FicWad

Here's the next chapter. I apologize for not having the Rape caution in the header. Harry knows what he did was wrong, but he and Lavender talk it out. He knows he's going to have work hard to control his baser urges in the future. However, nothing ever seems to come easily or without consequences for Harry, despite the carnal fulfillment he's receiving right now.




Parvati went up to her dorm room and found Lavender lying in her bed, softly rubbing her pussy through her sheer nightgown, a happy smile on her lovely face.

“Lav?” she asked, startling the young blond witch.

Lavender sat up and blushed guiltily.

Parvati giggled at her friend. “Dreaming about Seamus?”

“Er, no, actually, I...I’m just, well, just...”

Parvati sat down on the bed and took Lavender’s hand. “Lav, is something wrong?”

“No! Well, maybe, maybe yes, I don’t know,” Lavender muttered.

Parvati looked into Lavender’s lovely blue eyes. “Tell me, Lav. We’re best friends. You know you can tell me.”

Lavender pulled Parvati down to her and hugged her tightly as she started to cry softly.

“Lav, please,” Parvati asked. “What’s wrong? Did...did Harry do something to hurt you?”

“Yes, no, I...I, oh, gods, Parvati. I...we...I, we had sex in the woods coming back from Hogsmeade!” she wept.

Parvati just stared at her best friend for several moments.

“Are you serious, Lavender?”

Lavender was still crying softly and nodded her head, her blond locks swaying.

“We did, we really did. It was...was just beautiful. I...I came! I actually had an orgasm from him being inside me!”

“Well, that’s sounds just wonderful, Lav,” Parvati said neutrally, hugging her friend tightly. “Why are you crying though? Did you remember the Contraceptive Charm?”

“I’m on the Potion, you know that,” Lavender said. “It, well, at the beginning when he first entered me, well, I...I wanted to stop, but he didn’t.”

“He RAPED you?!” Parvati gasped, unable to believe it.

“No, no!” Lavender cried. “He didn’t, I mean, I just don’t know. I...he, well, I guess I just asked too late. I mean, he was almost all the way inside me, so maybe he just couldn’t stop. And...and once the pain faded, it was brilliant, really brilliant! I’m just sort of confused. Maybe I really wasn’t ready for sex, but, well, it’s too late now. You know I’ve been wanting to...to have sex with someone, but I never expected it to be Harry.”

“Well, he has changed so much the last couple of weeks, that’s true,” Parvati acknowledged.

“That’s because he’s been shagging Katie, and Angelina and Alicia as well,” Lavender said.

“He HAS?!” Parvati squeaked.

“Oh, come on, Parvati,” Lavender smiled, “you must have suspected it. Once I confronted him with it, he confessed.”

“Well,” the dusky Indian witch mumbled, “I guess I had figured out about Katie, but both Alicia and Angie? I just didn’t think he could be, well, could be that good, I guess.”

“He was fabulous,” Lavender cooed. “Well, I guess he was. He was my first, but I can’t imagine anyone making me feel any better. I came! I really came! So many girls say they don’t the first time. In fact, I came three times!”

“Three!?” gasped Parvati.

“Yes! Once from him fingering me, once from his tongue, and...and once from him being inside me!”

“Wow! Really!?” Parvati gasped again, beginning to feel a little envious of her best friend’s recent adventure.

“I wouldn’t lie to you, Parvati, you know that. I am a little, well, kind of tender down there, though. It did hurt a little more than I thought it would. But, then, Harry’s cock is a lot bigger than Seamus’ fingers,” she finished with a blush and giggle.

Parvati smiled and kissed Lavender tenderly, then got up and pulled Lavender up with her.

“Let’s shower,” she grinned. “I’ll be nice and gentle with you! Then, we can talk some more.”

Lavender blushed and giggled again as Parvati summoned her own nightgown and towel and the two bubbly young witches went to the bathroom. They stripped and went into a shower stall. Parvati knelt in front of her and looked closely at Lavender’s blond pussy.

“Lav! There’s still some...some ‘stuff’ sticking to your thighs!”

“I should hope so!” she laughed. “Go on, lick it! You know you want to you...you little closet lesbian you!”

Parvati grinned up at her best friend. The two of them had started a very tentative, very secret physical relationship at the end of the last school year. It had grown slowly, and it was only in the last three months that they had both worked up the courage to make each other come by using their tongues and lips on each other’s womanhood. Now they usually made love to each other every night.

Behind their Silenced bed hangings, their tongues and fingers would probe each other’s virgin pussies until they both squealed with release. Then, once they finished lapping up each other’s fluids, they would kiss and exchange their flavors, all the while pushing and rubbing their soaked snatches together until they came again, their juices soaking their thighs and their linens.

Parvati leaned in closer, her cheeks a dark red, and nuzzled her nose into Lavender’s slit.

“You smell like sex and...and, well, semen, I guess,” she sighed. She flicked her dark red tongue out and softly licked a sticky patch of essence from Lavender’s thigh.

Lavender shivered at the touch of her friend’s soft, warm, wet tongue.

“Oh, sweet Morgana!” she moaned softly. “Oh, your tongue is so, so sweet. How does it taste?”

Parvati licked and kissed a little more. She had never tasted semen before, not having the nerve Lavender did to offer to fellate someone. She then thought that maybe she could ask Harry if she could fellate him, all the while her tongue was probing into Lavender’s no-longer-virgin cunt.

“OH! Gods!” Lavender gasped. “Oh, wow, that...that stings just a little, but that’s alright.”

Parvati pulled her tongue out and stood up, giving a Lavender a lingering kiss. Lavender groaned softly, licking her and Harry’s essence from Parvati’s lips.

The two panting witches finally let each other go and took their shower, Parvati softly and tenderly washing Lavender’s still slightly sore vagina.

“You know, Lav,” Parvati said as the two of them dried off, “there were only a couple little spots of blood. I guess that part of the myths isn’t true. You know, blood running down your thighs after your first time.”

Lavender smiled and shrugged, fingering herself delicately. “I saw a few spots on his cock, but, yes, I guess that’s the case. My hymen was pretty much gone anyway, but I guess something was left.”

They went into the bedroom, thankful that it was still empty except for them. They both crawled onto Lavender’s bed and snuggled into each other, exchanging soft, tender kisses.

“Should I be more upset that...that he didn’t stop when I asked?” Lavender wondered aloud. “I mean, well, I’m not sure what I mean. It was wonderful, but, still, he just pushed all the way into me and...and starting pumping in and out. But, I didn’t do anything other than say ‘stop’ a couple times. Should I have hit him? I’m just so...so torn. I mean rape is supposed to hurt, to be violent, isn’t it? He wasn’t violent, he just didn’t stop. And, then, it started feeling good, really, really good. So good that I want to do again...and again. I wanted to have sex, I did, I really did, you know that. I’m not sure now why I wanted him to stop. I guess I was just surprised at what it felt like to actually have someone’s cock inside me. What should I do?”

“I can’t tell you yes or no, Lav, I can’t really relate, still being a virgin,” Parvati sighed, hugging her friend. “You should talk to him privately, tomorrow if you can, and let him know. You really think you’d want to make love to him again, after what happened?”

“Well, yes,” Lavender admitted. “I know he should have stopped, but, well, now I’m feeling glad he didn’t. Oh, I’m just not making any sense. I liked it, I did! I was the best orgasm I’ve ever had, him coming inside me. It was so amazing feeling him throb as his...his semen filled me.”

Parvati kissed her again, softly and sweetly. “Well, if you’re sure, then I guess it’s alright that you want to make love to him again. So, where will you do it?”

Lavender sighed. “I can’t think of where we could do it, I mean comfortably and without too much chance of being found. He’s been shagging Katie and the others in the Quidditch showers, but since I don’t play, it might be a little too obvious if I went down there.”

“You can always go and watch him practice, you know,” Parvati grinned. “Maybe I’ll go with you!”

“Stealing my lover, eh?” Lavender snickered. “Do...do you think you’re ready to...to give it up? You know, your virginity?”

Parvati considered for a moment. “I’m not sure, maybe,” she finally said. “It certainly sounds like Harry knows what he’s about. It would be nice for the first time to be with someone who really knows how to please a witch. Something Harry obviously does.”

“Well, he certainly pleased me!” Lavender smiled. “And from the way Angie, Alicia and Katie have been so happy and giddy recently, I’d say the chances are he’s been pleasing them - quite well, I would guess.”

They let each other go and further conversation was curtailed when Hermione came in. She glanced at her two roommates and gave them a smile. She sometimes secretly envied their sensual personalities. Hermione realized she was uptight, even prudish, about her sexuality, but it was simply the result of her Muggle upbringing.

“Did you have a nice time today, Lavender, Parvati?” she asked. “I certainly enjoyed the fudge Harry bought me. I even have a couple pieces left. Would either of you like a little?”

Both of them smiled, got out of bed and walked over to Hermione, who blushed when she saw that, as was usual, neither had anything on under their sheer nightgowns. She also noticed Lavender was walking with just a very slight limp.

“Did you hurt your leg or something today, Lavender? Would you like me to look at it for you?” Hermione asked, trying not to stare at the blond’s pussy and very prominent breasts.

Lavender blushed rather brightly, then quickly recovered. “Oh, I...I just turned my ankle a little walking back,” she fibbed. “It was getting dark and I slipped on something. Oh, double chunky, my favorite!”

“Mine too,” Parvati squealed, taking a modest piece. “Thank you, Hermione. Not many people are willing to share Honeydukes.”

Hermione nodded and blushed more, forcing her eyes away from the dark triangle at the juncture of Parvati’s shapely brown thighs and her enticing dark nipples that showed clearly through the thin pink silk of her camisole.

“That’s for sure,” Lavender giggled. “You know, Harry bought Ginny a whole POUND and she says she’s going to eat it all herself.”

“He did?” Hermione asked, rather surprised. “A whole pound? You don’t think anything is going on between the two of them, do you? Ron and Fred and George would be really upset, even if it is Harry.”

“She’s only thirteen, Hermione,” Parvati said dismissively. “I doubt Harry has any ulterior motives. It’s nice that he’s gotten her to overcome her shyness around him. They make a cute couple, don’t you think?”

“I think we would be cuter,” Lavender snickered. “His hair’s so dark and mine’s so blond. What do you think, Hermione?”

Hermione wasn’t sure what to say. She was as puzzled by Harry’s recent change in attitude as anyone. Even she had heard the rumors about him and Katie.

“I, well, I guess so, Lavender,” she mumbled. “I never thought you liked Harry that much.”

“I didn’t until recently,” she admitted with a grin. “Whatever has happened to him, I wish it had happened years ago. I never knew he was rich.”

“He’s not, really,” Hermione said. “Oh, his folks were very well off and their will gives him a generous allowance, but he’s not rich, not like, say, Malfoy.”

“Oh, you should have heard his putdown today,” Parvati gasped. “He told Malfoy that if he was buying a girlfriend, why couldn’t he do better than Pansy!”

Hermione smiled a little as the other two witches giggled at the memory. She couldn’t convince Harry, or Ron, that the best way to deal with someone like Draco was to just ignore them. Draco was sure to try to exact some revenge for the, she admitted to herself, witty, but very cutting, remark.

“Well, I’m tired and I have a lot of homework to do tomorrow. If you two stay up to chat, could you remember to cast a Silencing Charm, please?” Hermione requested. She left unsaid the request that they remember the charm if they decided to make love to each other.

Lavender and Parvati did end up sleeping together, but to Hermione’s relief, they simply slept. She couldn’t understand why she was so embarrassed by their intimacy when neither of them were. Hermione would feel her own center heat and pulse when she saw them emerge in the morning from whichever bed they were sharing, their thighs often still glistening with the juices. Her body would tremble as they would kiss each other, then walk hand-in-hand into the showers.

She was beginning to have her own yearnings for some sort of sexual release other than her own fingers. She didn’t masturbate that often, having been taught that ‘proper young women’ didn’t do such things; at least not proper young Muggle women. Apparently witches were not as inhibited. Parvati and Lavender had been bringing themselves off even before they had started at Hogwarts.

Hermione remembered an incident from her first year. She had dropped all her books and papers and nearly fainted the first time she had walked into the room and had seen Lavender naked on her bed, her legs spread wide and thrusting her wand in and out of her barely-pubescent pussy, moaning with satisfaction. Hermione had been unable to tear her eyes away as Lavender bounced and writhed and finally came with a shout, her juices dripping onto her thighs and her mattress.

Hermione gathered her bath gear and went into the showers, undressing quickly and entering a stall. She washed her body, naughtily teasing her nipples just a little. She was very happy that her breasts had grown significantly in the last year. Her mother had actually been a little concerned that Hermione had still been so underdeveloped at fourteen.

She cleaned between her legs, blushing as she stroked her soap-slicked clitoris a little bit. She started to press it more firmly with both her hands, then stopped, her breath coming quickly.

She stepped out and wrapped her towel around herself, then paused at the full-length mirror at the door of the shower room. She opened her towel and tried to frankly appraise her body.

Her breasts were still somewhat small for her height and build, but they were shapely and firm, the areolae not too large, and the nipples a rosy pink and slightly upturned. Her dark brown pubic hair was just as frizzy and unruly as the hair on her head and she did her best to keep it trimmed neatly, otherwise it stuck out of the crotch of her knickers. Not that anyone other than her ever saw it. Her waist and hips were well defined, her stomach flat, her legs slender and shapely. Turning to the side, she sighed a bit, wishing that her rear end would stick out just a little more. Still it was firm and round, with a slight ‘feminine sag’ at the bottom.

She finished drying off and pulled on her sensible cotton shorts, secretly wishing that they were the soft, sexy silk lingerie that Lavender and Parvati usually wore. She put her rather shapeless terrycloth sleeping gown on over her head and smoothed it out as it fell to her ankles. Nothing showed - above, below or through.

She went into the bedroom, blushing again at the sight of Lavender and Parvati curled up with each other in Lavender’s bed. She blushed even more as she noticed that Parvati’s camisole had ridden up her back and completely exposed her shapely, dark cheeks. She almost fainted as Parvati put one of her legs over one of Lavender’s and shifted so as to hug the blond more tightly. Her vulva was totally exposed to Hermione’s stare, the dark red, petal-like lips of her labia minora parting slightly, and permitting Hermione an erotic view into her pink, virgin vagina.

Hermione quickly hopped into her own bed, drew the curtains and cast a Silencing and an Imperturbable charm. She cried a bit as she pulled her nightgown up, pulled her shorts off and desperately rubbed herself, finally coming with a moan of frustrated satisfaction. She brought her finger to her mouth, blushing guiltily at how sweet she thought she tasted, and wondering when (and if) anyone else would ever tell her what they thought. She was regretting more and more not having let Viktor be more intimate with her during and after the Yule Ball.

Lavender was up early and went down to the common room and happened to catch Harry on his way out to the Pitch, his Firebolt over his shoulder.

“Lav!” he gasped a bit. “You’re up early.”

“Harry,” she said softly, taking his free hand in her two soft ones. “Harry, why...why didn’t you stop when I asked you to yesterday?”

Harry had been expecting this question and had laid awake last night for quite some time thinking about how to answer it. He knew he’d been wrong, but the sex that followed had been so amazing that he just didn’t want to admit that he’d done the wrong thing.

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes with his own bright green ones.

“I was wrong not to stop,” he admitted, meaning it, though probably not as sincerely as he should have. “I guess since I’m still, well, relatively new to shagging, I mean lovemaking, that I really, really wanted to know what it would be like to...to make love to you. Make love to a virgin. I’m sorry I didn’t stop, but, well, I’m not sorry that we seemed to have both really enjoyed it. Still, if you want to report me for raping you, I’m willing to face the consequences.”

Harry waited expectantly for her response. He’d been wrong, but he was hoping fervently that she’d be understanding. Since the other three women he’d made love to had never said no, he simply hadn’t been able to make his body stop. His lust had overwhelmed his sense of decency.

Lavender was torn as well. She had always liked Harry, even when he was so cold and brooding and was rather pleased with herself that she was apparently helping him shake off his melancholy outlook on life. On the other hand, he should have stopped, but Lavender also realized that she should probably have said no just a little sooner, before Harry had actually penetrated her so deeply. If being inside her had felt as amazing to him as it had to her once the pain faded and she truly got into the sex, then she could understand how it might be very difficult for a man to just suddenly stop and pull out.

She looked at his face and could see that he was sorry, so she decided that she could be forgiving. In a sense, he hadn’t done anything to her she hadn’t been wanting to do anyway. She had been itching to lose her virginity for several months. Now, her virginity was truly gone and she couldn’t get it back, and she didn’t want Harry to suffer too greatly from her momentary indecision and loss of nerve. And, she certainly didn’t want him in Azkaban, which is where all rapists in the wizarding world ended up.

“OH, Harry,” Lavender cried, her arms going around his neck. “I’d never do that! It, well, it was rape, technically, yes, but I know you’re not really like that, I know you aren’t. I was just really nervous and, well, I guess I sort of lost my nerve. I had really been wanting to make love to you, or, well, to someone, and we happened to meet up at what seemed an ideal time and place. In hindsight, I guess it was a bad idea to do it in the woods just on the spur of the moment, just like you said. It was very fulfilling, Harry, it really was. I just wish I could figure out someplace we could do it again.”

Harry heaved an inward sigh of relief that Lavender seemed placated. Indeed, she had just told him she wanted to shag him again. He knew he should have stopped yesterday, but she was just so beautiful and alluring and sensual, that he couldn’t control his baser carnal desires. He had just had to have her, had to feel what it felt like to be inside her - inside a virgin. He was feeling remorse, but was also feeling relief at having dodged a bullet.

“Nothing says you can’t watch me practice one morning,” Harry suggested.

“That’s what Parvati told me,” Lavender said, kissing him softly, then backing away as she heard someone else coming down the steps from the girls’ dorms.

It was Katie and she smiled at them both.

“Stealing my Seeker, are you, Lav?” she snickered. “I didn’t know you liked Quidditch that much.”

“Oh, I don’t,” Lavender blushed, “but, well, Quidditch players, on the other hand...”

“Say no more,” Katie said. “Ready for some practice, Harry?”

“Lead the way,” he said, kissing Lavender’s cheek and waving goodbye at her.

“What’s up with you and Lavender?” Katie asked on their way to the Pitch.

“What makes you think anything is up?”

“Come off it,” Katie snapped. “Don’t tell me you two...”

“We did,” Harry said. “In the woods on the way back from Hogsmeade yesterday.”

Katie stopped and just stared at Harry a moment.

“Are you serious?” she asked, a frown on her lovely face.

“Yes, I am,” Harry answered truthfully. “She...she came on to me, asked me to...to make love to her. I tried to resist, honest, but, well, she’s so pretty and sexy and...”

“Harry, she’s only fifteen!”

“I’m only fourteen,” Harry reminded her. “You and Angie and Alicia don’t seem to have any problems with that. Something of a double standard, wouldn’t you say?”

“Harry...”

“Please, Katie, I don’t want to argue or fight with you,” Harry said sincerely. Sincerely since he didn’t want to lose Katie as a sexual partner.

“It just happened. It’s not like I went to Hogsmeade yesterday with the intention of shagging someone. Lavender is smart enough and mature enough to understand what it meant to have sex with a man. Who knows, maybe she would have shagged Seamus or Dean if she had run into them on the way back instead of me.” He was very careful not to mention anything about Lavender’s momentary loss of nerve. Or, that he had, in fact, raped her.

Katie thought a moment or two, then heaved a sigh.

“You’re right, I guess,” she conceded. “Lavender is mature enough to know her own wants and desires. You’re starting to cut quite a swath among the witches here, Harry. Planning on trying to beat Oliver’s record for deflowerings?” she asked with a snarky smile.

“Hadn’t crossed my mind,” Harry ginned back. “I mean, Lavender was the first and, probably, the only. Who else would want to shag me?”

“You might be surprised, Harry,” Katie said as they reached the pitch, dropped their bags and mounted their brooms.

After their practice and a half hour of fabulous sex, Harry and Katie were dressing to go back in for breakfast.

“Katie,” Harry asked, “is it wrong for me to, well, to be shagging, I mean making love to so many different women?”

“I can’t answer that, Harry,” she said, turning her back towards him so he could fasten her bra. Harry did so, after copping a last feel of her fabulous breasts.

“Pervert!” she snickered. “I know I enjoy doing it with different guys. I’ve shagged both George and Lee since I started shagging you. Angie’s shagged Fred and Lee, and Alicia actually enticed Roger out from between Fleur’s thighs for a night.”

“I wish I could have replaced him,” Harry muttered.

“Harry!” Katie said sharply. “I admit she’s beautiful and sensual - and Roger is almost blasphemous about how good she is in bed - but I think you might be aiming just a little bit high.

“I know,” Harry moped, pulling on his briefs. “She told me right up front that I was ‘a little boy’ when I ogled her at the first champions’ meeting. Still, I can’t help but desire her.”

“Be happy with what you have, Harry,” Katie said lovingly, kissing him sweetly. “No one can ever have EVERYTHING they want. I wanted desperately to be Cedric’s girl, but now he hasn’t shagged me since October. Maybe we should swap, hmm? Me for Cho?”

Harry was going to answer angrily, figuring she was teasing him over his infatuation with the gorgeous Asian witch, but he saw the laughter in Katie’s eyes and held himself back. He knew he had to be very careful about sounding too callous or cavalier about women - or too jealous or possessive. If he did, Katie and the others would quickly decide he was too immature for them.

“Sounds like a great idea,” he answered, putting on a comical leer. “Maybe we can get them to shower with us one morning, do you think?”

Katie laughed and gave Harry a long, warm kiss, squealing a little as Harry’s hands slipped into her knickers and squeezed her firm, round cheeks. She finally slapped his hands away, then sat down and pulled up her Gryffindor knee socks.

“We need to hurry,” she sighed. “Breakfast is in fifteen minutes. I shagged Cedric in the showers a couple times. I know he’s shagged Cho down here. It’s a nice dream, Harry, but that’s all it really is. They’re truly a couple right now.”

Harry knew that was true, but wasn’t willing to completely dismiss the hope that he might one day enjoy the sensual pleasures he knew would be his should he ever actually get to make love to Cho.

“Who knows,” he thought. “Since Cedric’s a seventh-year, maybe she’ll want companionship the next two terms? And who better to fill her needs than me!”

Harry and Katie shared a quick kiss just outside the main doors, then walked into the Main Hall, chatting idly as usual. Hardly anyone gave them a second glance anymore.

Harry sat down next to Hermione and across from Ginny.

“Morning Hermione, Ginny,” he smiled. “Ron, pass the bangers, please.”

Harry loaded his plate with sausage, eggs, potatoes, toast and jam, and a couple of Danish.

“Harry?” Hermione said. “That’s an awful lot.”

“Quidditch builds up an appetite,” Harry mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. “I’ve got to keep up my strength. Ron should be a natural if he tries out next term.”

Hermione snickered and Ginny laughed outright at Ron’s scowling face.

“Ha, ha,” he snapped. “Very funny, Harry. I don’t eat that much.”

“You don’t eat that little, either,” Ginny giggled, drawing snickers from Fred and George who were seated next to her. “And you don’t have Quidditch as an excuse!”

Ron just growled and put another helping of eggs and ham on his plate.

Harry spent most the morning doing his Potions essay, annoying Hermione so much by constantly asking her for advice that she finally got up and went to the library, dragging Ron with her.

Ginny sat down across from Harry and smiled her usual shy smile.

“Help me with Charms, later?” she asked sweetly.

“You’re charming enough as it is,” Harry grinned.

Ginny just blushed more. She had started feeling the oddest attraction for Harry the last couple of weeks, ever since his new attitude had emerged. She had even felt an odd sensation between her legs a couple of times and felt the crotch of her knickers grow moist. She knew she shouldn’t be thinking about Harry - or any boy, really - in that way, not at her age, but her feelings for him had never gone away, despite him basically ignoring her until the last couple of weeks.

“Harry, really,” she murmured. “Why are you suddenly so nice to me?”

“I’ve been trying to be nice to everyone,” he said sharply. “I finally got tired of being alone, brooding and bemoaning my...my fate, as it were. I didn’t ask to be born Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, you know.”

“Don’t be mad at me, please,” Ginny sniffled.

“I’m sorry, Ginny, I didn’t mean to snap,” Harry sighed, reaching over and taking her hand.

“Damn, she’s pretty,” he thought, cursing as he felt the familiar twitching in his groin. “Dammit, Harry, she’s thirteen. Damn, but she’s good looking, though.”

“What’s all this then?” George asked, suddenly walking over.

“It’s nothing, you plonker,” Ginny snapped, taking her hand out of Harry’s. “He was apologizing for snapping at me, that’s all.”

“Harry, I think you and me and Fred need a little chat,” George said, his voice rather gruff.

“About what?” Harry asked, his own voice level. “Are you upset with me, too, that I’ve decided to stop moping and start enjoying life a little more?”

“No, Harry,” George said with less rancor. “But, Ginny is our baby sister and...”

Ginny flared up. “I am NOT a baby, you...you insufferable, chauvinistic baboon!”

“Who’s a baboon?” Fred asked, walking over.

“George! And you’re a bloody wanker, Frederick Weasley,” Ginny yelled. “Don’t you two dare bully Harry like you did poor Neville after the Yule Ball!”

“He kissed you!” Fred said.

“I kissed him, you plonkers!” Ginny shouted. “One little kiss to thank him for the taking me to the Ball and you two pillocks acted like he was going to ravish me on the common room floor!”

“You’re only thirteen, Gin,” George stated.

“I know how bloody old I am, thank you very much, George Fabian Weasley! Why don’t you two start acting seventeen, instead of seven, you...you puerile jackasses!”

Harry couldn’t help but admire Ginny’s command of invective, nor help smirking at Fred and George shrinking back before her verbal barrage. He actually started chuckling at their frightened faces.

“Laugh it up, Potter, and you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of a rather nasty hex,” George warned.

“You leave Harry alone, you understand,” Ginny said, shaking her finger under George’s nose. “Or so help me, I’ll write Mum and tell her you’re traumatizing him. Oh, and tell her about you and Alicia after the Yule Ball!”

“You wouldn’t?” George gasped, paling at the threat.

“In a minute,” Ginny smiled evilly. “And you and Angie, too, Fred. Don’t think I won’t!”

“That’s blackmail,” Fred spouted. “You’d blackmail your own sweet, lovin’ brothers who have nothin’ but your best interests in their hearts?”

“You two have nothing but your own interests at heart,” she said plainly. “All I ask is that you stop hovering like a pair of old maiden aunts and let me be what I want to be. Do you honestly think I was seriously contemplating doing what you obviously think I was?”

“Fuck fork!” Harry sniggered inwardly, wondering how the twins were going to answer that question.

“Of...of course not,” Fred mumbled, red-faced. “We know you’d never do anything like that.”

“And why do you think I would?” Harry asked. “Really, guys, as sweet and, well, pretty as Ginny is, she is only thirteen. You don’t honestly think I’d try anything on with her, do you?”

Harry was beginning to think he just might, then quickly mentally slapped himself for entertaining such a thought. As exciting as sex was, he had to keep his sense of decency.

“No, course not, Harry,” Fred said softly. “We’re sorry, Gin, but, well, you know. You are our sister and we just don’t want you to feel pressured or rushed or anything.”

“Harry’s not pressuring or rushing me about anything,” Ginny said more calmly, finally gracing her brothers with a smile. “How old were you, George, when you first kissed Alicia? When you first started having randy thoughts about her?”

“GINNEEE!” George whined. “I can’t bleedin’ tell you that, not with you bein’ just thirteen!”

“I’ll take that answer to mean you were no older than Harry,” she stated confidently, staring hard at George, then Fred. “How can you fault Harry for having normal teen-age male hormones? And did Alicia or Angie have older brothers to protect them? They seem perfectly capable of protecting themselves and making the proper decisions at the proper time. Why do you think I can’t?”

“We don’t think that,” Fred muttered. “Sorry, Harry, you know, it’s just...”

Harry did his best not to smirk at the twins’ discomfiture, but still let a small smile crease his lips.

“I understand,” he conceded gracefully. “You know me well enough to know I’d never do anything like that. I’m sure Ginny appreciates that you two care for her, but do you honestly think she isn’t capable of making her own decisions about such personal matters? And I hardly think the two of us holding hands is an indication that we’re planning to run to a broom cupboard for a quick shag.”

“Harry!” Ginny squeaked, turning red, then breaking down into giggles. “You know my Bat Bogey hex, don’t you? I’d hate to have to use it on you.”

“I would, too,” Harry agreed, cringing comically before her. “See guys, she’s perfectly safe. She has ‘The Boy Who Lived’ shaking in his boots.”