Dueling Hearts Ch. 10 (Patreon)

The next day, Harry surprised Daphne by setting up a little picnic for them out by the Black lake.

They were sitting on a blanket, a small meal prepared by the Hogwarts elves laid out in front of them as the two basked in the moment. It wasn't too cold, the true chill that October would bring not yet having descended upon Scotland, and the day was bright but not overbearing, a layer of white fluffy clouds blocking out the most intense of the sun's rays.

Daphne had her head on Harry's lap, and Harry was running his hand absently through her blonde locks as they both stared quietly out at the lake, enjoying each other's company.

"Mind if I join you?"

They glanced over to see Lily trudging up towards them, a gentle smile on her face.

Harry and Daphne shared a look as Lily stood expectantly.

"If you don't mind-" the two of them paused, having both spoken at once.

Daphne turned red and Harry chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. He patted the space next to him.

"Sure thing, mum."

Lily's smile grew as she sat down next to them, leaving no room between herself and Harry. She waved her wand and at their questioning look, explained. "Privacy charm, don't want to embarrass my son and his girlfriend after all."

"Mum, you know I've never been embarrassed of you." Harry said.

"What about if I asked you two to give me a foot massage?" She asked.

Daphne and Harry reacted with shock as Lily showed them her bare feet, wiggling her pretty toes with nails painted white.

Both Harry and Daphne shared a quick look, trying to communicate silently without cluing Lily in on just how much they'd figured her out. Lily pouted, resting her left foot on Harry's lap near Daphne's head. "Please?"

Receiving as subtle of a nod from Daphne as the blonde could manage, Harry took his mother's foot in his hands, working his thumbs on her sole.

Daphne glanced over at Lily, and seeing the look of pleasure on the sexy redhead's face, she made a hasty decision.

She grabbed onto Lily's other foot, beginning her own tender worship of the older woman.

Lily let out a sigh of pleasure. This really did feel quite exquisite. But it also served a higher purpose, it was her way of subtly introducing Harry and Daphne to the idea of all three of them being together.

If only Lily would have known that Harry and Daphne were way ahead of her, and the couple were trying their best not to escalate things, as they couldn’t let things develop further until they cracked the Lily and Bella problem.

Daphne and Harry continued their ministrations. Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne saw one of Harry's hands massaging Lily's calf. Thinking it a great idea, Daphne mimicked her boyfriend.

Lily couldn't help but feel hot and bothered by all this, and her two lovers were on the same path.

In one moment of complete insanity, Daphne brought Lily's big toe to her mouth and gave it a light suck.

Lily let off a mix between a gasp and a moan. Harry sent Daphne a warning look, nodding towards his growing erection, and Daphne managed to pull back from her trance before things escalated beyond their control.

Mercifully for Harry and Daphne, the school bell rang and the three of them hastily scrambled to their feet. Lily slipped her shoes back on as Harry and Daphne looked red faced, refusing to meet her eyes.

They latched onto each other's hands and squeezed them hard. They trudged up to the castle in silence, but as soon as they split off from Lily with a smile and a wave, they leaned against a pillar and started gasping for air.

“You were playing with fire there, Daph.”

Daphne glared at her boyfriend. “I’m not the one who escalated the foot massage.”

“Escalate? How is touching her calf escalating?” Harry pressed his palms against his face. “We need to start working on them. They’re too damn sexy for their own good, and our resolve is weak.”

Daphne nodded in agreement. “I swear, I was about to start licking up her thigh right there by the lake!”

“How do we go about this? How do we get two people that hate each other to come together?”

A lightbulb went off in Daphne’s head as she snapped her fingers. “What has never steered us wrong, Harry?”

Harry blinked in confusion. “Err… our unwavering faith in our lord and savior Merlin?”

Daphne whacked him on the shoulder, “I didn’t suddenly convert to Merlinism you dolt! I mean movies! Movies and television have never steered us wrong.”

Harry could think of many instances where they had in fact steered them wrong, like the hours they wasted trying to summon Beetlejuice, or when they’d taken an old muggle vacuum cleaner and tried to use it to battle the ghoul in Daphne’s attic. Daphne’s parents had to run up and rescue them.

He decided it was best not to remind Daphne of this. “What are you thinking of?”

“Enemies to lovers, Harry! There’s always a plot with two people that hate each other and then… blam! They’re all over each other!”

“So we’re just going to try out stuff from those movies?”

Daphne nodded. “Yep, and our first move is a classic: We shove the two of them into a confined space without a way for them to escape. Once they’ve built up a healthy sweat from all the yelling and insults, they’ll be all over each other!”

Harry had to admit he could find no fault in that plan. And so, the two of them got to scheming up exactly how they were going to cram Lily and Bella into a broom closet together.

…

Harry had his back against the headboard. He was dangerously close to failing in his part of the plan, but there were extenuating circumstances.

A head of curly black hair bobbing on his cock as Bellatrix took him down her throat was the definition of an extenuating circumstance.

She stroked his shaft while slobbering all over his crown. Harry had already ejaculated at least three times, but the succubus that was laying on her stomach in front of him was relentless, wanting to coax every possible drop of cum from his balls.

And she was succeeding. Harry felt another orgasm slowly build up. Despite feeling like he should have run dry two orgasms ago, Bella still kept digging little nuggets of white gold from his overworked balls.

"Cum for me, Harry!" Bella urged. "You've already filled all my holes, this one's for the road."

He was pretty sure the last one had been for the road too, but he couldn't deny her, his cock began spurting, and he was starting to believe there was some magic involved here, because this new load was just as strong as the last two.

Bella took one spurt down her throat before his cock popped out of her mouth and began spraying her face, covering her nose, forehead and even some of her hair in his seed.

Bella was scooping up as much as she could into her mouth. Harry would have loved to just sit back and watch her, but he really did need to get things moving.

His eyes darted over to Bella's nightstand. "What is that?"

"Huh?" Bella asked absently, following his line of sight.

There was a folded up piece of parchment that she had definitely not seen before.

Bella reached out and opened it up. As her eyes quickly scanned the note, she cursed.

"Fuck! Last minute staff meeting!"

Bella jumped off the bed, scrambling around to throw on her robe. She tossed the note aside, and Harry felt a surge of pride at his forgery of McGonagall's handwriting.

His hand went under his pillow, where Bella's wand was safely secured. As he'd hoped, Bella was so harried, she didn't even realize she didn't have her wand with her.

"It'll probably be an hour." Bellatrix said as she quickly made her way towards the door.

In her haste, she'd forgotten to even clean his remaining seed from her face and hair. Luckily for her, most of it would dry off on her skin and wouldn't be noticeable unless someone else was relatively up close.

Harry waited a few moments before he tossed on his invisibility cloak and followed after her.

…

Bellatrix stopped in front of the door, only now finding it strange that the meeting was in some random classroom and not the usual staff-room. As was her habit when something seemed off, she felt for her wand at her hip.

"Fuck."

In her hurry to get to this stupid meeting, she'd left her wand back in the room.

She grumbled as she opened the door. 'This fucking meeting better be worth it.'

As soon as she stepped in, Harry eased the door shut while Daphne made sure to lock it, both of them operating from under Harry’s invisibility cloak.

The couple shared as soft a high-five as they could muster as they heard Bellatrix bellow from the other side.

“You!” Bellatrix pointed an accusing finger at Lily, who was the only other person inside the completely empty room.

“Bellatrix.” Lily spat, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the other woman’s face looked rather shiny, and the front of her hair was matted in a weird way. “I see you took care to freshen up for this meeting.”

Bellatrix glowered, though she realized that she had in fact neglected to clean off Harry’s cum. “You’re one to talk, Potter. Brush your hair at all before coming here?”

Lily’s hair was a bit messy, due to her having to hastily make her way over here under similar circumstances to Bellatrix.

“Anyways, I forgot something in my office, do keep the seat warm, since that’s all you’re good for.”

Bella turned around, intending to dash to the bathroom to clean up before the other professors saw her like this. She turned the knob, only for it not to budge.

“What the hell.” Bellatrix tugged and twisted, but the door wouldn’t open. “It's locked.”

“Aren’t you a witch?” Lily asked sarcastically.

Bellatrix grumbled, “I left my wand in my quarters, Potter.”

Lily laughed, a sound that irritated Bellatrix to no end. “The great Bellatrix Black, walking around defenseless.” Lily stood up and walked over to the door, her hand going to her waist.

She was about to whip out her wand and make a show out of unlocking the door for her, but her eyes widened and her face paled considerably when she groped around but found no wand.

“Shit.”

“Oh?” Bellatrix wore a gleeful look on her face. “No wand either, maybe you should stop chugging that Auntie Esther’s before you burn through your last remaining brain cells.” Bellatrix taunted.

Harry and Daphne had their ears pressed to the door, feeling triumphant. Now, they just had to play the waiting game, as the two women’s hatred slowly simmered into a grudging friendship before finally morphing into steamy passion.

“I think someone is trying to play a joke on us.” Lily said.

Bellatrix snorted. “Yeah, they stuffed a tomcat and a mouse inside of a duffle bag. Oh well, whoever it was is an idiot. Mimsy!”

WIth a pop, Bellatrix’s personal house elf appeared in the room.

“Yes Professor Black ma’am?”

“Take me back to my quarters, now!”

Lily rolled her eyes, summoning her own personal elf to do the same.

Harry and Daphne’s hearts stopped as they heard the pops of House Elf apparition. They shared a panicked look before they spoke in unison.

“Fuck!”

Daphne managed to grab a hold of Harry before her boyfriend tried sprinting off towards Bella’s quarters in a race that he was always going to lose.

“Betsy!” Daphne called out.

An elf wearing Greengrass livery appeared in front of them. ‘Yes, miss Daffy?”

Harry followed Daphne’s lead. He didn’t have his own house elf, but he’d snuck into the kitchens enough times to have made a few friends.

“Dobby!”

Both teenagers popped away to their respective lover’s bathrooms and hopped in the shower, trying to calm their thumping heartbeats as their lover approached, angry, irritated and more than a little bit horny.

…

“Alright, plan A was a failure.”

Daphne pouted. “Seriously, who thinks to call a House elf?”

Harry rubbed his chin as the two of them plotted their next move while pretending to work on their potions essay (which they really should find some time to work on, honestly).

“I got it! Nothing brings people together like a shared hobby!” He exclaimed.

“What hobbies could those two possibly share?”

Harry grinned. “Bertie Bott’s.” He said simply.

Daphne looked at him oddly, “Harry, that doesn’t count. Everyone likes Bertie Bott’s, at least the good flavors anyways. That’s like saying they have something in common cause they both like hot showers.”

“Bella’s actually all about cold showers. When we’re not doing stuff anyways, she only ever takes cold ones. Says it keeps her alert or something. But anyways, you don’t understand, Daph. Mum doesn’t just like Bertie Bott’s, she collects them. In her study back home she has a glass display case with every unique flavor bean she’s ever gotten.”

“Wait, that’s actually hers?” Daphne gasped. “I thought that was just one of Sirius’ pranks.”

Harry shook his head. “And Bertie Bott’s is one of the only sponsorships Bella’s ever taken up. One night I was eating some in bed-”

“Ew. That is one habit you are going to have to fix.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Anyways, the whole time, Bella kept looking at each bean, as if she was searching for any new ones.”

To say it sounded far-fetched would be an understatement, but Daphne was willing to try it out. “Alright, operation Bertie Bott’s it is.”

…

Operation Bertie Bott’s was much simpler than operation broom closet. It just entailed Harry going up to his mother at breakfast with a bean in hand.

“Hey mum… I mean… Professor Potter.” Harry sent the other professors a cheeky smile. “Here you go.”

Lily held her hand out and then stared down at her palm as Harry handed her a bean.

“I think it might be grass flavored, you can add it to your collection!” He explained.

Lily smiled weakly. “Oh, yes, thank you so much honey!”

Just from a glance, Lily could tell that the bean was actually toad flavored, and she already had three of those. Still, she didn’t want to hurt her son’s feelings.

“Lily, I didn’t know you collected every flavored beans. To be quite honest, I didn’t know anyone did.” Minerva said.

Lily smiled at her colleague. “It’s a rewarding hobby, Minerva. I’ve been at it for over a decade now, and I’ve managed to collect a hundred and ninety six flavors. And I still have so many to go!”

From a few seats away, Bellatrix snorted, earning her a glare from the redhead. “Understatement of the year, Potter. Under two hundred flavors? That’s barely a collection!” She smirked. “I have three hundred and sixty-five in mine. All I’m missing are the discontinued ones from the seventies.”

“Yeah well, not all of us can have the company send us every new bean as it comes out. I wouldn’t have the nerve to call myself a Botthead at that point. Do you even sort them yourself? Or does the company send them to you in a nice little frame?”

“Why you!”

Both women stood up, drawing the attention of everyone in the Great Hall as they glared daggers at each other. Thankfully, there were three professors between them to make sure things didn’t escalate.

“Lily, dear, perhaps it's time we staged an intervention, this anger is not like you!’ Pomona said as she tried to calm her colleague down.

“I told you, it was a prank! It was a stupid prank!”

Harry smacked his head against the table at yet another failure. Daphne rubbed his back soothingly, though she wasn’t as upset as he was. She actually felt like they were on the cusp of cracking it.

…

Daphne was smiling a little bit too broadly for Harry’s taste.

“What’s got you so happy?” Harry grumbled. Daphne rolled her eyes, kissing her boyfriend on the forehead as they sat on one of the benches near the courtyard.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Grumpypants. We’ve almost got them!”

“Almost got them? Daph, they hate each other now more than ever.” Harry shot his girlfriend an incredulous look.

“Harry, Harry. Don’t you get it? What is the most universal rule in all of fiction? The rule of threes! Things always happen in threes. The first two always fail, and then the third try is the one that succeeds. So, you see, we’ve got them right where we want them.”

“What else is there, though? We’re running out of tropes here.”

“That’s because I saved the most powerful one for last, babe. How do you bring together two people that despise each other? By giving them a common enemy, one they have to unite against!”

Harry blinked. That actually made a lot of sense.

“That’s a brilliant idea, Daph. There’s just one problem.”

“Oh?”

“Who’s this common enemy that both mum and Bella hate?”

Daphne’s smile faltered. “Filch?” She asked weakly.

Harry shook his head. “He’s a nuisance at best, same with Malfoy. There isn’t really anyone at school right for them to unite against.”

Daphne pouted, “We could try and create one! Make a Joker to their Batman and Batman.”

Harry sighed. “Babe, I think it's better if we just postpone any further operations. Let's give ourselves time to think.”

Daphne looked like she wanted to argue the point for a moment, but then she sighed in defeat, “I guess you’re right. It’s still early in the year, and who knows, maybe the big evil we need will come from one of the other schools.”

Harry could picture a Frenchman so pompous that Lily and Bella instantly wanted to do away with him. It was unlikely, but it was all they had at the moment. At this point, Harry felt that their solution would only come with time.

The bell tower sounded off, signaling fifteen minutes until the hour.

Daphne hopped off the bench. “I gotta go to History, can’t be late for that!”

Only Daphne could make that statement and actually mean it. For some reason, his girlfriend was the only person in the school that actually found Binn’s monotonous drone engrossing.

Harry and Daphne split up, with Harry heading for the greenhouses while Daphne returned to the castle. As she made her way to Binn’s classroom, she bumped into a friend.

“Oh, hey Susan!” Daphne waved at the redhead, who smiled right back, swinging an arm over her shoulder.

That was new. Susan was usually so shy that she avoided physical contact. Now, the redhead had Daphne hugged tightly to her. “Hey there, Daphne, wanna walk to History together?” Susan said with a weird glint in her eye.

Daphne shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

As the two girls walked, Daphne found that Susan was leading her around. She wanted to say something, since the redhead was taking a very circuitous route to Binn’s classroom, but decided against it. Susan was a very sensitive girl, and she didn’t want to hurt her feelings any further. Besides, they had plenty of time to spare.

As they turned into a new hallway, Daphne saw that the floor ahead was carpeted, and it was in a checkerboard pattern. The squares were red and white, each about one foot by one foot. As they approached the carpet, Daphne’s feet began to move awkwardly and jerkily.

‘What are you doing?” Susan asked, a hint of irritation sneaking into her voice.

Daphne was skipping around as best she could under Susan’s grip, making sure to step only on the white tiles. The blonde blushed as she looked over at the redhead.

“Sorry, I have this thing anytime the floor’s like this. I can only step on one color.”

“So everytime you pass this hallway, you only step on the white squares?” Susan yelled in exasperation.

Daphne shook her head. “It depends on which one I pick, really. I picked white this time, so I can’t step on red. I know it's silly, sometimes I wonder if I have aut-”

“Oooops!” Susan pretended to stumble, and a silver sickle slipped from her hand. The sickle fell on a red square directly in front of a suit of armour holding an axe. “Silly me, I’m always so clumsy. Daphne, could you grab that for me?”

Daphne looked down at the sickle and giggled, pulling a now irate Susan away as she continued to trudge along. “Silly Susie, that sickle fell Morgana side up! Everyone knows you’ll get seven year's bad luck if you pick it up!”

Susan began to shake in barely contained rage, and Daphne sent her a worried look. "Don’t worry, Susan. I can get you back after lunch. I just need to go get my money pouch from my trunk."

Susan took deep, calming breaths, finally forcing a smile as she turned towards Daphne. "Thank you, Daphne. It's alright though, it was just a sickle."

"Ooh! A sickle!"

Susan's head snapped back immediately.

It was too late to stop Ernie from picking the sickle up, and as Susan ran the mental calculus, she realized that the only course of action left was to plead ignorance. Ernie was an unfortunate casualty of her machinations. Regretful, but there was nothing to be done. The egg had been broken.

Ernie picked the coin up and the suit of armor's axe cleaved downward.

Very, very slowly.

Ernie got back up. "What's up with this thing?" He asked as the axe was still only a third of the way on its painfully slow descent.

"There might be something up with its enchantment." Daphne piped up. "Might want to tell a Professor about it. Who knows what would have happened if it had swung down harder!"

Ernie snorted. "Everyone knows the axes are dulled, Greengrass. It wouldn't have beheaded me or anything."

(The axes in fact were dulled, at least up until Dumbledore took over as Headmaster, where one of his first acts was to make sure every axe in the castle was kept razor sharp. But none of them needed to know that.)

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Woulda still given you a nice little lump, McMillan.” She sent Susan a look. “Boys, am I right?”

Susan coughed, “I-I think I forgot my history essay, I gotta go back and get it.”

The redhead turned around and ran off, ignoring Daphne’s ‘helpful’ reminders that Binns had never assigned them an essay before.