Title - Getting Away 16/24

Author - Lena

Pairing - Harry/Ron, Harry/various OC's (slash and het), Ron/OC (slash)

Rating - this chapter - R

Feedback - [email protected]

For warnings, disclaimers, etc. please see chapter 0/24 - msg#11257

Chapter Sixteen - Wednesday

Frank stopped him in the lobby before he went upstairs. “Well, I see court went okay. You’re free!”

Harry said, “Yeah. They just took my bail money as a fine and dropped charges.”

Frank said, “Good. What do you have planned for your free afternoon?”

Harry said, “I don’t know. I want to do something, because I was so stressed from the whole ordeal. I was petrified that I was going to get locked up again.”

Frank said, “You know, I don’t know how you would feel about this, but...” He hesitated.

Harry said, “What?”

Frank continued, “Well, my mom works at a spa and they give massages and stuff. It’s really relaxing. It’s not girly or anything. I’ve had some of their spa treatments. It’s nice, really. Some guys think it‘s odd.” Harry thought Frank was over explaining when it actually sounded nice.

Harry said, “No, that does sound relaxing.”

Frank said, “I can call my mom and she’ll get you in.”

Harry said, “Thanks!”

Frank seemed to hesitate again, “Um, Harry...”

“Yeah?”

"I was wondering, since you are alone, my cousin is going to be visiting for a week, but I have to work tomorrow. Would you like to go out somewhere with her?"

Harry was a little hesitant for lots of reasons. Frank picked up on it. He continued, "Look, I know, going out with someone's cousin isn't always the greatest thing, but she 's good looking and anyway, I just meant if you were bored and wanted someone to do something with."

Harry couldn't think of a good excuse to say no and he thought he might as well take another chance on a girl. At least he knew her cousin. He made up his mind though, to not, under no circumstances, sleep with her or even steer the conversation that direction. Anyway, he got the feeling Frank wouldn’t like it. He said, "You know, that would be okay."

Frank said, "Okay, cool. I'll call her. About meeting her in the lobby at noon? I'm letting her borrow my car."

Harry said, "Great!"

Frank smiled and picked up the phone to call his mom at the spa.

Harry went upstairs and changed into a t-shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of flip-flops. When he came back down, Frank had the address of the spa and his mom’s name on a piece of paper waiting for him. He thanked Frank again and walked across the street for a late lunch.

After lunch he hailed a taxi and headed for the spa.

Harry arrived at the spa, which was in a really nice neighborhood on the outskirts of town. Harry had nothing else better to do and it sounded like it could be as relaxing as Frank had said.

Harry walked up to the counter and said to the receptionist, "Hi, My name's Harry and I'm supposed to ask for Grace?"

The receptionist smiled at him, picked up the phone and pushed a couple of buttons. After a moment, she said, "Grace, a fellow named Harry is here to see you?" There was a pause, then the receptionist said, "Okay, sure, bye." She put down the receiver and said to Harry, "Have a seat. She'll be with you in a moment."

Harry said, "Thanks!" He turned and went to sit in some cushy chairs behind him. He picked up a magazine and skimmed it. He looked around the reception area and noticed it had a tranquil feeling. There were candles lit and soft pastels adorned the walls.

He hadn't waited very long, when a nice looking older lady came through a door behind the receptionist. She smiled at Harry and said, "Hi! You're my Frank's friend?"

Harry got up and shook her hand. "Yes, I'm Harry."

Grace said, "Nice to meet you, Harry. I've set you up for an afternoon of some different things that I hope I'll like."

Harry was a little concern about the cost, but he didn't know how to bring it up. "Um, that sounds nice, but...uh..."

Grace smiled at him sweetly. "Don't worry. Frank told me some of your troubles."

Harry felt flush. Grace continued, "Oh, don't be embarrassed." She seemed very motherly, which Harry really liked.

Harry said, "Okay, thank you."

Grace gestured to Harry to follow her. They went into a small room with a lady who was sitting behind a low table and had nail polish surrounding her. Harry was a little apprehensive as he looked around. This seemed more Ron’s speed than his. Grace said, “Enjoy”, and she left.

The lady said, “My name is Valerie. Have a seat. Relax.” She smiled at him.

Harry sat, but found it hard to relax. He stuttered, “Um...I...do I have to...” His voice died out and his moved his hand towards the nail polish.

She chuckled and said, “No, I won’t put on polish, you don’t want.”

Harry said, “Thanks, no I don’t.”

He really had no clue what else she could do, but she gently grabbed his hands and placed them in a small bowl of soapy water. She then moved a large container of water around the side of the table and said, “Take off your sandals and put your feet in the water.“

He pushed his feet out of the flip-flops and placed his feet in the warm water. She switched on the container and it started vibrating. Harry gasped, but it felt nice. His feet were being massaged and Harry wiggled his toes in the water. She moved back up to the bowl his hands were in and she lifted his right hand out and patted it dry.

She looked at his nails. They were short, stubby and not very smooth. Valerie made a bit of a face. She pulled out a nail clipper and a nail file and started shaping them. When she finished, she put lotion on her hands, smoothed it over his hand and rubbed it into his skin. Harry never had done this before, so he had no clue what she was doing or what the stuff was she was putting on his hands. He did know that it felt nice. She continued massaging his hands, by pressing her fingers into his knuckles and the top of his hand. Then she turned his hand over and massaged the palm.

When Valerie finished, she put his hand back in the water, picked up his other hand and continued the same steps. They didn’t talk much, although Valerie asked him a few questions about London and his vacation. Harry chatted about the good moments of his vacation and told her some of the things people always want to know about England.

After she finished with his other hand, she reached over and pulled a bottle of what Harry thought was polish from a shelf. Harry pulled his hand away from her and said, “No.”

Valerie grinned at him. “It’s not polish. It’s clear. It’ll just keep your nails from chipping.”

Harry lowered his head and said, “Oh.”

Valerie pulled the brush out of the bottle and smoothed it over Harry’s nails. She was right, Harry noted, it was clear. When she finished, she got up and pulled her chair around to the container that held his feet. Harry put his hands up to his face and looked at them. They looked quite nice.

Valerie pulled a leg out of the water and Harry’s foot was a little numb from the vibrating machine. She looked at his foot and made that face again. She fixed his toenails and did similar things to his feet that she had done to his hands.

Then she put lotion on his lower legs and calves and rubbed it into his skin. She massaged his feet with her powerful hands. She had been softer on his hands, but she really pressed into his legs muscles and it almost hurt, but he sat back and let her, because it just felt good. Harry sighed and breathed out, “Nice.” He shut his eyes for a moment.

He jerked up. He had fallen asleep. He looked down and saw Valerie place his foot on a towel in front of the container. His other foot was already there. He didn’t even realize she had finished. She shut off the machine.

She looked up at him and said, “You’re stressed out, aren’t you?”

Harry smirked and said, “Just a little.”

Valerie said, “Well, you’re going to love the massage.”

Harry had no idea what that entailed, but said, “Okay.”

Valerie said, “Grab your shoes and follow me.” They walked down the hall to another small room with a narrow bed in it. She said, “Relax. Jeff will be with you soon.”

Harry said, “Thanks, Valerie, really. Thank you.”

Valerie said, “Oh, you’re welcome. Have a good time. Here...” She handed Harry a robe and continued, "Get undressed and put this on."

Harry took the robe, but said, "Get undressed?"

Valerie said, "Yes. Completely undressed." She then left Harry alone.

He didn't know what to make of this either, but he went ahead and got undressed. He wrapped the robe around himself. It was warm and soft. Harry waited for a few moments before Jeff came in. Jeff said, "Hi! Harry, is it?"

Harry said, "Yes. Hi." He was a bit apprehensive about the massage.

Jeff started going around and lighting a few of the candles that were placed around the room. He said, "I hear, you're one stressed out dude?"

Harry wondered just how much Frank had told them all. "Well, yeah, I suppose."

Jeff grinned and said, "It's okay, after I'm done with you, you'll be so damn relaxed, you won't know what hit you."

Harry knew he looked alarmed at this, but Jeff turned away and pulled out some bottles of what looked like lotion. Jeff said, "Lay down on your stomach, Harry, with your face there." He pointed to a hole at the top of the bed.

Harry didn't move. Jeff looked up and said, "Harry, it will be fine. Trust me." Harry slowly got on the bed, lie down on his stomach and placed his face in the hole.

Harry could hear Jeff put on soft music and he said, "Harry, you've obviously never had a massage before, have you?"

Harry mumbled, "No."

Jeff's voice softened and he said, “Let the robe hang loose. I'm going to just gently pull the robe down and up as I need too, but I won't touch you anywhere inappropriate, okay?"

Harry mumbled, "'Kay." Harry adjusted to move the robe from around his middle underneath his body.

Harry heard Jeff squeeze what he figured was lotion on his hands. Then Jeff fingered Harry's robe collar and tugged it down below his shoulders. Harry felt Jeff's soft, wet hands touch the top of his shoulders. Jeff's hands were strong as they kneaded themselves into Harry's tense shoulder muscles.

Jeff moved his hands to the back of Harry's neck and continued kneading. Harry felt a shiver go up his spine as Jeff's long fingers ran their way through his hair. The hands stopped at the top of Harry's head and slowly worked their way down the strands of his dark hair to his neck again, all the time pressing, trying to get Harry to relax.

Jeff's hands moved down his shoulder again and pressed deep into the back of Harry's left shoulder. He heard Jeff whisper; "You've got a huge knot in this muscle." Jeff continued massaging the muscle until it finally seemed to give way and so did Harry. He moaned and shut his eyes.

Jeff whispered, "Feels good doesn't it?"

Harry mumbled, "Yeah." Harry's mind was wandering while Jeff's hands moved down Harry's back and reached his lower back. Harry didn't even care that Jeff was getting close to his butt. Jeff stopped just above it and pressed his hands up Harry's spine.

Harry mumbled, "Ron." His mind was a muddled mess, but he was remembering times of touching, with hands and arms and legs everywhere. Then that kiss leaped to his mind. That kiss. That he had enjoyed more than he would ever admit in a conscious state even to himself.

Jeff's hand moved up and down Harry's back in a rhythm that Harry loved. Harry moaned and muttered incoherently. Jeff then left Harry's back and took an arm in his hands. He lifted the arm up with one hand and placed the other hand in Harry's shoulder and worked on all of Harry's tense muscles there. He pushed and prodded at them, until Harry's arms felt like Jell-O and Jeff had to place it next to Harry's body because he was incapable of moving.

Jeff walked over to Harry's other side and did the same with his right arm. Harry felt the pressure in his shoulder muscles melt. Before Jeff let Harry's arm go, he brushed his fingertips between Harry's shoulder blades and he shivered. Jeff carefully placed Harry's arm by his side.

Jeff pulled the robe up around Harry's shoulders and pulled it from his thighs up to just below his bottom. Harry felt cold for a second, until he felt Jeff's warm hands wet again with lotion, press against his upper thigh. Jeff's hands moved far up Harry's thigh, but not quite touching him inappropriately. Between the scents of the candles, that soft music and a pair of hands touching him, Harry was utterly turned on.

In a tiny part of Harry's mind, he thought maybe he shouldn't be, but he pushed the thought away. His mind then again went to Ron. He again remembered nights of petting and touching. Harry whimpered out loud, "Ron."

He tried to push all thoughts out of his head, but he didn't care what he should be thinking. God, he loved Ron, he thought, as he felt those hands digging into his tense muscles, rubbing his legs and his feet and his back and his body and his-

He heard a whisper in his ear. "We're done, Harry. Relax. Sleep for a while if you want. It's okay."

Harry mumbled, but didn't make any sense. He fell asleep.

Harry woke with a start. He had forgotten where he was until he smelled the candles. Harry relaxed again and muttered, "Oooohhh." He remembered what he had thought about during the massage. He had been pretty incoherent but he remembered.

He turned over on his side and wondered for a moment if he was bisexual. He didn't think he was because the only guy he had ever messed around with was Ron and that guy at the party. He had never played with any of the other boys in Gryffindor.

Ron had accused him of not being straight. Was he just going for opportunities no matter the gender? Was he just attracted to certain people? Was he just a slut that would do it with anyone who would have him? Harry was unnerved at what those answers were. He knew though, he would always be attracted to Ron, but right now he just couldn't love him like Ron needed.

Harry lie there thinking, he loved girls, he really did, and he wanted a wife and children and a house and a picket fence and all those ridiculous things that went with it. He knew he was straight enough. Just like his dad. He knew he was just like his dad.

He knew, also, that he would have to stop being jealous of Ron. It was silly, really, they were jealous of each other. Harry was envious because Ron had a loving family and Harry figured Ron was jealous of him for being what Ron thought was special. Harry never felt like he was special. At this moment he felt like an idiot. A righteous acting, unfair, envious idiot.

He would have to make conscious choices to get what he wanted out of life. He would have to stop acting on his hormones and be a grown up. Hiding away at the Burrow, needed to stop, as well. Voldemort was dead, so saying that he wanted to relax all the time because of all the pain and stress that Voldemort had caused was a pathetic excuse for not wanting to deal with real life.

Harry finally got up. He felt a little woozy from being the most relaxed he had been in his life. He slowly got dressed. He opened the door of the little room and walked towards the reception area. He stumbled, but caught himself. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

Grace spied him trying to walk down the hallway and called to him, “Harry, how do you feel.”

Harry’s mind was still going a mile a minute but he could hardly form words out loud. “Yeah...”

Grace laughed softly. “I’ll call you a cab, okay?”

Harry mumbled, “Mmm...uf...”

Grace picked up the phone. Harry said, “Mmm...money.”

Grace put her finger up to talk on the phone for a moment. She placed it down and said, “Harry, don’t worry about it. We want you to have a nice vacation.”

Harry said, “No.” He was being able to speak clearer now. “Not fair!”

Grace said, “Well, if you want to tip Valerie and Jeff, I’m sure they’d appreciate that.”

Harry said, “Okay.” He pulled two twenty dollar bills and looked at her questioningly.

Grace shook her head positively and said, “That’s nice, Harry. Thanks.”

Harry said, “Thank you!”

Grace guided him to the front door and helped him in the taxi.

Harry barely made it awake back to the hotel. He practically threw money at the cabbie and lurched across the lobby and leaned up against the elevator. He made it up and to his door upstairs. It took a couple of times for him to get the key in the door, before he could open it.

Harry stumbled into the room, flopped on his bed and promptly fell asleep once again.

Harry woke up a few hours later, still groggy, but starving. He lifted himself out of bed and forced himself to change clothes. He put on a pair of sweats and a fresh t-shirt. Harry didn't feel like going anyway for food, but since he was hungry, he looked through the room service menu.

He wanted something filling, so Harry ordered a hamburger, fries and a soda. While waiting for it to come, he turned on the television. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door. He answered it and a man from the hotel came in and placed the tray on the table on the other side of the room. Harry gave him a small tip and the man left.

Harry took the tray over to the bed and ate heartily while watching television. He was nibbling on his fries, when he jumped when he heard a knock on the door.

He got up and peeked through the eyehole in the door. It was Frank, so he opened the door.

"Hi! How'd it go?"

Harry said, "Oh, it was great. I keep falling asleep. Hey, sorry, come in." He moved out of the way and let him walk in the door.

Frank came in. "I won't stay long. I just wanted to check on you."

Harry said, "I'm fine, honest."

Frank said, "I talked to Laura and she's looking forward to meeting you. Thanks for this."

Harry sat down on his bed and said, "Oh, it's okay. It'll be fun. What does she look like?"

Frank eyes flashed and he said stiffly, "She's pretty. Does it matter?"

Harry stood up again and said quickly, "No! No! I just wondered."

Frank said, "Sorry, I'm a little protective of her."

Harry said, "I understand." Harry had the feeling this was the real reason for the visit. Harry had been right when he had thought Frank wouldn't like him making moves on his cousin. Harry offered him some leftover fries, because he didn't know what else to say.

Frank said, "No, thanks, I gotta go back downstairs. I'm just on my break." He walked over to the door. He continued, "See you tomorrow."

Harry said, "Okay, bye." He had wanted to say he was looking forward to it, but decided against it. Frank left and he moved the food back over to the table. He crawled under the covers and snuggled against his pillows. He left the television on as background noise and he fell asleep once again.