Harry Potter and The Secret of The Heirs

Chapter Seven

Harry's Date

Chrystal led them into the cottage.

"I'm not much of a cook," she said, "so I hope that what I make is fine for a growing boy."

Chrystal led Harry around the small cottage, while Sirius fixed everybody drinks. The cottage consisted of five rooms, a kitchen, bathroom (which were both immaculately clean), a study which was cluttered with books and papers about the Dark Arts and Wizard Law, followed by a door which led into her bedroom. Chrystal led Harry back to the formal lounge where Sirius was sitting on the couch holding a goblet of some concoction Harry assumed he must have mixed up. Harry seriously wondered if he should accept the goblet that Sirius held out to him. He grimaced then swallowed. It was amazing - it kept changing flavour.

"What do you think Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Different," Harry replied. "What is it?"

"Just a little something I mixed up," he replied with a grin on his face.

"I hope you enjoy your evening, Harry," said Chrystal as she headed towards the door. "I know this place is a little cosier than Sirius', but it fills my needs. Now I have to go and finish dinner, so you two can sit here and drink Sirius' brew and I'll be safe in the kitchen."

"What did she mean by that?" Harry asked after she had left the room.

"I was famous at Hogwarts for my delightful potions," Sirius replied. "I had a tendency to just drop something into someone's drink and make it completely lose all appeal. By seventh year no one would go near anything I had potentially made. Most of the time there was nothing wrong with them, it was usually just on the rare occasions that I felt like playing a joke on someone. And when that happened, it was usually your dad anyway, but he managed to convince everyone not to touch anything I'd made. Spoilt all the fun. I remember giving Peter a shrinking potion once and he got so small no one could find him!"

Sirius was laughing and shaking his head remembering the old days.

"Did you ever think things would turn out like this?" Harry asked.

"We were living in a time that was fraught with danger," Sirius replied. "People would go home and suddenly everything was different. There'd be a cold feeling in the air and your family would be dead. If the Dark Mark was over your house, you knew what you would find inside. We knew your dad was at risk, and we did our best to protect him, but I always knew there was a chance. Especially as we thought that someone was betraying us. We made a mistake. We thought it was Remus. James was like my brother, Harry. I would have given anything to save his life. If only I'd found out about Peter sooner, we wouldn't have made that fatal last-minute decision. I'm truly sorry, Harry. We thought it was for the best."

There was a bond of understanding between the two. Harry finally understood the source of Sirius' guilt. He had found out, but it had all been too late. Harry knew that Sirius would never stop blaming himself for his best friends' deaths, just like Harry would never stop blaming himself for Cedric's.

Chrystal entered the room with three plates.

"Shepherd's pie," she said. "Hope it's okay, you don't have to eat it if it's not!"

Sirius and Harry thanked her and got stuck into their dinner. Compared with the night before, it was awful, but no one commented. They did however finish their meals. The night was filled with conversation about Chrystal's adventures as an Auror and Harry's adventures against Voldemort. Sirius threw in a few yarns about his adventures as Padfoot, but somehow the tales of a dog wandering around Hogsmeade weren't as interesting compared to chasing Death Eaters through the air and trying to find the Philosopher's Stone. A couple of hours passed very quickly to everyone's surprise, before Sirius announced that if they didn't leave soon they wouldn't be able to travel by Floo. He sent off Harry first, saying that he would follow soon.

"Thanks for tonight," he said. "It was very special, and you made Harry feel comfortable. I'll pop in and see you sometime soon."

They embraced before he kissed her goodbye, before he stepped into the fire.

Chrystal heard the whisper of "Padfoot's Manor" as he left. For some strange reason she felt a lot better. Things were going to be all right.

*~*

After their arrival Hedwig flew into the window bearing a letter to Harry. She pecked his ear affectionately as he pulled out some owl treats that were always in the pocket on the inside of his cloak. Harry blushed as he opened the letter.

Dear Harry,

Thanks for your last letter; I'm glad that you're at Sirius' safely. Congratulations on being appointed as Head Boy, you'll always be the head boy in my mind.

I can't wait to see you again; I am going to Diagon Alley in three days, perhaps we could meet, have dinner at The Leaky Cauldron and perhaps stay the night.

Let me know what you want to do, until then I send you hugs and kisses,

With love

Lavender.

Sirius looked up and saw Harry's red face.

"I take it that's a letter from the girlfriend," he said, "and I take it that it would be of a personal nature and that I probably shouldn't read it. Am I right?"

Harry nodded.

"Well," Sirius began, "Chrys warned me that I would be fathering a man. Perhaps I should have listened more carefully."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid, Sirius", Harry said. "But, um, she wants, um, to have dinner and stay the night at The Leaky Cauldron. I do want to have dinner, but I don't know whether or not I should stay, it's not that we would necessarily do anything, we've only been together since the Valedictorian's dance, and I'm not about to rush into anything."

By this stage Harry was well and truly red.

"You don't have to explain to me, Harry," Sirius said as he looked at his godson seriously," but if you do get slightly carried away, or think that you might be in a position to, there's a potion, you can get it from the apothecary in Diagon Alley, to stop any "mistakes" occurring. It's called the Sterilis Potion. It will provide contraception for twelve months. I also believe Madam Pomfrey will give it to any witch who is of age. I know what it's like to be your age, Harry, but I also hope that you have good morals instilled in you and you'll do what's right. If you want to stay the night, you can, if you just want to go and have dinner that's fine as well. It's your decision."

Harry was still flushed.

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry began gratefully. "I don't know what I want to do yet; I just got her letter. But I would like to see her."

"Okay, Harry," Sirius said, thinking. "How about you go and have dinner, head over to Diagon Alley in the afternoon, stay the night and pick some things up for me the next day and then come back? I won't have to know what you decide to do. How's that?"

"Okay," Harry replied. "I should write back."

Harry went up to his room and replied

Dear Lavender,

Thanks for your letter, I'm missing you and can't wait to see you. I'll meet you for dinner, and then we can decide what to do for the night later. I'll meet you outside The Leaky Cauldron at 5 pm. Owl if that's not all right.

Until then,

Harry.

Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's feet and gave her some treats before he watched his owl fly out the window. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He was attracted to her, but wasn't quite sure how he felt about her yet. His emotions were still all tangled up. He'd wait until he saw her. He felt confident he would know what the right thing to do was then.

He went to sleep that night, dreaming of the beautiful blonde-haired girl who was brilliant at Divination. The nightmares ceased. Harry had come home.

*~*

Three days later, Harry was ready for his date. Sirius had kept his fireplace connected to the Floo network, except with extremely restricted access. Sirius said he'd keep it connected like this until Harry left the week before school went back. It had become quite the tradition that Harry and Hermione would spend that week at the Weasleys'.

He took his list from Sirius, which were mainly things from the apothecary, which Harry noticed, did include the Sterilis Potion. He wondered if that were for himself or for his godfather. He then jumped in the fire and felt himself twirling until he landed in Diagon Alley. He was getting quite used to travelling by Floo. He got up, brushed the dirt off himself and went to The Leaky Cauldron where Lavender was waiting patiently for him.

"Harry!" she squealed as she ran up to hug him. "I've missed you so much."

He bent over and kissed her for such a period of time that passersby were really no longer curious but embarrassed by this very public display of affection.

Harry led Lavender inside and asked if they could be seated at a table in the bistro area of the bar.

"Do you think it was a good idea to go somewhere so public?" Harry asked.

"Possibly not, judging by all the staring we're getting," she replied.

Lavender smiled as she gazed at Harry. Why was she so lucky to have caught him? She thought back to the Valedictorian's dance, where it was as though the two of them had seen each other for the first time. There was a kind of chemistry between them that said, at the very least, that they were destined to be good friends. Lavender had reached up and kissed him at the stroke of midnight. It was a private moment that few had witnessed, so she understood his reluctance to go somewhere so public.

Both of them were privately relieved when they were seated at a table in the corner, out of the sight of gossiping eyes.

"Tonight's on me, Lavender," Harry said. He told her how he had won one hundred and fifty galleons at the races, which led into a long conversation about his visit with the Blacks and about dinner with Chrystal.

"Was it uncomfortable?" Lavender asked. "I mean, isn't it kind of like your father dating?"

Harry laughed.

"It was kind of uncomfortable at first," Harry commented, "but she was really nice and made me feel at home. She's teaching us this year, actually; she's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. She said to watch out for her."

"That will be very entertaining, the both of them teaching," she said mischievously. "I wonder if they'll be running off to find an empty classroom as well?"

Harry blushed as he answered.

"Yeah, well, it's not supposed to be public knowledge. Anyhow, speaking of public knowledge, I think we should get two rooms tonight, but we don't have to stay in them, okay?

Now Harry had a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. Lavender seemed to have gotten what he meant. She didn't really know if she was ready for anything more anyhow.

"Okay," she answered, smiling.

They continued to talk about how they had spent their holidays. Lavender commented on having helped her dad in his store, besides going out with Parvati and Padma a few times, and most importantly, going with a group of Hogwarts people to a Weird Sisters concert. Lavender told Harry all the gossip, especially informing Harry who Parvati's secret crush was.

"Did you know that Katie Bell and George are going out?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah," he replied. "Ron's been working for the twins, and so I get all the gossip firsthand. Actually, Percy and Penelope Clearwater are getting married in a couple of weeks and Mrs Weasley's absolutely ecstatic. She's hinting at grandchildren already. I never thought I'd say it - but poor Percy!"

Lavender joined in the laughter. They finished their meals and then headed up to their rooms.

"I'll be in to tuck you in shortly," he said.

Harry got changed into a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt. Then he put his robe over the top and crept down the hallway quietly. Harry certainly didn't want any photographers taking his photo now. He opened the door to Lavender's room and snuck in.

"Hi, sweetie," he whispered as he gazed at her in her flimsy little nightdress. She looked beautiful as the moon shone on her hair. He walked over towards her, never breaking eye contact.

He sat on the bed and kissed her intensely. She responded to his initiation with as much enthusiasm as he. Neither knew how long they were there kissing, before Harry slid his hands down Lavender's back. He let go of her while maintaining contact with her lips as he pulled his cloak off. She followed, by taking off his shirt. She pulled away and stared at his naked chest. Her heart was racing madly. He certainly looked like he had been working out. She pulled her shirt off and pulled Harry closer to her. They began kissing again, as he began caressing her gently.

She bit her lip and kissed him. They began to fall down onto the bed; Harry could feel the pressure rising inside him. Suddenly he felt a pang of guilt inside his head.

"Stop," he said suddenly but softly. "We can't do this, not here, not now. I could make you pregnant, it's not safe."

There was an awkward silence.

"It's fine, Harry," she whispered. "I've taken a potion. My dad's an apothecary; I obtained it while I was working for him."

"It's not just that," he murmured. "I just don't think we're ready. I don't want to do this before I'm certain that I love you. No matter how much I want to. I don't want to hurt you, Lavender."

She collapsed into his arms.

"I understand, Harry," she said. "I think you may be right. Thank you so much, you're certainly my prince now."

Harry held her in his arms and they fell asleep, with Harry holding her close. He didn't want to let her go.

*~*

The next morning Harry awoke with this beautiful woman in his arms. He knew he had done the right thing by not giving in to temptation. He sensed there was a calmness in their relationship that had not been there the night before. She awoke and smiled at him before she gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for last night," she said, as she gazed at him.

If Lavender Brown hadn't fancied herself in love with Harry the night before, she certainly did now.

After showering and having breakfast, the two said goodbye and Harry headed down Diagon Alley to pick up the things that Sirius had requested.

*~*

Lucius Malfoy had finished bargaining with the old shopkeeper. He was tired of this fool of a man, but at least he kept secrets. He turned around to see a young woman standing behind him. She was oddly familiar.

"Good day, Mr Borgin," she said. "I'm wondering if you have those books on European Magical Theory in relationship to Dark Arts and Unforgivable Curses, Celts in the history of Dark Arts and that one on Salazar Slytherin's threats to the Founders you mentioned?"

"Ahh, yes miss," Borgin replied. "I assume you're after the latest on each topic?"

"Yes," she replied bluntly. She glared at Lucius.

Borgin went out the back and located the books for her. Lucius glared at the woman while he was gone. He couldn't work out where he had seen her. He knew that something about her just didn't feel right; she wasn't the normal type of person you saw hanging around in Knockburn Alley.

Borgin brought out the books.

"2 galleons and 12 sickles, thanks," he muttered.

She paid and walked out of the shop. Lucius continued to stare. She was a damned Auror. And she had seen what he had been doing. Lucius walked out of the store looking around. The witch headed towards him.

"You'd better watch out, Lucius," she warned. "If I catch you in that store one more time I might have to give poor Borgin Veritaserum. You're not authorised to have what I saw in Borgin's hands. You're lucky I can't prove you were selling. And I'll be keeping an eye on your son, making sure he doesn't live up to his family's reputation."

She left him standing there dumbfounded as she head into Diagon Alley.

~*~

Harry was struggling to find some of the ingredients Sirius had requested.

Suddenly a voice came from behind him.

"If you're looking for stuff for Sirius," the voice said, "it's bound to be in weird places. I'll help you find it so we can get going."

Harry turned around to see Chrys standing there. She had a big smile on her face. He agreed to her help and they quickly located the missing supplies then they headed back to the Floo point to get back to Sirius'.

Before they left Chrystal said, "I was thinking of staying a couple of nights with you guys. Do you mind?"

Harry was a little stunned at first. The thought of her staying was definitely something that hadn't been on Harry's mind. But he agreed, because he knew how much it meant to Sirius. And he felt intrigued to get to know this person who had been his mum's best friend.

They arrived in Sirius' lounge room and Sirius enquired as to how dinner went.

"It was very satisfying," Harry, said. "We worked out a few things and set down some boundaries."

"I don't want to know," Sirius replied. "My little boy's growing up. I just hope you can put up with this girl for a couple of days. And remember, no gossiping or I'll clock you just like I did to your father."

Harry gave Sirius the same grin before he headed up to his room. He decided to give them a bit of time alone. Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his broomstick. He walked outside to the deserted meadow and soared up into the air. He always loved the sensation of flying. As he flew around the air he tried to work out what he felt for Lavender. She was very beautiful, smart and had a knack for foreseeing the future, but did he really love her?

*~*

Hermione was staring at the front page of The Daily Prophet. The caption read "Hogwarts' Head Boy out on the town with girlfriend?"

Hermione looked at the photo of Harry and Lavender.

"Why hasn't he told me?" she wondered, "and why do I feel so jealous?"

She curled up in bed and cried herself to sleep.