chapter 1 - Birthday Celebrations
Part 3 - Tracking Treats
After leisurely meandering for forty minutes, Harry had learned a bit about some of his friends' plans for the future. Hermione had been inspired by her Runes class and wanted to study ancient magical societies to uncover forgotten magic that will lead to a deeper understanding of the world, her plans required her to become a proficient curse breaker because most magical archaeological sites were suffuse with magical danger, both ambient and intentional. He learned to cast the Buddhist Restraining spell from Susan, who had informed him that its original purpose was a meditation tool designed to be a physical manifestation of one's doubts and distraction so it was easier to focus the mind and attain enlightenment. Neville barely had to speak before Harry easily guessed correctly that he was going for his mastery in Herbology, wanted his own greenhouse for experimentation, and to eventually teach at Hogwarts. Fred and George were already living their dream, so instead, mentioned some prank items they had plans to make, including a two stage laundry detergent and potion mix that would turn the the drinker's clothes invisible, which a sample for testing was promised to be ready by Halloween. Angelina was working with the twins in their shop and things were apparently getting pretty serious between her and George. Alicia had helped out Katie by going into hiding with her and her family, during which they discovered that together they had a knack not only for Quidditch but also designing clothes for their disguises and made promises to become professional players and then launch a clothing line together. Hannah's uncle had purchased the Leaky Cauldron and she was going to be helping him out there when she could while she was going for her healer's license. Gabby, had managed to skip ahead a year when she transferred to Hogwarts and had to face the OWLS this year. She was hoping to get high enough grades to continue with Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense especially, hoping that they will lead to some sort of exciting career she hadn't yet decided on.
Just as Harry was getting around to talking with Luna, she quietly called everyone's attention to a small clearing that had evidence of a strange scuffle. Harry thought it looked like a bunch of five year olds tried their hand at baking. There were eggshells strewn about, some trees were coated in flour as if someone has exploded the sack, and several trees had deep cuts that were dripping sap. Despite all the chaos, Luna quickly pointed out a series of perfectly round prints in the flour and grass, told the group that it was probably the puddings, and that they should follow it. "Remember, we don't know how these creatures react to anything, so it is best we avoid using magic if we can," she chirped happily as she almost skipped along the tracks of the supposed puddings. Harry and Hermione eyed the twins and their usual pranking crew suspiciously, but their faces didn't give up any sign of mischievous intent.
Their counter-prank planning was interrupted by a high pitched squeal of delight from Luna as she started to rush forward, "There they are!" Before anyone could react, Luna had sprinted ahead of everyone with an enlarged spoon raised over her head. The thing that she was running at looked like a giant dish of flan with the dish appearing to be animated and walking about with small silver feet. The flan spun around in surprise, revealing two gelatinous arms, a strangely long tongue that was lapping up the sap of a maple tree, and a scrunched up face that reminder Harry of the Sorting Hat.
The creature scurried away on its dish while making a gurgle sort of popping sound and the slits where its eyes would be widening slightly. Luna's spoon slammed down where it had been as two more of these bizarre creatures fled from their hiding place in a bush. Each one looked like enough to feed all of them had it been regular pudding. Luna started running after the nearest one, "This is wonderful! Daddy and I never find what we are looking for this easily!" Her enthusiasm was infectious, or at least distracting enough to not notice the twins and Angelina casting cheering charms on the entire group, so they all joined in the chase, laughing the entire time.
The three desserts lead them on a romp through the woods until they ran past a hot spring and into a cave. Harry, still laughing, was stopped from running in after them by Luna, "We have to be careful, this could be their den, and we don't know if there are more of them or if those were just puddinglettes."
"Pudding...lettes? Ah, I get it," commented a slightly winded Hermione, less out of breath than how some of her rants left her.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" added Harry, but before anyone could come up with anything beyond 'hit them with a spoon' a soft stomping sound came from the cave.
"Weapons at the ready!" called out Luna, exchanging her normally Fae-like demeanor for a commanding one that reminded Harry of some of the senior aurors he had met. "I want everyone to spread out and circle around whatever comes out! Susan, Hannah!"
"YES?" Hannah accidentally shouted in surprise.
"Make sure that nothing else comes out of the cave while our attention is elsewhere."
"Yes," they responded in unison before moving to either side of the entrance and waiting as the stomping got louder. Out came a pudding as tall as Ginny. It wore an expression that looked like it was grumpy from being woken up. It stomped out into the middle of the group's circle, grumbling and growling in a similar manner to the smaller puddings, but its size and the deepness of its voice were fairly intimidating. Fred, George, and Angelina glanced at each other with wide eyes and audibly gulped and whispered to each other, only to be overhead by Harry, "That is not good -"
" - and definitely not what we had in mind -"
" - when we set this up."
"How are we going to deal with this?"
"Smile and play along, boys." The three of them worrying and finishing each other's sentences. They drew their cutlery and flicked them with magic to enlarge them, giving Susan a very good idea to talk to Luna about patenting and using her enchantment on some useful magical items. Her straying thoughts were cut off by the woman in question rushing forward like a blonde streak with a battle cry, "Rikk-Tikk-Tikki-Tikki-tchk!" and thrust her spoon deep into the surprised pudding's body. A stunned group of witches and wizards as well as pudding watched as Luna twisted the spoon expertly and removed a huge spoonful of pudding that slowly formed into a smaller, crying pudding. Propping the enlarged spoon under one arm, she deftly retrieved a second spoon from her pocket and drove it down into the top of the pudding and removing a regular-sized spoonful of flan from the captured flan and ate it in a single fluid motion. The tiny flailing pudding stilled and became a regular, albeit large, serving of desert when she swallowed the bite.
The pranksters sighed in relief that their creation was going to be able to wrecking desserty, unstoppable havok on everyone. The giant pudding clutched at its gaping hole before swinging its arms about like it belonged in a Hong Kong action movie. The group attempted to follow Luna's slightly terrifying example and began jumping at the monster, attempting to bury one of their utensils into its head, well, caramelized top Harry mentally corrected as he was the first one to reach it. Unfortunately, the dessert had other things in mind and proceeded to deflect any attack and toss the hunters away from it.
"Merlin, this thing is weird!" Katie called out as she watched both Fred and George take a gooey fist to the face and go stumbling away and landing on Angelina. Luna had managed the best against the defenses of the aggressive dessert by spinning and thrusting, parrying and striking, while the rest slowly gave up their attempts and watched in awe. Unfortunately, the flan managed to get the upper hand by disarming Luna and knocking her off balance. As she stumbled,the pudding moved to strike her down when Harry called out, "Luna! Catch!"
She deftly grabbed his tossed butter knife and spun around the delicious fist, swinging the utensil. The pudding turned to face Luna again as she threateningly spun the dull blade around and struck a pose before it. When she started to speak, Harry swore her mouth wasn't moving with her words, "You are no match for me, tasty treat. You don't even know that you have already been defeated!"
The pudding chuckled and took a single menassing step towards her before its angry expression turned to a shocked one, along with the rest of the group. A decent portion of the top of the flan slid off of it at an angle, having been so swiftly cut by Luna that no one had noticed, not even the creature. Luna's out of synch speaking continued, "There is no pudding in all the realms that I cannot conquer. You shall be remembered as a worthy foe."
Her mood suddenly shifted back to normal, well, normal for Luna. She turned towards the three sprawled out pranksters and said, "Thank you so much for making sure our hike had a snack!"
Stunned that they had been so easily seen through, Fred replied, "Yeah, uh, no problem, Luna." George shook his head and mumbled something about how it was possible that Luna was the first to figure everything out. Harry helped the three up and waved his wand over them, "Scourgify. Well, I guess you were right about me needing to remember the spell." Laughter rose up as the group conjured up a large picnic blanket and dishes so they could relax and enjoy a well earned treat.
They all talked about various pranks and their hopes for the new school year. The twins complained that they had no one particularly dedicated to jokes to leave their Hogwarts legacy to, so they had added a few things during the reconstruction of Hogwarts, including what they called the Hall of Mischief. The two described it as a special record room or museum of pranks that recorded every trick ever done on the school grounds using some enchantments tied into the wards and listed it, including total points lost by every prank and prankster. The only thing they told the group about what was in it was that it honored the true Marauders and they managed to include some of the funnier things that Harry had happen during his early school year, somehow including Harry and Hermione's stint with the time turner, despite them never even informing Ron what actually happened.
After cleaning up the mess the group had made, they started apporating back to 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry was stopped by Ginny as she tugged him towards the hot springs. "Luna told me about the hot spring she had found when scouting the forest for today, so I made some preparations of my own," she told him with a smile. When they arrived at the spring, she pulled out a basket that had a few towels and a lunch for both of them in it. "I hope you kept the sneakoscope with you," she added. Harry just nodded and pulled the whirling knick-knack from his pocket. The device really started to light up as Ginny said, "Turn around so I can get changed for the spring, we can have lunch in it and relax."
Harry eyed his present and girlfriend suspiciously and faced away and didn't turn back around until he heard her sigh in delight has she slipped into the pool of hot water. "I left what you should get changed into in the basket," she called to him with her head sunk low in the gently churning water, his device gave a single loud whistle when Ginny said that. Harry dug around in the basket, but after the towels had been removed, all that remained in it were some dishes designed to float on the water and food. "Ginny," Harry spoke as he dug deeper into the basket looking for swimming trunks, "There is nothing for me to wear in here."
"Exactly."
"Then what are you…" He trailed off as a blushing Ginny lifted herself to a proper sitting position in the hot spring, exposing a decent portion of her bare breasts. Harry stuttered for a moment, causing his girlfriend to blush even brighter. This caused his brain to all but shut down as the sight of the beautiful woman filled every corner of his brain. "You are incredible," he muttered dumbly before realizing he was staring and fumbled to join her. She glanced away and covered her face in embarrassment. In his rush to join her, Harry almost fell in when he tried to take his pants off without first removing his shoes.
After a moment, the two managed to settle in next to each other, legs touching, sharing massive, embarrassed grins, and their lunch floating about on dishes that drifted towards them whenever they reached for food. After a delicious picnic style lunch that Ginny had made herself, their attention turned fully from food to their naked partner.
It started out with nervous kissing that they sunk into, forgetting any social etiquette, and started holding one another close. Slowly, hands became more bold as they moved from neck and waist to roam and explore. They had moved off the natural bench of the spring and were standing pinned together in a deeper part with their shoulders just above the water. Ginny enjoyed the feeling of running her hands across his abs but loved the sensation of squeezing his bum. Ginny's hands had been the ones to set the pace with Harry taking ques for what was acceptable from where she grazed and kneaded. When her left hand had found its way to his nipples, she delighted in teasing them until they hardened, she enjoyed teasing him until he let out a soft, aroused growl that had her own nipples hardening and heat rushing to her core without even being touched.
Ginny pulled away slightly so she could put more focus into massaging all of Harry's body before working up the nerve to reach for the really fun bit pressed against her stomach like fire and steel. She was taken by surprise when Harry's kisses began wandering up her jaw and towards her ear. He whispered in her ear with a sultry tone, "This is the best birthday present I have ever received," before kissing down her neck. A haze had fallen over the two of them as they panted and deeply breathed each other's breath. Harry's right hand found its way to her breast and sensually began kneading it, alternating between tracing erotic spirals with his fingernails that circled her nipples, cupping her entirety in his palm and gently undulating his fingers around their base, and softly pinching and pulling her nipples, all drawing moans and mewls from her as their tongues returned to enjoying as much of their partner's mouth as possible. Ginny could hardly managed a thought outside of how much she wanted more of him.
"Harry," she managed to groan into his mouth as she managed to pull her hips away from his, producing a growl of disappointment from Harry at the loss of sensation as they had begun grinding together without realizing it. A small gasp escaped him as Ginny's hand unwrapped itself from his back and shoulder and slid down his body and then up onto his shaft. He could feel her smile as she gave him a light squeeze and started to stroke him. "Ginny, god, Ginny," he managed as she slipped to his side to make it easier to slide her hand up and down his shaft. She pressed her body tightly to his side and bit on to his ear after she whispered in it filled with lust, "I plan on making sure you never forget today."
His eyes squeezed shut and his mouth hung slightly slack as he kept whispering her name in reverence. He managed to collect himself enough to have his hand slide down her back and reach passed her wonderfully taught rear to rest his palm on her center. Ginny stilled for a moment with a brief shudder before continuing her strokes except now grinding her body down onto his hand and side with each pump. It was his turn to shudder in pleasure when he heard erotic mewls to come from her lips as she started to suck on his shoulder, unable to reach his lips without taking her burning core away from his fingers which had started exploring, spreading, and massaging at her lips and knub.
Harry began to thrust his fingers inside of Ginny, illisiting a keening sound from her as she clenched down on him with her thighs, lips and teeth nibbled at him, her unoccupied hand tightened on his rear, and she managed to quicken her strokes over the entire length of his rod. Passionate minutes went by like this when Harry managed to shift his posture thrust his mouth upon her's. They both felt their desperation and pressure rise, as fingernails scratched in erotic tension, Harry's hand reached across his chest to massage her breast as it was pressed against his body, and their tongues and lips sought to consume each other.
Ginny broke first when Harry began to rub at her clit. She clenched down with her entire body, including biting down on his lip. She held fast and spasmed rhythmically as Harry continued with his sensual touching. The only movement Ginny made was to release his lip as she almost screamed out his name. Her voice toppled him over the edge and he joined her climax. Soon the orgasms subsided and they were left clinging together, throbbing with satisfaction. At some point they had shifted front to front again and held the other close.
After a minute of standing still, the couple sank back down on to the natural bench of the spring with a sigh. Ginny pulled herself across his lap and settled her head in the crook of his neck. They stayed like that, basking in each other's presence, enjoying the sounds of the forest around them. Harry could feel Ginny's smile grow on her face, causing one of his own to form. He slowly began to kiss the top of her head, keeping his close as he starting whispering how amazing she was.
The heat and passion began to build back up between them. Before long they were alight with desire. Ginny shifted her legs and saddled across his lap. Soft grinding pressed hip against hip as they kissed. Ginny started rubbing her center up and down his length, her groin pressed so tightly against Harry's staff that her lips parted slightly to wrap around his shaft. Harry's hands fell to her hips and pressed and pull Ginny into more desperate gyrations. They started to groan and pull at one another's lips.
The tension continued to build as they writhed together. At the peak of Ginny's gyrations, she rolling her hips forward as if she wanted to take him into herself but was hesitating. He could feel Ginny working herself up to something. His mind wandered away as she took his face in both hands and kissed him roughly. His thoughts came back to him when he felt Ginny tense up and held still over his tip. Just as she started to lower herself on to his, Harry pulled his head away and gently took hold of her wrists.
"Wait," he breathed as he pressed his forehead against her's.
She stopped her descent and spoke with worry, "What? Why not?"
Before Ginny's fears got away from her, Harry pulled her into a hug and kissed her. "I'm not sure I can do this right now," he muddled out, thinking about his words. "I mean, I don't think it will be right for us to do this right now when we have to meet up later with everyone else; I want our only thoughts to be about each other," he continued.
"Oh, Harry," Ginny murmured back. He wasn't she what her response meant and then she clarified, "It does ruin it a bit. Maybe tonight, after everyone is gone and asleep and it will be just us."
"Just us," he confirmed.
"That doesn't mean we can't bring this to an enjoyable conclusion," she declared with a wink before starting to grind her hips again. Any clever comeback hitched in Harry's throat as the amazing sensation removed his higher reasoning.
He kissed down her neck and chest until he was able to latch his mouth onto her breasts. She gasped at the new sensation and wrapped her arms around his neck and head. Ginny dug her fingers through his thick black hair and gasped his name. As her pleasure grew, her speech devolved, her panting "Harry" soon became " 'arry," then " 'arra," and finally whining gasps of, "ang, ang, ang."
Harry suckled and teased at her breasts, pressed and kneaded her ass to guide her hips tightly along his inflamed length. Ginny had rolled her head back, lost in pleasure. Harry kissed up her chest and neck to her ear, which he played with, nibbling and licking, before whispering each word in between pants, "Tonight it will just be you and me, no one else to worry about."
An erotic thought crossed his mind and he decided that Ginny needed to know about it, "Just you taking me inside you." She stiffened at the thought as the fire rising inside her turned into an inferno. Harry continued when he interpreted her reaction as positive, "Me pressing deep inside you again and again." A trill almost started in Ginny's throat at the idea.
He started grinding harder into her with each word he uttered, "All of me touching all of you. No restraint, nothing to stop us." At this Ginny was overcome with an orgasm. She started to writhe and clutch at him in ecstasy as he continued pushing her with his words, "Just me deep inside you."
Harry's own climax began to surge. He managed to grind out his words as his erection throbbed, "Again and again until we collapse." He joined her in bliss as he finished his sentence.
They gripped each other as they twitched from their ogasms. It felt like the world came to stop and for a brief moment and there was only them. They came out of their mutual daze by gasping for breath, having briefly forgotten to breathe. They managed to lift heavy eyelids to stare into each other's eyes.
Not breaking eye contact, they shift their bodies so they were comfortably wrapped around each other, sitting on the shelf of the hot spring. As the couple recovered their breath, they sank deeper together. At some point they had closed their eyes and were almost dozing off. Harry spoke with his eyes still closed and his forehead pressed against her's, "I hate to even consider moving, but I think we agreed to go to the theater soon."
"Ugh, no," Ginny complained as she held him tighter, "I'm sure we have plenty of time. Maybe enough time for a nap, and maybe something…"
She was cut off by the buzzing from an alarm spell. "Ahrgh," Ginny complained when she had to pull away from Harry to reach for her wand to cancel the spell. Harry was chuckling as she crawled back to the spring. She started pulling him out. "Come on! It's your birthday, so it's your fault we have be somewhere," she accused him and gave a satisfied grunt as he put up his hands and said, "Alright, I'm moving."
The perturbation of having to leave the comfort of the springs lead them to forget that they were naked. New embarrassment flushed across their faces despite the intimacy that they just experienced. Ginny had the bright idea to help Harry dry himself off so she could take the time to enjoy his exposed body. When he returned the favor, she showed him a few of the charms she uses to care for her hair, which he promised to master for the next time they get wet together.