"Are you ready yet?"
Oh, how Harry hated that question.
Was he ready yet? Wouldn't he be down by the door if he was ready?
Why did they insist on asking the question they already knew the answer to?
Natalia burst through the door. "Pack this," she said, throwing a set of robes at him. "Did you need anything else?"
Giving her a flat stare, Harry unceremoniously dropped the robes into his bottomless bag. "I don't know," he said, wiping his forehead. "You tell me."
Rolling her eyes, she went into his closet and began sending clothes at him. Holding his bag out before him, he waved his hand and everything that came out of the closet funnelled into the bag.
After far too many clothes came out, Natalia exited the walk-in. "There," she said, standing on tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his lips. "Three weeks' worth of clothes. I trust you can handle the toiletries?"
With a pat on the cheek, she left in a whirlwind.
Harry stared after her for a moment before he gave his head a shake and trotted off to the bathroom.
"Are you ready yet?"
He gripped the counter of the bathroom while he debated how to retaliate.
She was definitely doing it to rile him up.
"Nearly," he called back, knowing how she hated that imprecise reply.
As he looked at the bathroom, he couldn't help but frown.
The blasted room had three different configurations. His three fiancés had conspired to make the ensuite match for whomever spent the night with him. They'd put their heads together and made this complicated bit of magic work, but Harry had no idea how to control it.
It wasn't like he cared what it looked like. As long as there was a loo, shower, and sink, he was good. Each configuration had a small portion of the counter setup for his stuff but as he stared at it now, it was empty.
Had he already packed it?
"Still not done, 'arry?" Fleur said from behind him with a small laugh. "I thought you wanted to go on our trip."
With his hands on his haps, Harry turned around. "I do," he said. "But I've got a lot to pack for."
Fleur wrapped her arms around him from behind and tucked something into his hand.
With his eyes shut, Harry took hold of it and leaned back into the contact.
"There is everything you need for the expedition," she said, patting his hands before giving him a squeeze and letting go. "Better hurry, before Daphne has to come up here."
She pulled his chin around and gave him a kiss, slipping a little tongue in.
Harry watched her turn and walk away. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder before giving him an impish grin. "Don't make me wait too long, 'arry."
Reaching his fingers up, he touched his lips.
Damn those devious girls and what they did to him.
Glancing down at the little bag, Harry threw it, and the one he had been packing, on the bed.
"Are you done yet?"
"Nearrrrrly," he called out again.
Honestly, though, he had no clue. Between Dobby and his girls, these things were normally taken care of.
"I see we are not nearly done," Daphne said as she entered the room, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Harry turned towards her, then backed until his calves touched the bed and he let himself fall back onto the bed. With his arms thrown up above him, he let out a beleaguered sigh. "Haven't you punished me enough?"
"No," she said, coming to stand over him. "But we're not about to punish ourselves either."
Her words caused a flutter of hope in his stomach.
He was pants at packing.
Between Dobby and the girls, they normally more than covered everything, going so far as to pick out and label outfits for him.
While some guys might get annoyed that their significant other was labelling clothes and had provided a corresponding timetable, when one of them was not around to do it for him directly, he loved it.
It was brilliant. He'd wear what he was told, never have to shop or waste time trying to figure out what he should be wearing. With all the compliments he kept getting, it was practically perfect.
Well, perfect so long as they were willing to keep doing it.
"Did we learn our lesson this time?"
Rolling himself up into a sitting position, Harry nodded with enthusiasm. "Don't try and out-drink Sirius."
Daphne crossed her arms, pinched her lips together, and then raised a solitary eyebrow.
"And don't take his advice to ask for a foursome," Harry said, shooting her a tentative and apologetic grin.
Reaching into her pocket, Daphne withdrew a silver bowtie that had a subtle sparkle to it. She closed the distance between them and tied it around his neck, adjusting the back of his collar to finish.
With her hands still wrapped behind his neck, he pulled him to her and gave him a gentle kiss. "I didn't tell the others," she said, staring up at him. "Don't let the Mutt put those ideas in your head."
Harry raised his hand and caressed her cheek. "Sorry... I'm the luckiest wizard alive and often wonder if all my shite luck growing up isn't being paid back by being with you three."
She kissed his cheek and then pulled him toward the exit of the room by the hand. "Dobby will take care of the rest," she said, pointing back towards his bags. "We'll enjoy ourselves tonight and then get away from it all."
"Couldn't we skip the anniversary ball?" Harry asked, knowing it was a futile inquiry. "I'm not attending this every year for the rest of my life."
"The Man-Who-Conquered has to attend," she said with a roll of her eyes. "We're making progress but you've got to play the game if you want to have the political sway."
He let out a pleased hum. "One night, then three weeks with you all," Harry said. "I'm glad we're all getting away together. Between the meetings, social gatherings, duelling practice, curse breaking, and ballet it was getting a bit much."
Daphne snorted. "As if you could sit still," she said as they began to descend the staircase. "The last time you had a full day off, you nearly blew up your workshop."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Harry couldn't help but grin. "So worth it," he muttered. "Viktor's still pissed that my broom is better than his. I'm sure he'll pull out all the stops for us when we visit just so I might lend it to him for the World Cup."
The two of them came to the foyer, and he kissed Daphne's forehead and then went and greeted the other two. The night would be tedious, but he'd have a lot of fun dancing with his girls. They'd slip out and then have almost a month of travelling.
Three weeks to relax before things really got going. Harry was looking at entering the Duelling Circuit, Fleur was going to be going on her first Curse Breaking Expedition, Natalia was about to rehearse for a new production, and Daphne had graduated and was diving into the business world.
Life was busy, but since he'd stumbled into Salazar's journal, it had surely been interesting.
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