Three For All
Chapter 2
By Kinsfire
The stories in this grouping have been abandoned by me, and will not be worked on again.
Three For All — Chapter II
Back at her apartment, Tonks grabbed Harry and roughly kissed him. After breaking, she said, "Sorry, but I've never had a champion before, Harry, and it kinda got to me."
He refused to unlock his arms, which had come together around her waist. "Get used to it then, my lady, for you have one now," he said floridly.
Her own arms came around his waist. "I think I'm willing to try to get used to it." She kissed him again. "We still have time to do some shopping in Muggle London, and as much as I like you in them, I think you'll need more clothes than simply the leather trous and shirts."
"True, and we'll have all the time we want to commit some serious snoggage afterward," he laughed. "How's this going to work, by the way, with the Fidelius? Will it be broken if someone sees me here?"
"No. The way that it was phrased, their thoughts will always automatically go to the concept of you visiting. Even if it's obvious that you're staying overnight, it will be assumed that you are leaving sometime soon. You'll also find it interesting that you won't be able to tell anyone directly. I can, but that's a different situation, since I'm the Secret Keeper."
He thought for a moment before changing the subject. "Well, let's get more clothing, and then get some dinner. When we get back, I have a question I need to ask you."
"And I've got some things to tell you, Harry. Not bad, but things that will surprise you. One of them is going to delight you, I'm pretty sure. And with that spoiler in the air, let's finish getting you clothing." He grinned at her cruel streak, and whimpered quietly at the little flounce she did in front of him as she turned. I look forward to the day when I can peel her out of that dress. Be a long time, though, before that happens.
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Many bags of clothes later, and after a pleasant candlelit dinner in a Muggle restaurant, they were back in Tonks' apartment, where Harry received his first shock as she peeled the dress over her head, leaving her standing in nothing but her baby blue knickers. "This is the first surprise, Harry. I walk around my own apartment dressed, or undressed as the case may be, like this. I am not changing that habit just because you're living here, nor am I doing it for the sole purpose of making the blood rush to that bloody great stonker of yours."
"That's the effect you're having anyway," he said a bit weakly.
"Not surprised, Harry. When was the last time you saw a pair of breasts uncovered, other than on that Muggle tellyvission thing?"
"Before the vision in front of me, never. Yours are the first. And I haven't even seen them on television. And I know what you're probably going to say to me after I tell you this, but I happen to think yours are perfect."
"They're too small," she complained. "I think you need to see some more before you decide that mine are perfect."
He snorted. "I was right. I knew you were going to tell me I needed more experience. Where, by the way, am I supposed to get that experience? 'Hey, Hermione, my girlfriend says that I need more experience before I decide her breasts are perfect. Can I see yours?' After they find all my teeth, and the various body parts she'll have ripped off, she'll get nasty to me." He laughed outright. "No! 'Hey, Ginny! Can I see your chest? Tonks says I need experience.'"
"Interesting that you chose your two best female friends at the school. Already fantasizing about their bodies?"
"I said it earlier, Nymph — I'm sixteen, and even if the law says I'm pretty much an adult, I'm a hormonal teenager. The concept of seeing a woman in any state of undress is going to make me react, so of course I fantasize about other women. As for choosing my friends — well, I'm around them most. Besides, any relationship I start is not going to be for nothing but sex, so of course I'm going to think about friends that I happen to find appealing." He nervously stepped toward her and pulled her into a hug. "I'd rather think about you naked, though, to be honest."
"Okay," she said, and he heard a slight pop. "I'm naked. I walk around the apartment like this all the time." She gently pushed him away after feeling him quiver slightly against her. "All puns aside, it's going to be hard for you."
He laughed. "I think I'm going to be thinking about Professor Snape in his underwear a lot, just to make sure that I can actually think in this apartment." She started to laugh uproariously, and he was pleased to note that, no matter how small she felt that her breasts were, they still jiggled pleasantly when she laughed like that.
"You too?" she finally gasped. "When you stepped out of the booth at Lilli's, I was telling myself to think of Severus in his boxers." She blushed. "I was advertising what you were doing to me," she said, pointing at her nipples. Harry blushed, but found himself laughing as hard as she had been over the fact that they'd shared the same image.
Finally, after they'd gotten their laughter under control, he looked at her face. "Now we come to the question that really interests me right now. Why did my eyes do what they did at Lillibett's shop?"
"You're a metamorph, just like me, Harry. It's why I asked you to do the imitation of Hermione. While you were doing it, your eyes turned brown and so did your hair. If you'd had a really heavy-duty Hermione rant ready, I have no doubt that your hair would have grown long and bushy."
"That's not why I offered you space in my apartment, although it gives an excuse for you being here at odd hours — we found out you're a metamorph, and I'm tutoring you." She blushed incredibly furiously suddenly. "I'm hoping to get you well trained in it — I've always wondered what making love to another metamorph might be like."
"I notice that here you're saying metamorph, but out there in the world, you keep saying metamorphmagus. Why the difference?"
"Side effect of the wizarding world. If you do anything as a talent, you're a something-or-other magus."
"Like Sirius being an animagus." As soon as he said it, he felt his throat tighten, and he fought back the tears.
#####
"Let it out, honey," she said. "I loved him too. We can cry for him together."
His response surprised her. "I killed him!" he cried. "I could have checked, but I had to do that damned 'saving people thing' that Hermione's talked about, and I killed him!"
"Harry, he was going to go check you out, no matter what."
"If I'd bothered to actually open the present he got me for Christmas, then I'd have known. He gave me that, and I never used it. He sat there four months, five months, wondering when I'd use his present. He had to wonder if I even cared. I abandoned him, and he died because I didn't even think. Bellatrix may have done the actual work, but if she were a Muggle gun, I'd have been the one to pull the trigger. I can't forgive myself for his death." He held her tightly. "And neither should you."
"Well, that's too bad, Harry, because I do forgive you," she said tenderly. "Yes, you made a mistake, and someone died because of that." She carefully took his face and made sure he was looking at her. "You have a fellow student — he'll be a third year this year — Ravenclaw. He'll never see his father again because I wasn't good enough, and because I made a stupid mistake on the job. Someone died because of it. You work on it — you work past it."
"But …"
"You learn from it, Harry. Something similar happens, will you rush in, or check out as much as you can?" At receiving the answer she knew she would, she said, "Then he didn't die in vain, my sweet loving Harry. It's why it hurts so much, you know. You have such a capacity for love. You love people until they give you reason otherwise, and then you still hope for better things for them." For the first time she was aware of, he finally let his sorrows out, and she cried along with him.
#####
Harry awoke the next morning in a strange bed. He closed his eyes and ran his memories back, but couldn't get past crying on Tonks' shoulder. He climbed out of bed and walked to the door, just in time to have Tonks open it and come in. "Good, you're awake. I was about to come in and get you up." She pulled him into a hug, and he suddenly realized that she had undressed him during the night.
"Um, Tonks? I'm not used to being near a naked woman when I'm naked myself." He blushed furiously as proof of this poked her in the stomach.
"Harry?" she asked. "This might sound strange, but you might want to try walking around the apartment this way. Get used to being naked around me."
He laughed uneasily. "I still have trouble believing that I'm going to end up not noticing you when you're naked. My body is screaming at me to do something that I know I'm not ready for yet."
"We will someday, my love, but not today," she said, kissing him. "If that goes on for too long, though, I'll help you out with it." She grinned impudently. "I've never had complaints about my mouth."
His eyes rolled back in his head for a moment as he contemplated that. "If you do that half as well as you kiss, I'll last about five seconds, Nymph."
She pulled him close. "Well, you'll find out." She stepped back and scowled. "I'm sorry, Harry, I'm not trying to be a tart, or a tease. I want you to feel comfortable here, and I'm doing exactly the opposite."
"At least you're letting me know I'm welcome here," he laughed. "If you can try to ignore the intrusion, I can try to get comfortable with having a sexy woman walking around naked in front of me." He pulled away from her and said, "Well, my stomach isn't anything like Ron's, but I'm hungry. Lead me to the kitchen and I'll start making breakfast for us both."
Stepping through the door, he realized what his first thing to do here was going to be, after he made breakfast for them both. He looked around the kitchen-slash-dining room, and his eyes were drawn to the ceiling above the stove. "Um, Tonks? How did you manage to get egg up there?"
She blushed. "I wish I could say it was the result of mad passionate sex, but it's really the fact that I sometimes outdo myself in the klutz department."
He laughed, but looked at her intently. He was actually glad that she was unclothed, because it made what he was doing easier. He watched the way she moved; the changes in postures; the slight movements when shifting from foot to foot. "You started shifting at an early age, didn't you?" he finally asked.
"Yeah. How can you tell?"
"You're not comfortable with your body space. That's why you're a klutz. And it's why I'm so damned good at seeking in Quidditch. I know my boundaries exactly. There's some name for it that I know Hermione knows, just because she's Hermione, after all. How about I teach you your boundaries while you teach me how to be a metamorph?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Of course, this means I'll be getting to put my hands all over your body at various times."
"I think I can live with that," she laughed. "Let's get breakfast going, and then we can start your lessons after eating."
#####
She was shocked to discover how quick a study Harry was. Before the day was gone, he was able to change his hair colour at will, as well as his eye colour. When it was her turn at being student, she was surprised by his exercise. He stood before her, still nude, as they had stayed all day, and had her put her hands near his body without touching him. He had unerringly been able to tell her where her hand had been hovering, especially the time she got mischievous and pretended to fondle his organ, and he reacted.
"Do you see what I mean, though?" he said, trying to ignore the reaction she'd caused him. "You never touched me, but I knew when you were … uh …"
"Trying to grab you by the short hairs?" she laughed. "Is that part of your Quidditch training?"
"No. It comes from living a large portion of my life in a tiny closet. I learned extremely well where I was, and what was touching me. I'm betting I can teach it to you without having to lock you in a closet."
"The only way I'm getting locked into a closet is if you're in there with me."
He chuckled. "I want you to see how close I can get to you with my hands."
"But I want your hands all over me," she laughed.
"Well then, if you treat this as an excuse to get me to fondle you, then it'll be the only time I touch you. If you make a real effort to learn it, then I'll kiss you wherever you want me to." She gasped.
"Um, Harry, you know how I feel about you …"
"Which is why I wanted to give you incentive to try to learn it. It doesn't have to be today; it can be whenever you're ready."
"More like when you're ready, lover." I'd like to throw you to the rug and screw your brains out right now, but I want this to work too much to rush it.
"The offer still stands, though." He convinced her to close her eyes, and began to move his hands toward her body. More often than not, he touched her. It was interesting to him to note that the areas she was most body aware of were her breasts, rear end, and pubic region. He could consistently get a proper answer before his hand touched her body in any of those places.
"That was awful," she said. "You were just making me happy by telling me I'd gotten some of them."
"Nope," he said with a smile. "You're aware of some of your body parts, so we'll work from there. How was it that you could always tell when I was about to touch your breasts?"
"I could feel you getting near me. I guess with being able to morph so young, I played with body shape, and got used to guys making a grab for me with the bigger breasts, so I made a game out of shrinking them out of someone's grasp."
"In other words, you consciously worked on the sensitivity to how close people were to you, in regards to your breasts. You need to examine what that feeling is like, and learn to extend that out to your entire body. For a while, I'd imagine that your clothes will drive you crazy until you get used to it. Then you'll learn to feel through the clothes."
"Wearing clothes already drives me crazy. Why do you think I strip at home?" Harry could almost see the flash of light as if struck home. "All I need to do is extend that feeling?" He grinned and tapped his nose. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "I might actually be able to walk into a room full of fragile things and not have everyone need their wands to repair the damage!"
"That is my fervent hope, my adorable Nymph. So, where do you want your kiss?"
She gritted her teeth. He could actually hear them grinding together, and became alarmed. "Right here, on the lips. I want it elsewhere, but that's going too fast."
"Then I will consider that kiss to be on hold for a while. When we're both ready, I fully intend to learn to do everything that can pleasure you." He kissed her gently on the lips, and she melted into the tender embrace he held her in.
"Oh my God, Harry, do you know how those kisses make me feel? I've never felt so loved in my life." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't remember if I told you this before, Harry Potter, but I love you."
He kissed her again. "I wish I …"
"Shh, my love. I know what you want to say. I'm hoping you discover that it's love, but I'll take from you what I can."
#####
September first rolled around, and found Harry waiting on the platform for his friends. He'd chosen to wear one of his leather outfits, and he grinned as he imagined their reactions. He got his first one when the Patil twins and Lavender Brown came around the corner. "Ohmigod! Look at the hottie over there!" Parvati said.
"If I have anything to say about it, he's not going to be wearing those trousers all the trip," Lavender growled seductively.
He snorted. I guess her reputation is well deserved, he thought. He grinned and called out, "Hey girls! Good to see you! Looking forward to our sixth year at school?" He couldn't hold in the laugh as their jaws dropped.
"Harry?!?" Padma finally squeaked. "When did you become a god?" She blushed at what she said and tried to cover by saying, "Uh, what I meant was …"
"You like my outfit I take it?" he asked, giving her an out. She nodded vociferously.
Right about then, Hermione came around the corner, wearing a summer sundress, since the temperature was quite warm still. He turned to face her, and was amused to see several reactions from her. First off, she unconsciously began to straighten herself, preening to greatest effect. A look of confusion crossed her face, and he found himself slightly disturbed that he was finding her very attractive. She hadn't changed all that much; it wasn't as if she'd suddenly had plastic surgery and become beautiful over the summer; it was more that he suddenly realized that she was always beautiful, at least in his eyes. Perhaps she filled out her clothes a bit more interestingly than she did in June, but her appearance was still obviously Hermione. He realized that the same could not be said for him. He was also surprised to note that she was voicelessly applauding his appearance. "Hi," she said, pulling the hair back over her right ear, "I'm Hermione Granger. Are you a new student this year?"
Smiling, and consciously deepening his voice, he replied. "I'm pleased to see you, Miss Granger. No, I've been a student at Hogwarts for five years. I'm starting my sixth. I'm in Gryffindor."
"I think I'd remember you if you were," she replied, blushing. "I'm Gryffindor as well. Someone like you would be rather difficult to miss, I'd think."
My God, she is flirting with me! he thought in shock. He was pleased that the Patils and Lavender were keeping their giggling at Hermione's predicament silent. "Well, Miss Granger, perhaps this will remind you of who I am. In our first year at Hogwarts, a friend and I saved your life through sheer dumb luck, and the fact that intent is more important to magic than the words. After all, he should have said Clavium Leviosa."
Her face underwent several contortions as she parsed what he had said. Confusion as she realized the event he was talking about; surprise that he knew it at all; and finally the shock of recognition as it became obvious who it had to be. He lifted his hair as he put his voice back to normal. "Hi, Hermione. I think we need to talk this year."
"Yes, we do," she said breathlessly. She put her hand to her chest, and suddenly realized that her braless condition was fairly evident. "Oh my," she blushed.
"I'm not complaining," he said quietly. "It's part of the problem I need to talk to you about."
"Okay," she said, hugging him tentatively. He took a chance and cast something Tonks had taught him; a really nice piece of wandless magic, and Hermione calmed down immediately. "That was interesting. Why aren't the owls swooping in already, since we're not at school yet?"
"It was wandless magic. Tonks taught it to me this summer, while I was getting tutoring from her."
"Oh?" Hermione asked, perking up. "What were you learning?"
"That's one of the things I want to talk to you about on the train, Hermione."
She nodded, but before she could say anything, the Weasley family came around the corner. The adult Weasleys smiled, since he knew they'd been made aware of his training and the physical changes. Ginny's jaw dropped, and Ron's eyes narrowed at how close Harry was standing to Hermione. "Hey you! Are you bothering my friend?"
Harry almost laughed as he heard Lavender giggled, "Hot and bothered, maybe."
He looked to Ron and his eyes twinkled as he looked at Hermione for just a moment. "Eyes on me!" Ron barked.
"Dear …" his mother said, but Harry interrupted in the same deep voice as before.
"I think I can explain this, Mrs. Weasley. You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Weasley. I was just reintroducing myself to Miss Granger. After all, we are in the same year at Hogwarts."
"I think I'd recognize you from my dorm," Ron growled. "I'll thank you to keep your hands off my friend until you explain who you are."
"Ronald Weasley!" his mother exploded. "If you'd just…"
"Please," Harry said, grinning. "We've shared a dorm room for five years, Ron, and I've stayed at your house during the summers." Before Ron could protest again, Harry uncovered his scar again. Ron was speechless until they were on the train. Once on the train, Ron looked at him. "What's with the new look, Harry? You know you've got Lavender all worked up now."
"Yeah, I heard her saying she was going to have me out of these trousers before the day was out." Pretending not to notice the sudden darkening of Hermione's mood, he said, "To be honest, she's not the one I'd take these trousers off for. I want a relationship, not a quick shag."
"As much as I joke about it being otherwise, I know exactly what you mean," Ron replied. "There's one girl at the school I'd like to make love to, but I don't think we're ready for that yet."
"Who's the lucky girl?" Hermione asked, and Harry had more than a moment of confusion. He allowed for the flirting on the platform, but weren't these two an item? Was Ron actually telling his girlfriend, in front of his other friend, that he wanted her?
"I'm hoping it's me," came a soft voice from the door, and Luna Lovegood walked in. Ron shot to his feet and pulled her into an embrace, and Harry finally saw what some of the kisses he'd shared with Tonks had looked like; a kiss in which time stopped for the two people involved.
"You — always and only you," Ron said breathlessly when they finally had separated.
Harry was now officially stunned. He'd been sure that Hermione and Ron were going to end up as an item, but now he was with Luna? Finally getting his voice back he said, "I'll admit to some surprise. We were all so sure from the way you and Hermione argued that you were going to end up an item at some point. What happened?"
Hermione laughed. "We tried kissing at one point, but neither of us felt any fireworks." She blushed. "Well, that's not strictly true — he is a good kisser."
"And so's Hermione," Ron interjected.
"Thank you," she replied. "Our next mission was to discover who he was pining for instead."
"And then I came by to visit one day and go swimming with Ginny and Hermione," Luna interrupted. "Ronald invited himself, but spent most of the time up to his waist in water. I think he was afraid that I might see that I'd caused him to have an erection." She laughed musically at Ron's sudden bright pink colour. "I climbed into the water and hugged him, thanking him for the compliment. He kissed me, and a little while later, Hermione and Ginny were applauding."
"Luna," Hermione laughed, "the kiss he gave you curled my toes. And I'd kissed him before. That was a kiss between people meant to be together." Her eyes met Harry's for a moment before she said, "I hope to find someone who kisses me that way someday."
Harry closed his eyes and knew that the blood was draining from his face. Famine or feast. Nothing in between. Now I have two women chasing me. He brightened suddenly. Wait, I was wrong about her and Ron, maybe I'm wrong about the signals I think she's sending.
"You okay, Harry?" she asked, her hand on his knee.
"Yes and no. Possible problems in the works, and I don't know what to do."
"Romantic entanglements can be a problem," Luna said wisely.
"Ain't it the truth," Harry laughed, enjoying the odd looks he got for his use of a phrase they’d never heard him utter before.
"Where'd you go after leaving the Dursleys this year?" Ron asked after a moment's silence.
"I'd tell you guys if I could, but I'm gone from there forever. I need never return to Petunia, Vermin, or Dudders again."
"What about the protections?" Hermione asked with alarm.
"It was decided that my mental health was more important. They'd like me to look toward the last battle with Voldemort with an eye to surviving past it."
"You were, weren't you?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.
"No. I was looking at it from the point of view that I should pay for all the deaths I caused, as if I actually killed my own parents. Yes, my actions caused Sirius' death back in May, but as Tonks pointed out, I need to use it to not make the same mistakes again."
"That's the second time you've mentioned Tonks," Hermione said. "You said she was tutoring you?"
He grinned in answer, got up, locked the door, and then pulled the blinds. He then closed his eyes. After carefully planning it, he reopened his eyes. They looked at him in confusion; it was Luna who noticed. "Your eyes! They've changed!"
Harry nodded. "Remember how it was mentioned once that they gave up giving me haircuts because it would grow back the same way by the next morning? That's a sure sign of a metamorph. I'm a metamorphmagus." He looked to Hermione. "Would you do something for me, please? Stand up and let me look carefully at you." Her eyes wide, she stood and turned slowly in front of him.
He closed his eyes. He'd done same gender changes fairly easily, but only once had he attempted what he was about to do. He built the image of Hermione in his mind, gently stripped the sundress off it, and slowly fit himself into it. There were two gasps and one small moan. When he had finished, he looked to the group and saw Ron and Luna staring at him in surprise. Hermione was gently biting her lower lip. He grinned at her. "So, Hermione, do you look as hot in tight leather trousers as I bet you would?" he asked in a perfect rendition of her voice. He was surprised that her answer was to roll her eyes back in her head and shudder slightly. Alarm struck Ron's face, but Luna chuckled, and Harry's eyebrows rose.
While she recovered, Harry sat down across from her. "We definitely need to talk later, Hermione," he chuckled once she was herself again.
Her hands came up to cover her breasts. "I’m putting my robes on. I am not going to advertise like I have been."
‘Hermione’ shrugged. "You’re a sexual being. Why hide it? It’s not like any of us are going to suddenly leap at you and try anything with you, whether or not we’d like to. So your nipples are hard. So what? It stops being noticed after a while. Trust me on that. The place I’m staying has someone who walks around either nude or in nothing but knickers when she’s home. I was unable to think for a day or two, given how she fills her knickers, but I quickly stopped noticing it." He reached out and gently pulled her hands away from her breasts. "Besides, Hermione — the more you draw attention to them, the longer it’ll take for them to soften." He blushed. "And they’re pretty to look at, too."
Everyone in the room was staring at him. "Chum, I know it’s you, but could you please return to your normal form? I am really not used to looking at the guy I share a room with at school and thinking that she’s got a nice arse."
"Thank you!" Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek as Harry reverted. "Now for the other question I think everyone is asking themselves." She started to ask, but a knock at the door interrupted.
"Guys? Why is the door locked?" Ginny was asking. Harry got an evil grin and unbuttoned all but the bottom two buttons on his shirt, and mussed hair up even more.
Opening the door he said, "Ah, good — just in time for the orgy. Did you remember the mayonnaise and spreadable fudge?"
He opened the door to show everyone the look of utter bewilderment on Ginny’s face. She finally looked at him. "Who are you, and what have you done with our shy and retiring Harry Potter?"
"He had a spine transplant this summer, living somewhere where he was given a real sense that he was worth caring about, and he learned how to have fun," he replied with a smile, starting to button up his shirt.
"Don’t!" Hermione blurted, and then turned a bright shade of pink. "Sorry, Harry. Go ahead."
"Okay," he said, and took the shirt off. He was amused to see Hermione shivering again, and was pretty sure what it was a prelude to, so he sat beside her and hugged her, giving her a chance to be less obvious this time. "You’re a very suggestible girl, aren’t you?" he whispered in her ear.
She blushed and pulled his ear down to he mouth and whispered, "I was already … um … primed even before I saw you on the platform. Then the Adonis act you’re pulling, and that body switch … Harry, we really need to talk."
"Where are you living?" Ginny asked, obviously changing whatever the subject might have been.
"I can’t tell you," he said.
"More Order stuff?" Ron grumbled.
"Nope," Harry said. "Fidelius Charm. Only three people know where I’m living, and everyone except the Secret Keeper literally can’t tell. I could probably hint around the edges, but now that I’ve finally started to want to live past Voldemort’s demise, I don’t see why I should put myself in extra danger."
It took them all a moment to realize what he had said, and it made him feel good to see them all brighten. Ginny bounced across the room and threw her arms around him. "I’m glad. I’ve got to let Neville know — he’ll be glad to hear it too!"
"So, you and Neville an item now, my first fan?" He grinned and returned her hug.
"Certainly trying," she replied. "We’re officially ‘an item’, or we will be when we get to school." She looked up, worried. "Are you bothered by it?"
"Well, are you still willing to be my first fan?"
"I thought that Colin Creevey qualified for that," she said.
"Nope. I saw you first, and you were obviously my fan, so the title goes to you. And that’s official." He grinned a Gilderoy Lockhart grin and said in that tone, "So, when are the pictures arriving, so that I can give them out to my adoring fans? Autographed, of course."
Laughter rang around the cabin. A drawl broke into it with a simple, "I’m not surprised they’re laughing, Potter, if you’re in there with your shirt off."
"You’re just jealous that I’ve got a fan club, Malfoy," Harry laughed.
"A Weasley, a Mudblood, and a lunatic. Some fan club." Ron started to colour and rise to go for Draco, but Harry held him down.
"Certainly better than your fan club, Malfoy. Crabbe, Goyle, and other unintelligent things, like sheep, and ameobas. No, wait, amoebas are too smart to be in your fan club." He shrugged. "Oh well." He turned his back on Malfoy and waited for the inevitable attempt, which surprisingly never came. He turned back around to see the empty hallway.
He looked at his watch. "Isn’t there a prefects’ meeting soon?" Hermione looked at her own watch and squeaked, threw her robe on, and took off down the hall. A moment later, she spun back and said, "Well, Harry, aren’t you coming?"
"Me? Since when am I a prefect?" he asked, puzzled.
"Since I willingly gave it up," Ron said. "Not enough good grades, and not enough time to spend snogging Luna. So, you get to try it out now." At Harry’s worried look, Ron said, "Seriously, mate, I asked Dumbledore to give it to you. It would have been yours last year, and I’m mature enough to admit that you’d be better suited." He grinned. "Besides, it means I get to sit and snog Luna while you two sit through a boring meeting."
Harry grabbed his shirt and robe and took off down the hall behind Hermione. This is a problem, he thought to himself. I need to talk to Tonks yesterday about this. Hermione is definitely flirting with me, and I don’t really want it to stop. I also don’t want to lose my Nymph. He skidded to a stop in the hallway. I don’t want to lose her because I do love her. Shit. Now what?
"Harry? Wool-gather later!" Hermione said, dragging him down the hall. They skidded in just after it started. "Sorry, he didn’t get notified until about two minutes ago that he was a prefect."
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Finally at Hogwarts, after all was said and done, Harry and Hermione collapsed in the common room of Gryffindor Tower. Harry had been planning out the letter he intended to write, so he lazily waved his wand and called his parchment, ink, quill, and an envelope to him. He whispered something and waved his wand again, and then called for some owl treats.
"Impressive, Harry," Hermione said, undoing her robes and showing off the pretty sundress she was still wearing underneath. "Looks like Tonks has been teaching you more than just metamorph magic."
"Well, we had to take breaks occasionally, since morphing is tiring work, so she taught me how to do most of my magic without vocalizing. We’re taught to vocalize here because the teachers need to know what we’re doing, but Aurors need as much silence as possible." Hedwig sailed through the window. "Plus she taught me a quick spell to send a message a short distance." He tossed an owl treat into the air, and Hedwig caught it with a satisfied chirp. He went back to his letter.
"What are you writing, Harry?" Hermione asked. He looked at her without lifting his head, and saw her bite her lower lip, and then reach and gently pinch her nipples, and then open the robes more, to display them. "Harry, do you really think they’re … I’m pretty?"
He took a deep breath. "I can answer both of your questions. The second one can be answered by the fact that you are currently casting a non-magical Engorgio on a specific part of my anatomy." He chuckled. "If you listen carefully, you can hear the leather stretching. I would honestly like nothing more that to pull you onto my lap, hike your skirt up, and fulfil a fantasy I’ve had since I was old enough to understand why there were wet spots on my sheets occasionally, especially since you were the cause for quite a few of those wet spots." Her eyes widened, and he could hear her breathing speed up. "The first question is that I am writing to the other woman that I am very much in love with. I am deeply in love with two women, and I have no idea what to do, because I couldn’t stand the idea of losing either, especially now that I’ve discovered that the one actually returns at least some of my feelings."
She stood and closed her robes. "I’ll go up to my room, Harry, and let you finish your letter."
"No, Hermione. Please stay." She turned back to face him, and he saw her eyes widen slightly. "What?"
"You’re crying, Harry."
"I’m learning how, Hermione. I know you; you’re a Gryffindor, and we’re stupidly noble, even to the cost of our own souls. You were going to go up to your room, cry for a little while, and then decide to pretend it never happened, so that I’d only have to worry about the one woman, right? Problem solved?" She blushed and nodded. "Problem not solved. I’d still be madly, passionately, and I’ve discovered recently, rather deeply in love with two women."
He pushed the letter to Hermione. "I’m sending this to her."
#####
Tonks,
Bit of a problem here, my love. (No, I don’t use that term loosely - I’ve come to my realization.) I’ve seen Hermione, and damn it, you were right. You realized it before I’d admitted it to myself. I love her so much that it hurts.
Problem is, I feel the same for you, I’ve come to realize. What do I do? I have two women that it will kill me to hurt, but hurt one of them I must. I know your attitude on this thought, but it may be best if I do the leaving. I love you both the same. It would be easier if there was stronger feeling to one side or the other, but there isn’t. If I must tear out one woman’s heart - well, I can’t choose, so I tear all three hearts from our chests, and pray that someday you two can forgive me.
I ask that you come to Hogsmeade as soon as convenient. I will arrange with the Headmaster for Hermione and I to get special permission to go, so please work with him for timing.
I am trying very hard not to fall prey to blaming myself, but it is difficult. I can’t unlearn fifteen years of Dursley in three or four weeks.
I send this with Hedwig to our drop. Please respond via the Headmaster. And know, my adorable Nymph, that I truly love you, and that no matter what, you will always be one of the things I will live for, even if we never see each other again after Hogsmeade. The problem is, Hermione is the other, and therein lies the rending of my heart.
I ramble now, Tonks, and if I try to rewrite, I’ll lose the feeling I want in this letter, so I send it to you now - angst and all.
Know that I love you,
Harry
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Hermione looked back up to see Harry with his face in his hands. His body was jerking, and she suddenly realized that he was sobbing; giant tearing sobs that he was fighting to keep silent. "Oh Harry," she breathed, and took him into her arms. "If only there was a way to make us forget the way we feel, but not our friendship."
She was surprised to find the painting swinging open and Albus Dumbledore walking through. Harry was so deep into his sorrow that he didn’t notice. Albus, rather than walking to them, walked to the fireplace and tossed in a handful of Floo powder and stated "Nymphadora Tonks."
Author Notes:
And now the rest meet the new Harry...