Chapter 23

That morning at breakfast, he and Daphne told Padma, Hermione, and Luna about what they had learned from Pansy.

"Essentially the Ministry is just a bunch of idiots," Daphne surmised, "they clearly just didn't do a very good job with Harry's case even though he was under Muggle asylum and now they want to deny it ever happened."

The other girls were surprised and angry but supportive.

"How can the Minister be so stupid?" Padma railed, "I mean sure not keeping the case secret is one thing, but trying to deny it ever happened is another."

"Well there is nothing he can really do anyway," Daphne pointed out, "Harry can't go back with his relatives so that means that he has to go somewhere.

"Well if remaining in the Muggle world would help, you could always stay with me and my parents," Hermione offered, "they've always seemed to like you."

"Until they find you kissing their only daughter," Daphne pointed out, "then it's: glare evilly at you every time you are around them."

"Is that how your mom feels about me then?" Harry asked her.

"No, my mom just thinks you're cute," Daphne replied, "it's my dad that you'll have to worry about."

"Why is it always the dads?" Harry complained, "or at least have your fathers all be super small, short, and non-violent."

"Well look on the bright side," Hermione reminded him, "one day you'll get to be the mean scary dad who gets to intimidate the boy your daughter is going out on a date with."

He grinned, now rubbing his hands and said, "I relish the opportunity."

"Poor future boys," Luna answered now shaking his head, "Harry is going to be so mean to them."

"I'll try not to be that bad...unless they really deserve it," Harry told her.

"Well at any rate my mom really liked you when she met you at the Yule Ball," Padma supplied, "my dad...well like as has already been pointed out, he's a dad, and one who hasn't met you yet."

Good point, but he wouldn't hold that against Padma's dad.

"Suddenly I can see why it might be better to be a nice dad who doesn't care if I make out with their daughter," Harry claimed.

"You'll be fine Harry," Padma said reassuringly, "he's not that bad especially after having to put up with some of the boys that Parvati has had over. Like the time last summer when this Muggle guy tried to pick her up for a date. The guy figured that my dad would be polishing his shotgun the entire time to seem more intimidating to him so he brought his own shotgun so he'd be just as intimidating. Needless to say it did not go well."

They all laughed at that.

"Right, don't bring my shotgun, got it," Harry observed, "I'd better not show him my pack of condoms either."

Each of the girls besides Hermione seemed perplexed what a condom was so he had to explain it.

"So wearing essentially a bag for your penis is what Muggles use to avoid getting the girl pregnant," Daphne surmised, "sounds pretty dumb to me."

Luna giggled at Daphne's use of the word penis.

"You can afford to be a bit more mature than laughing at words like that," Padma cautioned.

"Oh, I just think it's a funny word," Luna announced, "besides I'd love to see you put a condom on your penis Harry."

"So would I," Daphne agreed.

"Let's try to be a bit more classy...even if I would too," Hermione recommended before she decided to try and change the subject, "so how has it been going with trying to find a solution for Fleur?"

"Nothing yet," Padma admitted, "although me and Fleur did find a spell that will literally make you die of laughter."

"While that would be a good way to go I think that's the exact opposite of what we're looking for," Harry observed.

"I do like Fleur though," Padma admitted, "she even invited me to go bowling with her tonight, but I had to turn her down because of my date tonight with you."

It was her night to go on a date with him, so he could understand why Padma would turn Fleur down.

"I could have our date later if you really want to go," Harry suggested.

Padma thought about it for a moment before saying, "all right, but why don't you take Luna out then while I'm gone?"

"Why Luna?" Hermione questioned.

"Since she's never actually had an individual date with him," Padma pointed out, "she keeps trying to just have all of us go with her."

He realized Padma did have a point...and it did sound like a good idea.

"How about it then Luna?" He asked her, "want to go?"

"Let me check with my boobies," Luna told him as she grabbed each one and whispered to them, "they say yes!"

"Well at least they approve," Harry replied with a grin.

TOOMANYTOOMANY

That night, or really afternoon since they had decided to have their date early to allow enough time for Padma, he stopped in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room to wait for Luna to come out.

As he did, Su Li popped out.

Su was this small girl of Chinese origin who always had her hair wrapped up in a bun and usually didn't say much.

Admittedly all he really knew about her was what he'd heard from Padma.

When she saw him, she asked, "Padma?"

"Nope Luna, Padma is later on tonight," He admitted.

Su appeared to be amused by that.

"Two dates a night huh? You must really be moving," Su observed.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how it's going to work out I've been trying to keep it trimmed down to just 3 a week," He answered.

After a moment of silence between them he then said, "we really haven't ever talked before have we?"

"You never had the pleasure no," Su said coyly, "you would have remembered if you had."

That certainly sounded intriguing, he thought.

"Well I've heard a lot about you, Padma keeps saying you'd be too much for me," Harry confessed.

Su laughed a bit before saying, "she would say that, mainly because it's true."

He grinned and said, "is that a challenge to me?"

She grinned back and said without fear, "maybe."

"Are you free Sunday night?" He questioned a bit boldly, now really intrigued.

"I may or may not be here at 6 then," Su replied, "if you don't find me here at that time, then you obviously didn't leave a strong enough impression on me in asking me out."

My, this girl was playing hard to get...he kind of liked it.

"What? You want a kiss or something?" He suggested.

"No, I'd slap you until you begged for mercy," She told him.

"Dominatrix?" Harry questioned.

"You wish I was a dominatrix," Su insisted.

"Okay, maybe I get why Padma was always saying you'd be too much for me," He was forced to admit, pretending to back away.

"Don't worry, I don't bite...much," Su said.

As if to illustrate her point, before he even had a chance to realize it was happening, she had grabbed his hand and lightly bit down on it.

"You still sure you want to ask me out?" She asked him.

As if to prove he still had some balls, he insisted, "I never back down from a challenge."

She smiled in a rather scary way before then saying, "well then you're in luck, because neither do I. Prepare yourself to see me here at 6 on Sunday. Just try to be flexible to what may or may not happen."

To his surprise, Su was able to twist her upper body around so that she was now facing behind her as she then leaned her face down until she kissed her own butt.

It was an incredible show of dexterity adding new meaning to the word buttkisser causing him to wonder just who this girl was that had occupied many of his classes the last several years.

Yet...oddly enough, he wanted to learn more...even if he couldn't really say for sure what would happen would be safe.

"I'll be ready for you," He promised.

"You'd better," She agreed as she did a quick flip before running down the hallway.

Luna came out as she was leaving.

"I see you really met Su finally," She commented with a smile.

"Yep, I even have a date with her this Sunday," He admitted.

"She's too much for you Harry," Luna insisted.

"So I've been told," Harry replied, "it doesn't mean I can't try."

"I could try to act like her tonight to help you prepare," She offered.

"No," He told her, "just be yourself."

Luna smiled and said, "I can definitely do that."

With that they started off on their date skipping because that was Luna being herself, even though he was having a hard time keeping pace with her as they held hands at the same time.

Nevertheless she seemed impressed as she said, "you're a really good skipper Harry."

"Well I learned from the best," He claimed.

Luna smiled brighter as they skipped for a bit longer.

On the last hallway before they reached the Room of Requirement however as Luna often did, she got tired of doing the same thing for too long as she stopped.

"Can I ride you Harry?" She asked him.

He gulped, a bit worried about what she was insinuating before he realized what she really meant.

After bending down, Luna climbed on his back.

"Whee!" Luna said as she put a hand momentarily into the air, "go horsey."

He managed to get back up again as he then headed down the hallway.

"Maybe you're a bit too big for this," He pointed out as he pretended to huff and puff.

"No I'm not, I'm Luna-sized," Luna answered.

Finally they got just outside the Room and he let Luna off.

"Good horsey," She said with a pat on his back, "I'll be sure to feed you lots of hay."

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't," He calmly answered.

"How about some sugar then?" She suggested.

He smiled and then stuck out his lips, "I'd appreciate some sugar."

Luna instead of kissing him pulled a sugar cube out of her pocket.

"Oh, I guess you weren't joking about the sugar cubes," He observed.

"I never make jokes, I'm super serious all the time," Luna said, trying to keep a serious straight face.

However she couldn't resist for long as she then burst out laughing.

"We'll just share it then," Luna claimed as she pushed the cube halfway into his mouth.

Before he could get the other half in, Luna leaned in and kissed him, putting her lips around the still protuding other half.

Getting the idea, he partially sucked on the sugar cube while kissing Luna...until it was just kissing Luna.

Now this is what I call sugar, he thought to himself, clearly enjoying the making out they were doing.

Finally after they broke apart, Luna asked, "so how did you enjoy the sugar?"

"They were both really good," He told her with a smile.

She nodded and said, "I thought you might like it. I have a few more in my pocket for when you want them."

"Oh I'm definitely going to want them," Harry answered, "the only question is what do we do when we run out?"

They entered the room as Luna gasped in surprise and delight.

Right in front of them was a Lego model of a city, with many miniature houses, buildings, and even people.

"Ooh, do we get to play monster and destroy the city?" Luna asked him hopefully.

"Or..." He suggested as he reached over just to the left of him to pick a couple costumes off hooks hanging on the wall, "we could play superheroes!"

Luna laughed and clapped as she saw her superhero uniform, a red and blue one with an L across the front.

"I love it!" She exclaimed happily.

After finding changing areas (he'd made sure the Room included those) they both got dressed and came out.

"I'm Super Busty!" She announced proudly.

He grinned and said, "let me guess? Boob powers?"

"No, boobs only have powers over boys silly," Luna reminded him, "I have other powers like supersmell, jumping really high, and laughing really loudly."

"How are those powers?" He questioned.

"Like this," Luna claimed as she got into his face and yelled, "HAH!"

He pretended to fall down onto his rump as if her yelling hah had caused him to fall down.

Luna giggled and said, "see, I told you they were powers. Just try not to hurt your butt too much or I'll have to heal it with my buttkissing powers and I'm not supposed to kiss your butt yet."

"Su can apparently kiss her own butt," Harry admitted.

"I wish I could," Luna said jealously, "that's a really great superpower to have."

"I'd say being a Luna is better," He argued.

Luna appeared touched as she kissed him quickly before saying, "thanks."

Their superhero date turned out to be super awesome, saving the city, a princess, and a defenseless dragon.

By the end, they were both exhausted as they snuggled up together on the floor.

"I loved playing superheroes with you and loved our date," Luna told him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Harry answered.

Then Luna surprised him with what she said next:

"I love you Harry," Luna said without hesitation.

Telling someone that they loved you was a huge thing, so to hear Luna just come right out and say it took him by surprise.

"You love me?" He questioned.

"Of course," She answered.

He really wasn't sure how to reply to that so instead of some big long grandiose speech or something he only asked, "why?"

She snuggled into his chest as she admitted, "since you need to know that you're loved by someone, everyone needs to be loved."

That certainly got him thinking.

"The good thing is I'm not the only one," Luna continued, "even Padma, Daphne, and Hermione do to some extent even if they don't want to admit it. People can be funny about not wanting to admit to loving someone."

Unfortunately, that only made him more confused.

"It's okay if you don't understand," Luna urged, "I just want you to know that and that you're loved and not alone. I'll still be here when you tell me you love me too."

As if to save him from whatever inadequate thing he might say to that, Luna then decided to try and tickle him as if nothing had happened beforehand.

He just shook his head, recognizing this would just have to be another thing he would never fully understand about girls...or Luna.

When their date finally ended, he dropped Luna off and picked up Padma at the same time.

Someone might have thought he was extremely lucky to have two dates with two extremely attractive and fun girls in the same night, and he was, but he was also pretty sure he was going to be pretty tired too.

Padma as usual looked about as hot as hot could be, dressed in an orange dress that complimented her decent figure and shiny black hair.

"You know you really could have told me to meet you at the Room of Requirement instead of having to drop Luna off and then pick me up just to go right back," Padma pointed out.

"Yes, but then that would have denied you your "ah hah, look how good I look after getting ready for our date" look," Harry answered her.

She grinned and said, "oh, well then how did I do?"

"The correct words for how you look would get me detention from Professor McGonagall if she heard them," He answered her.

"So really good then," Padma responded, seeming pleased.

He took her arm as they headed down again, engaging in their usual playful banter.

While Luna had wanted a fun and admittedly ridiculous date, he'd opted for something more mature for Padma.

Padma loved having fun of course, but on dates with him, he'd figured out she preferred ones a bit more traditional and romantic: candlelit dinners, dancing, etc.

Evidently he'd guessed right because as they entered the Room and found it to be much the same as it had been on their previous dates, she commented, "I was worried you were going to have us do something kind of out there."

"No, that was Luna's date," He explained, "I figured you liked to have fun but have something a bit more like this."

Padma appeared touched as she said with warmth in her eyes, "you know me so well Harry."

They sat down to dinner, with him calling for Dobby to take their orders.

Once Dobby had done so however, he admitted proudly:

"Dobby has not made any statues or action figures of the Great Harry Potter like the Great Harry Potter asked."

Remembering what he'd said to him on his date with Millicent, he said, "um, that's great Dobby."

Padma however laughed remembering him telling her about that incident and said, "well just so you'd know I'd like a Harry Potter statue Dobby."

"No you don't," He insisted.

"Why not?" She countered teasingly, "you think I might use it inappropriately or something?"

He blushed before telling Dobby, "don't listen to her."

"Dobby will do as the Great Harry Potter wants," Dobby answered with a sigh, although clearly tempted to honor Padma's request.

Instead the little elf popped out to get their dinners which he brought back a second later.

He'd had Dobby make Indian food again.

As they ate dinner, Padma asked him, "so did anything interesting happen on your date with Luna?"

His mind immediately flashed to when she had said she loved him, but he really didn't want to tell her that.

"Um...no," He said evasively, trying to stare down at his food.

"Come on tell me, I know you're hiding something," Padma urged.

"I don't have to tell you everything about my life," He snapped.

He instantly felt guilty about saying it like that, but she seemed to take it well and said, "well you're entitled to your privacy Harry."

"It's not that I don't trust you," He promised, "you mean a lot to me."

"Thanks," Padma replied, "you mean a lot to me too."

His mind flashed yet again to what Luna had told him. He supposed...in a way...they were really saying I love you.

Such a thought should have been startling, but instead it felt perfectly natural.

He finally opted to just grab her hands and hold them and look into her eyes without saying another word.

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