Time Keeps on Slipping - Chapter 7

It didn't take long at all to get settled. All he had to unpack, aside from the new clothes, was his wand. Still, it felt good to take a break. The last day felt like it had stretched on and on. His brief nap earlier had done wonders to revive him. As had the glorious blowjob from Fleur.

He still couldn't believe that had happened. Time travel made more sense. It wasn't the first time he had experienced it, just not on this scale. Going back an hour or two didn't hold a candle to going years into the future. Did they say fifteen? It had to be more like twenty. In truth, it didn't matter. Everyone he knew was now old enough to be his parents.

At least he had the summer to prepare for Hogwarts. It felt like he was tempting fate, but he was hopeful that no one would try to kill him this time. That would be a nice change. Not that he wouldn't prepare for it, just in case. If anything stayed constant in the stream of time it would be that wherever Hermione went, there were books. The library in her house was bound to have information that he would find useful.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." Harry casually slid his wand into his hand. Constant Vigilance and all that.

Rose stepped through the door. She looked a bit sheepish, but there was a resolve in her eyes. Harry tried to force himself to relax. It wasn't easy. She looked almost exactly like Hermione, but just different enough for it to be clear she wasn't her. Rose had the same build, even the same face, but her hair was red and straight, similar to Ginny's rather than bushy. Somehow, her hair had come out more crimson than the bright orange common to the Weasley brood.

"Hello." Harry said cautiously. "I'm sorry for jumping you before."

She chuckled and waved his words away.

"No worries." Rose shook her head. "Don't tell Grampa Al, he'll never let me live it down."

"Grampa Al? I thought Hermione's dad was named Gerald." Harry arced an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Rose nodded. "Grampa Al. Alastor Moody."

"Mad-Eye is Grampa Al?" Harry laughed.

"Constant vigilance." Rose smiled at him. "The first birthday gift he gave me was a jack-in-the-box that cast color changing spells. I would walk around with a big green splotch on my face if I didn't dodge."

Harry shook his head.

"If he heard that you got the drop on me, he'd probably put me through another training camp." Rose shook her head. "That was a fun summer holiday."

"Still." Harry shrugged. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"You were very considerate in your attack." Rose smiled at him. "You're fast."

Harry nodded.

"Mom convinced you to do Fifth Year over again?" Rose asked after a moment.

Harry nodded again.

"Why?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows. "Why not go into sixth?"

"I don't know how much they told you about that year." Harry paused. "The actual year, not just the madness that happened. Between Umbridge, the Inquisitors, and teaching DA, classes were impossible. Every week, sometimes every day, there were new rules that messed things up even more. I think I took my OWLs. I'm not sure. It's all kind of a blur."

"Mom said you did." Rose nodded. "You passed, I'm pretty sure."

"Nice." Harry smiled at that. "Still, it wouldn't hurt. If it's too easy, or boring, I'm sure they could figure something out."

Rose nodded. She still stood by the door. Harry looked around the room. There wasn't anywhere to sit other than the bed. He scooted against the headboard to give her enough space.

"Want to sit?" Harry waved to the now open spot.

Rose shrugged. She took a seat at the end of the bed. Harry didn't know what else to say. There was too much he wanted to ask about. She probably had loads of questions too. It was her who broke first. She took a deep breath.

"Did Vic finally get to live out her fantasy?" Rose asked quickly.

Harry cocked his head to the side.

"What?" He asked as his brain tried to process the words.

"Vic." Rose dropped her voice low. "Did you and her."

She made a weird motion with her hands that was vaguely suggestive.

"Oh!" Harry said. "No. Fantasy?"

"You. And her." Rose repeated the motion.

Harry opened his mouth to speak. No words came out. The thought seemed to get stuck somewhere in transit from his brain to his mouth.

"Why?" He finally managed to say.

"We've all grown up on stories about you." Rose laughed. "Not those silly books. Real stories. Mom, dad, everyone really. Fleur and Aunt Gabby were the most vocal about your more… alluring qualities, but even aunt Angie and Ally had some stories. Aunt Gin was really bad once she had some fire whiskey."

"Huh." Harry let the words sink in. "Is that why Teddy didn't seem to like me?"

"Please." Rose shook her head. "Teddy is a sweetheart. You'll be his best friend the next time you two talk. He was probably just hurt being so close to Vic. They dated for a while. When they were together, he wore black hair and green eyes a lot."

Harry winced.

"Yeah." Rose nodded. "I doubt he holds it against you. You've been dead for like twenty years now."

"Twenty?" Harry asked. "I thought it was fifteen."

"Blame the Ministry for that." Rose shrugged. "It took them a few years to admit you were gone. The fact that it happened at the Ministry with escaped convicts and a dark wizard that they had been vocally denying was alive for the better part of the year made them panic."

"Shame I missed that." Harry let out a bitter laugh.

They settled into another silent stretch.

"So." Rose leaned in as she whispered. "Did you and Vic?"

Once more she did the motion.

"What is that supposed to be?" Harry asked as he pointed at her hands.

"You know." Rose kept doing it. "Sex."

"I get what you are asking, but the motion confuses me." Harry shook his head.

Her cheeks turned bright red.

"Oh." Rose dropped her hands.

"No." Harry saved her from further embarrassment. "We did not have sex."

"Really?" Rose raised her eyebrows at the information. "Even I could feel how much allure she was pumping out around you."

"It's never bothered me." Harry tapped his forehead. "Too hardheaded I guess."

She laughed.

"You and Aunt Gin did, right?" Rose asked with a shy smile. "We kind of heard it."

"It was…" Harry thought for the right word. "Intense."

"Sounded like it." Rose chuckled. "From what dad said she was a mess for a long time after you, you know, died."

Harry made a noise of acknowledgement.

"We were never together." He shrugged. "I knew she had a crush on me, but I thought she had gotten over it."

"The fangirl was gone, yeah. She still had a thing for you." Rose replied. "I wonder if she's going to tell her boyfriend about you."

"Ouch." Harry muttered. "That's two relationships I've messed up already."

"Two?" Rose asked as she looked at him from the side. "Please tell me you and my mom."

"No. No, no no, no." He shook his head quickly.

"She was just in here." Rose countered.

"She showed me the room and we talked." Harry spoke firmly. "That is all."

"Then who?" Rose studied him for a long moment. "You fucked Aunt Fleur!"

"I did not!" Harry snapped.

"Yes, you did!" Rose smiled wickedly at him.

"No, I did not!" Harry tossed the pillow behind him at her.

Rose swatted it away.

"Harry and Fleur, sitting in a tree." Rose sang. "F-U-C-K-I-N-G."

"That's not how it goes, and we didn't have sex." Harry tossed another pillow at her. "She just gave me a blow job."

Rose froze. Her eyes grew wide. A mad cackle broke from her lips.

"Because that's so much better." Rose giggled.

"Please don't tell anyone." Harry held his face in his hands. "I don't want to ruin her marriage."

"Pssh." Rose rolled her eyes. "Fleur and Uncle Bill don't have much of a marriage. I can't remember when they were in the same room together. She's either at work or in France and he's somewhere."

"That's not good." Harry said slowly.

"It is what it is." Rose shrugged. "Probably for the best. They don't fight like mom and dad."

Harry winced at how casually she spoke about her parents' relationship.

"That bad?" Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but he knew he had to know.

Rose nodded.

"Mom practically sleeps in her office. Dad." She shrugged. "I don't know. He's here, but not. It's like he's always waiting for the season to start. They don't think Hugo and I see it, but we know. They love each other. I think. Maybe. Then there's the thing with Hugo being in Slytherin. Dad was not happy."

"I can imagine." Harry looked up at her.

She stared off into the distance at nothing.

"They kind of broke when you died." Rose said softly. "A lot of our family did."

Harry flinched back as though the words physically struck him.

"Uncle Fred and George are doing great. So is Uncle Charlie." Rose continued. "I swear he'd marry a dragon if he could. Percy is… well, he's Percy. We'd probably never see them if it weren't for Molly and Lucy." She paused before she looked over at him. "That got depressing quick. "

"I'm sorry too." Harry didn't know what else to say.

"No." Rose said firmly, in a very Hermione fashion. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dropped that all on you. It's not your fault. You saved the world a few times. Our family should be able to handle themselves."

She stood up and headed for the door. Harry pushed off the bed to gather his pillows. He turned toward her as he felt the air shift. His muscles tensed, ready to spring as needed. He doubted she would hurt him, but a little playful revenge wasn't out of the question.

In a burst of speed, she closed the space between them. Rose kissed him lightly on the cheek. She giggled as she ran out of the room. Harry stood there in shock. His hand touched the spot where her lips had been.

He shook his head. This was a weird day. Even by his standards.