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Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related concepts are owned by someone who isn't me. I will never seek or accept money for the circulation of this work. Especially this work.



Holly Polter



Chapter: Enemies



Holly sat and watched Harry fall asleep, stroking the hair along his forehead. Sensing his slumber was stable, she rose from the bed, leaving Harry's naked body beneath a topsheet so he wouldn't wake up feeling sticky. She opened the window, disrupting Harry's Imperturbable charm. It was a compromise- the room needed the fresh air more than they needed privacy. It had gotten quite musky as a result of their lovemaking.

'Love-making'. I am really losing perspective. I was alright devoting my time here to Harry's success, but only a day later it's becoming more than that. Seeing his struggles without my guidance, it reminds me of why I was willing to defy prophecy in the first place. He shouldn't have to stand alone against the darkness, even if he's willing. Yet time and again, he faces his nightmares alone. Well, not anymore, if I have a say.

For the next few hours, Holly sat naked by the window. Mostly she spent the time scratching notes into a leather bound pocket journal they'd bought at Scrivenshafts. Occasionally she would fall into a meditative daze, only disrupted when Harry shifted position on the bed.

She was in the midst of one of these reveries when Hedwig soared in from the night, landing beside Holly on the sill. The owl gave her a long look, followed by another long look over at the bed.

"What?"

The owl swung out a wing to cuff Holly in the ear with a 'Thwap!'

"Ow! What's your--?"

[Quooork-clack! Click-click snurfle cack whistle snap snap gurgle snap quork-Clack!]

"I'm out of practice, Hedwig. Are you torqued because I moved on him fast or are you bummed because you wanted to watch?"

[Click-click. Trill-squeak gurgle.]

"'Not interested in watching primates mate.' Fine. I promise, Harry wasn't coerced."

[Sniff-snort! Whistle-click-click.]

"You'll have to ask him that, but he's asleep. Let me get you some water."

[Warble-squeak.]

"Yes, your highness. Fresh water."

The owl stretched out her wing again, but stopped short of actually swinging it at her.

Once Hedwig had her own cup of water from the auto-filling basin, Holly went back to journaling, using her offhand to stroke Hedwig's chest feathers. When dawn finally shined over the rooftops, Holly rose to dress in her 'huntress' outfit; Harry had been decent enough to Tergeo the skirt clean following her unscheduled deflowering. She left the room in hat, shirt, skirt and boots and ventured out into Diagon Alley in search of a bakery.

It took a few hours before she found one that was open- the Hatbox Cafe and Millinery, down a side street called Cashew Alley. She was spared from their insistence that she needed to buy a hat to go with her croissants by pointing out she was already wearing one.

Fortune was smiling on her, for once.

This was demonstrated again a few minutes later. On her way back she'd caught sight of Remus Lupin, who was trying very hard to nonchalantly sniff his way through the streets. He was soon intercepted by Kingsley Shacklebolt, prompting Holly to search for a shadow to inhabit. Snippets of their conversation floated to her.

"... sure that he's here? He ... the Knight Bus, but that was almost a day ..."

"... have a nose... girl, one we've never heard... terrible risk. Sirius is having kittens."

"Hah! Remus, if you don't know... too many scents to... might as well return..."

A few words later, both men departed.

Holly waited an extra minute in case this had been staged, then strode back along her path in quiet earnest.

She was a few blocks from the Cauldron when luck appeared to be abandoning her. She saw Harry walking in her direction, only for a beefy thug of a man with a bald pate to step in front of him from a doorframe. When the beefy man shifted direction towards a side alley, Harry wasn't there, and the man's cloak seemed to be flapping about as if geese were fighting beneath it.

No. Not now-- I haven't so much as a fruit knife!

Holly doffed her hat and reached inside, mumbling, "Rope, rope, c'mon someone must have left something in here I can use. Why else buy second-hand magic? A-ha!" Holly extracted a length of woven black and grey horsetails- maybe centaur tail hairs - and fussed in a panic tying it into a lasso.

By the time she caught up with Harry and his abductor, Harry had twisted out of his grip onto the cobblestones, still wrapped in binding cords but writhing to try and kick the man. Holly snuck up behind the thug and lasso'd him around the neck.

The man reached up to pull off the loop, but Holly reeled back to pull it tight, trapping his fingers against his own neck. She then climbed up his back, using her full weight on the taut rope of hair. The choking man lurched backwards into the sunlight, where Holly could see his face clearly.

"Hah! Macnair!" Holly exclaimed, "Always such a fan of the kiddies you are." The brute jerked and swayed back and forth trying to dislodge her but most of his attention was on his neck. From her position as a monkey on his back, she could see Harry making his way out of his bindings, but he would need more time. She looped another length of rope around Macnair's eyes, drawing close to his purpling head to hiss in his ear, "Bold move, Walden, but what were you going to do with him? Bring him to Malfoy? You lot don't control the Ministry yet!"

Harry had freed himself and stood but appeared uncertain how to help. Holly said, "Knock him out, Harry." He shrugged, reared back and punched the man in the jaw, ending up with some broken knuckles for his trouble.

"Use spells, Harry- he's too physical for a beat-down. I mean, for Heaven's sake, the man executes monsters for a living!" She was still strangling him, but with a hand caught in the noose as well, Macnair wasn't likely to pass out from it if he hadn't yet.

Harry found his wand and cast, but his single Stupefy glanced off the man's shoulder.

"What the--?"

"Spells, plural- he's got ablative shield charms. You need to wear away his def-- ACK!"

Macnair had somehow sent a charge of lightning into Holly, flinging her into the air and sending her spasming to the ground. She twitched and clinched for a minute, desperately trying to will away the debilitating effect. When she stood up...

Harry was standing over Macnair's unconscious body. Splatters of blood on both walls of the side alley matched the mincemeat look of Walden's face in a sort of Rorschach's blot.

"Deprimo?"

"... and Bombarda. Maybe a gouging hex," Harry answered, his wand sparking in readiness.

"Well done!"

Holly dropped next to the man's chest, searching and finding two wands. She left the obvious one and kept the smaller. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them, her index finger had hardened into an iron spike. She gripped his face and drove it into his left eye.

"Holly! What are you doing? You... you've mutilated him!"

"He's a Death Eater, Harry, and he'd just snatched you off the street with no authority to do so."

"But why his eye?"

"Trust me, it's funny from my viewpoint. Besides, what's he gonna say? 'Some little girl stabbed me while I was abducting Harry Potter'? That'll be so welcomed on both sides of his life. What a tool."

Holly gathered up the horsetail rope and dumped it back into her outback hat. She then put the hat on Harry's head.

"We have to get out of here, because Walden One-eye here isn't the only one looking for you. Keep your head down. Go into Knockturne- take the first left, then the second left, then the third left. You'll find a red door with doorknobs on both sides. Open it with the left one- it should take you to an alley behind a Chinese restaurant near Westminster. If you get lost, don't talk to anyone-just growl at them, and make your way out to the muggle world one way or another. Climbing is always an option when stuck in a maze. I'll find you there."

"Where are you going?"

"To get Hedwig and our stuff from the Cauldron. Nobody looking would recognise me yet, and the owner thinks my name is Miss Toothbrush."

oOo

Harry had followed Holly's instructions and thus fell out of the red door about ten feet down, into a rubbish bin. Favoring his damaged knuckles, he clambered out and then picked away at the refuse stuck to his clothing.

A minute later, Holly appeared near him as if conjured. There was no sound or compression of air- she simply became. Their travel satchel (bought yesterday to carry their clothes) slipped from her shoulder to the ground and she opened her arms wide, giving him an imploring look.

Harry rushed up and hugged her, which she returned with a desperate grip. It reminded him of Hermione's hugs, just with less frizz in the face. After a long moment they let go.

Harry asked, "Where's Hedw--"

Holly had glomped onto him, the force causing Harry to teeter back against the alley wall. Once he was stable, Holly was kissing him, threading her hands through his hair whilst her legs held her up around his waist. His hands slid down to grip her arse to aid in the support, though his right hand twinged from the strain.

They kissed for a bit, then Holly slid down off his body. Both were breathing heavily.

"What was that for?" Harry asked.

"Seeing you being snatched after I brought you to Diagon- it was terrifying. I know you can fight. I know you've faced monsters. I know you chose to go with me, but I still felt responsible. I'm sorry. I want no apologies from you at all, but in this case, I owe it to you. I am sorry. Anyway, it made me appreciate how much you mean to me."

Harry tried to find a proper reply but gave up, smiled, and then kissed her for a nice, long minute.

When they ended that kiss, Holly said, "As for Hedwig, I sent her on to the Dursley's, because that's where we're going when I'm done with you here."

Before Harry could voice a protest, Holly was on him again, kissing and pressing her chest against his. Her hands had unlatched his belt and trousers and in a shocking second his erection was already hanging out in the open air. Holly cupped the cock in her hand, gently pushing Harry back to the wall. She had stopped the kissing but her eyes were locked on his, mesmerising him with their ferocious green burn. Holly lifted a boot to brace on a cement protrusion on the wall next to him. With the hand not holding his cock, she pulled her skirt up, gathering it at her waist and exposing her bare nethers.

In a single hopping movement Harry couldn't possibly predict, much less emulate, Holly jumped into Harry's arms and slid her body down his until she'd impaled herself on Harry's cock, guided into her by the hand that had held it. Her ragged gasp and the sound of a splurt as his cock slid through her lubrication into hot, tight glory echoed off the walls of the alleyway.

Again, Harry gripped her beneath her bum, an action she approved of with an almost guilty smile. She'd wrapped her legs around his waist and now locked her feet together just above his arse. He adjusted his grip, making her slide up and back onto his cock- that hadn't been the intent but they both gasped in enjoyment of it.

With a sudden pivot, Harry had Holly pressed against the alley wall and was driving his cock up into her, urged on by her almost subvocal, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..." She shifted slightly, and Harry felt his cock sliding into her in a subtly different way, one that allowed her to clench and grind and twist her pelvis in answer to his up-driving fucking.

Their panting echoed through the alley, but for whatever reason the pedestrians out in the daylight didn't look their way. The possibility haunted him as each one passed in his peripheral vision. It was making the experience a bit harrowing... and all that more potent. He felt excess fluids dripping down his cock and over his ballsack, cooling in the air and inducing yet more desire to unload his seed into Holly's 'fleshy cathedral'.

He was close to climax when a door swung open several feet down the alley from them. A young oriental man stepped out, carrying a bag of rubbish destined for a bin. He stopped short, staring at them as they fucked.

Harry's heart fluttered in panic, and he murmured, "Uh... H-holly?"

"Don't you dare stop, Harry! Oh, GOD! Don't stop!"

The embarrassment of being so blatantly exposed in front of a witness sent another jolt of fear through him... one that intermixed with Holly's furious call for boldness on his part. There was nothing else for it- he had to commit to completing this act of lewdness, and do it without caring that he was being watched. If anything, he had to enjoy the attention- revel in deserving it. In thinking this through he had built himself a mask, a persona to help him bluff through this experience.

Harry swelled up like a Greek hero, undaunted and bold as bronze compared to this poor mortal watching him. He doubled the force of his thrusts into his lover, clutching her half-clothed body to him with steely strength. He spared a hand to reach up and rip open her tunic and then sunk his mouth onto the tender flesh of her undulating breasts.

Her short, sharp wails of rapture were heralding his impending moment of majesty, released. He drove into her relentlessly, like the pounding of a battering ram destroying a castle gate. He leaned back and roared as he orgasmed, yet sustained the rhythm of inexorable penetration for the sake of his lover, until his own muscles locked in place in protest.

It took a full minute before his body finished pulsing into her. When he could unlock his stance, Harry relaxed just enough not to fall to pieces.

He looked to Holly and discovered that she was trembling in his arms, her legs suffering tremors in trying to stay locked behind his back. He could feel her inner muscles still clamping down on him, even as he softened.

As he started to relax his arms, Holly gasped out, "N-n-no, don't let me go. Hold me, Harry. Hold me tight, right here."

A minute passed.

Holly's shivers abated and she nodded that he could let her down, which he did.

The young oriental was still standing there, though his rubbish bag had fallen open to the ground, spilling onto the alley floor. He said, "wow."

Holly coughed and then said, "If you're done enjoying the show, maybe you can get us some Beef Lo Mein and an order of cream cheese puffs. Harry?"

He turned to give her an incredulous look, then shook his head.

The man reflexively pulled an order book from his apron and wrote in it. "Name for the order?" he squeaked.

Holly snorted and replied, "The two people fucking in the alley, who aren't Members of Parliament. 'Alley', for short."

He turned around and re-entered the building. When the door closed behind him they both fell to their knees, laughing.

Harry gasped out between laughs, "Are-- are we really-- going to-- wait for the food?"

"Yeeeeaaahhh, why not? Besides, that order should take ten or fifteen minutes..." She began to crawl towards him with a hungry look that threatened to bring Harry's cock to life again. Sadly, his trusty tool was feeling raw and reticent.

"You're insatiable," he marveled.

"Perhaps," she replied, "Won't know for sure without testing my limits."

"But I've reached mine. Sorry, Holly."

She scowled. "Need to train you up a bit, I think. Now, show me your knuckles."

Just by her mentioning it, Harry felt the pulses of pain across his hand return. They straightened out, buckled up or repaired their clothes as needed and then sat together on a collection of milk crates. Holly tended to Harry's hand with bandages and Essense of Murtlap retrieved from their satchel.

Eventually the oriental man came back out, carrying their order. He was holding one hand in front of his eyes, though he moved it aside every so often to check his footing and surroundings. Once he realised they were decent he handed the sack to Harry, who handed him two ten-pound notes. Harry then held a finger to his lips to indicate why he was overpaying so much.

oOo

Using transit from London out to Surrey wasn't quite as entertaining as the Knight Bus, but it was more direct. Holly and Harry were traveling out of London at mid-morning, when most were headed in or already there, so their train ride was blissfully uncongested.

During the ride, Holly gave Harry the holdout wand made of Ash she'd taken from Macnair- this one didn't respond to her either, but Harry was able to get a few sickly green sparks from the tip. This made sense, Holly explained, because Harry had defeated him. She also mentioned that the wand should be ignored by the Ministry sensors, either because it was registered to Macnair, a Ministry official, or because he's a Death Eater who wouldn't want to be detected. As it was contraband for Harry to even have a second wand, he stowed it in their satchel.

While they arrived in Surrey before noon, neither of them felt driven to return to the Dursleys just yet. They decided instead to wander in muggle areas where hopefully no one dangerous to them would be looking for them.

It was a pleasant if beastly-hot afternoon they spent walking and talking together. They shopped for muggle things as well and took an early supper at a pizza place, though Holly drank more than she ate. At Harry's look of concern, she explained, "I really enjoy tasting everything but I just can't stand to eat much when the heat is such."

Holly had insisted that they keep the conversation light and avoid any 'trigger words' that might grab the attention of those in the know. That still left plenty to cover about life, friends, enemies and fools.

And then Dudley found them.

"Oi!Potter! This your new nanny?"

Harry and Holly both groaned. Dudley had caught sight of them before they'd seen him, or they would've avoided the encounter.

Harry answered, "Duddiekins, if anyone needs babying, I think it's you. Have you and Vernon even eaten since I left yesterday?"

Holly said nothing but wrapped her hands around Harry's arm in a girlfriend-ish way. Dudley looked at her and then at Harry, then back at her.

"You're weird like him, aren't you? Or did he use his... thingy on you?"

They burst out laughing at the double-entendre.

"Oh, Dudley, like you wouldn't believe," said Holly, "His thingie is... awesome!"

Harry cackled but also blushed a little.

"How'd you know my name?" Dudley asked with suspicion. "What's he been sayin' about me?"

Harry felt a chill, and realised that they hadn't worked up a full cover story for Holly. He stepped forward and waved away Dudley's concerns, saying, "She's seen your picture is all. She asked who it was and I told her you were known far and wide as Diddly-duddiekins. Very wide."

He looked back, expecting Holly would appreciate the wordplay. Instead, Holly had stiffened up, her stance strangely unstable, as if she was having problems balancing. Harry turned around to fully look at her and was shocked to see how wide her eyes had opened.

Holly looked past him towards Dudley and hissed, "Run. Run home, Dudley. Now!" Her voice warbled as she urged him, "I mean it! Run home, now! You have no idea..." Tears were streaming down her shaking face.

Harry felt a cold wind that made him shiver and heard the barest echo of a scream in the back of his mind. That, with Holly's odd behavior and an encroaching dread fit the last piece into the puzzle for him.

"Dementors? We all have to run! Holly! Come on- why are you standing there?" He grasped her hand- it was cold as ice, the limb swaying loosely as if numbed. She looked down at their joined fingers and grasped tight. Then, unified in intent, they broke into a run.

Rain crashed onto them in sheets, when the sky had been clear just minutes before.

They ran for blocks upon blocks without pause, finally ducking into the shelter of a stone bridge over a bike path. Both were breathing too hard to speak. A minute later, Dudley's fat legs splashed their way under the bridge as well.

Harry looked to Holly. When she could manage it she said, "Cast it now, Harry."

"I don't have Macnair's--"

"Fuck the rules, Harry! Cast it before they fiii--- no! No, get off me you fucking bastards; don't touch me, let go of me!"

Harry's momentary confusion cleared up when the scream returned to his mind- Holly was re-experiencing the worst memory in her life, just as Harry was beginning to. The scream in his head was louder than ever before, louder than he thought a mind would remember.

And then he realised that he was hearing that scream for real, from Holly. A second later a massive black cloak swooped into their shelter, enveloping Holly completely. Before he could react, a second Dementor grabbed him from behind, its frozen claw around his throat shocking him into action.

He'd drawn his wand but couldn't focus past the freezing-and-choking feeling. He saw the Dementor opening its hood. He saw the other Dementor still on top of Holly, though its flurry of motion gave him hope that Holly was still fighting.

But then her scream stopped. The Dementor rose from the ground and floated towards Dudley.

No. No, she can't have-- I won't lose her!

He had a vision of Holly's face, trembling in post-coital bliss and imploring him,"N-n-no, don't let me go. Hold me, Harry. Hold me tight, right here."

Expecto Patronum- he didn't even have to say it.

White light like an exploding star erupted from his wand, filling the underpass with a brilliance to banish all shadows. It coalesced into a vaporous white stag that trotted from one end of their shelter to the other.

The Dementors had either fled or dissipated, Harry honestly couldn't give a fuck which. Dudley was still whimpering on the ground and therefore un-Kissed, so Harry dashed to where Holly had fallen.

Holly was gone. Only her rain-drenched clothes remained, as if she'd been completely consumed.