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Harry's shower was lukewarm, probably because Daphne and his mother had already taken their morning baths. He was tempted to wash up but felt a strange need not to. His teasing with Astoria was reaching a critical point, and part of him seemed eager to fan the flames. He knew he shouldn't, but knowledge and action were never quite the same thing.
He decided to go for a bike ride, just as he had planned. It was a usual ride around town, ostensibly to clear his head. It was afternoon when he returned, and Astoria was getting ready for a party. Seeing her dressed in tight jeans and a flirty white top, with her red hair braided neatly and her makeup carefully applied, was enough to blur his thoughts again.
"You'll have a great time, Astoria," he said. "I mean it. Have fun."
"I will." She smiled. "I texted Ginny, and she sent me the address. I'm really going."
"I really encourage you to."
Astoria crossed her arms and sat heavily on the couch. "What if some guy starts flirting with me while I'm there?"
Harry felt a double flash of jealousy, as her older brother and her pretend boyfriend, but he was mature enough to suppress it. "That's entirely up to you, Astoria. Just try not to flirt with any jerks. You have a boyfriend who..."
"Treat me well?" she said, cutting him off. "A nice, safe boyfriend who you can beat up if he ever breaks my heart?"
"Exactly." He winked at her, feeling a bit better about the situation.
"I think Daphne is also going out with friends tonight," Astoria said. "Mom sometimes goes out dancing, too. You might have the place all to yourself."
"That's possible," he said. "I'm too boring to have plans for a Saturday night on the first weekend back."
An idea came to him. If he ended up with the house to himself, it would be the perfect opportunity to look around for Master Pulse. He'd have to be efficient and listen carefully in case anyone came back home while he was in someone's room uninvited, but it was the best chance he might get for a while.
"Please, will you come with me, Harry?" Astoria rolled her eyes. "I... I get nervous thinking about going alone. It's all so overwhelming and..."
She blinked faster, but he didn't buy it this time.
"Feel free to shed a few crocodile tears, risking having to fix your makeup," he said.
Astoria sighed, a smile creeping onto her face. "It won't be as fun without you."
"I'm flattered, but it's best this way, Astoria," he said. "See you tonight."
For a while, he played video games. Bellatrix made nachos for dinner, and he crunched through them on a plate while searching for a new sword in his game. Astoria gave him a kiss on the cheek but didn't plead for him to join her as she left to be dropped off by their mother. He felt that the fact she couldn't ask him directly while their mom was in the room only highlighted his caution.
Watching through the window as the two drove away, Harry waited until the car was around the corner at the end of the block before hurrying upstairs. He double-checked to make sure Daphne was also out of the house before heading to his room to fetch the remote.
Even with a new battery, the remote stubbornly refused to turn on despite alternating tapping and holding the power button. Theoretically, it could have made his search much easier, but even without it, he still planned to take advantage of the opportunity he had been given.
Daphne seemed like the highest priority suspect. It was hard to know if his mother or Astoria would be next in line. The handcuffs certainly put his mother on his radar, but the idea of Astoria having a kinky vibrator was exciting enough for his mind to rationalize it. It could even have been a gift from her jerk of a fake e-boyfriend.
He started with his older sister's room. It was messy, but in a way that made sense. A set of string lights hung on the wall above a poster of a cyberpunk geisha. On a magnetic whiteboard, there was a surprisingly skillful drawing of half a face—just a pair of lips and one eye, drawn in dry-erase red. Magnetic letters above the drawing spelled out "BITCH QUEEN."
Clothes were strewn everywhere. He tried to open her closet and realized it was a mistake when a rolled-up yoga mat tumbled out along with more clutter that threatened to spill out.
He put the yoga mat back and turned to her dresser and desk. The dresser was a chaotic tangle of clothes, with only a few delicate items folded and the rest crammed in. He didn't search too deeply there.
The desk seemed more promising. He opened the top drawer and immediately found... something. He recognized the smell of weed even before he started rummaging. He had smoked quite a bit in college and felt fairly neutral about it. Daphne had a vape with refillable cartridges along with a small bag of pre-rolled joints, which had given off the scent.
He wondered where he would hide a vibrator if he were Daphne. The answer was stupidly simple. Near the bed, probably not hidden at all. He hesitated before moving the sheets and blanket, but they were already rumpled from sleep, and he knew she wouldn't notice.
Almost immediately, he found a pair of lacy panties mixed in with the mess, black with a sheer patch around the top of the crotch. He flinched at the first touch, but his disgust quickly turned into a heady intrigue.
These were Daphne's panties. She had worn them during the day, or maybe just at night. Some women wore sexy underwear just to masturbate. Hermione had told him she always did that, that looking sexy was part of her process of getting off.
It bothered him to have such a clear image of Daphne in her bed, especially considering how vividly he saw it. She would strip down naked, maybe right after a shower, clean with steam still clinging to her.
She would probably let out a breathy moan as she slid the Magic Pulse in, then put the lacy panties over it. Holding the remote in one hand, she would slowly play with the buttons, toying with herself, confident like a shaken soda, until finally, she couldn't hold it any longer and...
The front door opened. Harry dropped the panties and quickly but silently slipped out of Daphne's room, closing the door with utmost care. How long had he been standing there, fantasizing about his older sister? Long enough to reawaken a tragically strong erection.
He tried to calm himself as he headed back to his own room.
Harry finally decided to find some porn and hope for relief when there was a knock on his door. He sighed and closed multiple browser tabs, wondering if living with three beautiful women would ever get easier.
"Yes?" he called out.
"It's me," said his mother. "Can I come in?"
"It's a free country."
She laughed as she opened the door. "You sound like Daphne with that answer. What's got you so frustrated today?"
"I'm not frustrated," he said with a bit too much force. "Just... still adjusting to being home."
"I understand." Bellatrix was wearing a burgundy turtleneck sweater and dark blue chinos, loose but in a way that only seemed to exaggerate her hips and bust. "That's actually why I wanted to talk to you. Can we sit for a moment?"
"Of course, Mom." He gestured to his bed and sat beside her as she settled down, her face lined with concern. "What's going on?"
She looked at him for a long moment, her expression troubled. "There are certain boundaries that I think are necessary in this house. I understand how difficult it is, both from your perspective as a young man and mine as a therapist who has seen many similar cases."
He felt his heart sink. She knew about him and Astoria. How could they have let it slip? She must have seen or sensed the new, strange tension between them.
"I don't mind, as long as it doesn't cross certain lines," she said, reaching out to touch his knee. "You can't just go wild, Harry. A little from one bottle isn't a big deal."
"A little from... sorry, what?" He shook his head, trying to catch up. "Do you mean your wine?"
"Yes..." His mother frowned. "One of the bottles I just bought is missing. I'm not talking about the one Astoria was sneaking, which I suspect she was sharing with you."
Harry shook his head. "It wasn't me."
"No? Daphne said it wasn't her, and Astoria usually doesn't drink that much."
"It definitely wasn't me," he said, exhaling. "I'm 21, Mom. I'd buy my own alcohol if I wanted to drink."
"Of course." Bellatrix looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you, honey. I can't say your denial brings me relief, though. I believe you, really. It just means it was either Daphne or Astoria... and I think it was Astoria."
"She might have taken it to share with friends at the party," he suggested.
"And that doesn't worry you at all? The thought of her spending time with a group of teenagers who have excluded her for years until practically yesterday?"
Harry winced, recalling how Astoria had begged him to go with her. "Isn't it healthy for her? She's stepping out of her comfort zone. I thought that's what therapists recommend."
"I'm a therapist, but I'm also her mother." Bellatrix sighed. Harry put an arm around her, surprised at how slim and feminine her shoulder felt.
"Can you check on her?" she asked. "Not right away. Maybe around eleven or a little before midnight? I want her to come home tonight, but I can't march into the party to bring her back as her mother. I think you'd have better luck as her brother, given that you're close in age."
"What if she doesn't want to come home?" He grimaced as he voiced the question. The idea of crashing the party and finding Astoria drunkenly sitting on some frat boy's lap, eager to lose her virginity, was like pouring acid into his eyes and injecting it straight into his heart. The idea that she might be sober and unwilling to leave due to a newfound infatuation was just as bad, if not worse.
"She will listen to you," Bellatrix said. "She's been talking nonstop about how much she loves having you back, Harry. We all love it, but she especially does. She needs you."
Harry nodded, but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He didn't know what he felt. All the lines with Astoria were so blurred and tangled. He felt something for her that didn't seem right for a brother.
"I'll try," he said. "Later tonight. She needs a chance to have some fun."
His mother hugged him tightly. Harry felt her softness pressing against him, the plumpness of her breasts, the warmth of her body. He tried not to breathe in her scent, but he did anyway, and it was intoxicating.
"Thank you, honey," she said. "Maybe I needed your return the most."
"In that case, you've got me exactly where you want me."
"You can count on it."
She kissed his cheek, smiling at him with such pride. Harry returned the smile, feeling a strange tension entering the moment.
"Well, I think I'll go listen to my audiobook," she said. "Maybe I'll take another bath. I never know what to do with myself on weekends. Have a good time."
"Thanks."
She was still smiling, and Harry suddenly regretted not deciding to search Daphne's room instead.
He spent most of the evening downstairs, wondering if Astoria or Daphne would come back early and provide a change of pace. His mind began to wander where it shouldn't.
He imagined Astoria having a good time and then having too good of a time. The missing bottle of wine added a dangerous undertone to her Saturday night outing. He wondered if he was a fool for not going with her, and then he began to imagine what might have happened if he had gone with her, ending up in another repulsive yet enticing mental space.
His mother texted him the address where she had dropped off Astoria. Harry set out promptly at eleven, feeling an urgent need that he doubted was justified.
Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 are already available at Pat re on.
If you want to support me, read the next chapters of the story and more, I invite you to my
Patreo n .com(slash)BoobsHunter (Remove spaces)