Ch.37: Pools
The Potters had very good memories from their summer vacation. They liked the weather, they liked the sea, but most of all – they liked the freedom experienced by the lack of clothes. Yet, although they had a backyard pool, they hadn't had time to use it since coming back from their vacation.
"Why don't we do like the DePoitiers and enjoy nudity at our pool?" Harry suggested.
Hermione and Narcissa nodded approvingly.
James shrugged. "I don't care, as long as I don't have to watch Aunt Molly or Aunt Minnie nude."
Harry had to hide a smile. It wouldn't be long before James would really like to see all females nude, he was sure.
"I like it," Rose said. "It will make almost every day seem like vacation."
Hermione made sure to check all the privacy wards around their backyard. Harry urged the hedges to grow a bit taller. He trusted privacy charms, but a tall hedge would look less suspicious than a charmed area. He also added some warming charms. Britain is not famous for its sunny and warm weather. It wouldn't be fun to freeze at the pool, either wearing a swimsuit or not.
They had a sunny weekend. It wasn't warm by any measure, but the sky was blue with only a few fluffy white clouds for decoration and there was almost no wind. Hermione thought it was a good time for a maintenance tanning session at the pool. Narcissa joined her and Harry followed suit. Rose didn't need any urging to follow their example, especially since she didn't even have to go to her room and change. Only James grumbled a bit before undressing and starting swimming. He had found he liked swimming during the summer and was eager to keep in shape. With Teddy spending the weekend at his grandma, he didn't have any better occupation.
The smaller children enjoyed the pool as well, although only the shallowest part of it. Nudity had no meaning for them, as such small children are usually nude at pools and beaches everywhere, and Rose made sure they were staying safe, making it her role.
They heard the door-bell ringing about an hour later.
"Oh, my! I've forgotten that I've invited Eleanor for lunch!" Hermione said, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her.
She walked bare-foot to the door. Eleanor was standing there, clad in a warm coat. Seeing Hermione's attire she looked confused. "Have I come at the wrong time?" she asked. "I believe you've invited me for lunch today."
Hermione smiled at her in reassurance. "You came on time. I'm the one who forgot. We were just enjoying ourselves at the pool. Care to join us?"
Eleanor followed Hermione in. "Isn't it a bit cold for an outdoor pool?" she asked.
"Not really. We have some warming charms on it, so it feels as warm as a nice summer day; almost as warm as a Mediterranean beach."
Hermione was leading her to the backyard when she remembered. "Oh, I've almost forgotten. We've adopted nudity at the pool. I hope it doesn't disturb you."
Eleanor was less surprised than expected. "After what Julius told me about your summer vacation, I almost expected it, although I've never tried naturism before."
"So, are you alright with this?"
Eleanor smiled. "I am – theoretically. I'll probably feel extremely out of my element for a bit, until I get accustomed, but I look forward to the experience."
Hermione just smiled encouragingly as they went out. Had Eleanor been magical, she wqould have probably been a Gryffindor, judging by the courage she was showing. Hermione dropped her towel on a pool-side chair and grabbed a clean towel. "This is for you."
Eleanor noticed that the whole family was nude. She was especially aware of Harry's nudity and of him looking in her direction. She turned around and undressed quickly. Once nude, she followed Hermione into the water, looking extremely tense. She only relaxed a bit when the water covered her up to her shoulders.
Both women started chatting with her. She soon forgot her nudity. They swam a bit and then stopped near Harry, who was watching the smaller children. The water near him was only waist deep, leaving their breasts exposed. Harry greeted her briefly and turned his gaze back to the small children.
"Where's Rose?" Hermione asked.
"She went inside to bring a few more water-toys for her siblings and she asked me to keep an eye on them."
James, who was also in the pool, tried to stay away from the adults, yet Hermione noticed that he checked Eleanor over before she entered the water.
Rose returned soon, thanking her father with a warm smile. Harry turned to the women. "Hermione hasn't told me you were coming for lunch, or I would have not stayed nude. I hope you're not offended by our attire here."
Eleanor smiled, still a bit nervous at being so exposed. "I'm not offended. I was even looking forward to an occasion to try nudism. I just didn't expect it to be today."
"So, do you like it?", he asked, furtively scanning her body. She looked almost as nice as his wives. Her breasts were a bit less perky and her belly not as tight, but she was still in good shape and seemed quite fit.
"It does make me feel free, although I still feel a bit embarrassed about exposing myself to a man."
Harry smiled. "I don't think that should bother you. I've seen so much nudity during the summer that I don't mind it anymore. Still, I can see you look very nice. I think Severus was lucky to have you."
Eleanor blushed. She liked the compliment, yet it meant that he had looked her over. She allowed herself to do the same, admiring Harry's athletic build and glancing a bit downstairs, noticing he was quite well endowed. "You look quite nice yourself," she said, blushing some more.
"Well, I have two wives to keep me in shape," he winked at her.
They stayed at the pool another hour. Harry swam with James for a while and then joined the tanning women. Eleanor had already lost all her shyness and even asked him to spread some sun lotion on her back. They also ate lunch by the pool, enjoying the sunshine and protected from the cold.
When she needed to leave, Eleanor felt a bit sad to go back into her warm clothes. "You may join us here whenever you want," Hermione told her. "Just call us first to make sure we're home."
DADA lessons were turning into physical fitness lessons. The teacher, an American ex-auror, considered his students' physical fitness as important as their magical knowledge. "If you can't dodge fast enough or if you tire too soon, you're as good as dead," he repeatedly told his students. He made about half his lessons into physical fitness training, making the students run around the lake, do some sit-ups and pushups and then some exercises for enhancing their reaction speed, usually as part of some ball games.
As the weather got colder, the exercises had to be taken indoors. The pool hall was the only place that was protected from the elements, large enough for the exercise and well equipped for such activity. The first time he took the students there, many objected, but the professor wouldn't budge. He set personal example by being the first to get nude. Those who still hesitated were asked "Are you ashamed of your body? Do you have something amiss or malformed?"
Lilly wasn't the first girl to undress, unwilling to look too eager. She was quite proud at seeing Brenda undressing in the presence of all the boys. The girl turned as red as her hair, but faced her classmates nude just the same, overcoming her previous shyness. Others followed. Lilly noticed that Brenda, along with most other girls, were trying to watch the boys furtively, comparing their appearance and their assets, just as the boys did, not as furtively, while watching the girls. Lilly felt confident. She wasn't the most endowed girl or the most curvacious, but she was proud of her looks and she noticed many admiring glances.
"You'll have time to study each other later, after class," the professor brought them back to reality. "Now, follow me for a few rounds of the pool before we start swimming exercises."
By the time they finished the rounds, sweaty and out of breath, few could pay any attention to the nudity. They were all sent into the pool for a swim before going on with other exercises.
Despite the initial reluctance, DADA at the pool soon turned into the most favorite lesson for the majority of students. Only a few who were extremely fat disliked it. There were usually groans when the next lesson would be scheduled to be in class and not at the pool.
Minerva McGonagall kept her word. When returning from the winter holidays, a new announcement was made. "As you've already taken mixed gender DADA lessons at the pool, there will be no gender separation after hours as well. The pool will be open to both genders every day. You still have to abide by school laws and refrain from any unbecoming activity. At least one member of the staff will be present at all times at the pool."
Minerva hid her smile as the students seemed very happy with this announcement.
Lilly enjoyed spending as much time at the pool as she could, usually with Julius, Dianna and Andrew. Brenda and Bob also joined the group.
Unlike her first experience at the French pool, staying at the pool at school was usually almost devoid of sexual tension. Everybody was aware of the differences between the genders, yet the presence of the older teachers, the décor – consisting of fitness exercises drawn with stick figures, and the homework, which many brought with them so they could finish it while lounging at the side of the pool, acted to tone down the sexual feelings.
This didn't mean that they were unable to occasionally touch each other and not strictly hands and faces only, but it was all in good nature and fun, not leading to any forbidden activity.
Many were surprised to see the Headmistress come for an occasional swim, usually quite late in the evening. As Lilly suspected, Minerva was quite fit and looked decades younger than her age. She even joined a few ball games in the water, seeming almost as young as her students for a short while.
It was late one evening. Bob had already left, as did Julius and Dianna, leaving only the Gryffindor friends there. Andrew was talking with some other boys when Brenda Approached Lilly.
"You know, I really enjoy myself much better since you've introduced me to this," she said, pointing at her nude body.
"You're actually enjoying Bob more," Lilly smirked.
"That as well, just as he enjoys me. We're still only touching, and not everywhere, at that, but I feel much more confident now. I feel I can keep him interested in me for as long as I want."
"How long would that be?" Lilly teased her.
Brenda didn't seem to notice the tease. "I hope that will be for the rest of our lives." She now looked dreamy. "Do you think I'm falling in love with him?"
Lilly tried to sense her and Bob. "You may be, and luckily, he's also falling in love with you."
Brenda blushed. "I know he likes my body..."
Lilly looked at her. The girl already had very womanly curves and her breasts were a bit on the large size. Her fiery hair and her milk-white skin contrasted nicely. She could understand any boy who fancied Brenda, yet Bob had found more than that.
"He likes you, not only your body. You should remember that. You're more than just a body. You have a soul and a mind all your own and they are even more important than your body. They are what eventually attracts the right person and not your bottom or your boobs."
Brenda looked a bit bewildered at Lilly, who sounded too mature once a gain. "Well, it's still these assets that help the initial attraction, aren't they?"
"Sometimes..."
This conversation made Lilly think. She had been just a small girl when she started feeling attracted to Julius, although it was a very different feeling than she now had. Julius was keeping being her friend even when he was surrounded by older, more physically developed girls at school. Having become a curvacious beauty by now was nice, but it didn't change their relationship.
She tried thinking about Dianna and Andrew. Dianna had been still flat-chested like a boy when they had first met and they had become inseparable after she had accidentally hit him with an overpowered cutting hex. It was only later that she became the epitome of blond beauty, yet it didn't change their relationship.
Was Bob really attracted to Brenda for her "assets"? They had first met during their second year. Brenda had just started to bloom then and Bob had just been a small boy. She'd never seen him look at Brenda's tits before their third year, and he had become her closest friend well before then.
Yet Brenda could be right in certain cases. Many other girls didn't have friendship with boys since before adolescence. They might need to attract the boys differently. She wasn't sure. Lilly remembered Emanuelle at the beach. She had eventually found a boy to her liking and had spent the rest of their vacation with him, yet Lilly felt quite sure this had ended there, especially since that boy was a muggle.
Spring was coming and the weather was warming a bit. Some of the DADA fitness lessons were taken back outside. This didn't make the pool less popular, though. In fact, it was becoming so crowded that it was found necessary to limit the amount of time allowed for each student to spend at the pool. It helped, but not much.
Lilly didn't really mind. As much as she liked being close with Julius with no clothes, she was feeling almost as close even if they were sitting near the lake, fully clothed. She wondered what it meant. Despite being able to sense other people's feelings, this ability didn't help her understand her own feelings. "Am I in love?" she asked herself. "Can I even understand the meaning of 'Love'?"
They never mentioned this word, but she was almost sure now that it was love. Julius had never said he loved her, yet he was at her side every time he could and whenever she wanted him to, holding her hand, embracing her shoulder or just talking softly. She had never said it either, yet she longed for his company whenever they couldn't be together.
She knew Dianna had similar feelings with Andrew. She still didn't know where all these feelings would lead. She just enjoyed them.
'I'll ask Mom about it,' she decided, 'but only after my birthday. There will be a lot of work before it. I hope that won't be too late...'
She still had a feeling of a great change coming and she couldn't say what it was. She felt quite sure it was a good change, and a major one. Still it frightened her.
Please Review!