Wicked Ways

Chapter 13 – “Pressure on Harry”



Looking down at his Charms homework Harry found it quite hard to concentrate on describing the similarities between a new floating charm and a summoning charm they’d learned in class earlier that week. Next to him Tuardae was working effortlessly at her Divination homework, tense and in a trance that she often slipped into when reading the future. Ron was sitting across from him, scowling at the ink spots all over his hands. Hermione was coupled with Parvati as they whispered and hissed about Potions scrolls, arguing about what the final ingredient should be in a shrinking potion.

He wiggled the quill in his fingers and stared down at his parchment, fidgeting for a moment before glancing up at Tuardae on the occasion. The words from Avari kept sticking in his head. He’d never been pressured to have sex with anyone, especially if it was someone’s family. Glancing up at Parvati he smirked, thinking of her twin sister. Padma probably never pressured any of her sister’s lovers into sex.

He jotted down a few more lines before Tuardae stood up and grinned at the group. “I’m gonna head down to the kitchens for some snack foods? Anyone wanna come?”

Harry opened his mouth but then snapped it shut, shaking his head and returning to his essay, where he’d gotten almost no response. Seamus heard Tuardae’s offer and gladly accepted to help her. After the two left, Harry trying valiantly not to stare at the portrait hole where Tuardae exited. Glancing up he huffed quietly and looked back down at his paper, mentally kicking himself.

“Ow!” he hissed when a sharp pain spread through his left leg.

Hermione was glaring at him when he looked up. “Are you stupid or something?” she asked.

Ron looked up from his hands, where he’d rubbed the in all over his skin instead of getting it off. “Yeah, you just blew a total chance with your girl.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You guys don’t understand. I’m under a lot of pressure.”

Hermione snorted. “Harry, from what I’ve heard, your penis isn’t all that small and – ”

Ron snorted, spilling more ink on his paper, sputtering.

“Oh, shut up Ron,” Hermione snapped. “Yours is even bigger, so don’t get all twiddled. Seriously Harry, why would you want to give up Tuardae? I mean, you two aren’t breaking up are?”
?”

Harry wrinkled his nose. Leave it to Hermione to give him girl advice. “No, we’re not breaking up. Why are you guys all pressuring me?”

“Because you two haven’t even had sex yet!”

Harry blinked and looked at Hermione. “How the hell do you know that?”

“We’re female, we talk all right?” she said, tossing her hair and rolling her eyes. “So what the hell is going on?”

Harry twitched before sighing. “Avari told me that if I didn’t have sex with Tuardae then she’d make my life . . . hard,” he said, sighing. “No pun intended at all.”

Tair air of them blinked steadily before Ron said, “Wait . . . her sister TOLD you to screw Tuardae? Bloody hell man, the other day she cursed a Slytherin just for telling Tuardae that her hair looked stupid. I mean, Avari protects Tuardae like she’s the lost treasure of Atlantis.”

“They found Atlantis fifty-seven years ago,” Hermione said acidly. “Of course, you would know that if you didn’t fall asleep in History of Magic.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up Hermione. Why the hell does Avari want you to have sex with Tuardae? That’s kind of . . . ”

Harry just shook his head. “The point is, I’m under pressure. Tuardae is cute, and all that, but we’ve never really had the chance. We’re both too far into paying attention to the Quidditcasonason, I mean, the next game is really important to the House Cup and we’re both really working on strategy and – ”

“Wait till Easter then,” said Ginny, sitting down next to Harry, looking over his work.

Harry whipped his head around and looked at the other Weasly. “What?”

Ginny grinned. “That’s usually when Seamus and I get into it bad,” she said, smiling wickedly.

Ron spluttered a few curse words and Hermione told him to shut up. “Easter’s not too far away,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “If Tuardae stays at Hogwarts like you always do you can just screw her then.”

Harry stopped and stared at the faces looking back at him, blinking once while he thought, his face deadpan. “After all we’ve been through,” he said. “After so many adventures and dangers and amazingly horrific things we’ve been through I never thought that I would be discussing my sex life in the Common Room.”

Everystarstarted laughing just as Seamus and Tuardae returned, bearing all kinds of fruits and cheeses and vegetables. Tuardae laughed at a few wrinkled noses and sahe hhe healthy food would help tstudstudy. The few kids who were running themselves ragged studying for OWLs and NEWTs accepted a carrot stick or a bunch of grapes with a mumbled thank you and went back to work. Bringing a basket over to her own study table Ginny accepted a carrot and bit into it, vacating Tuardae’s own chair.

Placing the basket down on the table and taking a piece of cheese she looked around the table and asked, “What are you guys all talking about?”

Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry start stuttering and said, “Parvati still thinks that its Pegasus feathers as the last ingredient and we were all arguing about it.”

“Oooooh,” Tuardae said, buying into Hermione’s story. “Well, it’s not Pegasus feathers, it’s a single unicorn hair.”

“See?” Hermione said, to Parvati. “I told you!”

Parvati rolled her eyes and just argued back. The group studied for a bit longer and one by one they all gathered their things and went up to their rooms. Tuardae left before Harry, so he jumped up, knocking his leg into the table with a curse, and walked her to the staircase. Kissing her goodnight he said he’d be up early with the rest of the Quidditch team on the pitch. He was lucky tomorrow was Saturday, and he didn’t have to worry about finishing the essay for Charms class. Thinking about everyone coming up with a plan to help him have sex with Tuardae made his mind reel.

He never thought everyone would be so interested in how often he got laid.

The next morning he went out to the Quidditch pitch earlier than the rest of the team and looked around. The dew from the grass collected on the hem of his uniform and he saw a dark figure leaning against the staircase that led up to the seats of the stadium. It sauntered over and Harry immediately figured out who it was. Only two people walked like cats in the entirety of Hogwarts, and Tuardae was probably still asleep.

“Nothing’s happened yet,” he said as Avari walked over, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

“I know,” she said dryly. “Trust me, I will know the moment it happens.”

Harry shifted, unsure of how to take this.

“Do you at least have a course of action?” she asked, crossing her arms angrily.

“Yeah,” he said confidently. “It’s going to happen over Easter break.”

“Think again.”

Harry’s hopes crashed. He didn’t like the way Avari was dead certain of this. “Why not?”

“We’re goinge foe for Easter,” she said flatly. “We always do. Try again.”

Harry sighed and lowered his gaze, thinking. “I’ll have to think of something else then.”

“Yes,” she said, looking over his shoulder. “Yes you should.”

Turning around he saw the Quidditch team, most of them fully awake. Ron and Ginny, notoriously night owls who hated the morning, were still groggy looking. When he turned around Avari was gone, only the grass that was bent where she’d been standing let him know he wasn’t going mad. Pulling Ron over he said quietly, “Hitch in the Easter plan.”

Leave it to the red-head to perk up at the mention of sexual activity. “What’dya mean?”

He quietly explained the situation to his best friend before calling everyone to mount up on their brooms. Practice was rough and grueling and they only stopped when the Ravenclaw team called them down, claiming it was their time to practice. Dismounting Ron tossed the Quaffle over to his counter part on the other team and ran over to Harry. “It’s all right, we’ll get the team together. We’ll help ya Harry,” he said, clapping him on the back.

Harry just looked at Ron with a quizzical look. The team?