Cultivating Pleasure Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Everything was finally packed and ready for the trip. Harry stood with his two trunks beside him waiting in the kitchen with his mum. Both were clearly impatient to get on with everything, and yet, neither of them moved.

“You did tell Remus when we were supposed to leave, right?” Harry asked. “I mean, I know Sirius and Tonks can’t be trusted to watch water boil, but Remus should be able to keep them in line.”

“I did tell him,” Lily sighed, “but wrangling even one of them is a feat on its own.”

Harry snorted in agreement. Sirius was the oldest child he knew. It was usually in a good way though, but it did mean that he had terrible time management. Tonks was similar: always frazzled and clumsy. Together, the two of them tended to slow down the pace of everyone else as they rushed to do everything at the last minute.

“I bet you that they’ll—”

Suddenly, green flames billowed in the fireplace. Harry stepped out of the direct path out of the fireplace, knowing what was about to happen. Lily did too, and she quickly pulled out her wand and cast a cushioning charm on the floor.

“Watch out!” Tonks shouted as she came tumbling out of the fireplace.

It was like a cartoon. Tonks’s feet skidded across the tile floor while her arms flailed out at her sides. Her long, violet-coloured hair billowed out behind her head. There was an intense look of terror on her face as she tripped over herself and went flying headfirst towards the floor.

Luckily, Lily was quick with a Slowing Charm.

Tonks’s body slowed immediately in mid-air. It looked like she was falling in slow motion as she went towards the floor, but she managed to bring her hands up in front of her in time to stop herself from face planting.

“Cheers, Lils,” Tonks groaned as the Slowing Charm began to wear off. 

The fireplace ignited again, and a concerned looking Remus leapt out of it. He looked tired from the full moon a few days prior, but that didn’t reflect in his actions as he rushed to his wife’s side.

“I told you we’d go through together,” he chastised Tonks lightly. “You know how clumsy you can be.”

“I know,” Tonks replied with a slight laugh. “I just didn’t feel like waiting for you to get Sirius downstairs.”

“Speaking of whom,” Remus sighed as he turned back to the fireplace. “He was supposed to be right behind me.”

As if summoned, the fireplace ignited again, and Sirius stepped out of the flames in a garish-looking outfit that would even put Dumbledore to shame.

“What are you wearing?” Harry asked as his eyes widened.

“What? Don’t you like it?” Sirius grinned.

He had a tie-dye Hawaiian shirt on that was an absolute mess of colour, and his white shorts looked like they’d had buckets of paint dropped on them.

“Sirius,” Lily groaned as she buried her face in her hands. “Just… why?”

“We’re going on vacation, Lils,” Sirius emphasised. “If we can’t let loose and have a bit of fun, what’s even the point?”

“I get that,” Lily replied patiently. “But did you really have to wear an outfit like that?”

“What?” Sirius replied, sounding almost offended. “I think I look great in this. There’s plenty of colour, and it’s light and breezy. It’s perfect for a summer getaway.”

Lily’s look told him that she wasn’t impressed.

“Come on and back me up here, Harry,” Sirius implored.

“No way,” Harry waved his arms in front of himself. He was not going to get involved in this. “You’re on your own here.”

“Here, I’ll fix it,” Lily said as she approached Sirius.

“Put that wand away!” Sirius shouted as he started backing away from her. When it was clear that Lily wasn’t going to be dissuaded, Sirius took off running through the house to get away from her, and Lily chased after him, firing transfiguration spells all the while in the hopes of one hitting him.

“Those two,” Remus shook his head with a chuckle as he turned to Harry. “I can’t believe they’re already forty. They act like kids.”

“Mum’s only like that when Sirius is around,” Harry chuckled along with him. “Otherwise, she can be rather serious herself.”

Tonks groaned loudly. “Please, not another serious pun. I’ve dealt with far too many already this morning.”

Harry opened his mouth to spout another one off just to grate on her, but he happened to glance at the clock and notice the time.

“We’ve got to get to Diagon Alley soon if we want to get to our Portkey before it activates,” Harry said. He turned to the corridor Lily had chased Sirius down. “Mum! We’ve got to get going!”

It was a happy Lily and a distraught Sirius who came back into the kitchen moments later. Lily had her wand stowed, and Sirius was now wearing a very respectable set of robes. She grabbed her trunk and magically shrunk it down and stuffed it in her pocket, and Harry mirrored her actions with his own trunks.

 “I’m flooing over first,” Remus warned Tonks.

Despite knowing that she’d probably trip over herself again if Remus wasn’t there to catch her on the other side, Tonks still grumbled about that. “I’m fine to floo by myself.”

“I know you are,” Remus replied smoothly. “But I don’t want you suffering a head injury right before our vacation.”

Any further complaint that Tonks had was stopped by Remus grabbing a handful of floor powder and throwing it into the fireplace before he stepped inside and called out “The Far Winds Agency.” The flames engulfed him, and then he was gone.

One by one, everyone else repeated the destination and took the floo to Diagon Alley.

Harry was the last to use the floo, and he was terribly annoyed when he stepped out of the flames and right into his godfather’s back. But then he took a look around and saw just where they were at.

The Far Winds Agency was a small shop in Diagon Alley that was one of the few approved shops for international Portkey travel. It was quite popular for that reason, but that was a slight issue in the shop itself because there wasn’t much floor space available for people to wait.

It looked like there were at least three other families crammed into this small waiting room. Each of them were huddled up in different areas of the shop, and everyone else was stuck in the middle of the room. There was an open door leading to Diagon Alley letting in a nice breeze to prevent the room from feeling too stuffy, and there was a desk on the opposite wall from the door where an attendant was currently speaking to Lily.

“—already there, so if you’ll just follow me,” Harry overheard the attendant say.

“They’re all ready for us, so get a move on,” Lily waved everyone forward.

Harry followed close behind Sirius as they squeezed past the other waiting families, who seemed annoyed that the newcomers were the first ones to go to the backroom to use their Portkey. They passed through an open doorway and into a stairwell. Then, it was a simple trip upstairs before they were led to a large room that only held a grandfather clock and a table with a long piece of rope on it.

However, there were also some familiar faces inside.

“Lily!” Emma cheerfully greeted the other woman.

As Harry was at the back of the group, he didn’t get to see the exchange firsthand, but he was cringing internally. His mum had no clue about his relationship with Emma, and he hoped to keep it that way. Even still, knowing that this was the first time that they’d seen each other since everything began sent an unpleasant shiver down Harry’s spine. There was a small part of his mind that was trying to convince that, somehow, Lily would realise everything just by looking at the two of them.

But no anger or outrage came. Instead, Lily just hugged Emma and stepped aside so that everyone else could move deeper into the room.

When Harry finally reached Emma, he saw that Hermione was standing beside her. Hermione had an uncomfortable expression on her face—one that probably matched Harry’s—but she seemed to be holding together well enough. When Hermione saw Harry, she gave him a small smile. It was clear that things still weren’t completely back to normal between them, but at least it seemed to be trending in a positive direction.

“Harry!” Emma said as she rushed over and gave him a massive hug. 

Harry hugged her back, praying that no one would think anything of it. Thankfully, no one really seemed to be paying any attention to them as they were busy getting situated around the table.

“Hey, Emma,” Harry replied as he broke off the hug early.

Emma pouted at him. “I like your old hugs better.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t do anything else with me until Hermione and I had more time to chat?” Harry reminded her in a whisper.

“What’s wrong with hugging you?” Emma replied innocently.

“Quit teasing him, mum,” Hermione said as she gently pulled Emma away from Harry.

“Fine,” Emma sighed, “for now, at least.”

The grandfather clock chimed, and the attendant who’d led them up here glanced down at their watch to double check the time.

“One minute left until the scheduled departure,” they announced loudly.

“Where’s Pandora and Luna?” Lily asked as she glanced over to Emma, who shrugged in reply.

“We’re here!” Pandora announced as she bustled into the room with Luna in tow. “Sorry we’re late; we got a little caught up on a project, but we’re ready to go now!”

Finally, everyone was finally gathered together: Harry, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, Emma, Luna, and Pandora.

“The Portkey’s going to go off in thirty seconds, so hurry up over here and grab onto the rope,” the attendant called out.

Everyone hurried over to the table in the middle of the room and double checked to make sure that they had all of their things on hand. Once everyone was set, they each grabbed onto the rope as the attendant stared at the clock.

“Five, four, three, two, one—”

The last word out of the attendant’s mouth had barely begun to fade out when Harry felt a familiar tug behind his navel. Then, in a flash, everyone’s feet left the ground, and it felt like they were being hurled through a tunnel of swirling colours. A heavy wind rushed all around them, making their clothes billow out.

Faintly, Harry heard Emma cry out in surprise, and then came Hermione’s words of reassurance. It was Emma’s second time taking a Portkey like this, so he wasn’t surprised that she was still struggling to get used to the uncomfortable sensation.

Thankfully, it didn’t last long. After only ten seconds or so, Harry sensed that the exit was upon them.

The howling wind and swirling colours faded as Harry’s feet hit the ground. Tonks and Emma both stumbled, but luckily Remus and Harry were there to catch them.

“Thanks,” Emma smiled brilliantly at Harry.

He smiled back at her, and then quickly stopped when he noticed Hermione’s amused look.

“Trying to earn brownie points with her already?” Hermione whispered to Harry with a playful smirk.

He just rolled his eyes in reply, but he was happy that Hermione was at least able to joke about his relationship with her mum.

Once it was clear that everyone was fine, they finally had a chance to look at the magnificent landscape around them.

Glittering, turquoise-coloured lagoons lined the stretch of white sand they’d landed on. The coastline curved and bent, leading to what effectively amounted to multiple private beaches. Out on the dark-blue ocean, there wasn’t a single other island in sight. Further inland as a massive expanse of gorgeous palm trees that were densely clumped together. Dirt and sand trails stretched into and along the treeline, leading to various spots around the island.

Suddenly, there was a distinct pop.

“Hello!” A high-pitched voice announced.

Everyone looked down to see a cute house-elf dressed in a very light set of white robes. 

“My name is Goldy, and I’ll be your host while you’re here,” Goldy announced cheerfully. “You can simply call my name, and I’ll appear anywhere on the island. Let me be the first to welcome you to our wonderful slice of paradise here in the Maldives.”

“Thank you, Goldy. It’s beautiful here,” Lily gushed.

Goldy nodded her head excitedly. “Yes, it is. I do hope that you’ll have a wonderful time while you’re here with us. Would you like me to show you to your villas?”

“That’d be lovely,” Pandora said.

Goldy led the group down the sandy trail along the treeline towards the west, gesturing with her hands all around them as she spouted off countless pieces of information about the island.

“You’ll be sharing your island with another group of people,” Goldy explained. “The forest in between the two sides of the island acts will give you both all the privacy that you want, but you’re welcome to walk the path along the trees all the way to the other side of the island if you want to explore or just say hello to them.”

“Oh, that’d be nice,” Lily said.

Sirius cleared his throat to get Goldy’s attention. “How many people are over there?”

“I believe there’s only six of them,” Goldy answered.

“Is it a family?” Pandora asked.

“Two families,” Goldy replied.

Sirius groaned. “Why can’t we ever vacation somewhere with single women for once.”

“Because then we’d never see you,” Remus replied with a little chuckle.

“What’s the point of a vacation if you can’t have a little fun?” Sirius pouted.

“I agree,” Emma winked secretly at Harry.

Suddenly, Sirius cosied up next to Emma. “Why Emma, I never realised you’d be so amenable to—”

“No flirting with my mum,” Hermione interjected herself by squeezing in between Emma and Sirius.

“Hermione, please, I promise I’ll be good,” Sirius practically begged.

“I’m sure that you’ll find plenty of other fun things to do on this island,” Lily told Sirius. “Like relaxing. You spend too much time out on missions for work; take this time to rest and recuperate.”

Sirius deflated. “I guess you’re right. It’d still be better with some single women here though.”

“There are some larger islands you can visit if you wish,” Goldy chimed in helpfully. “There are several muggle settlements and a small magical one, and I’m certain that you’d be able to find some companionship there if you so wished.”

Sirius’s eyes glimmered with hope. “Thank you, Goldy.”

It was only a few minutes later that they came upon eight villas built right above the water just off of the shoreline. A series of weaving, curved, wooden bridges connected the buildings together and offered several passages back to the shore. Each villa looked relatively isolated from the rest with a substantial amount of room in between them. There were also some free standing platforms in the water with palm trees growing in them, providing a bit more privacy between the villas.

“These will be your accommodations for the duration of the visit,” Goldy announced proudly. “All eight villas are yours to use as you see fit, and our staff of house-elves will ensure that each one is kept in top condition.”

“One for each of us,” Lily smiled happily. “Except for Remus and Tonks, who’ll be sharing a villa of course.”

“These villas are perfectly positioned to watch the sun set,” Goldy enthusiastically explained.

“That sounds dreamy,” Luna sighed contently. “I wonder if there are any magical creatures to find on the island.”

“There are several, in fact,” Goldy answered her. “If you’d like, I could organise a tour for you by one of the other house-elves.”

“I’d love that,” Luna said excitedly.

“Excellent, I’ll just—oh,” Goldy suddenly stopped and turned further down the path they’d been walking. Harry glanced over too, and he saw several figures walking over towards them. “That must be the guests on the other side of the island coming to say hello.”

Everyone turned then, and as the new figures came into view, Harry’s eyes widened.

“Potter?” Draco Malfoy spat in the sand.

His father, Lucius, glowered angrily at the group, but Narcissa just gave Harry a sly smile. Harry immediately knew that this was no coincidence. He’d mentioned the trip to Narcissa when he’d last visited her, and now she was here with her family… and the Greengrass family too.

Anastasia waved happily to everyone, but Harry felt her lustful gaze land on him. She licked her lips subtly. “Hello!” She called out to everyone.

Behind her, Daphne was glowering right at Harry, but her younger sister, Astoria, didn’t seem to have the same degree of animosity towards anyone—Harry supposed that was because she didn’t walk in on her mum shagging Harry.

The two groups stared at each other for a moment before Draco and Lucius turned and stalked off back to their side of the island.

Harry wondered if this vacation wasn’t going to be so relaxing after all.