I saw Penelope visibly distressed and gently patted her head.
"Why can't you have all that? I know that if someone else were in my place, maybe your assumption that our relationship is impossible would be valid. But I am who I am, and I can do the impossible." (Red)
"It's not that simple. You can't give me what I want." (Penelope)
"Do you think I can't love you as you deserve? I have a lot of love to give you. Do you want to get married? Let's do it. No one can stop us, and if anyone tries... well, we'll see who dares. Do you think that because I have more than one woman, I won't have time for you? The clones that roamed Hogwarts this year showed that I can be by your side 24/7. With me, you'll never have to doubt that I'll dedicate time and love to you." (Red)
"..." She was silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond. "I still can't accept it. What will people say?" she whispered as an excuse.
"Do you think I care about that? It's easy to solve. Just break enough legs until they stop talking about you. Penny, you know I have a... overwhelming future. I will be one of the most outstanding wizards of this era, and I'm not saying this because of the little you've seen of me, which is impressive but not that much, but because of everything you don't know yet, things that would make the newspapers talk about me for months," I said, making her look into my eyes. "I can give you everything you want and more. No one could complain about you, in fact, they would envy you. I know it's hard to accept, but you just need to give us a chance for everything to flow, and you'll see what we can build together." (Red)
She seemed to search my gaze, maybe looking for some false emotion to reject me.
"I... still can't accept it, I'm sorry Red, but our relationship can't work like this. If it could be just you and me, I could wait for you to grow up and we could try, but this way..." (Penelope)
"Ah, it's hard to deal with you," I sighed, showing my discontent.
"I'm sorry, Red. It's not what I'm looking for in my future." (Penelope)
"I understand. I know why it's more complicated with you than with Tonks, despite having similar problems. With her, I spent more time, less than a year, but it was enough for us. Maybe the suspension bridge effect helped us a lot. We started as very compatible friends, we lived many emotions in a few months, and we found comfort and joy in each other. Without realizing it, in a relationship that was neither long nor short, we clung to each other to the point of thinking about spending our lives together. That's why she easily accepted my selfishness regarding the relationship." (Red)
Penelope was silent, listening to my story. She felt that everything was over and that at least she should let me vent, as if she was finally the adult comforting the child.
"You know, Tonks is about to meet another one of my womens. She was very nervous, but I know for a fact they can get along really well... once they get over the fact that she's mad at Tonks for taking my virginity." (Red)
"You've already had sex?!" she asked, surprised and shocked. She knew I was precocious, but thought I had certain limits.
"Yes, a while ago. Still, they'll get along... once they get over a certain issue that will leave Tonks with her jaw on the floor." (Red)
"What issue?" Penelope was intrigued. She had relaxed after ending our breakup and wanted to know more about me, especially after learning about my sex life.
"That my other partner isn't exactly a... female..." (Red)
"Is it a man?!" she asked, shocked.
"No, no, I didn't mean that. I mean that she isn't a... female human," I responded, making her eyes widen even more.
"Not human! You're with a woman who isn't human?" she reacted, stunned. "Is she a veela, a half-giant, a werewolf, a goblin, A REAL GIANT?" She questioned one after another, trying to discover the truth. Her imagination ran wild, knowing I was even less saintly than I appeared.
"Shh... that doesn't matter, you'll find out in the future." (Red)
"Will you introduce me to her?" (Penelope)
"I plan for all my lovers to meet at some point." (Red)
"But I don't..." (Penelope)
"You can try to break up with me, but it's not that easy. I'm a selfish bastard who won't let you go that easily," I replied, putting a finger on her lips to stop her from speaking, making her frown. "You may not like hearing this, but my experience with other women makes me know that the methods I have to use with you aren't the gentlest, so to speak."
"I..." She was about to get up to confront me, but I stopped her.
"Penny, let me at least try one last thing. That's all I ask, let me show you one last thing, and then we'll decide if this continues or ends. Give me the chance to defend what we have," I pleaded as tragically as I could, making her hesitate.
"... Fine, just one more thing, but my decision is clear. The healthiest thing for both of us is to end this," she said, unable to refuse. She felt some pity for me, remembering that I was still just a boy... a very misguided one, but still a boy. She accepted, but she was sure nothing could change her mind now that she felt secure in her decision.
"Thank you." (Red)
"What are you going to show me?" (Penelope)
"Something that will surprise you, but we have to wait." (Red)
"Wait for what?" (Penelope)
"The 10 minutes. Why do you think I was talking about these things with you now? I was buying time." (Red)
"Time for what?" she said, getting nervous.
"You'll see. But don't resist or anything, it has to be considered that we're partners for it to work. If you're considered my enemy, it won't work and we'll have to wait another 10 minutes." (Red)
She was still nervous but restrained herself. She got up a bit from my body and leaned next to me, holding my hand while waiting. To pass the time, she couldn't help but ask.
"How many girlfriends do you have?" (Penelope)
"Real ones?" (Red)
"You have fake ones?" (Penelope)
"No, well, let's say... Hermione is my official girlfriend in front of everyone, but she doesn't really know anything deep about the relationship I'm looking for and all that." (Red)
"And do you plan for it to stay that way? Are you going to deceive her like that?" she reproached me.
"No, but she's still too young to understand some things." (Red)
"She's the same age as you." (Penelope)
"That's questionable... besides, you know you can't measure me by the same standards as others." (Red)
"..." She didn't continue with the topic, because she knew I was right. Even though she had several more doubts about me, she set them aside for a moment. So she returned to the previous topic to satisfy her curiosity. "So... how many girlfriends do you have?"
"Who know the truth... four." (Red)
"And are all of them okay with...?" (Penelope)
"Two completely are, the other two are still young and might change their minds in the future, but I'll make sure that's not a problem." (Red)
"Young...?" She was about to ask.
"It's time." (Red)
"What?! What do I have to...?" She asked, but couldn't finish.
In the middle of a meadow, under a clear sky with no sun or clouds, we both appeared sitting on the grass.
"... do?" she said weakly, looking around and then turning her head in all directions to see where we were. "Where are we?!"
"Penelope Clearwater, welcome to my personal world." I stood up and made a theatrical bow, as if I were presenting a show.
"What...?" she said faintly, while looking at the few buildings in the distance.
"As I said, this is my personal world. We're no longer in your house, not in the United Kingdom, not even on our planet. This is a separate world that belongs entirely to me. Think of it as if we traveled to another planet... a smaller one."
"Nooo..." she said in disbelief while standing up and contemplating the place, still doubtful.
"I told you I'd surprise you. This place is mine and only mine, and I can control it at will... as if I were... A GOD," I said exaggeratedly.
"P-proof it..." she stuttered. She was stunned by what she saw and heard. Traveling to another planet in 10 minutes where the boy next to her was a god was too much to believe, but she still needed to see it with her own eyes.
"Alright," I said and snapped my fingers. It wasn't necessary, but it made it more impressive.
A few decimeters from us, a small cloud appeared at head height and started to release a light rain. Penelope brought her trembling hand under the cloud and could feel the drops of water wetting her hand. Then she brought it to her face to see them more closely and ended up licking it involuntarily out of curiosity.
"This... this is real?" (Penelope)
"Yes, completely real. If you want, you can bottle it and take it home as a souvenir." I laughed at how amazed she was.
"What else can it do? Can you make it bigger? Make it rain harder? Lightning? Snow?"(Penelope)
"Eh... *cough* *cough*... well, no," I said with some embarrassment. "It's not that I can't, but it's very expensive and I'm short on funds."
"Expensive?" she asked, confused.
"You see, this world barely had... I think two square meters when I got it. Here I can spend money to improve it. I spent money to make it grow and build everything you see. This cloud you see was my first weather purchase. It can make it rain at that intensity for a whole hour each day because that's the amount I paid for. If I pay more, I can make it rain more, 24 hours a day if I want, and the cloud can be as big as this space. As I said, I'm a god here, and it's not false. Everything should be achievable here if I spend enough money." (Red)
Penelope exchanged glances between the cloud and the space. She seemed to be debating whether to accept this reality or be skeptical, thinking it couldn't be real because, if it was, then...
"Come, I'll show you what I have," I said, taking her hand and leading her with me.
Walking towards the buildings, she glimpsed from afar that they had various styles that didn't quite match, as if a bunch of civilizations from different eras had decided to build a city together.
"Those thatched-roof houses over there are farms. In the fields of each, you can plant all kinds of crops, and they'll grow faster and in greater quantity than in the world we live in. The two-story one was improved, and you can enhance them in various ways, such as soil fertility, growth speed, increasing production, etc." I pointed out the farms on the outermost part of the built-up area. "Magical plants can also grow there, but I found that for certain specific plants, some mandatory improvements are needed. At least I can assure that 50% of magical and non-magical plants can be planted."
"That's... impressive," she said, looking at the farms in the distance. She clearly understood what those farms meant. If managed well and expanded enough, they could easily steal the business of some magical families and ruin them.
"Look, here is the market. You can buy everything that has been in any store I've been to before, so you can practically find almost everything from Diagon Alley here." I showed her the small building that had several galleries with products around it.
Penelope looked at the large crates with oranges and peaches displayed outside the market, curious if it was true that she would find Diagon Alley here. Being close enough, a screen like my [messages] appeared before her eyes, and the purchase options appeared there, proving I was telling the truth.
"This is Merk, we call him that. He doesn't talk, and he doesn't need to either. Think of him as a movable statue or one of the suits of armor in Hogwarts."
Penelope observed Merk with curiosity, who always had that smile on his face. After seeing that he didn't seem to show the slightest reaction to her greeting, she returned to the purchase screen. She saw everything there, with fascination, especially some prices, but she couldn't look at them any longer when I took her to another building.
"Here is the bank. You can store money, and if you pay a fee, it will allow you to withdraw your cash from your account from anywhere, and you won't have to carry your galleons with you. It also generates a certain amount of passive income if you leave money stored for a while, although that gain belongs to this world, and only I can withdraw it or those I give permission to. If you want to receive a similar benefit, your account must have a certain amount of money and pass a certain amount of time without moving it from there." I presented her with a building that seemed to be made of black marble.
"Who works there? A goblin?" she asked curiously, thinking about what else she could find, fascinated by everything there, no matter how mundane.
"Eh? No, although it wouldn't be a bad idea. The building, like almost everything here, operates automatically with those screens you see, requiring no workers. Merk is... well, like a kind of spirit, not a real person, but he helps with that. In reality, there are only four people, and one of those four is a unicorn. There's someone else like Merk in the tower over there, but I won't show you because it's currently being used for experiments."
"What kind of experiments?" (Penelope)
"Some not very pleasant to look at. It's to help Elise, although the cost is... it doesn't matter, I won't show you, but I must say we're having good results. Let's move on." I pulled her hand with a smile while leading her to another place.
Penelope did not resist, she was fascinated. It might be very monotonous in some aspects, as the grass floor was completely that—no flowers or stones or any remains of anything, just a floor entirely covered with the same vegetation. Likewise, there were no trees except in some parts. I had saved on details like those that made the world look more alive in favor of efficiency, but even so, Penelope was delighted with what could be found.