Call Me 7

Disclaimer. Still not mine. Still not making any money out of this.

Wednesday dawned a cold wet morning. Normally with that sort of weather they would have spent the day in but they had tattoo appointments.

Harry very carefully measured out some aging potion. He only wanted to look eighteen months older. So he matched the age Fred and George had put on his Passport. He certainly didn't want to take enough that it would affect his size. Growing and shrinking might make his tattoo look strange.

He was feeling slightly nervous about getting it done. It had been a spur of the moment decision, something to impress Lisa now he was starting to worry. Any thoughts or doubts drifted out of his head when he saw Lisa open a locked box on her mantelpiece and pull out a stack of notes.

She turned and saw him watching her. "My gran died last year. My dad was an only child and she hadn't spoke to him for years. I got the majority of her money from the sale of her house. I'd never met her, only heard the stories my dad told me. It was a bit of a surprise to find out I'm richer than my parents.

The majority of it was put into trust until I'm eighteen. I'm spending a lot of this year's allowance on my ankh tat."

Harry wasn't one to push on stories of unhappy family life but it was one more reason he guessed that Lisa's parents had been so willing to take him in.

"So you really aren't after me for my money?" he joked.

"As I keep saying, just your body."

The pair headed out into the city. Harry found long hair a pain as it got wetter and rats tails formed across his face.

He was glad to be in the tattoo studio out of the rain. Lisa went in first. He had his paperwork and proof of age checked. The girl gave him a hard look.

"Almost nineteen?" her voice had a questioning tone. "It's a good forgery I'll give you that."

He expected to be turned away but she took his money and ushered him through. He went in through to the studio as Lisa was peeling off her shirt. He sat down next to her without any conscious thought.

The tattooist laughed. "Last session we could have heated the room of his face. Now he seems rather used to the sight." She turned to Lisa "Seems like you got your man. "

The shading and detail for Lisa's tattoo seemed a more painstaking process than the block colouring of the first session. Eventually the work on Lisa's arm was finished and it was Harry's turn.

"Stag head design, half sleeve, right shoulder, right?" The tattooist asked him before cleaning the area and setting up the stencil. "Last chance to change your mind. " She informed him before she began.

He had expected it to be painful but compared to Skelgro it was barely a tickle. After an hour, Lisa started to pace the room.

"Would you mind if I did some shopping?" She asked eventually. He nodded that she could. She headed out and he allowed the procedure to continue. It took the best part of the day with him sat in the chair and the tattooist at work. Not so long ago he would have been embarrassed left in this situation, sitting topless with a woman he guessed was only about five years older than him, she was wearing a loose vest top and when she leaned forward and he glanced in her direction he could see straight down it.

Normally he would have reddened at the idea, now he had had a quick look but they were just breasts and he found Lisa's nicer. She eventually headed back in, shaking the rain out of her hair. "

I've bought some food and taken it back home. There was an answer phone message from my mum. Aunty Kate will be allowed out this weekend and mum wanted to know if we wanted to spend the weekend there? I could get to see my new cousins." She had such a look of excitement on her face at the last that Harry readily agreed. She made some sound that sounded like a squee and gave him a quick kiss.

"Excited?" He asked her, amused at her antics.

"I am, I love little babies.

While it wasn't exactly news to Harry, they had spoken idly of future plans and he knew she wanted at least two children, it was amusing to see how excited she was.

"This one's a keeper. " The tattooist remarked, "he didn't even flinch when you said you wanted kids, most men would be searching for the emergency exit."

Harry laughed, "It's not exactly a newsflash, I'd love a family too. I have things that need doing first but after that who knows?"

"It doesn't have to be you who does them you know?" Lisa disagreed.

"We've talked about this before. This isn't the place to have that discussion again." While Harry was starting to see Lisa's point that the prophecy was laughably vague, he knew he couldn't allow someone else to fight on his behalf. After everything, that Voldemort had put him through he would be more than happy to be the one to end it. Although all that lay in his future. The memory of Voldemort's and Dumbledore's fight in the Ministry was still fresh in his mind he knew he would never be able to stand against either of them. Maybe not for years.

He lapsed into silence with just the noise of needle buzzing against his skin. Until the tattooist declared herself finished."

They eventually found themselves back at Lisa's house or as Harry was starting to think about it, home.

They spent the next Thursday tidying. While they had not allowed the place to get to messy, Lisa declared they would need to vacuum, dust, and a hundred other little jobs. Harry found it a pleasure working with Lisa, she was nowhere near as fussy as his aunt. They had tidied to Lisa's satisfaction by mid-afternoon. Harry settled down on the sofa with the next book in the series he was reading, the company had split and he was now reading about the three trackers.

He put the book down when he heard Lisa call him from the kitchen. He found her leaning naked against the kitchen table.

"This is the last day we're doing to be fully alone for a while it'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

They spent the Friday morning having to clean a few areas again after Thursday afternoons activities but the house was tidy and they had weekend bags ready for when Simon picked them up at dinner time.

The house they pulled up at was Larger than Lisa's parents and reminded Harry of the Dursley's, although this house was obviously lived in and was not a show home. The front garden had scuffed grass and there were bats and balls lying on the grass. They made their way up the path and the front door opened before they were halfway up.

A messy haired, blond boy came running out of the house. "Uncle Simon! Do you want to play football?"

Simon ruffled the boys hair up even more. "In a bit scamp I've been driving all day and I need a cup of tea. We'll get Harry to go in goal and see how many we can get past him.

Fred eyed Harry warily, he distrust soon turned to amusement when Harry used all his seeker skills to save everything Simon tried to get past him but somehow managed to allow almost all of his shots to get past.

Lisa had bonded with her young cousin by pushing her round on her pink skateboard and helped her to put on all her pink pads.

Eventually the kids had been put to bed and Harry and Lisa sat in down in the living room with Simon and Susan. Lisa's aunt Jane was there too.

Lisa looked nervously across to her parents and took Harry's hand. "I've got something to tell you."

"Should I leave?" Jane asked. While Simon and Susan looked apprehensive.

"No it's ok, if you were in York you would know this already, well the generalities the specifics not so much."

"Lisa get to the point, your dad thinks you're pregnant and is plotting my murder."

Lisa looked up and Simon looked away guiltily.

"No it's not that." There was a smattering of nervous laughter in the room. " Remember we said we were going to Zoe's party. Well we did but it wasn't that great a time.. There was an idiot there who thought it would be funny to spike people drink with tablets. One girl ended up in hospital because she was on medication and she had a seizure. Harry had to put up with a hyperactive exhibitionist girlfriend with zero filter between thoughts and speaking. Best guess is I took some ecstasy cut with some lsd. "

Simon had risen out of his seat his face reddening. "Who was it that did it and where can I get my hands on him?"

His name is John, where is in a bail hostel, they are treating it as an assault as well as possession. There is a queue to getting their hands on him and dad you're behind Harry. I may be your daughter but he had to put up with his girlfriend propositioning everything that moved. I'm grateful he looked after me, I'm thankful he forgive me, Megan too. I've got good friends and a great boyfriend."

Simon sat back down. "Provided he's going to face some consequences I'll be satisfied"

Susan looked carefully at them. "How are you now?"

"I had some anxiety issues the next day. I was scared whenever Harry left the room but apart from a slight phobia of leaving my drink unattended I don't think there are any lasting effects." Lisa paused. "Mum can I have a private word." The two of them slipped off together leaving Harry alone with Simon and Jane.

"Thank you Harry, you looked after her."

"What sort of person would I be if I hadn't?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, it was broken by Jane speaking.

"Harry you will be sleeping down here tonight, the sofa pulls out to a z bed. Lisa will have a camp bed in the nursery." Harry nodded his acceptance of this information. "It's your own fault. If you had introduced yourself as Lisa's husband you could have shared a bed. Since you are her boyfriend, I'd rather not have to deal with the questions Fred would ask if he found out." Jane laughed at the looks on the his and Simon's face. "Don't give me that look Simon, it's clear to everyone they lived alone for a fortnight you and Susan mustn't mind so why should I?"

Harry resolved to keep that information to himself on Saturday morning when Lisa was complaining of a bad back from sleeping in a camp bed. It wasn't serious enough to stop her going out to visit the twins. Harry found himself alone in Jane's house with Simon.

"So how's it been? Living together I mean." Simon asked Harry.

Harry tried to think of an answer he could give to the father of the girl he was sleeping with, all he could think to say was "um."

"Harry you looked after Lisa last weekend when someone spiked her drink. The papers are full of horror stories about the dangers of drugs so I'm grateful, more than I can say, so provided you don't talk about your sex life you've got a lot of leeway with me. I remember moving in with Susan that was a shock to the system and I've lived with Lisa for sixteen years, so I know her bad habits, so how was it?

Harry paused to think, thanking Lisa mentally again for getting him into that habit. "It was strange really, I find it hard to believe that someone who gets that good a grade in potions can't cook. Not that she's lazy she did all the washing up without a complaint."

Simon smiled at that. "Did you argue over anything?"

Harry shook his head. "No not really."

"At some point you will, one of her habits will annoy you, or yours will annoy her. Remember this Harry when getting into an argument with someone you love, will winning the argument make your relationship better? Sometimes it's better to turn a blind eye or even give in. She wants the toilet seat down and it's a big thing to her, then do it. What does it cost you? Don't be a doormat but never let a petty argument damage your relationship. So how bad was she on drugs?"

Simon's change of topic caught Harry off guard. "Pretty bad. She was hyper and loud. It was all Megan and I could do to keep her clothes on. At times she would see things no one else could others she was just a huge bundle of energy."

"You looked after her?"

"We got her back home, at the time we thought she was just drunk so I watched her to make sure she didn't throw up on herself, that never happened. Megan told me she would be drowsy and sleepy but it was the exact opposite, until the effects wore off, then she cried for close to an hour before she fell asleep."

"How did you cope?"

"I was angry to be honest. I thought she was drunk and it was self-inflicted. She was shouting about personnel stuff to anyone who would listen, she propositioned some people, outed Megan and gave me a black eye. I was thinking about leaving her. I didn't want to stay with someone who would get drunk and violent. I was going to watch her until I knew she was safe then I was planning to leave.

Megan came round early and told me about the things that had happened at the party, the other girl with a bad reaction, the guy getting arrested." Harry looked up suddenly aware he had bared his soul. "I've never told Lisa that, please don't let her know."

"I'd be surprised if she doesn't but I won't tell her. Planning to leave someone who is abusive is perfectly understandable it's why you are here after all." Harry looked up sharply at Simon's comment. "Susan told me about her conversation with your aunt. Abuse comes in all forms, it's clear she didn't care for you. My parents were emotionally abusive. They considered being magical on a par with being possessed. They tried to have the demon cast out of me. As soon as I was old enough I never went back. The only contact I had with them was their lawyers after they died." Simon shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes moving on and away is the best thing to do. Do you ever plan to go back to your aunts?"

"Not if I have any say in the matter. I may turn up at the end of August to get my school trunk but now I've seen I can cope on my own I'll not live there again."

Simon just nodded at him to continue. "Lisa has shown me so much, the conversion rate between galleons to pounds is his huge. I always knew I was well off but if I could change all that money I'm really rich. Some aging potions a couple of simple disguises, access to the Knight Bus and I can go literally anywhere. Diagon Alley is a little risky but the muggle world is no problem."

"Wait till you are older and can do magic out here." Simon said. "It's a hell of a temptation. An unscrupulous magic user can do anything he wants. Bank security is no problem when you can apparate into a vault." He glanced up to meet Harry's stare. "Not that I have but the temptation is there. One of the reasons I stopped using magic. I stopped for good when I found out Susan was pregnant with Lisa. I hoped if I stopped using magic Lisa wouldn't be a witch. No, the worst I ever did with magic was to help me get my first job I just cast a slight cheering charm on the room so everyone felt optimistic over my interview. On the scale of things I could have done it wasn't too bad. I learnt while I was there and I was good at the job. When I went for my current job, my references were honest and I got it on merit."

"Why did you leave the magical world? I know I've avoided it this summer but I can't imagine leaving it behind." Harry leaned forward in his chair as he asked.

"There was a civil war on when I left school. The death eaters were targeting muggle-born. The best I could expect if I stayed was a low ranking ministry job. The Ministry runs on nepotism always has, the political class looks after itself no matter where you are in the world or magical divide. So even without the war I didn't have much future, with it I had less. Albus makes grand statements but he surrounds himself with a known few. There was nothing to stay for and lots of reason to leave. Besides I met Susan not long after I made the choice. It seemed easier to leave it all behind than try to explain magic. Although after Lisa's first bout of accidental magic I had to anyway. So how was it really, living with someone for the first time? What was the worst thing?"

"Probably her period." Harry answered blushing slightly.

"Harry it's easy to deal with a woman on a period just follow two simple rules. Agree with everything she says and give her chocolate and wine. Honestly, Lisa isn't that bad, she usually knows when she is being unreasonable. Well half an hour or so later but it's better than Susan. Never point out to a woman that she is only being angry because of one. Not unless you have good reflexes, know how to duck and like sleeping on the sofa. "

By the time Lisa and the rest of her family had returned from visiting the new twins in hospital Harry and Simon had a casual banter going. The returning family was all excited in one way or another. Lisa gave Harry a kiss and was gushing over how cute the kids were. The only one not showing any excitement over it was Fred. Chelsey was pleased to be a big sister and Susan and Kate both seemed happy with the progress the twins were making.

Harry asked Fred what he thought about seeing them. After some thought he settled on "Small."

With the kids back home again Lisa was taken away by Chelsey to see her unicorn collection and Harry ended up outside playing football with Fred. Thankfully they were called in for tea after not long, there were only so many ways Harry could fumble his saves and look convincing. The table was made up of various separate conversations when Kate spoke loud enough to get her kids attention. "Aunty Susan had agreed to drive us to church tomorrow guys, are you looking forward to it?"

Harry smiled at the cheers from the two kids, when Kate looked across to him and Susan. "What about you two want to join us?"

"No they don't." Simon answered for them.

Jane turned around to look at him. "You know Simon I never had you down as a hypocrite. You obviously think they are old enough to spend a week living together but not old enough to make a decision for themselves". Jane turned back to Harry and Lisa as Simon spluttered a reply." So what do you say?"

Harry was inclined to say no, but Simon's answering for him had hit the bit of him that had promised that he wouldn't be controlled anymore

"If you think these clothes are OK then I'll go. "

Jane laughed at that. "Do you think I'd attend a church that had a dress code?" Harry glanced at Jane's spiky hair, which had dark red highlights and nodded.

"Lisa?" Jane asked

"Yeah, strength in numbers, since dad thinks something bad will happen to us there. I best go and watch Harry's back."

Simon muttered something that no one could make out and the table broke back into separate conversations.

Later that night as they were getting ready for bed Simon knocked and entered the nursery were Harry had agreed to sleep that night to stop Lisa complaining about her back ,

"I'm sorry Harry, about answering for you earlier. When it comes to going to church I tend to react rather than think. I mentioned this afternoon that my parents tried to have a demon cast out of me. They were very religious and narrow-minded, anything I did they didn't agree with was a sin. They used or at least tried to use church and god to control me. It wasn't a good time for me. Jane's not like that and I suppose her church isn't but it does tend to trigger bad stuff in me. I think what I'm trying to say is be careful tomorrow and don't take everything they say at face value."

Sunday morning Harry understood Lisa's complaint of having a bad back from sleeping on the camp bed. He felt definite twinges in his muscles as he got up. He looked through the clothes he had brought, there wasn't a lot of choice so he put on his black jeans and a black dress shirt. When he got down stairs, he smiled to himself as Lisa had also dressed conservatively much as he had, although Lisa had gone for a floral print dress. While he had see her in it before she normally wore it with socks that came above the knee, without them it seemed more innocent and with her hair tied up in a combination of plates and a bun made her seem younger than she was.

Harry wasn't sure what to expect from church, the building Susan dropped them off at certainly matched his preconceptions. It was a large church, there was no other word for it. It was made from the yellowish stone popular in that part of the world but with the steeple and imposing arched stain glass windows it could be nothing else but a church.

The signs outside called it a House of Prayer the music they could hear drifting out wasn't the wheezy organ Harry expected. Looking around at other walking in Harry started to feel over dressed. There was as many jeans and t-shirts as they were shorts and football shirts on display. Many of the girls who Chelsey ran off to find were dressed in Disney Princess outfits. Fred slipped off to one side and sat with a group of boys watching another one play on a game cube.

Harry and Lisa stood awkwardly while Jane was engulfed in one hug after another from various friends and well wishers.

Eventually they took their seats mid way down the aisle, they were a little uncomfortable designed to be stacked as much as they were to be sat in.

At just gone half past ten a man stood up at the front, welcoming everyone, and handed over to the worship leader. Harry was right the sound he had heard outside was certainly not from a wheezy organ. At the front of the church was a full band. The leader was a man on acoustic guitar, behind him was another on electric, off to one side was the drummer and bass player and on the opposite side was a keyboard player and a man and women on backing vocals.

The words were projected on to the walls either side of the stage. The songs were quite high tempo and repetitive, Harry found himself joining in, in spite of himself. He looked around for clues of how to behave but everyone seemed to have their own way. He could see Chelsey dancing at the front with other girls her age. Some adults danced or jigged on the spot, others stood with one or both hands raised. One woman was kneeling, while another seemed to be shaking uncontrollably. Meanwhile in the back Fred and his friends played on games and no one minded.

After three quarters of an hour the band stopped and a man got up to speak as the younger kids moved out to a side room. He was am engaging speaker once Harry tuned into his Geordie accent. He was taking about how to pray for people, giving guidelines for men praying for women, asking before laying on of hands. He talked as if hearing from God when praying and healings were every day occurrences.

At the end of the service, a man approached them and introduced himself as Mike who was the youth pastor. They chatted for a while and he asked if it would be OK to prayer for them. Harry glanced at Lisa. Then gave his permission.
He asked again and took Harry and Lisa's hands and they formed a little circle.

"Father I thank you for Harry and Lisa. I thank you for the love they have for each other and the love you have for them. I pray the words they heard today stay in their hearts and continue to affect them. I pray you help their love to deepen and grow. "He paused and looked hard at Harry, He whispered to one of the youth who ran off.
He continued to prayer under his breath. Harry could hear but not understand as he seemed to be praying in a different language. The preacher joined them and stepped between Harry and the youth leadertaking their hands.
The youth leader continued to prayer for them as a couple and individuals. At the end he spoke to them. "Harry I keep getting a verse for you. It's John 15 verse 13. Lisa yours is strange. I keep getting 1 Corinthians 15 verse 55."

Mike turned to the preacher who Harry remembered was called Ken. "Harry do you have a bad back?" Ken asked him.

"Er yeah, I slept badly last night." Harry admitted.

"Can I touch your back?"

"The pains quite low down I'd rather not."

"Your shoulder then?"

Harry agreed and the man placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Jesus it is you who does this not me. You healed two thousand years ago and you haven't changed since then. I pray you heal Harry's back. Now."

As the man prayed, Harry felt the muscles that ached warm and then cool as the pain left him.

"That was amazing."

"Are you two staying in Sunderland long?" He asked them.

"No we are only visiting Jane." Harry nodded in the direction of Jane who was surrounded by various women making notes in their diaries. "We'll be back in York tomorrow then we go to school in Scotland In September."

"God can do more than make back ache go away Harry. Here take this." He pulled out a business card with his name and number. "Is your school anywhere near Inverness?"

Harry nodded that it was and the preacher wrote another number on the back. "The card has my number if you want to talk, the other number is a guy called Mark he runs a church near your school. He a good guy, one of the best. If you want to talk to someone face to face, ring him."

Harry sat in silence in the car back to Jane's house. Every so often, he flexed and twisted. All pain was gone. They entered the house to the smell of Simon having cooked a roast. They were also met by a man they hadn't met before.

"Daddy!" squealed Chelsey running into his arms.

As they sat enjoying Simon's food Mike explained his absence. "It was the strangest weather out there. Thick fog and mist that sucked the warmth out of everything. We still couldn't get a boat near any of the rigs but it lifted enough for the helicopter. The rest of the weather was normal just with an added layer of cold fog on top. It started to get to some of the guys out there. They started having nightmares. Any way I'm glad to be off, glad to be with my family and looking forward to seeing my two new addictions."

After lunch they packed up Simons car and after the usual coin toss and argument about music that had Lisa rolling her eyes at her parents antics they head back to York.

A.N.

Later than expected but here at last.

The Physical church Harry attended does exist. I have never been there so cannot vouch for the style of worship or practices. It is a modern charismatic church though so I doubt they are different from what I've described.

I keep wanted to add scenes from different point of views. However I'm sticking rigidly to the rule that if Harry doesn't see or hear it doesn't get written about.

Let's see how long it takes me to write the next chapter and if I make it to Harry's birthday.

Also a quick note on the fact I have an image for this tale. It is a friend of a friend who has allowed me to use her photo. She is not my exact mental image of Lisa but she has the hair colour and one other thing. She is not some impossible beauty she is a normal girl being normal. Which is what this tale is about.