The Assassin's Comeuppance #4 (Patreon)

"Well, I don't have any problems with that idea. It does seem fitting that such an event is organized here in the castle." Minerva smiled.

Harry grinned. He knew she won't deny this request. It was as much about making a statement as it was about symbolism. Hogwarts held a special place in the hearts and sentiments of every witch and wizard in Britain, a permanent fixture that had stood tall and proud for over a millennium, and hopefully for more to come. Every assault on the formidable castle had been viciously repelled by the forces in charge of governing it, combatants and non-combatants alike.

The statement it would be, one which might have been ignored by a few, but surely not by those having had a vested interest in the battle all those years ago, was ample in itself. A rallying point for like-minded individuals, all united in their efforts and desire to see Britain move forward, disguised as a gala. Only an idiot would not notice it.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry spoke with a slight bow of his head.

"It's the least I could do. However, I'd like you to forward me the details as soon as you can. One week of advance notice will suffice." Minerva said with a nod, and Harry agreed.

"Sure, Professor. The gala will take place about a month from today, two nights before the Wizengamot session. Given the school will be out because of the Yule holidays, I feel it's fitting too. However, I'll have you informed about the intricate details of the event by tomorrow at the latest."

"No need to hurry so much, Potter. Take your time." Minerva stood up and straightened a bunch of parchment, stacking it up nicely before she bound it with a flick of her wand. A golden ribbon adorned the binding and she levitated it in front of Harry.

"The final transcript of the draft, as you requested. I've looked it over."

Harry picked it up with a smile and thanked her again. Minerva smiled and he shrunk the book before putting it in the pocket of his coat.

"Well... that's it then. I'll be going now, Professor. Thank you yet again." Harry stood up with a smile.

Minerva nodded. Harry nodded back and walked over to the door. Grasping the handle, he pulled it open and made to walk out, before her voice stopped him.

"Potter..." Harry turned back around to see her looking at him with a small smile. "Good luck." Harry smiled back, and with a grateful nod, walked out, shutting the door gently behind him.

Slowly, he walked down the stairs and exited the castle. Suddenly, he paused in his steps and looked around.

'I wonder how Hagrid's doing,'

With a small smile on his face, Harry made his way toward the small hut, visible owing to a solitary lantern glowing in the soft white expanse.

He knocked on the door, his fists hitting the wooden frame with loud thuds and he heard some utensils falling inside followed by some juvenile curses. Harry snickered.

A large smile bloomed on his face when the door opened and he came face to face with his first friend in this world.

The large smile mirrored on Hagrid's gentle face and as he pulled Harry into a crushing hug, Harry couldn't complain. He'd do anything for these people. Fondly closing his eyes, Harry smiled.

*****

The Crimson had long become his personal haven. A place frequented mostly by the wealthy folks of Wizarding Britain and various foreign visitors that had made a name for itself in the nightlife aspect.

With a smirk on his face, Harry Potter entered through the threshold. The club was in full swing. Witches and wizards danced on the floor, the bar area filled with various people drinking and making merry. Even so, Harry thought the club was pretty empty. At least compared to the usual Saturday nights.

Spotting his favorite bartender, Harry smiled and was off to prowl.

"Well, if it isn't our favorite savior," Lavender Brown smirked as he came into view. Chuckling, Harry took a seat on the stool, looking around for a bit, before he fixed his gaze on the blonde.

Lavender had always been a bombshell, and looking at her, he thought she aptly justified that.

Her blonde hair was swept up on her head in an elegant knot, leaving few strands dangling along her face, added to the sultry look of her adult self. Her face was delicately covered in make-up, blush, and eyeliner perfectly accentuating her features. He noticed her ruby red lips and chuckled to himself. He had remarked once that he loved kissing red lips, and she had made it a habit to use the same shade every time since then.

Lavender noticed him checking her out and smirked. Harry smirked back and went to ogling her properly, not that she had ever minded him doing that. In fact, she had told him once after he had finished stuffing her with his large cock that she got incredibly turned on whenever he drank her alluring figure in.

Her large, firm tits were more than visible, encased in a shining blue bikini that cut out through her white cotton top, her cleavage entirely visible to the naked eye, and as Harry's gaze dropped down from those gravity-defying tits to her pierced navel, the jewel shining softly under the lights, he resisted the urge to touch her.

Lavender smirked when she saw him take in her entire figure, all the way down to her white short skirt that barely covered her thighs.

"You done, stud?" She remarked with a laugh that brought his attention back to her face.

"Hey, can you blame a guy for taking his time?" Harry smirked as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on the countertop. Lavender mirrored his stance, lowering that upper body of hers and giving him a wonderful view down her tits. Harry licked his lips in anticipation of what was to come before he was brought back to Earth.

Lavender saw him licking his lips unashamedly and shook her head a bit. He had really become such a lecher. She knew what was going through his mind. It had become sort of an unspoken rule between them. He arrived at the club on a few Saturday nights, they flirted some, and the night ended with either her on top of him or vice versa.

She sighed and softly patted his cheek, and he blinked twice. Lavender huffed at his deadpan stare and poured him his usual.

"Not tonight."

"What! Why?" His face looked so miserable that anyone else might've melted right there.

"Knock it off, will you?" She shoved the glass ahead, and Harry picked it up.

"Alright, alright, woman. But really, why!?" He whined. Yes, the savior of the wizarding world, the stud extraordinaire, and also a Grade-A whiner.

Lavender sighed, and Harry cocked his head to the side.

"I've promised Parvati that I'd help her out with her new gig tonight. She's been pestering me for weeks, and I've stalled her for as long as I could. Seems like I've got to go tonight. Sorry, babe...," she finished, gazing back at him sadly.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay. No need to get so sad here. I get it." Harry raised his hand to reassure her. He took a sip of his Hobgoblin and gave her a thumbs-up, and she smiled.

"But..." she started and smirked when she saw him look at her with interest.

"But?"

"There might be someone you could... try your tricks on... who knows, maybe you'd get lucky?" Lavender remarked with a smirk, and Harry was hooked.

"A challenge, huh? What's on your mind then?" Harry enquired with a smirk of his own.

Lavender stood back up and cupping his chin, she turned his face to the right.

"See that woman in that little black number? Slowly tapping the countertop? That's the look of a woman bored and in search of some action. Think you got this?"

Harry took a good, long look at the aforementioned woman. She was pretty indeed, her black hair bound and held by a hairpin, a few strands loose and framing her heart-shaped face gracefully. He couldn't make out much of her face from the side, but her small nose and full, pink lips were quite visible under the dim light of the nightclub.

He was pleased to notice that she was very curvy, her tits fairly large and clinging to that little black dress she was wearing, and he could see an ample amount of cleavage due to the plunging neckline. That dress showcased her entire figure perfectly, her round ass fairly noticeable as it sat there gracefully on the barstool. Overall, Harry liked what he was seeing.

"It's a wonder that such a woman is not attracting attention from so many males scattered around the club," Harry remarked, not taking his eyes away from this dark-haired beauty.

"Uh uh uh... not that at all..." Lavender scoffed, "many guys have tried, but she seems to be shooting everyone down. Think you could melt her?"

Turning around and giving Lavender a cocky smirk, he stood up and with a final nod, took his glass away with him.

As Lavender saw him walk away, she moaned at the lost opportunity of being with him yet again that night and cursed Parvati for trapping her. Sighing, she smiled and muttered to herself.

"Go get her, stud,"

*****

Elena saw him coming and sighed.

'Great, another idiot,' she thought as she prepared herself to shoot down another creep. Her eyes widened when she saw who he was.

'H-harry Potter!? Here!?'

"Hello, mind if I join you?" Harry said with a charming smile on his face. Elena continued to stare at him.

Harry cocked his head to the side, his smile fixated on his face.

'What's the matter with her? Did her brain go haywire or something?'

He cleared his throat, but she continued to stare at him, her mouth slightly open. Now that he could see her face, he realized that she was beautiful, breathtakingly so.

She was very fair, and her grey orbs were shining under the lights. Her face was adorned with a very light shade of blush, her eyes outlined by her eyeliner, and Harry noticed she had her nose and ears pierced.

Her lips were full, bathed in pink, and slightly parted, as she continued to stare at him. He deadpanned when he realized that he had noticed everything about her face and yet her stare didn't budge in the slightest. Feeling a bit weirded out, Harry gently touched her on her bare shoulder, the strap of her dress under his palm, and slowly shook her once.

That seemed to shake her out of her stupor and Elena looked up at him dumbly. Finally catching herself and realizing just what impression she was giving of herself, and more importantly, in front of whom, Elena flushed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." she stammered and Harry gently placed his hand on the same spot on her shoulder again.

"Hey, it's okay... really..." He smiled, and after a moment, she gave a small smile in return.

'She has a pretty smile,' Harry thought.

"Oh, why're you standing? Please sit," Elena sat back up straight and Harry thanked her before taking the seat on the barstool next to her.

"Harry, nice to meet you," he spoke, his arm forward, palm up, fingers slightly coiled up. Elena looked at him with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Harry. And I'm Elena," she placed her hand in his, and Harry gently squeezed before releasing her.

"Not that I didn't already know that, you're pretty famous after all," she remarked, her hand placed on the counter as she rubbed her nail on the glass surface.

"Yeah, despite my efforts to ensure the contrary," Harry muttered. Elena looked at him with surprise.

"What? You think I like this? People crowding around me, shouting my name wherever I go? Privacy is scarce when you’re famous."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess anonymity is better," Elena said, her eyes gaining a faraway look to them.

Harry belatedly noticed something and he frowned slightly.

"You're not having something?" He said, gesturing to the empty spot in front of her.

Elena looked down, "Oh, I'm not that much of a drinker,"

"Nonsense," Elena looked up in surprise, "One light drink doesn't hurt, come on, my treat,"

Elena smiled slightly. "If you insist," she said, sighing.

"Excellent. Lav, one of my Hobgoblins, make it lighter," Harry shouted over the sound of the roaring music. Elena saw the pretty bartender blow Harry a kiss before a green drink appeared in front of her. She noticed Harry drinking the same.

"Here, try it. One of my usuals here. I don't like these pre-made drinks much, so Lav there happily created one for me. You won't be disappointed, trust me."

"If you say so, although the name doesn’t fill me with much confidence," Elena remarked before she took a sip.

Harry smiled as he looked at her, eyes closed, enjoying the drink, and grinned. "Like it?"

Elena lowered the glass on the counter and smiled at him. "Not bad," she nodded.

"Well, glad you liked it," he smirked as he took another sip of his own.

"You come here often then?" Elena inquired, her fingers idly tapping her bare thigh and Harry inadvertently felt his gaze drawn. If she noticed, she didn't comment.

"It's an on-and-off thing," Harry stated as he looked around, before fixing his gaze back at her, "but I try to make every Saturday night. Sometimes I do, sometimes..." he shrugged, sipping his drink again. He noticed barely any was left, and ordered another one for himself.

"You sure like drinking, hmm?" she remarked and pointed out his second glass of alcohol without really mentioning it.

"That's not it, this barely has any alcohol, so you can take a few rounds easily. Yours is even more diluted," Harry remarked with a nod to her glass.

"I see," there was a moment of silence between the two as they simply sat there, sipping their respective drinks slowly.

"So," Harry began, and Elena turned her inquisitive gaze back at him, "it's surprising that none of these guys have tried to hit on a woman like you,"

Elena laughed at his flirty comment, "Oh, believe me, I've barely gotten any respite since I came here,"

Harry grinned, "Is that so?"

"Well, yeah. I don't frequent this place often, my friends usually meet together at a club near Charing Cross, but it was just me tonight. Thought a little change would be nice, but since coming here, it's been one idiot after another,"

"Calling me an idiot already, hmm?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"I'll keep my verdict on hold for that," she grinned.

"Well then, I hope to do better," Harry smirked and she laughed again. Her grey orbs lit up every time she did so.

'She has a nice laugh as well,' Harry thought before he shook his head.

"Well, regarding the idiot problem, I think a notice-me-not would've helped," Harry remarked and took another sip of his drink. The music was getting louder and he quickly cast a slight muffling charm around their area.

He looked at her and frowned. Elena had a sad, almost wistful look on her face, and Harry wondered what happened.

"I can't..." she whispered, and his frown grew.

"What do you mean?" His own voice was barely audible, but Elena surely caught it as she looked up at him, her eyes shining slightly.

"I can't perform magic, Harry. I'm a squib."

"Oh."

The silence between them seemed to grow and they busied themselves with their drinks. Elena ordered another one for herself and Harry smiled sadly.

*****

To be continued...