What Happens in the Changing Room...

Al watched the Harpies' Seeker walk across the pitch with her mat under her arm while he positioned his feet into the triangle pose. He lifted his arms to shoulder height and slowly bent sideways from the hip until his left fingers touched the toes of his left foot. In times like this, he truly missed his recently discarded school robes. They hid all manner of indiscretions, including the one stirring in the loose black shorts he wore. Al straightened and repositioned his feet then repeated his motions on the right side. As Kathie drew closer, Al kept his gaze firmly on a blade of grass and not on the figure of the other Seeker. She was quite fit in her form-fitting practice kit. For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past week, Al -- or rather his cock -- wondered what purpose the Harpies' kit served. If It was to distract him, it was working quite nicely at the moment, thank you. He also wondered whose bright idea it had been in the Montrose coaching staff to schedule a month of practices with the Harpies in southern France. Granted, Marseilles was beautiful, the food was unbelievable, and he got to play Quidditch every day with top-notch players, but the constant presence of the Harpies made Al fervently wish he was past the age where he got an erection just because the wind changed direction. 'Morning, Al,' Kathie chirped as she unrolled her mat next to his. Al breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't chosen a spot in front of his mat. She had done so the previous few days and he'd been driven mad by the sight of her bottom. There just wasn't a comfortable position on a broomstick with a raging hard-on anyway.

'Good morning, Kathie,' Al muttered, coming out of his pose.

Kathie toed off her boots and peeled off the thick green socks before assuming a mountain pose on her mat. 'A bunch of us are going out after dinner,' she told him. 'Why don't you come?'

Al moved his feet a little wider and began a series of warrior poses. 'Nah. But thanks.'

'You should,' Kathie told him. 'Good for team camaraderie and all that.'

Al eyed her for a moment, until his balance wobbled. He turned his attention to his form, then replied, 'Next time, maybe.'

'What can you possibly have against going out dancing or to the pub with your teammates?'

'Nothing.' Al gave up trying to stand in a proper warrior pose and talk to Kathie. He stood up and made a small, almost embarrassed gesture at the others on the pitch. 'I'm just so much younger than everybody else.' It was true. The next oldest player between the Harpies and Magpies was a good four or five years older than Al.

'Rubbish,' Kathie declared. At Al's continued doubtful expression, she added, 'Come with us, and if you don't like it, you can just slip out and go back to the hotel.'

'No trying to take the piss out of me if I go back to the hotel?' Al asked warily.

'Can't promise anything from the others, but not from me.'

Al sighed and resumed his abandoned warrior pose. 'Fine.'

Kathie grinned. 'We meet in the lobby at eight.'

XxXxXxX

Al studied himself in the mirror. Jeans, boots, an untucked button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his arms. He ruffled his damp hair, knowing it would take a good haircut and more than one dab of a styling product to make it look like he hadn't just gotten out of bed. There had been that one girl at school who said his messy hair made him look sexy, but Al privately thought it made him look like he was twelve. He shrugged and started to leave the room, sliding his wallet into a front pocket. -Should I take my wand? Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, Al slid his wand into the other front pocket of his jeans and walked into the corridor. Sarah, one of the Montrose Chasers met him at the top of the stairs. 'You look nice,' she cooed. 'Kathie said you're coming with us tonight.'

Al ran a hand through his hair. 'Yeah.'

Sarah patted his arm reassuringly. 'It's fun,' she told him. 'And a good way to blow off steam. Luckily, it's a Friday, so there's no curfew.'

'Can you believe that?' Callum, the Montrose Keeper grumbled. 'Thirty years old and I've got a bleeding curfew.'

'Even England had a curfew,' Al responded. The corner of his mouth curved up. 'It was a good idea. We would have been permanently sleep deprived without it.'

'He's got a point,' Sarah chuckled, poking Callum in the arm as the made their way to the lobby. 'Look at us. If they didn't mandate a time to be in the room at least, we'd get what? Four hours of sleep at night?'

'If that,' Callum allowed.

They joined the other players milling in the lobby. Al saw Kathie chatting with one of the Holyhead Beaters, wearing a deep red dress that left most of her back and shoulders bare. Her dark brown hair fell over her shoulders, catching the evening light. For most of the past two weeks, Al had only seen Kathie with her hair tightly plaited to her head. It was quite becoming, if he had to say so himself. Kathie saw him and waved, a merry smile lighting her face. Al gave her a bashful smile and a small wave in return. He started to head over to Kathie, but the Beater pulled her outside.

'Ow! Colleen, I'm not a Beater's bat...' Kathie rubbed the skin above her elbow where Colleen had squeezed her arm.

'Are you trying to seduce Al Potter?'

Kathie tilted her head to one side. 'Not intentionally.'

'Kathie, he's Ginny Potter's son...' Colleen protested weakly.

'So?'

'It's Quidditch, Kathie... Small world...'

Kathie glared at Colleen. 'Oh for... Come on! Ginny retired at least ten years before I even signed with Appleby and fifteen years before I signed with the Harpies. I hardly know her. I don't plan to invite her out for tea and tell her I shagged her son. If that were to happen. That's an enormous if. Just because Ginny Potter played Quidditch and Al plays Quidditch, it doesn't mean Al is untouchable. Besides, he's of age and a legal adult. And why does it matter?'

'I guess it doesn't,' Colleen sighed.

'Colleen, it's been ages,' Kathie sighed. 'Out of all the blokes on the Montrose side, he's probably the one who's the most discreet, being raised in his family and all. And I don't want to pick up some wizard in the café or club. I'd like it to last longer than a bottle of milk, yeah?'

'Just be careful,' Colleen warned softly as the others spilled into the street.

XxXxXxX

Strolling back to the hotel well after midnight, Al reflected it had been an entertaining evening. Drinks at a small café, and then hours of dancing at some Muggle club, usually with Kathie. It was the best time he'd had in a couple of years. Certainly the most relaxed he'd been since before the Quidditch World Cup two years ago.

They walked into the hotel and up the staircase to the second floor, where Al's room was located. 'See?' Kathie said impishly as they stopped at Al's door. 'Safe and sound.'

'I had a great time,' Al said softly. 'Thanks.'

'Any time,' Kathie whispered. She rose on her toes and gently brushed her lips over Al's. Al's mouth parted at his sharp intake of breath and Kathie's tongue lightly traced over his lips. Al returned the kiss, tentatively at first. Kathie pressed her body to his, and deepened the kiss. Encouraged, Al tangled one hand into her hair and the other splayed over her lower back. He didn't know how long they stood in the corridor, but it must have been several minutes. Kathie pulled away slightly. 'Let's go inside, yeah?' she murmured against his throat.

'O-o-o-okay,' Al stammered breathlessly. He patted his pocket for his wand and yanked it out. He tapped the door and it flew open with a bang. Al gestured for Kathie to go inside and he followed her into his hotel room. Al closed the door and leaned against it, watching Kathie perch on the foot of his bed. 'Can I get you something? Water?'

'Water would be great,' Kathie said, kicking off her heeled sandals.

Al set two glasses on top of the bureau and muttered, 'Aguamenti.' Both glasses filled with cold water, and he handed one to Kathie. 'Can I ask you something?' he blurted.

'Sure.'

'How old are you...?'

Kathie laughed and swept her hair over one shoulder. 'Twenty-eight.'

Al gulped. 'It's not that I don't find you attractive,' he began. 'I do.' He shifted, trying to unobtrusively adjust his jeans. -Dear God, I do... 'But I...'

Kathie patted the bed to one side of her. 'Sit down...' She turned so she faced Al and laid a hand over his. 'Look, I'm not interested in a serious relationship. I don't have time for one just now.'

Al flushed. 'I don't want one either!' he exclaimed. 'I just finished school, for Merlin's sake!'

'Al,' Kathie began delicately. 'Have you ever, ah, been with a girl?'

'Snogged, mostly,' Al said shortly. 'But, erm, I haven't...'

Kathie squeezed his hand. 'Right, then.' She gazed at Al for a long moment over the rim of her glass. 'Ground rules?'

'Wh-what kind of rules?'

'First, we do this until it isn't fun anymore.'

'And what is this, exactly?'

Kathie leaned forward to set her glass on the floor next to her feet. 'Whatever we want it to be. Kissing, if that's all you're comfortable doing. Or more, if you want.'

'Oh.' Al found it difficult to breathe.

Kathie's mouth curved a smile. 'Second, we're honest with each other.'

'Honesty's good.'

'Next, we don't do anything unless the other person gives consent.'

'Consent?' Al's tongue felt thick.

Kathie took a deep breath. 'I'm older and I don't want people saying I coerced you or forced you into doing anything you don't want.'

Al blinked slowly. He lifted his forgotten glass of water to his lips and drained it in one gulp. 'All right.' The glass dropped to the thick carpet with a thud. 'Anything else?'

'If we do have sex, we use contraception,' Kathie said evenly.

'That's a no-brainer,' Al coughed. He could vividly hear both of his parents telling him in no uncertain terms that if he meant to have sex, he had to do it in a responsible manner. Teddy had gone so far as to tell him bluntly if he didn't want to be a father, then he needed to have a condom on his hands at all times. In his wallet, in his bedside table drawer, even his bloody knapsack.

Kathie leaned back on her elbows. 'Good. So we're agreed.' Her head tilted to one side as she examined Al. 'What do you want to do?'

'Right now?'

'For starters.'

The tip of Al's tongue crept out and dragged over his lower lip. 'I'd like to kiss you some more,' he confessed, almost shyly.

Kathie straddled his hips, the hem of her dress riding halfway up her thighs. 'So would I.' She ran her hand lightly up his arm. 'I liked kissing you.'

Al felt his eyes glaze over. 'I liked it, too.' He started to lower his mouth to hers when he stopped a bare inch over her lips. 'Kathie? Could I touch you?'

'I wish you would,' she murmured.

Al began to kiss her. He tried to copy what Kathie had done to him in the corridor. He dimly remembered Petra teaching him to kiss her in an empty classroom at school. If she pulled back, then she didn't like it, but if she hummed against his mouth, he knew she did. Al tried to pay attention to the small signals Kathie sent him, but the blood pounding in his groin made it difficult. He let his hands wander over her back, cupping her bottom to press her hips closer to his. One arm wrapped around her waist, while the other trailed over the outside of her thigh. Al's fingers drifted over Kathie's knee and traced patterns up the inside of her leg. He stopped just below the hem of her dress. 'Wan' me to stop?' Kathie shook her head and Al's hand disappeared under the swirl of gauzy cotton. His fingers met a scrap of ridiculously tiny lace knickers. At this angle, it would have required more dexterity than Al possessed at that moment to stroke Kathie. He growled a little in frustration.

Kathie broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Al's. 'Want to get into a more comfortable position?'

'God, yes,' Al breathed.

Kathie slid off his lap and stretched out on the bed. 'Take your boots off,' she advised. Al toed them off then nearly pounced on her, hand tugging at her knickers. The knickers ripped and Kathie helpfully lifted her hips so Al could remove them. His hand stilled. 'Go on,' Kathie urged. Al gently stroked with a callused forefinger, anxiously watching Kathie for any signal, good or ill. Al heard a low, throaty moan, and continued his slow, gentle ministrations. Kathie's back arched slightly and she gasped. Al quickened the pace, just a little. 'Mmmmmmmmm,' Kathie hummed. Al paused long enough to gain his bearings and slid a cautious finger inside her, while he struggled to continue stroking her. He nearly came unglued himself. Truly, there were no words to describe the slippery heat of Kathie's body. Nothing he had ever read prepared him for this sensation. Kathie cried out and laid a hand over Al's, stilling his motions. She drew in a few deep breaths and opened her eyes. 'Where did that come from?'

'I'm a virgin, not ignorant,' Al mumbled defensively. He rolled over so he was facedown, more to hide his bulging jeans than because he liked the position. Al turned his head to face Kathie. 'My older brother recommended a few passages in a couple of books. I read them. A lot.'

'I can tell.'

'And there was a girl in school my sixth year...' Al admitted, closing his eyes. 'Not that we did anything like this, but she taught me a few things...'

Kathie shifted to her side and ran her fingertips down Al's back. 'What do you want to do?'

Al opened one eye.

XxXxXxX

Al didn't remember how his clothes ended up on the floor. Come to think of it, he didn't know how Kathie's dress ended up in a crumpled heap next to the bed. His next clear memory was kneeling between Kathie's knees, trying to tear open the square of foil encasing a condom. His hands were shaking so badly that Kathie took it from him and completed the task. Al gritted his teeth as she smoothed the condom over his now-throbbing erection. Think about something else! Al silently commanded himself. He began mentally listing ingredients for basic potions in an effort take just enough of his attention away from Kathie urging him down, guiding him into her... Al jerked and shuddered. It was over almost before it started. He buried his face in Kathie's shoulder, deeply ashamed at his lack of control. Al awkwardly clambered to the other side of the bed. 'I'll just... erm...' he stammered, reaching for a handful of tissues from the box on the bedside table in order to put things to rights.

Kathie propped her head on an upturned palm. 'Are you embarrassed?'

Al tossed the bundle of tissues into the bin, feeling the flush creep over his cheeks. 'Some...'

'Is that so?' Kathie ran a fingernail lightly down Al's spine. 'Honestly?'

Al flopped back into the bed, flinging an arm over his eyes. 'Honestly? Humiliated.' He lowered his arm and peered at Kathie. 'You must think I'm gormless...'

'Not at all.' Kathie brushed Al's hair from his eyes. 'It was your first time, after all.' She let her free hand trail down Al's chest, dancing over his stomach. Al felt himself harden at her touch. 'You know... the best way to get better at any of it is to practice.'

'I'm a quick study,' Al said, with only a slight hitch in his breath, as Kathie's broom-callused fingers wrapped around him.

'We've got all weekend,' Kathie promised, as she slowly kissed him.