"Are you ready yet?"
Oh, how Harry hated that question.
Was he ready yet? Wouldn't he be down by the door if he was ready?
Why did they insist on asking the question they already knew the answer to?
Natalia burst through the door. "Pack this," she said, throwing a set of robes at him. "Did you need anything else?"
Giving her a flat stare, Harry unceremoniously dropped the robes into his bottomless bag. "I don't know," he said, wiping his forehead. "You tell me."
Rolling her eyes, she went into his closet and began sending clothes at him. Holding his bag out before him, he waved his hand and everything that came out of the closet funnelled into the bag.
After far too many clothes came out, Natalia exited the walk-in. "There," she said, standing on tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his lips. "Three weeks' worth of clothes. I trust you can handle the toiletries?"
With a pat on the cheek, she left in a whirlwind.
Harry stared after her for a moment before he gave his head a shake and trotted off to the bathroom.
"Are you ready yet?"
He gripped the counter of the bathroom while he debated how to retaliate.
She was definitely doing it to rile him up.
"Nearly," he called back, knowing how she hated that imprecise reply.
As he looked at the bathroom, he couldn't help but frown.
The blasted room had three different configurations. His three fiancés had conspired to make the ensuite match for whomever spent the night with him. They'd put their heads together and made this complicated bit of magic work, but Harry had no idea how to control it.
It wasn't like he cared what it looked like. As long as there was a loo, shower, and sink, he was good. Each configuration had a small portion of the counter setup for his stuff but as he stared at it now, it was empty.
Had he already packed it?
"Still not done, 'arry?" Fleur said from behind him with a small laugh. "I thought you wanted to go on our trip."
With his hands on his haps, Harry turned around. "I do," he said. "But I've got a lot to pack for."
Fleur wrapped her arms around him from behind and tucked something into his hand.
With his eyes shut, Harry took hold of it and leaned back into the contact.
"There is everything you need for the expedition," she said, patting his hands before giving him a squeeze and letting go. "Better hurry, before Daphne has to come up here."
She pulled his chin around and gave him a kiss, slipping a little tongue in.
Harry watched her turn and walk away. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder before giving him an impish grin. "Don't make me wait too long, 'arry."
Reaching his fingers up, he touched his lips.
Damn those devious girls and what they did to him.
Glancing down at the little bag, Harry threw it, and the one he had been packing, on the bed.
"Are you done yet?"
"Nearrrrrly," he called out again.
Honestly, though, he had no clue. Between Dobby and his girls, these things were normally taken care of.
"I see we are not nearly done," Daphne said as she entered the room, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Harry turned towards her, then backed until his calves touched the bed and he let himself fall back onto the bed. With his arms thrown up above him, he let out a beleaguered sigh. "Haven't you punished me enough?"
"No," she said, coming to stand over him. "But we're not about to punish ourselves either."
Her words caused a flutter of hope in his stomach.
He was pants at packing.
Between Dobby and the girls, they normally more than covered everything, going so far as to pick out and label outfits for him.
While some guys might get annoyed that their significant other was labelling clothes and had provided a corresponding timetable, when one of them was not around to do it for him directly, he loved it.
It was brilliant. He'd wear what he was told, never have to shop or waste time trying to figure out what he should be wearing. With all the compliments he kept getting, it was practically perfect.
Well, perfect so long as they were willing to keep doing it.
"Did we learn our lesson this time?"
Rolling himself up into a sitting position, Harry nodded with enthusiasm. "Don't try and out-drink Sirius."
Daphne crossed her arms, pinched her lips together, and then raised a solitary eyebrow.
"And don't take his advice to ask for a foursome," Harry said, shooting her a tentative and apologetic grin.
Reaching into her pocket, Daphne withdrew a silver bowtie that had a subtle sparkle to it. She closed the distance between them and tied it around his neck, adjusting the back of his collar to finish.
With her hands still wrapped behind his neck, he pulled him to her and gave him a gentle kiss. "I didn't tell the others," she said, staring up at him. "Don't let the Mutt put those ideas in your head."
Harry raised his hand and caressed her cheek. "Sorry… I'm the luckiest wizard alive and often wonder if all my shite luck growing up isn't being paid back by being with you three."
She kissed his cheek and then pulled him toward the exit of the room by the hand. "Dobby will take care of the rest," she said, pointing back towards his bags. "We'll enjoy ourselves tonight and then get away from it all."
"Couldn't we skip the anniversary ball?" Harry asked, knowing it was a futile inquiry. "I'm not attending this every year for the rest of my life."
"The Man-Who-Conquered has to attend," she said with a roll of her eyes. "We're making progress but you've got to play the game if you want to have the political sway."
He let out a pleased hum. "One night, then three weeks with you all," Harry said. "I'm glad we're all getting away together. Between the meetings, social gatherings, duelling practice, curse breaking, and ballet it was getting a bit much."
Daphne snorted. "As if you could sit still," she said as they began to descend the staircase. "The last time you had a full day off, you nearly blew up your workshop."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Harry couldn't help but grin. "So worth it," he muttered. "Viktor's still pissed that my broom is better than his. I'm sure he'll pull out all the stops for us when we visit just so I might lend it to him for the World Cup."
The two of them came to the foyer, and he kissed Daphne's forehead and then went and greeted the other two. The night would be tedious, but he'd have a lot of fun dancing with his girls. They'd slip out and then have almost a month of travelling.
Three weeks to relax before things really got going. Harry was looking at entering the Duelling Circuit, Fleur was going to be going on her first Curse Breaking Expedition, Natalia was about to rehearse for a new production, and Daphne had graduated and was diving into the business world.
Life was busy, but since he'd stumbled into Salazar's journal, it had surely been interesting.
"Harry!" Harry heard a voice call. Looking over in the direction it came from, he tried to spot the two ingrates.
There they were. Cedric was sitting at the bar, mug raised as high as his arm could reach, and Krum, glowering off at anyone, everyone, and nothing in particular, all at the same time.
Really, he shouldn't have needed to have looked, the two reprobates were in the same booth as always.
"Hey," he said, falling into the booth next to Krum.
"So?"
Ignoring the prompting, Harry looked 'round the table and found his hard-earned prize: a mug full of golden bliss.
Reaching out, he took hold of it and tipped it over when it reached his mouth.
"Ahh," he said, smacking his lips. "That's better."
He went to swap his empty for the next full one, but Krum snatched his wrist. It was like his arm was caught in a vise.
With just a demanding grunt, Krum beckoned him to reply with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine, fine," Harry said as a benign smile formed on his face. "PANDAs really aren't too bad. A bit cute and cuddly, aren't they?"
"Oh, come off it," Cedric cried, placing his mug down with an audible thunk. "PANDAs are known to make people have mental breakdowns! McGonagall said she slept for nearly two weeks and Flitwick took two attempts to complete his!."
Harry looked up with a grin that was glittering with self-satisfied smugness. "I've got stamina for days," he said, palming his mug. "How else could I keep up with three wives?"
Looking Cedric in the eye, he gave him a wink and greedily gulped at his beer.
"You're such a prick," Cedric said with no malice as he scowled. "I'm going to find Daphne as soon as I get to the Ministry tomorrow and get the actual story."
With a roll of his eyes, Harry held his hands up. "They were brutal and I'm only here because I took a Pepper Up."
"Yah," Krum said, raising his mug with a dip of his chin. "It was easy to spot. The redness on the edge of your cheeks."
"What?" Cedric said, turning to him. "Easy?"
"You think we go to press and talk for so long after hours and hours of flying without Pepper Up?"
Cedric dropped his head onto the table. "This is what I get for being friends with you bastards," he said as he repeatedly tapped his head on the table.
He sat back up and shook his head.
"There's got to be worse things than friends with the only wizard to ace a PANDA and the youngest player to ever captain a squad to the World Cup." Harry used his elbow to bump Krum's shoulder. "Wouldn't you say so?"
With a puckish grin, Krum bobbed his head. "Imagine complaining about that."
"Oh, sod off."
Harry exchanged a look with Victor prompting the two of them to start laughing.
After studying rigorously for months, it was great to be out with the boys. And for as much as Cedric downplayed himself, he had a bright career in international politics burgeoning. Engaged to Cho, best friends with two internally famous phenoms and with his boyish charms, stellar reputation and being the kind of guy you couldn't help but like the second you met him, he was well on his way to a long, prosperous career.
That he and Daphne got on like tar and feathers only made things better for Harry.
He might not know all their schemes, but those two were amongst the most forward thinkers he'd been around. Especially when you threw Patrice and Apolline into the mix.
"Tosspots."
Harry shrugged. "I'll be a tosspot so long as I never need to take another Prostratingly Arduous & Nauseatingly Debilitating Assessment again."
"Dah," Krum echoed. "Another World Cup for me."
"Hey! Wait," Harry exclaimed. "I said I don't want another PANDA."
It was Cedric who rolled his eyes this time. "Right," he said. "You're done now. Completing just one PANDA when Dumbledore finished three ."
He turned to Krum. "Somehow," he said. "I don't believe him."
"I hope he doesn't," Krum replied. And as he turned to Harry, the corners of his mouth upturned. "He'll have to make me a broom as soon as I get my second cup."
Cedric's head whipped around to Harry. "A broom?" he demanded.
After shooting Krum a nasty look, Harry sighed. "I'm not making one."
"Not until I win the bet," Krum agreed with impossibly casual arrogance.
"If you make him one, I'm getting one too," Cedric said, crossing his arms as he leaned back.
"I'm not making one!"
"Until I win," Krum agreed.
"I supposed I can find my Bulgaria gear for the next World Cup," Cedric said.
Dropping his head into his hands, Harry shook his head. "I don't even have a broom prototype!"
"Ah, yes, ' prototype'," Cedric said, doing air quotes. "But probably a dozen mock-ups."
"Dah."
Harry looked down into his half-full drink as he chewed on his lip. "If, and that is an if, I make one, you'll both be helping me test and refine it," he said after a moment. "But between preparing for the next PANDA, the women, and the project I'm tinkering with, it's not even on the docket at the moment."
"Until I win the cup again next year."
Just as Krum said that Harry's head rolled forward, and he barely kept himself from slamming his face into the table.
"Harry?" Cedric said, worry colouring his voice.
Before Harry would have had a chance to respond, Krum was holding him up. "Potion's worn off," Krums said, grabbing hold of Harry's arm. "I'll get him home."
"I can help."
"No, no," he said. "You finish your beer. I can handle him."
Cedric picked up his half-finished beer. "Cheers then," he said as Victor helped Harry to the door.
He'd just finished his drink when the waitress came back. "Here's the bill," she said. "You can settle up at the bar whenever you're ready."
Cedric's nose wrinkled as he glanced down at the bill. He looked for Harry and Krum, but the two were standing just outside the door laughing, vigorously waving at him.
"Those. Bloody. Bastards!"