20.10. 98

Chapter 14: Goodbyes

September flew by. Between their studies, their friends, and their time together, Hermione and Harry could hardly notice the passage of time. They used to spend three evenings at the pool and spend some time with the Evans twins each weekend. The eighth year students were not limited in their access to the external world and they usually visited Hogsmead every weekend and some even went much farther.

Iris used to meet George every weekend and Daphne traveled much farther, visiting Krum wherever his team happened to be at that time. Both twins seemed to be happy about their new relations, although none would agree to call the boy she fancied her boyfriend.

The morning post brought a letter for Ron:

"Hi, little bro!

I've been informed that you are not paying enough attention during transfiguration lessons. I consider it a grave mistake. Besides the fact that your transfiguration teacher is a delight to look at, she is also a very accomplished witch, as I've found out. Many of the things we are selling at the shop are based on charms and transfiguration. I suggest you pay attention to these lessons and get the most out of them (Hermione would probably help you, if you ask nicely).

I wouldn't like to waste my next date hearing complaints about my brother. My time with Iris is never long enough and we always have much to talk about. You should also pay her utmost attention as she may eventually become your sister in law.

Ginny complained about your behavior when any boy comes near her, especially at the pool. I know you find it hard when such a beautiful girl walks naked near you, yet you should trust her explicitly. She has already proven her worth in battle. She is threatening to curse your bits off if you continue to interfere. If you like your bits attached (and Luna surely would like them that way) you should leave her alone. I'm sure Neville's intentions towards her are at least as honorable as yours about Luna.

Study well and have fun,

George."

Ron frowned. "Bloody hell! Now George is mothering me as well!"

"Is it really so bad?" A small hand on his shoulder calmed him down. He turned around.

"Hi, Luna! I haven't noticed you coming."

"I arrived here when the owls came. George is right, you know…"

"Right?..."

"About your bits. I really like them, especially when you push them inside me…"

Ron's face turned redder than his hair. Luna just sat down at his side and smiled innocently at Harry and Hermione who were hardly holding their giggles. Trust Luna to make you happy, they thought.

Iris was also approaching their table. "A word with you, Mr. Weasley…"

Ron followed her aside for a short conversation, returning with even redder face.

"What did she tell you?" Luna asked.

"She suggested we use her quarters for our… meetings. She doesn't want to risk her future brother in law to be expelled for inappropriate behavior."

"Well…" Luna looked at him suggestively.

"She's going to class now for the whole morning. I only have class in two hours."

"My morning is free," Luna commented dreamily.

"Would you…"

"Let's go!" Luna grabbed his hand and led him out of the great hall.

It was their last weekend together with his cousins. Harry and Hermione spent as much time as possible with the twins. The new professors were due to arrive Sunday and the twins would leave the next day. Harry couldn't get enough of his new cousins, knowing it would be some time before they would meet again. Hermione was sure they would keep in touch, one way or another and would not let these new family ties deteriorate. There was really no reason for them not to visit each other even during school year. They could legally leave school during weekends and could freely apparate to wherever they wanted. They had even visited the Grangers for dinner two weeks earlier.

"I think we should take a swim after lunch," commented Daphne. "The pool at college is much smaller and not so nice…"

"…and swimsuits are mandatory," added Iris, making the other laugh.

They were not alone at the pool. Neville was already there along with Ginny. Ron arrived a bit later with Luna and stayed as far away from Ginny as the pool allowed. Ginny smirked and whispered something in Neville's ear, making him blush crimson. Lavender and Seamus were too busy snogging and groping at the far corner of the pool to notice anything.

The Potters and the Evans swam leisurely, chatting along, just enjoying being together.

"I will miss you, once we return to college," commented Daphne.

"I'll miss this pool as well," added Iris. "I'll really miss Hogwarts," she added as an afterthought.

"Why?" Harry wondered.

"Well… This is the first time I've been among British teen magicals. This is very different from the French. They are usually politer and seem to be much friendlier yet they don't really like strangers, as we were. Here it feels more like… home, really. We could be ourselves and not worry about representing our country or about obscure manners."

"And you could swim nude…" added Harry with a grin.

"Actually, Beauxbatons has a larger swimming pool and an outdoor pool as well – both strictly cloth free. Yet the French boys couldn't keep their distance…"

The new professors arrived late Sunday evening, escorted by the headmistress. They were given their own apartments in the teacher's wing. There were enough apartments there to easily allow doubling the teaching staff. The new teachers joined the twins on Monday lessons, being introduced to the classes and getting to know the school before receiving the full burden of their posts.

"I'd like you all to meet the new Muggle-Studies teacher – Professor Evans," Iris informed the class. Harry seemed bewildered while Hermione only smiled knowingly.

The new teacher stepped in front of the class. He looked a bit older – probably near thirty. Harry expected to hear American accent, yet the teacher had a perfect English accent. "My name is Mark Evans. I grew up in England and only moved to the States after graduation. As you may guess, I'm related to Miss Evans here – I'm actually her elder brother. Unlike her, I'm not magical. I'm completely 'muggle', as you call it."

"How can you even enter Hogwarts?" somebody asked.

"The headmistress may allow anybody in, enabling them to see Hogwarts in all its glory."

Harry was really curious how a muggle would feel at Hogwarts. He was also aching to get to know the new teacher as his cousin. He noticed Iris was actually hinting silently at him and Hermione to meet her after lunch.

Mark proved to be even more knowledgeable than Iris, being able to answer some difficult technical questions and helping the students understand more of the background of each muggle invention mentioned. He was even able to give Hermione some bits of information she had previously not been aware of.

Harry hurried through lunch, eager to meet his new cousin. Hermione followed suit with an understanding smile. Iris was waiting for them and walked them to the transfiguration classroom, where Daphne was waiting with Mark and another woman.

Daphne made the introductions. "Harry, Hermione – these are my brother Mark and his wife Sylvie. Sylvie and Mark – this is our famous cousin, Harry Potter, and his magnificent wife Hermione."

Mark shook their hands politely, yet Sylvie looked at them with awe. "I knew you were young, yet I didn't imagine you were so young…"

It took her a moment to calm down and shake their hands enthusiastically.

"You know, you shouldn't treat them any differently than the other students," commented Iris dryly.

"I know… Yet meeting a legendary hero in flesh and blood is not something I was ever thinking would happen to me," answered Sylvie, while Harry groaned internally 'Not another fan girl!' he thought.

They sat at a table to talk. It turned out Mark had met his wife at the university and had only discovered she was a witch shortly before their wedding, finding it somewhat ironic. Yet his academic achievements along with his connections in the magical world made him ideal for the position at Hogwarts. Sylvie had been the top student of her class at Salem Magical High-School and mastered Charms and Transfiguration before going to the university to round her education. The couple had been married for only a year and Mark was actually looking for an opportunity to return to England when he received Hogwart's offer.

Mark was quite amused at his wife's enthusiasm when meeting the Potters. He had known about Harry's history but hadn't really been interested until he learned he was going to meet him. His wife, on the other hand, learned about Harry as a child and then later as a youngster. While Mark had only thought of him as a distant relative whom he had never seen, for Sylvie he had been a great hero. Her reaction was expected, yet she was smart enough to notice that Harry didn't like being treated like an idol. A few minutes into the conversation she started talking to him just the way she would talk to her friends. Noticing he liked it much better.

They didn't have much time to spend together. "We'll meet again after dinner," suggested Iris, "but only briefly. We need to start our own studies tomorrow morning."

"How are you going to travel?" wondered Harry.

"Oh, that's simple…"

"…We shall apparate home, to Mum…"

"…Spend the night there…"

"…and drive to College tomorrow morning," they said.

"It's actually quite close to home. Only about twelve minutes ride with the car…"

"…or an hour using public transportation."

They had potions that afternoon. Although Professor Slughorn was very fond of the Potters, Harry was so distracted that the professor had to mildly reprimand him, making Harry blush in shame. He could hardly wait for dinner to be over before dragging a slightly annoyed yet slightly amused Hermione for another meeting with his cousins.

It was actually a "Goodbye" meetings. The twins had already packed and shrunk all their stuff. They were already wearing jeans and T-shirts looking just like two young girls. They kissed their brother on the cheeks and hugged him warmly and then repeated the same for his wife before proceeding to Harry.

"We shall see you both at Christmas. Dad intends to come as well and stay for a month or two," Daphne informed them.

"We will be there. You are also invited to visit us at Potter Manor," Harry replied.

"We will visit. We promise," both twins said.

They hugged Harry and kissed him, pressing their bodies into his just a bit more than necessary and winking at Hermione. They then hugged her as well before donning their overcoats and walking out to the apparition point beyond Hogwart's gates.

Both couples – the Potters and the Evans accompanied them to the gates and wished them success. The twins hugged them all once more and then stepped out and disappeared, not before saying "See you all at Christmas!"

"Yes, at Christmas," replied Harry, thinking of all the changes his merry cousins had brought to his life. He took Hermione's hand in his and walked back to the castle, along with Mark and Sylvie. They still had a lot to catch up to, but they had the rest of their lives to do it.

Please Review!

A/N: I only intended this to be a short one or two shot story, yet it turned out to be much longer. I'm not really happy with the way it turned out, although I enjoyed writing it as well as reading it after long pauses, when trying to add another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as well.

About nudity: I'm a firm believer in Naturism. I find the social and religious taboo about it quite absurd, Some Americans would even endorse films with extreme violence and blood-shed, but would shy away from any kind of nudity. I find violence disgusting while nudity is refreshing. It has nothing to do with sex (although sex is usually done nude). It is simply the way we are.