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✯❀𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑❀✯
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Tw: Discussion of rape and underage drinking
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The morning after after her birthday party, Lottie Lupin woke up in the arms of Harry Potter, his arms wrapped tightly around her body, a blanket keeping them warm. She inhaled the long lasting scent of his cologne and smiled at the memory of the previous night. It was certainly a happy memory, and she was grateful for the way everybody had come together to prepare a good night for her.
Harry stirred in his sleep, the feeling of a warm body pressed close to him released him from his dreams, and his eyes opened to be met with the long ginger hair that could only ever be recognised as Charlotte Lupin's.
"Good morning, love," Harry said, his fingers playing with a strand of hair.
Charlie gently rolled over to face him, her eyes meeting his, "good morning, Harold."
"Did you sleep well?" He asked, his voice a tad husky.
"I did," she smiled, "did you?"
"I did, though I don't remember falling asleep on the couch!"
"We must have gotten in really late," she thought back to watching the sunrise on their broomsticks. "It was worth it though. Thank you for last night, it was amazing!"
"I can't talk all the credit," he said softly, "everyone helped, though the sunrise part was definitely my idea."
"It was the best part of the night," she said promisingly.
Harry grinned. "So you had a good birthday?"
"Yep," she replied confidently. Every part of it had gone well, even the discussion she had with her father.
Talking with Remus about the scavenger hunt had actually opened Charlotte's eyes a little to how caring he could be, it also showed her that perhaps he really did want to build some sort of relationship between them both.
"Do you want to go down to the kitchens?" Harry asked.
Charlotte nodded, "let's both go and get dressed and meet back down here in fifteen minutes?"
"Sounds good," Harry replied, though as she sat up to leave, he pulled her back closer to him. "I love you." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, his eyes fluttering closed for the briefest of seconds until they separated again.
"I love you too, now come on, go and get ready!"
When Lottie went back up to the girls dormitory, the clock said it was 1pm, and so it was likely that the rest of the girls were somewhere else around the castle or in the Great Hall eating lunch. It was always nice to have the dorm to herself; sure she liked her friends, but privacy was always amazing, especially when there was usually such little of it.
She returned back to the common room ten minutes later, and waited for Harry on the arm of the sofa.
"Hey Lottie!" Waved Sophia Potter as she walked into the common room.
"Hey!" She smiled.
"How did you find your birthday?" She asked.
"It was good! Thank you both for helping to put it together, I was really happy with it!" Lottie grinned, "did you enjoy the party?"
"It was great!" Cried Sophia, "also very funny, Seamus was quite drunk!"
"Seamus is a good drunk," giggled Hermione, who was reading, "he was doing Irish dancing on top of the tables!"
"That doesn't surprise me," laughed Charlotte, "I'm glad you both had fun!"
"I'm back!" Harry said from behind the three girls. "Hello you two."
Sophia looked her brother up and down, "you smell."
"No I don't! I just used cologne!"
"You still smell," she replied, winking at Lottie before dragging Hermione away.
Harry looked at his girlfriend. "Do I smell?"
Charlotte laughed, leaning forwards and smelling his jumper. "No, but I do want that jumper soon."
"If you keep stealing my clothes, I'll have none left!" He whined.
"That sounds like a you problem," she said, walking to the exit of the common room. "Now chop chop, I'm hungry!"
"Alright, alright!" He followed quickly, not wanting to keep her waiting.
The pair walked down the corridors of Hogwarts, Lottie swinging their arms up and down in the air, smiling at the paintings that looked at them as they passed.
"So, what are your plans for today?" Harry asked.
"I'm thinking about a chat with Pom Pom, it's been a while," she told him.
"Pom Pom is the Hufflepuff head of house, right?"
"Pomona Sprout, my favourite!"
"Sounds good! Oh! I was thinking, I'm so glad Erin didn't show up at the party last night."
"Do you think she knew about the party?" Lottie asked curiously.
"We did our best to keep it a secret from her, so I don't think she'll find out until she hears people talking about it." Harry explained, pulling a face at the sound discussion of Erin, he hated her for the way he treated Charlotte.
"Hi guys!" Theo Nott said, he had just turned the corner with Alex. "Finally decided to wake up, eh?"
"We came to check you guys didn't fall off your brooms and crash to your death this morning, sadly you were in the common room safe and sound." Alex said sadly, and Charlotte kicked his shins as she rolled her eyes.
"Such a big shame," Theo pouted, quickly moving backwards so that Lottie couldn't kick him. "Where are you two off to on this fine Sunday afternoon?"
"Away from you," she smirked.
Alex gasped, "why would you want to do such things!?"
"Because the whomping willow looks prettier than you," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Where are you two going?" Harry asked the boys.
"Just finished helping Fred and George prank Filch! The old man's misses Umbridge, I'm sure of it! Anyway, we have him some sweet treats, slightly laced with pranking supplies, signed with a love not from dear old Dolores sent especially to him from Azkaban!" Explained Theo, laughing at his own actions.
"No way!" Harry gasped, "what do they do?"
"It'll give him some nasty spots for the next few days, nothing serious though," Theo told him. "Anyway, we have quidditch practice, so see you later!"
"Bye!"
Lottie and Harry continued their journey to the kitchens, and when they finally arrived, a house elf appeared and they each asked for a different toastie for lunch.
"Tuna?" Harry raised an eyebrow, "really?"
"You say that like getting ham and cheese isn't the most basic thing to get!" Lottie poked his chest, "anyway, tuna is the best!"
He sat down in one of the seats at a table, "ham and cheese may be basic but it's definitely the best."
"I beg to differ."
The food was given to them shortly after that, and the couple sat in a comfortable silence as they ate their food. Not many people were in the kitchens, and the ones that were were all the way down at the other end of the tables, so nobody was really close to them.
"Charlie, can we talk about yesterday? You looked...I don't know, stressed, worried? When I kissed you, what happened?"
She almost dropped the sandwich at the sudden conversation, she wasn't expecting that.
Wiping the corner of her mouth, Lottie looked at her boyfriend, deciding to put it simple. She took a deep breath, feeling her heart starting to race as she began to speak. "At the orphanage, I was raped. Multiple times. I don't like talking about it and I don't like thinking about it...just...being pushed against a wall reminded me of last summer and-"
"Last summer!?" Harry, who was in complete shock, interrupted her.
"Yes, last summer. I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I haven't told anyone, really. The boy was arrested so there's nothing to worry about, your dad fixed it all."
"He did?" Harry's eyes lit up, but he was still shocked with the new information, all he knew was that he had to be there for Charlotte, and also be extra careful not to worry her again. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault, love. If anything, I'm really sorry for worrying you - fuck you do not deserve any of that! If I could get my hands on that stupid little bitch-"
"Harry!" She found herself smiling. Despite the fact she had just opened up about something that was extremely important in her life, Harry was once again making her feel protected and comfortable, something she had always appreciated him doing.
"I love you, you know? And I'll never ever let anything like that happen to you again. I can't believe it, seriously! My god you deserve better then that." Harry was fuming, there was a pit in his stomach and a new sudden rage he couldn't seem to get rid of. How dare someone even think about hurting such a kind, caring girl? How dare somebody have hurt his girl?
"It's okay, Harry, really! But thank you, I really do appreciate it!" She said softly, though she found that she was wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. Perhaps it was the relief of finally telling him, or maybe it was just a touchy subject, either way, she was so glad to have him.
"Come here," Harry sighed, moving to the seat next to her and wrapping his hands around her, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing her forehead. "That will never happen to you again, I promise."
A/N
Bloody hell it's been a while. I missed you all!
Qotd: favourite ship of this book?
Word count: 1584