Distorted Exposure

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognize. Everything belongs to the wonderful JKRowling and others. I am making no profit from this. To put it plainly: don't sue.

AN: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.

------------------------------

One week later Harry Potter could be found rummaging around in the mess of unwashed clothes that carpeted his bedroom floor. Ordinarily such a situation would not have even been imaginable considering Harry was a relatively clean and organized person however due to circumstances beyond his control [mainly his coach working him to the very last minute before granting him leave to take a brief break] his room now looked as though it had been put through a blender.

Of course this didn’t help Harry with the packing aspect of his trip and he was expected to apparate out in less than an hour. Irate and discouraged Harry finally gave up and pulled out a couple sets of fresh clothing he had only recently bought [on Hermione’s orders]. He had hoped to avoid wearing them if he could, considering they did nothing to make him less of a target as his otherwise shoddy wardrobe did but it couldn’t be helped, and besides if he was going to be at a photo shoot it would do to look his best anyways.

Having packed everything he presumed to take with him, including his invisibility cloak which he always enjoyed the comfort of, Harry decided he still had time for a quick shower before he needed to think of heading out.

The moment the scorching jets of water hit his sore and worn body Harry drifted away, relaxing for what seemed to be the first time in years. When he finally dragged himself out from under the ever hot streams of water Harry felt just a little more put together then he had felt the entire past week.

Having been forced to eat, breathe, think and live nothing but Quidditch for the past week in order to gain his break, Harry was more than looking forward to getting away. Attaching his packed bags to himself with a simple possession charm Harry grabbed the letter he had received a week ago from his bedside table and focussed his will on the location mentioned. After a brief moment of void discomfort Harry found himself standing on the porch of what looked to be a small manor. Behind him the sun was setting, which was odd because he had left his home in Yorkshire at about a quarter to six. This led him to believe that he simply wasn’t in England any more.

Tentatively, while still absorbing his new surroundings, Harry reached out to work the heavy brass knocker positioned in the centre of the door. It was shaped to resemble what looked to be a jaguar and Harry barely had time to snap back his hand as the rather lively chunk of metal took a lunge at his fingers. Well at least now he could be sure this was a wizarding house, and he would have to take far more care because of it.

A moment later a smiling young woman opened the door and gestured for Harry to enter. After closing the door behind him she walked back around to stand in front of Harry who was quite preoccupied gazing opened mouthed at the high ceiling which was a mosaic of coloured tiles, blended in intricate patterns.

The woman cleared her throat and Harry just barely managed not to jump as he was, for an instant, profoundly reminded of the once and always horrible Umbridge. Having refrained from making a spectacle of himself, Harry reached out to shake the hand that had been offered to him.

“Hello Harry,” she said, her tone soft and what Harry considered playful. She was dressed in a pair of comfortable looking camouflage cargo pants and a black t-shirt with ambiguous grey patterning decorating it. She had deep blue eyes and a honey complexion, and stood about 5’5”. Her hair, a deep, rich brown was pulled back in a messy ponytail and as gay as Harry was, he still took notice of the fact that she was undeniably beautiful. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Serenity Grant, but as we’ll be working together, you’d be better off calling me Ren.”

Harry nodded and picked up his baggage as she turned around and motioned for him to follow her. “We need you to sign some papers before we can get started and I’m going to be explaining everything to you in more detail and then afterwards I can show you to your room and you can meet your partner. That sound alright?”

“Mhm. That sounds- wait, did you say partner?”

“Yes,” she said, stopping and turning to face him where he had paused on his trek up the staircase. “Considering the nature of this magazine, many of the shots we intend to take will involve another person. For these shoots we want our main theme to be that of a couple, yourself and another model that we’ve hired. My brother should be speaking to him right now in fact, he just arrived a few moments ago himself.”

This was something Harry hadn’t anticipated but the surprise wasn’t exactly unwelcome. In fact he didn’t mind the idea of working with someone else, it would help to take the focus off of himself.

“Oh, well that’s fine. I just-”

“Wasn’t expecting it?” Ren cut in smiling. “Well that’s understandable, we didn’t mention it in the invitation after all. But rest assured all the models we hire are of high calibre so these shot are going to be splendid.” She gave him the quick once over and Harry felt himself blush slightly, it always made him uncomfortable when women looked at him like that, especially when they knew his preferences.

Ren continued to walk up the grand staircase and down a long hall, then up another smaller staircase, much darker and with a gothic feel to it and through a couple more hallways, Harry in tow, until she finally came to a heavy wooden door. Opening she motioned him inside, indicating for him to leave his baggage by the door before, waving a hand at one of the two chairs that sat opposite the chair she took behind a dark, bulky desk.

Even in his rather restricted exploration of the house, Harry had noticed that the motif switched from section to section, flickering from elegant Victorian, to the darkness and dankness associated with dungeons to the stark crispness of a modern theme. Obviously the house itself was meant to be a set. This room however had a more lived in feeling, and so Harry presumed it to be the office from which Ren operated.

Glancing around the room, Harry took in the chaos, paper and technical equipment was scattered everywhere mingled in with odd splashes of colourful objects that Harry didn’t, at the moment, feel comfortable identifying. Along the walls there were corkboards blanketed in paper and a large screen that sparkled with dormant magic. In random places, there were frames, equally containing photographs of moving wizards and witches and paintings of the same.

Finally after a long moment Harry’s eyes finally came to a rest on the desk. Lighted by the bloody red of the setting sun, it was equally as messy as the room if not more. The edge closest to where Harry was sitting was covered in photographs, some of which made him blush horrible and forced him to look away lest he be overcome by the heat that rose up in him as his eyes fell on them.

So when Harry forced his eyes up, he was met with the passively scrutinizing gaze of Ren, who seemed amused by his reaction. He cleared his throat and forced the blush from his cheeks, reprimanding himself for his lack of control.

“Interested?” Ren’s voice cut through his self-admonishment. She shifted her hands across her desk, revealing a couple more photos. “This is only a miniscule fraction of our work, most of our stuff is either in our archives or our gallery.”

“It’s all so professional.” Harry responded, glancing at the newly revealed pictures, noticing that none of them were moving like he had come to expect wizarding photo’s to. As and afterthought he decided to ask why. “They’re still shots.”

Ren smiled at him, leaning back in her chair and throwing her legs up on the desk. Harry had to smile too, he was really starting to like her easygoing attitude. ‘Yes, my brother and I both prefer to work with still shots. Capture the moment, not the movement, you know? Besides wizarding photos are so hard to control. They take on a life of their own and usually it’s not as we want it.”

Harry nodded understandingly, still gazing at the pictures. They really were amazing each one telling it’s own story. Harry especially liked the black and white ones and found himself wondering if his own shoots would have black and white shots.

Ren seeming to sense his curiosity slid her feet off the desk and pulled her chair closer. Adopting a more businesslike air for the moment. Sifting through the mess of papers on her desk with expertise born of practice she pulled out a folder and opened it. Inside was a package that looked to be a contract and another couple sheets that resembled a schedule.

“Alright, here’s the paperwork and it basically explains that you have the last say on any and all photographs that will be taken, you get 20% of the profits and that if at any time you feel discontent with the arrangement you are allowed to cut it off with our full understanding. We won’t ask you to do anything against your will, nor anything that is potentially dangerous towards your life and in turn you must agree to leave if asked to do so as the situation requires and not sue for any unexpected physical or emotional damage that may be caused by this venture.” She turned the folder so that Harry could read it if he so desired. “It goes on and on for pages, legal mumbo jumbo mostly but you can read the entire thing through if you so please. Although I did send a copy to your friend Hermione and she seemed to approve of it.”

Harry raised an eyebrow quite surprised by her foresight. He knew that it was true however. Hermione had mentioned something about the contract and having checked it over personally and so Harry felt safe to sign it with further pursuing it, mostly because he could be bothered to read it. “Where do I sign?” Harry asked, turning down the offer to go through it himself.

“Here, here and here.” She said pulling out her wand and waving it so that she could flip the pages appropriately as he signed each spot in turn. When he finally finished, she smiled at him again and took the contract from him, waving her wand again so that it disappeared, presumably to some filing system. “Alrighty then. So what do you say we get you settled in and then we can go and see whether or not my brother is finished going through the formalities with our other model.”

----------------------------

AN: okay this is a bit longer than the last chapter but the next chapter should be shorter. It wasn't originally supposed to cut off here, I had a bit more written but I like a bit of a lead when I'm writing. The good news is the next chapter is written. I just was thinking I might get it all beta'd before I continue. I've got someone on the job right now so it won't be too long of a wait. In the meantime I shall run off to write some more and you guys can chew on this little bit.

Review.

- Incessant_Darkness