End of Summer

Chapter Six

End of Summer

Harry packed the last of his things into his trunk and turned to his bureau. Hedwig's cage would need cleaning before packing up for Hogwarts; it would be a good time to let her fly freely around the room. It wasn't much, but he didn't dare let her out the window. She was angry with him, not having had as much attention from him as she was accustomed to. She'd probably stay away for weeks in retaliation.

He let her out, and began sweeping away the droppings at the bottom of the cage. Hoping the wastebasket wouldn't spit them back out, he emptied his dustpan into it, and looked around the room, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

His two miniature dragons had finally found a way of living peacefully together. They were currently asleep, and he would simply put them in his pocket for the trip. They'd probably sleep the whole distance anyway.

His eyes landed on his night table. With a start, he realized he'd almost forgotten to take the book, "The Wanton Tales of Lucy Braddox". It had proven to be quite a book. He hadn't worked up the nerve to actually "dive" into it; it didn't leave much to the imagination. Just reading it was nerve-wracking, and, he could admit, if only to himself, highly stimulating. It also led him to believe Tanya knew much more about sex than he did; he suspected as much the last time he dared to enter the attic. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He packed the book into his trunk, hiding it under some folded robes. The other books Tanya had given him were there already. Tanya had been right; the books had made the summer fly by.

But he missed her. A couple of days after Harry's birthday, she'd left with Lupin and Snape to go to Hogwarts, where she could continue her concentrated lessons in preparation her for her exams.

He'd been thrilled the night before she left; he had noticed how tired she'd been, and didn't have the nerve to go upstairs after everyone had turned in for the night. So she had come to him.

His heart had jumped into his throat when he'd sensed a presence and opened his just-beginning-to-get-heavy eyes to find her standing by the side of his bed. With a quick glance at Ron, sleeping in his own bed, she'd sat down next to where Harry was lying. She had smiled at him. "Weren't you even going to come up and say good-bye to me?"

"I thought you'd need to get a lot of sleep," Harry had answered, grinning. "I didn't think I should assume you'd be glad to see me."

"That's ridiculous," she said, leaning down to kiss his lips. "I'm going to miss seeing you everyday. Talking to you . . . and other things. . ."

Harry's face, even now, got hot when he remembered her hands touching him, sliding under his pajama shirt, getting more demanding, and his breathing becoming more labored under her attention.

She'd lain herself down on his bed, half covering him, and he'd let his hands do their own examination of her warm, willing body. She had begun kissing him; his neck, his chest . . . her lips traveling lower and lower, tantalizing, teasing, and he had not been able to suppress a moan as he'd felt her hot breath tracing a path down from his chest, moving lower.

But that moan had roused Ron, who had sat up in bed, looking into the darkness for some monster unknown. Quick as a flash, Tanya had slid off the bed and hid herself from Ron's view, should he turn toward them.

Harry had turned to his side, hiding his erection in case Ron's night vision was better than his timing. Harry silently cursed Ron for once again thwarting what would most likely have been the loss of his virginity. After Ron had fallen back down to return to his dreams, Tanya sat up to whisper to Harry, "Thwarted again! There are just too many people around here." She'd sounded regretful, and Harry felt, once again, the warm fuzzies at the thought of her wanting him. The way Lucy Braddox wanted her men. She kissed him once again, lingeringly, and left the room.

Harry at last had fallen into a fitful sleep, dreaming about what might have been, had they had the privacy they both wanted so much.

So now Tanya was working hard to catch up at school. The rest of them had gotten O.W.L.s in nearly everything; Ron and Harry both had missed the Divination O.W.L., but neither of them was about to lose sleep over it. Hermione had an O.W.L. in every area she'd sat the exam, and Harry couldn't figure out why she'd been anxious about it. He would have thought it was a given.

But he was surprised that both he and Ron had O.W.L.s in Potions. Snape had made it sound like they'd failed. Maybe Tanya was mellowing him out, Harry thought ruefully.

No, that couldn't be it. After all, it wasn't the professors who set the exams, it was the Ministry. Impartial. He began to feel a little less antagonistic toward Snape. Potions really was an art, and if Snape hadn't been so hard on them, he doubted he would have passed it. Could this be a glimmer of understanding into the methods of the sinister former-Slytherin Professor?

He dragged his trunk out of the room and down the stairs, to add it to Ron's, Ginny's, and Hermione's trunks. Pigwidgeon was already encaged and ready to go, and Crookshanks refused to be caged. Hermione would carry him on, as usual. They had about another forty-five minutes to kill before they had to leave for the station; he wondered if he could talk Hedwig back into her cage by then.

He went into the den, where the others were watching the clock. Ginny was admiring the necklace she wore; Tanya had retrieved it for her and sent it back by owl a few days ago. Mrs. Weasley had quite a bit to say about that; the very idea of sending anything by owl. Why not put up a banner and neon lights to let everyone know wizards were here? But Harry was glad she'd sent it. It meant that she'd had enough time away from her studies to go get it, and he was glad she wasn't the sort of person to forget promises made to other people. Ginny was certainly a fan of hers, if she hadn't been already.

Hermione had been a little disappointed at not finding enough time to grill Tanya about her tenancy in New York. However, they'd heard from Lupin that Tanya had been sorted into Gryffindor; there'd be plenty of times in the common room so that Hermione's New York education could commence there.

Ron was glowering by the fireside. Although he and Harry were now legally adults, and were at last permitted to join the Order, Ron still felt they weren't allowed far into its confidences. Mr. Weasley explained to them that it didn't matter that they were old enough; they were still at school. Their studies would have to be given priority, because without their proper education, what good would they be to the Order anyway? Could they honestly say that persevering with the mundane studies hadn't taught them valuable skills needed for the coming war, should there be one?

They had no argument for that, and so the subject was dropped. Hermione had been paying close attention; her birthday was in September, and she would be joining the Order then. She obviously wanted to waste no time arguing the same points when her time came.

Harry had also learned, by pumping Lupin for information, that Tanya had sat her exams, and was now waiting for the results. They wouldn't be expected for another week or two, so Tanya would be in sixth year with the rest until such time as she'd have to go back to whatever year her test results dictated.

"But don't worry," Lupin had said, "we all crowded into the testing room during the practical exams, and there's no doubt in anyone's mind that she got all her O.W.L.s. Otherwise Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have placed her in so high a year, knowing she'd have to face a demotion later."

So, all that was left to do was get on the Hogwarts' Express and take up life again. He was so eager to see Tanya that he knew this would be one of the longest train rides of his life.

Cornelius Fudge was still trying to get back in the Order's good graces; he'd provided Arthur Weasley with two Ministry cars to take the students to the station. As Lupin and Moody struggled to get all the baggage into the cars (with supervision from Mrs. Weasley) Harry coaxed Hedwig back into her cage with promises of early release upon entering Hogwarts. They set off for Kings' Cross.