Harry Potter and the Charm of Venus

Chapter 4 – Millacent

“And I thought Hermione was draining,” said Harry in a whisper to Ron at the Griffendor table the next morning. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and his limbs felt heavy and sluggish. It hadn’t been that way when he left the Room of Requirement after his meeting with the Patil sisters, and he thought that a full night’s sleep would have helped some.

“Fred says sex overrides everything,” commented Ron who seemed to find Harry’s predicament hilarious. He was scooping a huge dragon shaped pastry onto his plate from the platter. Harry himself had managed a bit of pumpkin juice but pushed the rest of his breakfast aside after having fallen asleep face first into his oatmeal. “He says that when you’re, ummm… you know… that you completely ignore how you feel. You were probably this tired then, you just had other more… pressing… things on your mind at the time.”

“You haven’t told them, have you??” Harry asked, a slow fear rising from his gut. The last thing he wanted was “help” from Fred and George Weasley.

“Are you mental? You think I want them badgering me to get my own love life going? I’d never hear the end of it if they knew my best friend was getting lucky every night and I hadn’t even snogged a girl yet.”

Harry just groaned and set his head in his arms on the table.

Ron had been awestruck at first to hear about his meeting with both of the girls at once, and obviously jealous. Harry tried to play up the fact that he would rather have his relationships the normal way without being forced into it, but Ron didn’t buy it. “Sorry mate. You can’t honestly tell me that you didn’t enjoy bangin’ the two most attractive girls in the school, let alone living out the fantasy of every male in our year by having ‘um both at the same time.”

Later, after breakfast, Harry slumped into Defense Against the Dark Arts class and had to be re-awakened three times by Ron before his snores got too loud. If Tonks noticed, she didn’t say anything. But apparently, she had noticed because about halfway into their lessons, she passed by Harry’s desk and pressed a vial filled with an orange-colored liquid into his hand.

“Drink this and see me after class please,” she said moving on to check on Neville behind him.

Harry did as he was told and grimaced at the sour-tasting potion. To his surprise, however, he suddenly found that he wasn’t tired anymore. In fact, he felt more wide awake than he had in days. After class, he lingered behind and waited until he was the only student left.

“Uh, thanks for the… uh, whatever it was that you gave me to wake me up,” he said to Tonks who was straightening things up in preparation for her next class.

“Owl’s Breath,” she said flatly while she waved her wand and the desks aligned themselves back into perfect rows. “Don’t expect it again, it’s highly addictive.”

“Oh…” replied Harry thinking that Tonks was being a little distant. All at once, she finished what she was doing and turned to face him. Smiling, she scooted up onto one of the desks. “So, I assume that Hermione’s charm is still intact?”

He nodded nervously.

“And have you made any progress at all?”

Suddenly, his cheeks felt hot. It was very different trying to talk about something so inherently personal with Tonks than it had been with Ron, and his throat closed up.

After a few moment’s of silence his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sighed. “Really Harry, there are less than seven days left. I don’t possibly see how you are going to be able to…”

“Two,” he croaked.

“Pardon?”

“Two. I, er… I only need one more.”

“You’re kidding,” exclaimed Tonks, astonished. Harry frowned a little, but did not reply. “Blimey…” she continued, somewhat flustered. “Well done, Harry. I wasn’t sure you had it in you, but, well… obviously you do.” He noticed that she was staring at him in that weird dreamy way again.

“Uh, Professor…” She immediately frowned at him. “Oh, sorry… Tonks… Don’t think that I… uh, I mean…”

“You still need my help,” she finished for him.

Harry looked relieved. “Yeah.”

“Well, Harry, as it turns out I think I have found someone who’s willing to help you complete the charm-break.”

“You have? I mean, that’s great!… Uh, who?”

“Millacent Peridew. You might have seen her. Short, dark-brown haired Ravenclaw who seems to like Batcats…”

“Willy Milly?” Harry had said the name most of the boys in his year used to describe the girl without thinking.

Tonks had a furious look on her face and Harry swallowed.

“I suggest, Harry, that you refrain from calling her that in her presence as it will almost certainly cancel any chance you have of getting her to help you.” Her stare was cold and very misplaced on the face of someone he considered to be almost perpetually bubbly.

“Sorry, it just sort of slipped out.”

“Well see to it that it doesn’t ‘slip out’ again.” She continued when he nodded. “I believe you have a free period after Friday’s Potions class, yes?”

He bobbed his head again.

“Good. I’ll arrange to have Hermione kept busy so she doesn’t… interfere, and you are to meet Miss Peridew in the Great Hall. She’ll be waiting for you. I know it’s cutting it close, but you only need the one more.”

When Harry didn’t respond, she sighed again. “Harry, you do understand what I’m saying, don’t you? What you need to do?”

“Sorry. I think the potion you gave me… the Owl’s Breath, is starting to wear off. Meet Millacent after Potions.”

“Right. And Harry, just because she’s willing to help you in this regard, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t treat her with all respect.”

“I know. I think that’s part of the problem. I want to break the charm, but I wish I didn’t have to… If there were some other way that didn’t…”

Tonks features softened. “This really is hard for you, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” he replied as the feeling of a heavy weight started to settle over him once again. He felt the desire to have more of the potion that Tonks had given him and decided that she was right. It would be highly addictive.

“Willy Milly!?” Ron ducked and lowered his voice as they talked at one of the study tables in the Griffendor Tower. “Blimey, Harry. She’s even more cracked than Luna.”

“Look, Ron, I don’t like it much either, but if I’m going to have any chance at all of breaking the charm then it’s got to be her. She’s, er… willing.”

“Well no kidding, Harry! Why do you think they call her Willy?! She’s a maniac!”

“She’s a nice looking girl,” said Harry as he stared down at his barely started essay on the Five Uses for Dragon Lillies.

“Sure she is,” continued Ron. “Some say she’s half Vella, too, or maybe even Dryad born.”

“Dryad’s? What are you talking about?”

“A girl who’s Dryad Born is one who was conceived in view of a forest spirit. They inherit all sorts of weird… urges.”

Harry frowned and turned to look at his best friend. “You’re kidding, right? You sound like Hermione.”

“She’s an absolute nympho, Harry! Dean Thomas said she can put a hex on you to make you want her even more after the first time… Something even worse than this Venus thing. He said she’s downright intoxicating.”

Now Harry knew that Ron was just babbling. Nothing could possibly be worse than the Charm of Venus. Could it?

The next five days came and went with a painful slowness that left Harry struggling with every minute. He was just so tired that he could barely concentrate. He hardly remembered what he was learning in his classes, and Hermione certainly wasn’t slowing down. If anything, she had only increased the frequency of their little trysts. Gratefully, they skipped that week’s DA meeting due to the fact that everyone was preparing for mid-semester exams. And that in itself was strange. He fully expected Hermione would let off a bit since she usually went a little bonkers preparing for what she often referred to as the most important thing ever, their future placement in the wizarding world. But with this round of tests, she hardly seemed bothered. Harry just figured she had gotten so far ahead of the rest of the class that she wasn’t worried anymore, until she mentioned something while they were resting from an exceptionally active humping session.

“That was simply delightful, Harry,” said the panting girl as they laid next to each other in a large bed in the Room of Requirement. “You really are learning. Your rhythm is… spot-on.”

“Yeah, well… Practice makes perfect.” He heard her chuckle next to him. “Speaking of which, any chance you can let up a little for a day or so? I’d really like to pass my exams.”

“Tsk, tsk, Harry. Your loss is my gain,” she replied smiling.

“Oh come on, Hermione. If our situations were reversed, you’d be begging me for time to complete your Arithmancy project.”

She rolled to face him, her hand sliding sensuously over his belly and chest. “No I wouldn’t.”

“You would! I know you… or have you already finished it?” He knew that it was to be turned in as part of her final exam, but it wasn’t beyond Hermione to have it done at mid-terms.

She laughed. “Nope. I decided there were more interesting things to do with my time.” Her hand was moving down into his lap, lightly caressing him. He also noticed she had begun kissing his chest and her legs were slowly snaking over his. Groaning, he felt himself starting to react. Not that he had a choice, but she just seemed insatiable while he grew more and more exhausted with each day.

“So you’re planning on finishing it later then, ughnnn… oh gods…” he asked as her body slid up on top of his. Her legs dropped to either side of his hips and her hands between them were already lifting and positioning his manhood.

“No. It’s just a stupid grade. Nothing really matters till our NEWT’s anyway.”

After that, Harry was sliding into her at an alarmingly arousing angle and found it very hard to concentrate. But her words stuck with him as she started to slowly rock atop him, her body, and his he realized, already caught up in newly rising passion.

Later, he mentioned it to Ron.

“I think all that sex has finally fried her brain, Harry. Hermione not caring about a grade? That’s just… wrong.”

“Maybe. I wonder if the Charm has anything to do with it?”

“What,” said the ginger-haired boy as he stuffed another chocolate frog into his mouth. “Woo fink it akes ‘er orny or umuh?”

Harry laughed as the frog despirately tried to escape from between Ron’s lips. “Well, I don’t know if horny is the right word, but it just seems like she doesn’t care about anything like she used to.”

His last Defense Against the Dark Arts class for that week was Thursday night, and he offhandedly mentioned Hermione’s strange behavior to Tonks as he was packing his bags to leave. Tonks had surreptitiously asked how Harry was handling things.

“Well, so long as I can stay awake, I think I’ll scape at least an Acceptable in all classes, which is more than I can say for Hermione. She just doesn’t seem to care. Either she’s awfully damn sure of herself, or she’s going to fail spectacularly.”

Tonks frowned. “She’s not usually flustered around test time?”

“Oh she’s flustered alright. Normally she’s downright bothersome to the rest of us, trying to get us to study harder or read such and such books over again…”

“But not this year?”

“No. I just figured maybe she had so much of my magical energy that she didn’t even need to try and study. You think she’s alright?”

Tonks was frowning, lost in thought. “I don’t know, but I need to check something out. You go ahead and run to your next class, you’re almost late.”

When Friday Potions class arrived, Harry was so tired and nervous about his upcoming meeting with Millacent that he completely flubbed the Disapating Draft he had been working on so that it bubbled over and spread across the surface of his desk, causing large portions of it to fade from view.

“Congratulations, Potter,” sneered Professor Snape with a half smile. “You have succeeded in producing an almost perfect… nothing, for the day.” He was staring at the missing spaces on the furniture in front of Harry. “Stay after to clean up your… lack.”

By the time he had finished scrubbing away his mistake, the act of which had a frightening habit of making his fingers disappear, he was nearly late for his date. He entered the empty hall at a run and completely out of breath. He heard a soft female giggle to his left.

“I like boys who are eager to see me,” came the words of the only other occupant of the room, her syrupy voice slightly echoing in the vast space.

“Sorry…. S-snape,” he panted. Millacent put up her hand.

“Say no more. It doesn’t matter, you’re here.” Her tone hadn’t been cold, in fact, Harry thought she sounded slightly amused. “Come on then,” she motioned as she hopped down from the end of the table she had been sitting on.

Not knowing how he should act, Harry took one last deep breath and followed the short girl. He knew that she was at least his own age, maybe a year ahead, and in one respect, Dean Thomas was right… She was certainly intoxicating. She didn’t have the sheer natural beauty of the Patil twins, yet something about her was powerfully attractive in another way. When she stopped near one of the massive support pillars and beckoned him closer, he realized abruptly what it was. She was sexy.

Harry had never really looked at a female that way, even Hermione, with whom he had been intimate nearly every day that week. Yet here was a girl who was projecting a very clear message to Harry without using a single word, and it made him literally weak in the knees. Swallowing in nervousness, he came forward until he was standing just in front of her. After a small pause, she reached out and grasped his left hand in both of hers, causing him to jump slightly.

“Relax, Harry,” she laughed. “I usually don’t bite.” She said the last with a playful smile and a slightly shy dip of her head, and he found that he couldn’t hold back his own smile.

“Sorry. I’m a little new at this sort of thing.”

“Well, I’m not. And I’m happy to guide you.” With that, she moved around the pillar, drawing Harry after her like a lost puppy. When they were completely obscured behind the column, Millacent bent down and pressed one of the wood panels of the wall. There was a click and a small doorway swung open just big enough for them to enter.

Just beyond the door was a very narrow corridor that ran away from the doorway they had just entered for as far as Harry could see. He figured that the passage had to be a crawlspace between the inner and out walls of the castle proper.

“This is amazing,” said Harry looking up. There was no ceiling above them as far as he could tell. He knew the roof must be up there somewhere, but the light from their little doorway only illuminated a dozen or so meters high. And suddenly, even that disappeared with a second click. as the little door closed again. The darkness was staggering, and if not for the sound of her breathing softly next to him, Harry wouldn’t have even known if Millacent was still there.

He was about to say something when the girl’s nearly liquid voice spoke up. “Just wait for your eyes to adjust. There’s plenty to see if you’re patient.” He couldn’t help but notice the double meaning in her words.

“W-what is this place?” Asked Harry genuinely surprised. He had never noticed it on the Maurader’s Map.

“It called Cuddle Corner,” she replied softly, pronouncing each word specifically. “The house elves sometimes use this space to deliver meals during Christmas and other special holidays. Otherwise, it goes mostly unseen by them.”

“And I thought I knew nearly every secret passage in the castle…”

“Not surprising that you never found this one. It’s magically sealed. The door requires the touch of either a house elf or a human female of twenty years of age or less to open. It will also refuse to open if someone is already in the space.”

“Really? Blimey,” said Harry into the darkness. If he didn’t try to look at them, he could just make out some kind of very faint illuminated dots all around the perifery of his vision. “I wonder why it was created that way?”

Harry jumped as a soft pair of hands came to rest on his chest. Millacent’s touch was warm and sensuous. “So that students could do exactly what we’re doing now, Harry.”

Harry had no idea what to do with his own hands so he just let them fall to her waist, which he found to be quite a bit lower than Hermione’s or the Patil twins. He expected Millacent to start undressing him or something, but she simply smoothed her hands over his chest, lightly pressing her fingers here and there as though feeling the muscles just below his clothing. The gentle undemanding touch was quite calming to Harry who had grown used to being controlled and aroused like a puppet by the Venus Charm.

Slowly, over the span of several minutes, his eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness just as Millacent had said. Like a gradually developing photograph, the form of the girl before him came into view. First it was just her sillhoette, then the dark wells of her eyes within light areas of her face. Finally, her full features became clear to Harry and he found himself holding his breath.

The strange light between the walls gave everything a bluish cast. What was her chestnut brown hair became a dark swath of purple around her face. Her simple school skirt was now the darkest indigo, and the red sweater she wore beneath her parted robes was nearly black. At her face, her lips had become similar strokes of glossy darkness, and her eyes were like blue flame, nearly iridescent in strange illumination. And then it occurred to Harry that although there were shadows, he could not identify a source of the light. It definitely reminded him of something, but he couldn’t place it.

As though she could read his mind, Millacent answered his unasked question. “It’s called Moonfire. The space between the walls is always lit like this… as though standing under a full moon.”

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” he said staring into her eyes.

She smiled softly. Then, with a slight widening of her pupils, she moved her hands to Harry’s shoulders, then his arms, and finally down to his hands resting on her hips. With a gentle pressure, and without looking away from his own eyes, she guided his fingers to the bottom edge of her sweater.

Harry’s heart raced with sudden adrenaline as she very slowly helped him push up the garment. As he did so, he could feel the smooth warmth of her bare skin beneath, its fairness gleaming like frozen lightning as her midriff was gradually revealed. A few moments later the tips of his fingers brushed against the bottom-most swells of her breasts and Harry’s breath caught again. Her smile deepening slightly, the Ravenclaw gently directed Harry’s hands inward and up so that his fingers slid silently over the curves of her breasts. Her nipples, he noticed, were supple and firm, and when he finally glanced down in near shock, he saw that they appeared extremely dark and present against the bright paleness of her skin as they just popped out from under the edge of her pushed up sweater.

When Harry brought his eyes back up to hers, he saw that she was moving closer; tilting her head back and closing her eyes. He watched, fascinated as she simply enjoyed the intimate touch. He let his fingers rub the hardened flesh and her lips parted in a nearly silent breath of pleasure. It was many minutes that Harry watched her face as she accepted his attention, responding with little gasps and sways and shivers. He was so distracted by the translation of joy on her countenance that he never saw her hands return to his shoulders. It was only when he felt the warm pressure of her fingers at the back of his neck that he understood that she was drawing his face down close to hers. And then their lips met.

Kissing Millacent Peridew was as different from kissing any other girl as Pumpkin juice was from Pollyjuice potion. It was as if through the contact of their lips she could speak a silent magical language which was as clearly understood as any other Harry knew. Even with his own eyes now shut, through those lips, and the contact of his fingers on her chest, he could still see her perfectly in his mind. He could clearly sense the rise in her heart rate and the warmth of arousal that spread up from her belly to be reflected in her nipples as a silent pulsing. He heard the soft moan in her throat at the same moment her body made a gentle shiver and seemed to naturally gravitate towards his.

As Millacent pressed up against him, Harry forgot about his nervousness. He forgot about Hogwarts, the Venus Charm, and even why he was there in the first place. There was only the young Ravenclaw in his arms. Their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly, even though she stood nearly a foot shorter than Harry. He wanted nothing more than the kiss to go on forever.

Harry hadn’t even noticed that her hands had slid into his own robes until they finally broke for air some indeterminate time later. The warmth of her fingers smoothing up his bare back caused him to gasp and he opened his eyes. Millacent was staring up at him, her own eyes wide and bright as though she too were surprised at the reaction between them, and eager for more. She simply watched him for a moment, her breath deep and throaty. Then, without breaking eye-contact, her hands moved down his back and after a brief pause at his hips, down over his rear under his clothing.

Instantly, he was nearly dizzy with arousal. When she had managed to undo the buckle of his belt he couldn’t say, but obviously she had, for suddenly the garments, along with his boxers, were dropping down his legs to crumple around his ankles. His heart began to pound so loudly in his ears that he thought Millacent would certainly hear it, and for a moment he started to feel that clumsy nervousness that always appeared when he was around attractive females. But then he let his hands drop down the girl’s sides and back to her own hips, which to his great surprise, were already bare. Startled, he glanced down and saw that her skirt and panties were laying at her feet. He looked back to Millacent’s face and found her smiling expectantly, her eyes alight with the lust of her own arousal. Without needing to be told, his hands reached down further over the roundness of her buttocks and pulled her both inward and up. Almost without effort her body lifted from the ground as her thighs parted. He knew that her own hands had climbed back to his shoulders under his shirt and she was helping, but she still seemed to weigh next to nothing as he raised her into his lap.

Harry wasn’t sure how he could hold her up and position himself at the same time, but he need not have worried. As soon as Millacent was at the correct height, her hips angled forward and he felt the tip of his shaft slip languidly through the very slick folds of her womanhood. He only needed to relax his grip ever so slightly to let her slide down over him completely.

“Ahhh, oh yesss, Harry,” she gasped into his shoulder, shuddering in wonderful pleasure as he settled within her very warm depths. Almost at once her whole body began to move. Starting with her pelvis, she rocked slowly against him, clutching him tightly with both her arms as well as her legs, which were crossed behind his own backside effectively locking him inside her. Harry’s eyes rolled slightly back in his head at the wash of pleasure that seemed to enfold him, and everything save for the girl squirming against him disappeared completely from his mind. He was simply lost in the grinding rhythm of her hips against his, the softness of her naked flesh, and the breathy moans that she was making in his ear.

At first, their rhythm had been chaotic, even frantic. But slowly, over time, they once again gained control of their lust. Millacent rolled her head over to stare into Harry’s eyes and he saw a slight look of surprise in the girl’s features. Her gasping chuckle conveyed to him that she had seen the same look on his own face. Then, as their motion became more synchronized and determined, Harry saw her eyes twinkle with mischief, even challenge. All at once, she tensed the muscles of her flower and gripped Harry while she dramatically slowed the rhythm of her hips.

“Ahhh, ughhhnn!” Groaned Harry as intense pleasure threatened to push him over the edge. He fought for control and matched her pace with his own hips. As good as it felt inside her before, it was doubly so now, and the feelings were apparently mutual for he saw her eyes flutter in rising ecstasy. With utmost concentration, Millacent was undulating her whole lower torso against his while she locked eyes with Harry, opened mouthed, in a battle to see how much pleasure they could create in the other before peaking into the bliss they knew was quickly approaching. To Harry, every second he held her up against him was driving him crazy with delight. It was as though she were welcoming him within her with each rocking motion. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, and he didn’t care. He was completely lost to the girl who was even now starting to shudder in her own overwhelming orgasm. He felt the muscles of her womanhood contract and suck at him, her hips quivering beneath his hands as she came. Harry quickly felt his own moment crashing down on him and he grasped her body even tighter to his as he released himself within her.

Over his left shoulder, Millacent was gasping and crying out his name over and over. Her fingers clutched at his neck and back such that he was sure to have marks there in the morning. Her whole body jerked and spasmed against his for almost a full minute, then gradually slowed until her only motion was their shared gasping for breath. Suddenly aware that his body was on the verge of collapsing, Harry leaned back to the rock wall he knew was directly behind him and slid them both to the floor, he on his rear, Millacent still shuddering occasionally in his lap.

They stayed this way for many minutes, neither needing to speak, and neither moving more than their ragged breathing required. Yet even this slight motion was more than enough to keep a gentle flow of pleasure between them.

“My god, Harry…” she said finally as she turned her face toward his, a sweat-soaked lock of her hair plastered to her forehead.

“Yeah…” he agreed, almost too stunned to speak. Their lovemaking had been more than simply intense. They stayed in each other’s arms, neither wanting to move even a little until Harry started to feel his erection fading.

“I…” he started. Millacent raised a hand and placed it on his lips while making a little “shhh” sound. Her smile convinced him that she was more than happy to just stay as they were for a bit longer. Finally, when they were once again breathing calmly, she spoke in a soft, friendly voice.

“So… I guess that Venus Charm thing is history, yes?”

Harry frowned a little. “I think so. I’m not sure I would know how to tell.”

She jiggled her hips a little and grinned while she said, “Well the next time Miss Granger comes a knockin’, if you don’t feel the overwhelming compulsion to jump in her bed and bang her brains out, then I’d guess you are in the clear.”

He knew she was kidding, but something was still worrying him.

“Or… were you enjoying that?” she asked misinterpreting his concern for regret.

“What? No!… I mean, oh hell, sure. What guy wouldn’t enjoy having a pretty girl want him in her bed every night? I’d be a liar if I said anything different.” He was afraid of how Millacent might react about his feelings for Hermione and cringed a little. But when he looked over at her, she was staring back with what he thought was a sense of appreciation.

“Thanks for that, Harry. That was an honest answer to an unfair question. I really shouldn’t have asked.”

He shook his head. “I’m glad you did. I’m not at all certain how I really feel about what she did to me. I guess I should be angry. It’s just that we’ve been friends for so long and….”

She placed her finger to his lips again. “It’s alright. You don’t have to decide right this moment, or ever for that matter. The important thing is that whenever you do decide, you’re able to live with how you feel.”

Harry blinked at her. “I hope you know how incredible you are.”

Her smile widened. “Willy Milly, at your service,” she said, saluting and laughing at he same time.

He laughed with her, but something occurred to him and Harry frowned. “Millacent, can I ask you a personal question?”

“You, Harry, may ask me anything you wish.”

He took a deep breath and considered his words. “How do you feel about all that?… What people call you?”

Her brow went up and she looked briefly contemplative. “Well, why should I feel anything about it?”

“But how can you… I mean, doesn’t it bother you?”

“Harry, as incredible as what we just did was, you are hardly the first boy I have dragged back here. If people call me easy it’s because I AM.”

“But…”

She shook her head to stop him. “Listen to me, Potter. I like sex. A lot. I have from the moment I first discovered to masturbate at age nine. And the fact is, I’m not about to worry myself if others find my desires obtuse. I don’t hurt people, but I DO make a number of students here at Hogwarts very happy. And while I certainly get something in return in the form of pleasure, I almost always give more than I take. Let me ask you something. How do you feel right now?”

Harry had to stop and consider the answer that came immediately to his head before he spoke since it surprised him so. “I… I feel great,” he replied, slightly confused. “Almost rested.”

“And do you know why that is,” she asked simply.

“I know why it shouldn’t be. I should be exhausted. It must have something to do with breaking the Venus Charm…”

Millacent sighed. “Men… You always think you’re the answer. Harry, I’m a six!”

“Pardon?”

“The Halvard scale… Sexual energy potentials… hello?”

He was stunned. “You’re a six?”

“Taa daa!” she exclaimed holding up her hands.

He considered this for a moment. “But then, I feel so good because…”

“The difference between our Halvard ratings is minimal. Certainly much less by several orders of magnitude than say a two or a three, or god forbid someone in the negative range.”

“So you don’t take nearly as much of my energy!”

“Nope. And I may even pass a little of mine the other way. The closer your Halvard ratings, the easier it is.”

“Millacent, that’s amazing!” Harry was ecstatic until something else occurred to him. “But if you’re a six, then almost anyone else you have sex with…”

“Leaves me magically drained. Yes,” she finished for him. “Except, Harry, for you.” He saw small tears form in the corner’s of her eyes. “For the first time in my whole life, you have given me something that no other lover has ever been able to. I never expected I’d ever find someone with a higher rating than my own, so I had sort of resigned myself to being a giver and never a taker, you know?”

And he did know. “I guess that means I get to be a giver.”

She smiled knowingly at him. “I’d say so. But if it’s any consolation, you sort of learn to like helping people.”

He grinned down at her. “Yeah, I suppose you do. I wonder what makes our ratings what they are? Genetics I suppose.”

“Oh, mostly,” she replied. “But some of it is environmental, to be sure.”

“Environmental? You mean, what happens to us as babies?”

“I think before puberty, but I’m sure that factors may influence us even as far back as conception, maybe especially so.”

“Conception? Hah… My friend Ron said something about you being Dryad-born, can you believe it?”

She was silent for a moment and then said, “You’d do well to listen to your friend once in a while.”

“What!? You’re serious? That’s why you’re so… so…”

“Horny?”

“Uh… I wouldn’t say that,” he replied blushing.

She laughed out loud. “But Harry, I AM horny! Almost all the time! I’m not sure it’s because I’m Dryad-born, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“But… but, how do you even know?”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out. My mum and dad work for the Ministry as researchers. They were doing a piece on Fire Faeries during the Spring Equinox Festival in Mealdale almost exactly nine months before I was born. Those faeries are all about sex, Harry, especially at that time of the year. I’m certain that’s where my parents conceived me, and if there was ever a time for forest spirits to be out and about, it’s then.”

“Unbelieveable…” said Harry shaking his head. “I guess Ron was right then… about you having, uh… weird urges.”

She smiled up at him. “Well, I’m not sure how weird they are, but I certainly have some urges right now…” Her hands were seductively smoothing over Harry’s chest. He was a little surprised to find that he suddenly had some urges of his own.