The Inadequate Life

The following morning, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Padma, Sally-Ann and Terry all crowded into the second conference room; it was a large room, but with eight people if felt very cramped.

“So,” Harry said to the Ravenclaws once everyone was settled, “we have a puzzle for you.”

“I love puzzles,” Terry replied with a grin.

“Yes, we know,” said Hermione, lifting her eyebrow ironically. “That’s why we chose you for this.”

“But first,” Harry said cryptically, “we have to talk about secrecy.”

Harry explained to Padma, Sally-Ann and Terry that, in order to keep what they were about to discuss a secret, Hermione was going to cast another Fidelius Charm; the eight of them would be the only ones who would be able to speak about the topic, and only with each other unless Harry, as the Secret-Keeper, invited someone else in. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna all knew about the Horcruxes already, but Harry had decided that they’d reached a point where there was simply too much risk to leave any chance of a slip of the tongue.

No one objected, so Hermione cast the Fidelius Charm, enveloping everyone in the room. When it was finished, Padma commented on how odd it was to have such powerful magic effecting her and not actually feel anything; Ginny replied that she’d only feel it if she tried to go against it.

“All right,” Sally-Ann said, sitting back in her chair and fixing her eyes on Harry. “What’s this big puzzle?”

“This may take a while,” Harry said. “I have to start pretty far back. Luna, you already know most of this; Sally-Ann, Terry, Padma—have any of you ever heard of a Horcrux?”

None of them had, So Harry began at the beginning. There was a staggering amount of information to cover. Harry—with help from Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Luna—explained what Horcruxes were; how they learned Voldemort had made some; why they thought they knew how many there were; and finally, that they had identified and tracked down all the Horcruxes that hadn’t already been destroyed. Padma, Sally-Ann and Terry were all quite intelligent, and asked many shrewd questions; Harry and Ginny found themselves redirecting the conversation back to the main topic a number of times.

By the time they had covered all of the most important material (all the details would have to be filled in over time), it was already noon. Harry had Dobby and Winky bring them up a big lunch, which made the room feel even more crowded, and they resumed their conversation while eating. “Harry,” Terry asked as he ladled soup into a bowl, “can we really be certain that V-Voldemort isn’t aware that we know about the Horcruxes? Dumbledore wore the ring Horcrux in plain sight—everyone saw it. Surely Voldemort would have heard, and he’d know that Dumbledore knew.”

“That did occur to us,” Harry admitted. “But we think that Voldemort believes that Dumbledore didn’t tell anyone.”

“What?” Padma said confusedly. “Why in Merlin’s name would Dumbledore have kept it a secret?”

“Here’s our logic,” Hermione explained, setting down her fork so she could gesture with her hands. “Dumbledore was known to keep secrets—we’re certain even now that there are some things he never told anyone, not Harry, not McGonagall—no one. Dumbledore didn’t tell anyone else in the Order of the Phoenix about the Horcruxes—the only person he told was Harry. We think that Voldemort believes Dumbledore wore the ring as a signal to Voldemort—that Dumbledore was on to him. That was part of what drove Voldemort to set Draco Malfoy the task of killing Dumbledore—in his mind, Dumbledore was the only one who knew about the Horcruxes, and therefore the only threat to Voldemort’s immortality.”

“Plus, Voldemort didn’t understand Dumbledore,” Ginny added. “He believed that Dumbledore thought like he did—in other words, the biggest secrets shouldn’t be revealed to anyone. Voldemort would think that Dumbledore wouldn’t tell anyone the secret of the Horcruxes because it was a secret.”

“And he certainly wouldn’t believe for a second that Dumbledore would reveal something that important to an underage boy,” Hermione concluded. “Even if that boy was Harry.”

Silence fell as they ate, and the Ravenclaws considered their leaders’ logic thoughtfully. “All right,” Sally-Ann said eventually. “I can agree with your conclusion. I think that all your logic surrounding the Horcruxes has been sound thus far.”

Padma and Terry both thought a bit longer and then agreed. “So now the question is,” Terry said, “what exactly do you need us to do?”

“Simple,” Harry said with a wry look. “Like I said before, we’ve managed to track down the last four Horcruxes—we need you three to figure out how to destroy them.”

“What?” Padma gasped. “You—you’re serious? You want us to suss out how to destroy what might be the most powerful Dark objects ever created?”

Harry nodded. “Why not? You three worked your way through the problem of restoring Neville’s memories—with a bit of help from all of us. Well, now you have another puzzle. It’s a lot more difficult, I agree, but we have to figure it out. And if anyone in the D.A. can, it’s you three.”

“You will have our help again,” Hermione added. “We all have things we’ll be working on, but we’ll make ourselves available to you whenever we can. And since Luna’s task of translating Sawol Immortalis is directly related to your problem, she’ll be working with you constantly.”

“That certainly makes sense,” Luna said, smiling at Padma.

“Well, all right,” Sally-Ann said hesitantly. “But Harry—you do realize that with so little known about Horcruxes, it may be that no one has ever found a sure way to destroy them? Whatever Dumbledore did to destroy the ring Horcrux was clearly volatile, and from your description the Horcruxes might not all be vulnerable to the same types of magic anyway. And whatever it was he did was definitely different than stabbing it with a basilisk fang like you did to the diary—although it may have been similar to what happened to the snake Nagini. It may be that each of the Horcruxes have to be destroyed in a different way, and if that’s the case, it could take months or even years to figure out how.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said with a grimace. “But it has to be done—we can’t win the war until the Horcruxes have been destroyed. If you can’t find any previous information on destroying Horcruxes, you’re going to have to come up with some original way to destroy each one.”

They talked a while longer, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna filling in some details about the Horcruxes. Finally Harry looked at his watch. “It’s ten minutes to one,” he said loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Fred, George, Lee, Seamus and Dean will be here soon for our meeting,” he said to Ron, who nodded. “Let’s stop here for now. Sally-Ann, Padma, Terry—thanks for agreeing to take this on. Let’s all meet a week from today and talk again, even if you haven’t made much progress, all right?” The three of them nodded respectfully.

Hermione left to see if she could help Pansy in the basement Potions room, and Ron ran upstairs for some notes for the meeting. Luna also went upstairs, saying she might take a nap since she hadn’t slept much the night before (no one asked why). The three Ravenclaws all walked out of the room talking quietly, but before Harry could admonish them for talking about the Horcruxes in public, they crossed the hall, turned into the first of the practice rooms and shut the door. There was the sound of Terry’s voice casting a Silencing Charm, and then everything was quiet.

Shrugging, Harry turned to Ginny. “Are you sticking around for the meeting with Fred and George?” he asked.

Ginny shook her head. “I have a few things to take care of,” she said, taking Harry’s forearm and squeezing it. “I’m going to go bother Lavender and Parvati about their work schedules, for one.”

“Oh, right,” Harry said with a frown. Lavender and Parvati were apparently still unhappy with Harry for assigning them to help Neville in the greenhouse, and hadn’t given him a copy of their work schedules as he’d asked everyone to do. “Good idea.”

Ginny leaned in close to Harry. “Harry,” she murmured so only he could hear, “you’re really tense right now—did you realize?”

Harry hadn’t noticed, but when Ginny mentioned it he realized that he felt wound up tightly. “Uh…”

“You get like this every time we talk about the Horcruxes,” Ginny said. “I know you’re afraid—I am too. But try not to let it get to you so much, okay? We will figure out how to destroy them. Worrying yourself sick isn’t going to help.”

Harry grimaced ruefully. “Okay,” he promised, “I’ll try.” Ginny smiled and kissed him before heading off to deal with her other tasks.

Harry had Dobby and Winky clear the remnants of lunch and bring in some butterbeers and little snacks to munch. After the house-elves had gone, Harry glanced around, uncertain why he felt so out of sorts, until he realized that it was because he had nothing to do—it had been a pretty rare feeling recently. With Ginny’s sharp insight weighing on his mind, Harry sat back in his chair, propped his feet up and took Ginny’s advice—and relaxed.

He relaxed so much, in fact, that when Fred and Lee showed up, Harry was asleep. “We have to do something,” Fred whispered, almost begging. “We could write ‘The Boy Who Snored’ on his forehead!”

“Oh no,” said Lee, shaking his head vehemently as he stepped away from Fred. “I’ve had enough of being hexed for writing stuff on people. Besides, this is Harry we’re talking about!”

“So?”

“So he’s married to your sister!” Lee exclaimed. “Remember, the one who can send a bat-bogey up your trouser leg at a hundred paces?”

Fred growled. “Mark my words—there shall come a day when that will no longer be sufficient defense from my pranking!” he declared.

“And when that day comes we’ll all live in fear of you once more,” Harry said sardonically, making Lee and Fred jump—their talking had woken him. “But for now, I’ll be grateful Ginny teaches me all her nastiest hexes.”

Seamus and Dean showed up a minute later, walking down the stairs chatting with Ron, but George didn’t arrive for another five minutes. “Sorry,” he muttered as he shut the door. “I got distracted.”

“And we know with what, too,” Fred said casually. George went red.

“Okay,” Harry said to get them all focused. “This is Ron’s show, so he’s going to explain everything.”

Everyone focused on Ron, who seemed a bit embarrassed by all the attention. “Harry, you haven’t explained any of this to Seamus and Dean, have you?” he asked. Harry shook his head. “Okay. Seamus, Dean—you remember what Harry said last night, about how he’d asked Fred and George to develop some ‘items’ for him?” The two boys nodded. “What Harry asked for was a list of muggle items. Some of them are just annoying, and a few are just plain useful, but there are a couple that are really dangerous—even deadly. Harry had Fred and George come up with magical items that copied the effects of the muggle originals, so they could be used around other magic, since magic stops a lot of muggle things from working.”

“Found that out first time I came to Diagon Alley,” Dean grumbled. “I’d been there five minutes and my Walkman melted.”

“Uh… right,” Ron replied. “Well, um… Fred and George figured out a lot of the items…with help from Lee and Pansy,” he added, and Lee grinned proudly. “Pansy’ll be putting in her bit when she can,” Ron added wryly. “But she’s pretty busy with all the potions work she has. Anyway, we’re hoping that some of these things can be used in the final battle.”

“Makes sense,” Seamus said slowly. “Big, chaotic things that Fred and George developed sound great for blowing up Death Eaters.”

“Right,” Ron agreed. “Except that Harry had Fred and George make them all non-lethal.”

“What?” Dean exclaimed. “Why the hell did you do that?” he asked Harry incredulously.

Ron answered before Harry could. “Because we’re going to be right in the middle of it with the Death Eaters,” he pointed out. “And if one of us gets caught in a blast, I think we’d all prefer it if that person could be revived later.”

“Oh… right,” Dean said, chagrined.

“Don’t worry, they’ll still be plenty useful,” Ron assured him. “Fred and George—and Lee and Pansy—did some great work.”

“Oh, do stop, Ronniekins,” Fred cooed. Ron ignored him.

“So what’s all this got to do with us?” Seamus asked.

“We’re making up a battle plan,” Ron said. “Me, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. We’ve talked about it a lot—since we reformed the D.A., really—and we’ve decided that the best place for a fight against the Death Eaters would be right in Diagon Alley.”

Utter silence met Ron’s statement. “You—you’re bloody mad!’ Seamus said finally. “Diagon Alley—there’s hundreds, maybe even thousands of people you’d put at risk!”

“Not really,” Harry interrupted. “The number of visitors to Diagon Alley has been dwindling recently—and we have good reason to think the numbers are going to keep dropping.”

“But Diagon Alley is chaotic!” George declared. “Even without people around, there’s so many shops to hide in—”

“But it’s all one long strip,” Ron said. “Look—” He pulled out one of the rolls of parchment he’d brought down from his room, and unrolled it on the table. Harry saw that it was a map of Diagon Alley, like the one he, Ron, Ginny and Hermione had been using in their plans. “Diagon Alley stretches from the Leaky Cauldron, here,” Ron said, pointing at a spot, “to the dead end over here. There’s also Knockturn Alley,” he added, indicating another area. “But that means there’s only two decent ways into Diagon Alley, And we can take care of the back alleys with—”

“Ron, I think you lost your brains when you got engaged,” Fred stated. “There are tons of other ways to get into Diagon Alley! They’ll just Floo in, or Apparate anywhere they want!”

“Not if we can help it,” Ron responded sharply.

Fred gaped at Ron. “Oh—you, um, thought of that, did you?” he asked meekly.

“Damn right we did!” Ron answered hotly. “We’ve been thinking of every kind of transport! And I still say, there’ll only be two ways into Diagon Alley—through the Leaky Cauldron, or via Knockturn Alley. Get it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Fred muttered.

Ron took a breath to calm himself. “Like I was about to say, we’re looking at the layout and we think we can take care of the back alleys with Fred and George’s inventions,” he said. “And that’s what you’ll be doing. Over the next several weeks, Fred and George are going to explain the inventions to all of us, and then you’re going to be setting them all over Diagon Alley, in the back areas. George, you told Harry that they can be left—uh, inert?”

George nodded. “All of them need a magical trigger to make them active, and then they’ll be activated by—well, by what we want them to be activated by.”

“Like, if someone walks past?” Ron asked. George nodded. “Could we make it so they only go by if certain people walk past?”

Fred opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it, looking thoughtful. After a second he nodded cautiously. “Maybe,” he offered. “We’ll have to experiment a bit. But I really doubt we could, I don’t know, make them react to the Dark Mark or something…”

“That’s okay,” Ron said. “If we have to, we can set them where we want, and then let everyone know not to go to those areas. The Death Eaters will think they can slip around and get past us, and then—” He slapped his hand on the table. “Wham!”

Seamus was grinning wickedly. “I like the sound of that. So when do we start?”

“We won’t be ready to begin setting them for two weeks,” Ron said. “We’re still working on locations. Actually, if Fred and George can pull off something with the triggers so none of the D.A. set the things off, it would change everything; Fred, George, make that your top priority, right? We need to know if it’s possible, and we need to know now.” George nodded dumbly; apparently he was having some trouble dealing with his little brother behaving like—well, like a confident, competent leader. “Right after this, we’re going to show you some of what Fred and George have come up with,” Ron said to Seamus and Dean. “Fred, you have to go back to the shop, right?”

“Yeah… it’s just Susan, Hannah and Katie over there now,” Fred replied.

“That’s okay. George, Lee—you two, Seamus, Dean and me are going to go into one of the practice rooms, and you’re going to give us a demonstration of all your inventions,” Ron declared. “You’ll need to show us how to trigger them, and we’ll see what they can do. Then we’ll all head down to the basement—Pansy’s set aside an area for us to work, so you can show us how to make the things. We might need dozens or even hundreds of them, so that’ll be our responsibility too.” No one said anything, so Ron looked around at Harry. “Did I forget anything?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Harry said, impressed. Ron had never handled teasing from his brothers very well, and had always avoided trying to take the lead in any dealings with them—until now. He’d handled it surprisingly well. “I think we might be ready to start setting the first of them in only a week, though.”

“Could be—we’ll see, I guess,” Ron said with a shrug. He turned and looked at the others. “Any questions?”

Seamus and Dean were deeply curious about what the inventions could do, so Fred, George and Lee explained a lot of them, with Harry adding some occasional comments. Ron was quiet again, just as he’d been when they’d been meeting with Padma, Sally-Ann and Terry; Harry worried that Ron might be feeling too embarrassed to try and take the lead, having spent most of his life in the shadows of his brothers and then Harry. But he’d done just fine when explaining Seamus and Dean’s roles to them, so Harry didn’t think that was it. He resolved to ask Ron about it later.

Ron surprised Harry again when, at a pause in the conversation, he turned to Harry and said “I don’t like the way this is shaping up, mate—just in terms of the number of hands we have. There’s only five of us on this, and Diagon Alley is pretty big. I think we’re going to need more help or it’ll take forever.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah… I can see that,” he agreed. “We’re a bit tapped out of people, though.”

“What about Angelina, Alicia and Katie?” Fred asked. “They’re just the sort for this, you know that.”

Harry shook his head. “By the time you need their help they’ll be working on the other task I’m going to give them,” he told Fred. “And believe me when I say they’ll have their hands full.” He ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I’ll think about it, Ron. Maybe I can add Susan and Hannah to your team, or put them on something else and take another person off it to help you. Give me a few days to think about it.”

Ron agreed, and they decided it was time for Fred and George’s demonstration in the practice room, so they all collected their things. “I can’t wait to see what that one thing is like,” Seamus said with ruthless enthusiasm as he walked out. “The one you activate and throw—?”

He and Dean walked off, talking animatedly with Fred and Lee. Ron followed, listening to the conversation, but not joining in. Harry pursed his lips, but again decided to wait before he said anything. “Need a hand?” he asked George, who was still rolling up parchments.

“Thanks,” George said gratefully. “Those prats didn’t even bother to help.”

“That’s what you get for developing the reputation you have,” Harry retorted with a smirk. “Everyone’s anxious to see if you can top yourself.”

George grinned. “And we always do,” he said proudly.

Harry and George got all the scrolls rolled, and George got them tied in a bundle so they were easier to carry. “Thanks,” George said, but made no move to leave. He seemed to be hesitating over something—as if he weren’t sure he should bring whatever it was up. “Hey, Harry?” he said finally.

“Yeah?”

“I have a note for you,” George said, fishing in a pocket and pulling out a folded bit of parchment. “From Ginny. She asked me to give it to you when we were done here.”

Harry took the parchment, confused; why wouldn’t George give Harry a note from Ginny? “Okay… um, did she want it to be secret? That you’re giving me this?”

“Uh, no,” George said, looking embarrassed. He picked up the bundle and headed quickly for the door. “Well, I mean, don’t tell anyone, but I don’t think—just, you know, open it,” he muttered unhelpfully, and before Harry could reply he ducked out the door.

Harry frowned, not understanding George’s behavior at all. Shrugging, he unfolded the note. It was definitely Ginny’s handwriting, and was quite short:

Harry,
When you’re done talking to the others, meet me in the first conference room.
-Ginny

Harry didn’t get why George had acted so weird about the note—Ginny, and probably Hermione, needed to talk to Harry about something that had come up. How did George expect them to let Harry know?

Harry didn’t remember Ginny or Hermione going into the other conference room, despite the fact that the wall to each conference room went see-through from the inside when the door was shut, but they’d probably slipped in while he’d been asleep. In all honesty, Harry might have just not noticed—he’d gotten pretty good at ignoring the comings and going outside the room when he was in the middle of something important. He shrugged and stepped out of the second conference room, walked the few paces to where the other door would be (it disappeared on the outside when the door was closed) and knocked on the wall.

After a moment the door appeared, and cracked open. Ginny’s head poked out through the opening. “Well, come in, then,” she said with a smirk, and vanished again. Harry, a bit disconcerted by Ginny’s abruptness (which had been in complete contrast to her grin), slipped through the door’s opening.

Ginny, standing right beside the door, pushed it shut. Harry was surprised to find that Hermione was not there, but Luna was standing next to the table, smiling benignly. “What’s happened?” Harry asked, turning to look at Ginny.

“Happened? Nothing,” Ginny said, stepping closer. “Luna and I decided that you’ve been far too stressed since yesterday, Harry.”

“Uh… Well, a lot’s happened,” Harry said, unsettled by Ginny’s expression. “But I’m–” He froze when he realized what Ginny was hinting at. “Wait a minute!” he squeaked.

“We already spoke to George,” Ginny said, grabbing two fistfuls of Harry’s shirt so he couldn’t back away. “And made sure he knew we were serious. It’s okay this time, Harry—really.”

“Ginny thought to ask for George’s signature,” Luna added, walking over to join them. “Just for real proof. It’s on the shelf over there, if you’d like to see it.”

“I—but—” Harry stammered, glancing back and forth between the two girls. “N-no, I believe you,” he managed to get out. “I, um… I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” Luna replied mildly. “I imagine sex hasn’t really been on your mind. But Ginny is quite right—you are very tense,” she continued, running a hand over Harry’s shoulder to his neck. “I thought her suggestion was an excellent one, and will help you a great deal.”

Harry turned to Ginny and grinned nervously. “Your suggestion, was it? Are you sure it’s for my benefit?”

Ginny’s cheeks pinkened slightly, but she still met Harry’s eyes. “Of course it’s for you,” she said challengingly. “You take on so much, Harry—sometimes, you need to step back and let others handle things for you. And let others handle you,” she added impishly.

Dragging Harry by his shirt, Ginny maneuvered him around so his back was to the table. When she began undoing his jeans, Harry tore his eyes away and looked at Luna, who’d followed them over and was standing next to Harry, her eyes fixed on what Ginny’s hands were doing. “Doesn’t this seem a bit—casual?” he asked.

Luna looked up at him. “Certainly,” she answered, seeming surprised. “Should it not be? I was under the impression that was what was intended during these ménages a trois—casual sex.”

“These what?” Harry asked distractedly—Ginny had gotten his jeans off and was coaxing him to lift his feet one at a time so she could remove his shoes.

“Ménage à trois,” Luna repeated. “It’s a French phrase—literally it means ‘household of three’, but it’s come to be used commonly to describe a sexual encounter or relationship involving three people, most often a man and two women, which makes it especially appropriate here.”

Luna and Harry both looked down—Ginny had gotten Harry’s shorts off, exposing his half-erection. “Luna, come down and join me, will you?” Ginny asked, putting her hand against Harry’s stomach and pushing him back until he was leaning against the table’s edge.

“Of course,” Luna said agreeably, and knelt next to Ginny in front of Harry.

Harry gazed down at the two lovely girls kneeling in front of him, their attention riveted on his cock, and decided instantly to shut up and stop protesting. “Well?” he asked impatiently. “Don’t just sit there, you’ll drive me insane!”

Chuckling, Ginny reached for Harry’s cock at the same time as Luna did. Their hands met, and Ginny laced her fingers into Luna’s. They wrapped around Harry together, and began stroking slowly up and down; Harry groaned and leaned back into the table, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.

Harry gasped when the girls’ hands were replaced by their mouths—both at the same time, sliding back and forth; he opened his eyes, and the sight of Ginny’s lips lightly meeting Luna’s when they both reached the tip of his cock almost made him come instantly. His grip tightened painfully on the edge of the table, as his legs almost gave out on him.

Luna pulled away slightly. “Would you like to try what I showed you now?” she asked Ginny.

“I’ll give it a try,” Ginny agreed, although she sounded dubious.

Luna backed away a bit more, and Ginny maneuvered around so she was in front of Harry. “What’re you doing?” Harry asked nervously.

Ginny drove the question away by attacking Harry’s cock with her mouth; she squeezed him lightly, licking and sucking until he was slick and about to explode. “Don’t try from your knees the first time,” Luna admonished, as though she were giving Ginny a lesson.

Ginny nodded and straightened her legs so that she was standing, bent at the waist, with her hand still wrapped around Harry. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth and began sliding her lips over him—and kept going, until she’d taken more of Harry’s cock inside her mouth than ever before. Harry gaped in shock at the sight of Ginny with two thirds of his shaft in her mouth.

Ginny had to back off after a second, choking slightly. But stubborn as she was, she tried again, and then again, each time getting Harry’s cock a little further. She didn’t manage to get all of it—quite—but she got damned close, and if Harry hadn’t been so utterly stunned he would have come a dozen times over. “H-how—?” Harry asked weakly once Ginny had backed off (just before Harry could come) and knelt down again, never taking her hand off him.

Ginny looked deeply satisfied with herself, and Harry agreed completely. “Luna gave me a few pointers,” she said smugly. “Positioning, relaxing the throat… I’ll get better with practice.”

Harry gulped. “P-practice sounds good,” he stammered.

“I thought it might,” Ginny teased. She smiled at Luna. “You were right, it does get easier.”

“That was quite impressive for your first try,” Luna told Ginny appreciatively. “Since the last time we did this I was the one who got to have intercourse with Harry, would you like to today?” she asked, as plainly as if she were asking what Hedwig’s favorite kind of owl treat was.

Ginny’s grin widened when Harry responded to hearing the question by twitching against her cheek. “You go ahead,” she said with a naughty quirk of her eyebrow. “I get to shag Harry whenever I want. You should take advantage of your chances.”

“All right,” Luna said, and immediately stood up and began undoing her jeans. Harry thought she sounded relieved—he thought that perhaps the show that Ginny had put on had excited Luna fiercely.

Harry was proven right when Luna didn’t even bother removing her clothes—she just shoved down her jeans and knickers and pivoted so her magnificent arse was facing Harry. He stared, his lips going dry, as Ginny pulled out her wand and cast the Anti-Pregnancy Charm on Harry’s cock; then she hooked one hand in the crook of Luna’s hip, held Harry’s cock steady with the other hand, and guided Luna back until her wet cunt touched against Harry’s tip. Luna wasted no time, pressing back so Harry filled her, and both of them moaned ecstatically.

Luna leaned forward until her long blonde hair brushed the ground, and shifted so that Harry penetrated her even more deeply. Harry’s hands grasped Luna’s hips and lifted them enough to slide half of his cock out of her; then he pulled her back down, making her whimper. Luna began initiating the movement on her own, so that Harry’s hands were only guiding her; her legs were to either side of him, and he was mesmerized by the muscles of her thighs as they tightened as relaxed, tightened and relaxed.

Ginny appeared again—she’d also removed her pants and knickers, so she was bottomless. She circled the table to grab a chair, and dragged it in front of Luna. Ginny sat in the chair and scooted forward until her spread legs, her own apex, was directly below Luna. “Think you can manage?” she asked, her own need clear in her voice.

Luna answered by leaning over even farther. She placed her hands atop Ginny’s thighs, somehow got her head down so her mouth could reach Ginny’s cunt; Ginny jerked, and grasped two handfuls of Luna’s long blond hair as Luna went to work. And Luna’s hips never stopped rocking—in fact, when she began to please Ginny the bouncing sped up, her moist heat releasing and recapturing Harry’s cock with increasing speed and force. How can her legs be so strong? Harry wondered vaguely.

Several minutes of this torment and Harry was almost ready to cry with the need to come. He drew his eyes away from Luna’s bobbing arse to see Ginny staring at him; her hands were tight in Luna’s hair, pulling the other girl’s mouth tighter against her cunt, and Ginny’s own hips were rocking desperately. As their eyes locked, Ginny’s feet lifted off the floor and she rested them on Luna’s back, digging her heels in and thrusting her entire body up off the chair to Luna’s eager lips. Luna responded by circling her hands under and grabbing Ginny’s arse, holding her up and strengthening her assault on Ginny’s center. Ginny lost control and screamed as she came.

When Ginny’s legs finally slid off of Luna’s back, Luna leaned back into Harry, and his legs, already straining from the awkward position, gave. He fell to the floor, Luna going with him, but when he landed something unbelievable happened: Luna had slid partially off Harry’s cock, and the force of their landing drove them together stronger than any of their thrusting could have; Harry’s cock was buried deeper inside Luna than ever before, and he exploded inside of her, yelling; Harry’s deep penetration and overwhelming pulsing inside her shattered Luna as well, her whole body quaking with release.

All three of them panted with exertion until finally Ginny got her breath back. “Luna?” she said, sounding concerned. “Are you all right?”

“Of course I am, Ginny,” Luna responded; Harry thought he heard a strange quality to her voice. “That was a very nice orgasm.”

Ginny’s expression was penetrating as she stared at Luna. “But you want more, is that it?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m not complaining at all,” Luna replied. But Harry realized what he was hearing in her tone of voice: mild disappointment. She wasn’t completely sated. Unbelievable—Harry understood why George had so much trouble keeping up with her.

Ginny stood up—her legs looked a bit wobbly—and walked over to Luna. When she offered her hand, Luna took it, and Ginny helped her up. But to Harry’s (and Luna’s) surprise, Ginny turned Luna around. “Step forward,” she ordered, smacking Luna lightly on the arse.

Luna did as she was told, but she could only move forward a little bit before her hips ran into the edge of the table, and Harry was forced to duck his head down under it. Harry thought he knew where this was going, and he found he was right when Ginny kneeled down between his legs and fixed him with a look. “Your turn, Mr. Potter,” she said sternly.

“It’s all right, Ginny,” Luna said. “I told you, I’m quite happy to—” Luna’s words were replaced with a gasp when Harry raised his head up and slowly licked Luna’s cunt. With his head under the table and Luna’s hips pressed against the edge, there was just enough room for him to get his mouth between her legs and suck her clit between his lips. She squealed in delight, and the table creaked slightly, making Harry think she’d braced her hands on it. He brought his hand up and slid a finger easily inside her, torturously stroking in and out.

He hadn’t had a lot of experience with this, although he’d certainly been ready and willing to try it on Ginny and she’d seemed pleased with the results. Luna definitely seemed to be enjoying it as well—if the noises she was making were any indication, Harry was doing something right. Harry had always found it intensely arousing to please Ginny any way he could, and was having the same reaction to pleasing Luna: amazingly, he was growing hard again already.

Ginny had obviously noticed, because after only a few moments of his toying with Luna he felt Ginny’s fingers wrap around his cock again, and felt her lips again circle his tip. He forced himself to concentrate on Luna, although it wasn’t easy—Ginny had decided to practice again, and his cock was penetrating so far down her throat Harry could hardly believe it was possible. Harry distracted himself by making certain that Luna was driven to insane pleasure, but backed off when it seemed like she might come—if Luna wanted to be worn out, then Harry was damn well going to wear her out.

Only a minute later and Harry thought he heard mild sobbing coming from above—Luna’s legs were quivering. She was aching with the need to come again. Harry thought he might finally show her mercy, but was distracted when Ginny’s lips came off his cock with a pop—and then there was the unmistakable sound of Ginny casting the Anti-Pregnancy Charm again. Harry thought for a split second that Ginny intended Harry to shag Luna again, but he found out he was wrong when Ginny’s legs slid to either side of him and her hand guided Harry’s cock into her own cunt. Harry’s moan reverberated through Luna’s cunt as Harry filled his wife; Luna was sweet to enter, but Ginny was bliss. Once she’d settled in Harry’s lap, Harry removed his mouth from Luna and twisted his neck so he could see Ginny’s face. “Sweet Merlin, Gin—”

“Luna shouldn’t be the only one who gets to come twice,” Ginny gasped. She braced her hands on the edge of the table on either side of Luna and lifted herself until Harry was almost completely out of her; then she let go and slammed back down, impaling herself again. She did it over and over until both she and Harry were almost ready to break.

Ginny paused in her bouncing and grinned shakily at Harry between Luna’s legs. “Think we can bring Luna off at the same time we go?” she asked, her voice strained with the tension of near-satiation.

“M-maybe,” Harry managed to get out. “Wait—we?”

Instead of answering, Ginny reached a finger up and slid it alongside Harry’s into Luna. She twirled it for a moment before drawing it out, and while keeping her eyes locked with Harry’s she raised the wet finger to Luna’s other opening and gently pushed it in.

Luna yelped, her legs locking, and Ginny started rocking on Harry’s cock again. “All—together?” she pleaded, and Harry did his best to comply.

It wasn’t completely simultaneous, but it was close. Luna came first, howling and clenching around Harry’s and Ginny’s fingers both, and Ginny came with her. The way Ginny’s cunt squeezed Harry made him grind up into her, and he came inside her only a few seconds later.