A/N: Hello people and thank you so much for your support! A special little alternate Power of Love Post-Hogwarts turn. More parts to come.
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Harry let out a small chuckle when he glanced over at Elaine. From when first she'd woke up, she'd felt miserable, and she'd let that be known until the potions which he and Corene made, were in her. Even then, she was unnaturally quiet, soft-spoken and deferring; the complete opposite of her typical bold, charming, out-spoken and picky self.
Whilst he knew she felt ill, very ill, he couldn't help but think of how different she was acting; it was adorable. He wouldn't mind if she dragged out her rest period for a few days beyond that which was needed if it gave him so submissive an Elaine. He'd enjoy being the totally dominant one for a change, without contesting the title. Besides, he knew it'd not last all that long.
"You should have worn your charmed clothing," Corene chastised in her monotonous tone that somehow seemed to convey a sense of scolding. He wasn't sure how that was, but her flat tone could be given an infliction if she deemed fit to do so.
"You're right," Elaine agreed quietly as she burrowed further into Corene's side, the blanket atop them doing little to stop the former girl's chill. "Harry… come here?" she batted her eyelashes at him, pleading as she'd ever been.
He swallowed. It was as if Corene had multiplied, such was her level of cuteness.
Harry threw off his jacket, unbuttoned his undershirt and banished his shoes and socks. He jumped in beside the pair of witches the second after, enjoying the feeling of their company, and the warmth the blanket trapped. All that was missing now, was a platter of snacks, a warm fire and that tea Corene's house elf made. It was still the very best he'd ever had… wait a minute, if it was Corene's, did that mean it was his too?
I could have that tea every single day for the rest of my life. Merlin's beard.
"Tighter," Elaine said as she wiggled around, the blanket tossing and turning much like her limbs did until she was finally burrowed the way she wanted to be. With deft hands, mayhaps defter than Corene's, she wrapped his arms around her with his right used as a pillow and his left holding her back.
Corene pressed further into her other side, and finally, after a bit more manoeuvring, Elaine let loose a contented sigh. One could only imagine how wonderful her spot betwixt the two must feel, Harry knew he certainly liked being the centre of the two witches' attention.
"Harry?" Elaine asked, speaking again and interrupting the silence that'd nearly taken him to an early sleep.
"Yeah?" he asked, rubbing small circles on her back. "Can I get you something?"
Her hands tightened their hold on his chest as she shook her head, her hair tickling his nose with the frequency of her action. "No," she said petulantly, "Stay where you are. I simply desire a nice dinner this evening… with something sweet at the end, please. Sugar's oft what makes me feel far better than 'chicken' broth."
Sweets at the end… Harry had to suppress another round of chuckles with how docile and bratty Elaine was being. She'd even gone so far as to say please, a word that she almost never used. He could only imagine how ill she must be to say as much.
"Whatever you want," he found himself saying without so much as a thought passing.
"Agreed. Your wishes, I'll see completed," Corene added from Elaine's other side. She was better at potions than he was too, so he'd be dead happy to have her handle all that.
"Send word to Laddey that I'd like my top ten favourite dishes, and my three most favourite desserts — I've sent him a list, you needn't ask, now," Elaine's eyes closed as she let out a few contented sighs, her next words spoken so low that he only heard a few of their many. "to… nap… an hour."
Elaine began to coo softly not more than half a minute or so later, her breathing deepening and a small wheeze remaining in place of it; he reckoned she'd gotten something when they'd gone out last night. It'd been chilly, and she'd kept Corene sandwiched in the middle rather than take the spot herself.
Corene slowly began to slip out of the bed then, and when Harry made to follow after her, she shook her head. "Stay," she said to him softly, her tone so soft it barely reached him. "I will see to the next batch of potions for the evening and beyond. You should remain by her side and see to her desires."
Slowly, he lowered himself back down where he'd previously been, with Elaine cuddled firmly against him; even asleep, she kept her tight hold and when he'd moved, she'd burrowed back into him. It was adorable and very amusing. Not for the first time and definitely not for the last, he wondered how he'd gotten to be so lucky.
To think I'd been hesitant.
Harry let out a long breath as he settled more firmly into the warmth of the bed, the many blankets lulling him to sleep. Answering the siren's song, he banished his button-up shirt and dress pants and in his underwear, a far more comfortable bit of clothing to wear to bed, he allowed sleep to claim him as he held Elaine in his arms.
Her coolness was like falling asleep atop the patio; he loved it.
Harry woke to feel a presence standing beside him. In an instant, his hand had his wand aloft and aimed, but he dropped it not a second later when he realised who his silent watch had been. It was Corene, and in her hands was a camera of the wizarding sort. The very same thing Elaine had been speaking morosely about the evening prior.
He cocked her head at her, and her lips raised. Oh, he thought with a fond shake of his head that righted its cocked position; that was her thing, and she found it funny that he'd done it.
"Hi," he whispered to her, his voice so low that the breath that came with it didn't so much as move Elaine's curtain of hair.
Corene dipped her head to him, and it was then that his eyes, blurry from sleep, focused on the objects she was holding. There, in her hand, was a platter with three vials atop it, each tightly shut with a cork that kept the liquid in, and each of a design that he knew they had in their basement. She'd been busy… or he'd slept a bit more than he'd meant to.
"Time?" he asked a few seconds later, and after a large yawn that forced a stretch from him. "Is it late?"
"Not late. You slept a few minutes past an hour, and in that time I saw to the necessary preparations," Corene set them on the table that ran parallel to the couch they were lying on. "I'll wake her. Remain in bed with her five minutes past the time she drinks, the potions require that she settle immediately after drinking."
"I'll keep her here."
Corene didn't respond and after ensuring the potions wouldn't be spilt upon a nudge to the table, she approached Elaine's opposite side to that which he was on. As could always be said of Corene, she moved deftly, silently, and quickly, and soon enough her hands were shaking Elaine's shoulders gently and in a manner that didn't whip her head about.
Slowly, Harry watched as Elaine's eyes fluttered open, consciousness seeping into her as her toes and legs shook; he did much the same when he woke up… it felt like his body was resetting. He was also a serial yawner of the worst calibre when he grew tired.
"A lovely view," Elaine said, her first words of the morning and the only ones that preceded her extending her neck to catch Corene by the lips. As Harry watched Elaine move her lips against that of Corene's, he saw that their kiss was much the same as the one he shared with her… until Elaine tapered out, allowing Corene — somehow — to be the one that led their light snogging.
When Elaine pulled back not more than five or so seconds later, her breathing laboured, he took note of just how flustered Corene looked after a snog, even one as light as that had been. Thanks to the torchlight, he watched a scene that'd make for one of the greatest portraits of all time; a firelit Corene and Elaine, each flushed, the latter's chest rising and falling fast.
Merlin, he thought as he looked between them. I'd be lucky to see this once in a lifetime… and to think I could be seeing it just about every day.
"Drink."
Corene withdrew, all but dancing away from Elaine's outstretched hands with her cheeks still aflame, and from her spot further away she levitated over the three vials in an order that made one much easier to reach than the others. The first she was supposed to drink, he imagined.
Elaine had a pout on her face, she looked over her shoulder at Harry and with her eyes, gestured over to Corene. It took him a few seconds of looking at her, and a few seconds more to read her desire — he'd never been good at reading witches he'd been told — but eventually, he grew to recognise what it was that she wanted him to do. It was totally unlike her not to just go and grab Corene herself, but then again, the illness had taken much out of her.
And as he'd thought earlier, this more cutesy, submissive side of Elaine had its own appeal. In truth, he figured this would be just about the only time she'd be quite so deferring or spoiled, and definitely this agreeable.
"Corene?" he asked as Elaine dutifully drank the first potion of the order, the second slowly drifting towards her.
The girl in question cocked her head at him, her blush only now beginning to alleviate itself.
"Could you come here for a moment? I think you're needed in bed," he patted the space between him and Elaine, but the latter witch shook her head and moved impossibly closer to him, her message quite clear as to where Corene needed to go.
As for Corene, she narrowed her eyes when the second and third potions went untouched; a rare display of expression, just as most were. It seemed, then, that she debated something in her mind before the decision was made quite quickly. Each of the two untouched were summoned to her hands, and with graceful, fast steps she slipped under the covers until she was at Elaine's side.
When Elaine made to roll over to see both Harry and Corene at once, the latter stopped her, co-opting her movement so that another vial was pressed to her lips.
"Drink," Corene said, the same one word she'd spoken earlier, only in a tone that was softer, as if she purposefully put some level of emotion into it.
Maybe I should get sick one of these days, Harry thought as he watched Corene observe Elaine's throat as the latter witch drank the potion the former was feeding her. I think I'd grow to love becoming ill… it'd certainly not be as bad as it usually is.
Elaine swallowed the second and withdrew before the third could be brought to her lips. He watched, amused, when Elaine scrunched up her nose and put a hand over her mouth when Corene tried, again, to bring the third to her lips.
"A kiss, each," Elaine said, her voice muffled on account of her lips being covered by her hand. "Please?"
She did say please, he told himself as he leaned in with nary a second thought, his lips meeting Elaine's; they tasted vaguely fruity, but with an aftertaste that told him it most certainly came from the potion. The kiss was short and fleeting, but it had the desired effect when he pulled back, a smile noticeably on Elaine's face as she turned to Corene and puffed out her lips.
He 'coughed' into his elbow, hiding the smile and need to shake his head at Elaine's sickly antics. Still, from out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elaine lean forward, and catch Corene's lips in much the same fashion she'd done moments earlier. It was another slow, intimate snog that Harry was more than happy to watch. When as she'd done before, Elaine pulled back, her breathing shallow, he made to speak… only to stop short of actually doing so.
It wasn't out of some horrible happening as was oft the case when he was interrupted, nor was it Elaine or Corene speaking over him. In fact, it was Elaine's actions that caused him to go silent; he watched, fascinated, as she licked her bottom lip before wrapping her arms completely around Corene's torso and burrowing into the girl's clothing.
"I'll get the third," Harry said as he leaned forward, allowing the sheets to fall as he grasped the aforementioned vial. Once he had it firmly in hand, he looked down, grinning at the matching blushes of Elaine and Corene, before he tapped the former on the nose.
Elaine moved, if only slightly, and he could see her red nose — from her cold — and her reddened cheeks — not from the cold — as well as an expression of meekness as one hand tapped her mouth. With her eyes staring into his, and her visage enhanced by flickering flames, Harry slowly brought it up to her mouth almost as if he were in a trance, and it was only when she pulled back from the bottle, swallowing, that he seemed to break free from whatever spell she'd put him under.
That wasn't all, however. No, Elaine did as she'd done before, when she'd drunk the second vial, that being to lean forward and press her lips, soft and docile, against his. As he'd previously thought, she'd never been so submissive and pliant in a kiss before; not as he leaned forward, pressing his greater weight against her. When he did so, she simply lowered herself, her hands grasping the front of his shirt and her head following his mouth wheresoever it went — if he'd pull back for a moment, she'd let out these little sighs and once, when he pressed more firmly against her, a moan, long and throaty.
It was then he pulled back, suddenly aware of himself and what exactly they were meant to be doing. Corene, from opposite him as she'd been since he'd approached, was simply looking at the pair with a cocked head, her cheeks faintly red.
"I wi—" she began to say, but Elaine rose from the bed, entangled her limbs with Corene's, and pulled the other witch into the bed, her lips pressed against hers just like how they'd been with Harry's.
It seemed Elaine was feeling especially affectionate whilst sick.
And then, as if reading his mind, Elaine looked over at him. "I mean to show Corene she's welcome as ever, lover," Elaine said, her voice husky and deep, the sickness and desire working together. "Won't you join me?"
He didn't need to be asked twice.
When the trio found themselves rising from bed an hour later, well-rested and plenty energetic, it was to a meal of the most delicious kind. Laddey, ever the faithful servant, had prepared a wondrous meal the likes of which Harry couldn't eat every day; if he did, he'd grow big as Dudley in a month, if even that.
"Carry me."
He turned to look at Elaine as he made to climb out of bed upon her speaking. When he turned to look over at her, he saw her staring back at him with her arms outstretched and an expectant look on her face. Corene, behind her, had already glided across the floor to the archway.
Harry shook his head, but he leaned forward and collected Elaine, her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms around his neck. As he walked with her in his arms, thanks to the position they were in, Harry couldn't help but look her in the eyes and take in her natural beauty; there was little else to do so save for that or staring over her shoulder at Corene's arse… he supposed he could switch between the two.
"I see where you're looking," Elaine said, leaning forward to whisper and nibble at his ear. "Bring us closer, won't you? I'd like to ensure Corene feels as if she's truly a part of this, with us."
Harry leaned forward, kissing Elaine's nose as he picked up the pace of their walking. It didn't take him all that much time before he and Elaine were beside her, and upon their doing so, Elaine used one of her arms to do two things; first, it smacked Corene's small and shapely rear, and then it wound around the girl, keeping her close by.
"Where were you headed so fast?"
Elaine's words were surprisingly cheeky for an ill girl, but still husky as she'd recently sounded. As for Corene, she looked shocked that her rear had been smacked, her eyebrows up slightly higher than they typically were, and then she cocked her head at Elaine with brows furrowed together.
"There's more that needs to be done if you're to recover as quickly as possible," Corene said, her head still cocked to the side as her eyes switched betwixt Harry's and Elaine's. "I mean to see the work through until completed. May I continue?"
"Absolutely not," Elaine said with a pout as her arm tightened around Corene. "I wish for your company and Harry's. You'll not deny me that whilst sick, will you?" Elaine battered her eyes at Corene once finished, a sniffle coming out a second later.
She's good, Harry thought to himself with a shake of his head. Very good.
Later in the evening, after Elaine had gotten her desires seen to; those being her fixation on cuddling and snogging with Harry and Corene each — but especially Corene. By the time evening had come, Corene was all but panting with how oft she was snogged senseless by Elaine, and it'd only get worse when Elaine would turn her around and send her off to Harry.
He didn't complain once.
"Harry."
Upon hearing his name, he turned and looked over at who'd called him. It was Elaine, and she was blinking, her eyes heavy and lidded, and her gaze much the same.
"What?" he asked as he extended a hand, running it through Elaine's hair. Soft didn't begin to describe her hair, and as he ran his fingers through it, he swore, she was purring like a cat.
"Could you hold us?" Elaine extended her arms after saying that, and with one, she indicated toward Corene, the witch seated as prim and proper as ever despite how tired she had to feel. She'd been running ragged for Elaine, after all, and yet she showed no signs of slowing down or stopping; another similarity the two had with one another, was a drive that was near-endless.
She's never asked for that before either, he thought then. Usually, she'll just plop down in my lap and recently, she'd just pull Corene along with her… I'll have to save this memory. She's too adorable, it'd be a crime not to.
"Sure," Harry said with a small smile forming on his face. He leaned forward, closer to her, and upon getting close enough he gathered her up nice and gentle-like until she was well and truly in his grasp. With her head reclining against his chest, he beckoned Corene forth, so that she'd be bundled up beside Elaine the way she wanted.
It wasn't like it was something Corene wouldn't want either, the other witch was, surprisingly, a cuddle-bug he'd come to learn. One wouldn't have assumed that from the time they'd spent together in Hogwarts, but he'd come to learn just how true it was upon dating her. In her sleep, freshly awake, in the bath or just about any other activity, she'd be right by his side or Elaine's.
Sure, her visage might not change unless she was especially happy, but he could read her body language well enough by this point in their relationship. He could see how her lips rose if only slightly, and her actions grew more eager, more human, and far less robotic-looking as if she'd come from a poorly-made Muggle film.
Slowly, Corene moved closer to the pair, her steps soft and deftly taken, so much so that she scarcely made any noise at all. Were the blankets quiet, and had they not flapped about as she climbed under them for their warmth, she'd have been completely imperceivable.
Well, that and Elaine's content and pleased noise as her arms encircled Corene's slightly smaller form, pulling her close as the two, in turn, were held by Harry. He could only imagine how they looked to the outside world. Mayhaps one huge mass of flesh covered by blankets, their limbs entangled and the hair of the two witches splayed about any which way.
"Perfect," Elaine said with a long exhale, her arms tightening around Corene and Harry's knee, or the portion she'd managed to wrap around with her arm.
"Comfy," Corene agreed, her voice quieter than normal.
I'll do something for Corene later, I think. She's been right good to Elaine. Maybe I'll figure out a nice surprise for her with Elaine's help — it's the least we could do after everything she's done for us, the potions aren't even scratching the surface.
"Very comfy," Harry said as he leaned back, the two witches mirroring his action and reclining further against him, their hair tickling his neck and nose in an infuriating, but perfect fashion.
He wanted to scratch it, of course, but he didn't want to disrupt either of them. No, Harry was far too pleased with how everything was.
"My goodnight kisses," Elaine said suddenly, breaking the relative calm that had finally begun to fall on the throuple. "I shan't sleep without them."
Harry shook his head with a smirk on his face, and then he spoke up. "Corene can go first. I don't mind watching you kiss."
"I'd thought not when first we'd planned this," Elaine said, her voice surprisingly smug and high-sounding for somebody who'd been sick and meek throughout the day. When she spoke again a second later, summoning Corene back to her, Elaine's voice had returned to its hoarse quality.
It made him blink a few times… until he realised the spectacle playing out before him. The two could insist it was nothing and that there were no words that needed to be said, but Merlin, watching the pair of them snog was one of the greatest things in the known world and beyond.
How couldn't it be?
"... reach you. Lean forward, lover. Please."
Harry realised he'd been dazing out for a bit and, after shaking his head and the cobwebs therein, looked back over at Elaine who'd been trying to gain his attention. "What, sorry?" he asked.
Elaine tutted — and coughed — at him, and after regaining control of herself, tapped her lips, the bottom one jutted out into a semi-pout… one that wasn't half as effective considering how snogged she looked after nary thirty seconds with Corene.
"What was that?" he asked, hiding a smile when she frowned at him, her pout deepening as she batted her eyelashes at him; Corene was watching, her eyes dancing between the two and her lips upward.
Each knew the game he was playing… but Elaine wouldn't let him have it, nor would she let him win. She raised her body, leaned forward, and stole a kiss from Harry as she'd done so many times before.