Ch. 2 Getting Serious
Louis Weasley and Amanda
Ch. 2 Getting Serious
It was the first Friday in April, twenty-twenty-seven, and although Louis and Amanda were still the best of friends, and everyone else considered them a couple, they had still not kissed. They had talked about marriage and having a family in very theoretical terms without ever saying bluntly that they were talking about having a family together. Louis knew that for anything that involved subtle human relationships you could not be subtle with Amanda. She really was handicapped in this one area, although she was brilliant in most other areas. Amanda could also be real touchy when the subject of boy-girl relationships came up. She obviously had some internal rules she was following, but Louis was only beginning to learn what the rules were.
Friday after class Louis broached the subject. “Amanda, we have been dating for most of this year.”
Amanda looked at Louis with surprise. “We have not been dating.”
“What do you call what we have been doing?” asked Lewis.
“Spending time together? Going places together? I like being with you, but it’s not dating?” Amanda cautiously insisted.
“What would it take to make it a date?” asked Lewis.
Amanda got that look of concentration she got when she was trying to figure out some human interaction, get subtle signs that other people could read easily but that came very hard to her. Finally, she suggested, “I always thought that a date is when the girl wore a real pretty dress, and they walked hand in hand, and…” she paused and looked at Louis with a real questioning look and admitted, “Oh, I don’t know? Maybe a couple of dances were dates but the boys always wanted to paw at me and I never … actually I always left in a huff before the dance was over. I was friends with some boys, but was always scared if a boy wanted to go any further. The only ones who asked me were the boys I did not want to go out with.”
Louis knew that Amanda had at least one dress, because she wore it on a couple of occasions when you really were supposed to be dressed up, but both times he had to suggest that maybe a dress was more appropriate for this occasion. “Amanda,” Louis intoned, “I would like to take you on a date tonight. Wear a pretty dress. Actually any dress you wore would be a pretty dress.”
“There’s more to a date than just a dress,” Amanda suggested.
“Like what?” asked Louis.
“Well in the movies there is always romantic music, and the boy and girl walk hand in hand, and then at the end of the date,” she looked kind of wistful, then concerned. “I’ve never kissed a boy,” she breathlessly explained. “I don’t know how!”
Louis could not help himself. “I would not expect it’s much different than kissing a girl.”
Amanda pondered Louis’s comment without getting any joke or irony, “But I’ve never kissed a girl either.”
Louis suggested, “Let’s just go out, nicely dressed, and look for some romantic music.” Louis knew one restaurant they had gone to that usually had romantic music, with live strolling musicians on the weekends. He picked up Amanda, who had taken the time to put on lipstick and do something with her hair, and hand in hand they walked to the restaurant, had a delightful dinner, and walked back to the apartments.
When they arrived back to the apartments Louis proposed, “In the movies, sometimes when a couple has a date they go back to one of their place to talk. I’d like to do that. We do it often on our non-dates and for this date I would like that.”
Amanda looked a little concerned, but replied, “OK. This is a real date then?”
“I’m trying to make it one,” Louis told Amanda. “Come to my apartment.”
Amanda nodded yes, with a concerned look on her face. When they walked in Louis waved his wand and the apartment was lit by candle light, with soft romantic music playing. He had taken two of the overstuffed chairs that were at the apartment and turned them into a love seat, and he had her sit down on one side while he sat on the other. “Does this feel like a date, Amanda?” asked Louis.
“Well we haven’t kissed yet,” she pondered, obviously thinking, “and mother says that I botch every attempt at romance, so I’ll probably make a mess of that.” She kind of flopped down at her side of the love seat. “I probably want this too bad,” she muttered, “but I did not know how to tell you.”
“Would it be all right if I gave you just a little kiss? Just a short little one, and see if it is OK?” asked Louis.
“What do I do?” she asked in panic.
“Just purse your lips like this, and stay right there, and I will come over to you and give you a little kiss,” Louis told her.
“Do I keep my eyes open or close them?” Amanda asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Louis replied. “Whatever feels right to you.”
“But everything matters, Louis,” Amanda protested. “This will be our first kiss, and then the music swells and the couple falls madly in love and … and … and they get naked and he makes love to her and … they have babies … of course its important!”
“Getting naked and making babies comes after the marriage, not after the first kiss,” Louis replied.
“You’ll wait?” asked Amanda.
“Yes, I’ll wait,” Louis answered.
“But not too long,” Amanda suggested.
“Too much talking not enough kissing,” Louis responded.
“I knew I’d blow it,” Amanda sobbed, shrinking away.
Louis leaned over to Amanda, who became real wide eyed. She pursed her lips and kept her eyes wide open. Louis gave her a short little kiss. Amanda looked a little surprised. “That was not so hard,” she thought out loud. Louis gave Amanda a longer kiss, and she relaxed a little. They pulled apart, shifted position to get more comfortable, Louis put his arms around Amanda and pulled her into himself and gave her a long, gentle kiss.
Amanda relaxed a little and let herself rest against Louis. Neither said anything for a few minutes, as they just held each other. Finally, she pulled away, looked at Louis, and said, “I liked that.” Then Amanda looked at Louis with the puzzled look she often had when she was trying to figure out something hard and asked, “Does this mean we are going to get married?”
Louis replied, “No, but I would very much like it if we did get married.”
Amanda wore her ‘I’m concentrating hard’ look. “That’s what I was thinking about when we first met, but we needed to get to know each other. Then when we did I did not know how to tell you … I mean a girl just does not go up to a guy and say ‘I think you’d make a good husband’ and I’ve never been any good at that sort of thing, and I was pretty content to just wait.
“Well some of the girls talked about getting horny like wanting sex but I did not know what that felt like but I guess I was getting horny, Louis, can we kiss again?”
Louis held Amanda close and gave her a couple more kisses. “I’m probably saying all the wrong things,” Amanda muttered. “I’m probably a bad kisser too.”
“You’re actually pretty good for an amateur, but we need a lot of practice,” Louis grinned. “More homework. We’ve got a couple of months, even if we get married this summer.”
“I kind of botched this girlfriend thing,” Amanda sighed. “Maybe I’d be a better wife. I mean it’s complex being a girl and you are supposed to know how to be subtle and say things without saying them and I do not have any idea how to say something unless I say it plainly and out loud, and we’ve got these bodies with all these sexual parts and boys always want to touch you and I’ve never wanted boys to be pawing me, and then when you have sex they not only touch you but go inside you and then part of them is inside you, I mean it’s really strange. And I thought it was gross, but now I want it, I think, but only with you.”
Louis told her, “I love you, Amanda. You’re really strange sometimes, but you’re always delightful. If you agree we can go to your parents’ tomorrow to talk about a wedding.”
“After one date?” Amanda gasped.
“I’ll wait if you want to,” Louis responded.
“NO!” Amanda protested, with a panicky look on her face.
“You want to get married this summer.”
“YES!” Amanda shouted.
“So we’re engaged,” Louis proposed.
“I didn’t think you were engaged until you had a ring,” Amanda pondered. “Oh, I’m asking for a ring and maybe you don’t have any money and I’m messing up this whole thing again. I’m good at numbers and computer programs but I’ve never been good at figuring out these things, but we are going to get married?”
Louis had to laugh. “Yes, if we can arrange it we will get married this summer.”
“Good,” said Amanda, “because I’ll probably be bad at this girlfriend thing … but I’m not … Oh … Louis when you’re engaged you’re not a girlfriend or boyfriend you are a fiancé … Oh … this is real confusing.”
Louis told her, “You can be my girlfriend until tomorrow morning, and then we will pick out an engagement ring and you will be engaged.”
“OK,” Amanda replied. She got a concerned look on her face. “This is more important than homework, isn’t it?” she rushed to confirm.
Lewis answered, “Yes, this is more important than homework.”
With a little prompting they spent another half hour just holding each other, doing a little kissing. Then Amanda looked at the clock and told Louis, “I’m usually in bed by now.”
Louis suggested, “I’ll make you breakfast tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM, and then we can go shopping for a ring, and then go visit your parents.”
“OK,” Amanda replied. Louis opened the door to his apartment and let Amanda out, giving her a small kiss as she left. He stayed in the hall until he could see she was in her apartment.
How am I going to get money for an engagement ring, thought Louis. He was going to have to call his father in the morning, and see what kind of a budget he would have for a ring.
Amanda was trying to figure out what had gone on. She wanted to marry Louis, that she knew. She liked it when he was holding her. He was not pawing at her, trying to feel all her private parts. He just held her. He did not try and eat her, just a little kiss, and he had waited and waited. The very few boys she had dated had wanted to go way too far on the first or second date, which may be why she never had a third date.
Was all that time together really dating? How could it be a date? They wore the same type of clothes they did at school, they did not kiss and seldom held hands. She was never good at figuring out this type of relationship. Were they really going to buy an engagement ring tomorrow? Amanda went to sleep still confused.
6:30 AM Louis was up, and by 7:00 AM he was calling his father. Louis asked, “Dad, do you know how much you should spend on an engagement ring?”
“How much who should spend?” asked Bill. “Are you thinking of buying one for Amanda?”
“Yes, Amanda does not consider herself engaged without a ring, but she does want to get married this summer,” Louis replied, “and I only have about $1,500.00 US in my bank account, and that has to last until the end of the school year.”
“The family financial office would have paid you for going to school. You insisted on paying for your living expenses out of your savings. Now you want to borrow a little more money from mom and dad?” asked Bill.
“I’m going to have to,” Louis replied.
“You should be able to get an adequate set of an engagement ring and a pair of wedding rings for under 100 Galleons,” Bill let his son know. “Nothing very fancy, but you will have years to spend money on Amanda. We’ll cover the cost for now. Oh, congratulations. There is a good wizard jewelry store in New York. I’ve taken your mother in there, and come out a little lighter in the wallet. Your mother and sisters are not exactly low maintenance women, Louis, as Teddy Lupin is finding out.
“Once you are engaged or married the family financial office will make sure you have enough money. You and Amanda need to work with us on that soon.”
Lewis did know of the Potter and Weasley Family Financial Office. They had paid for his college and even given him an allowance. He had just wanted to show he could support himself, be a good steward of money, especially if he was going to be responsible for family money.
*
Louis knew that Amanda was fanatically precise. If she was supposing to be at his door at 8:00 she would knock on the door between 7:59 and 8:01. So he had eggs and sausage on, and at 7:58 Louis opened the door. Amanda was just about to knock on the door. Louis waved Amanda in and gave her a very gentle kiss. They were silent as they sat down to eat; they had eaten breakfast together enough, made breakfast for each other often enough, that they knew what each liked.
“My father suggests we go to New York to look at rings,” said Louis.
Amanda looked at her hands. She looked at Louis, and then back at her hands. “We’re really going to do this?” she asked.
“Unless you do not want to, of course we are going to do this,” Louis responded.
“OK,” said Amanda, something between utter astonishment and delight on her face. After breakfast they went to New York, found the Jewelry store, and found an engagement ring and wedding rings, a matched set, with all the right charms on them. The engagement ring was very modest, but Amanda thought it was beautiful. Louis put the engagement ring on Amanda’s hand and said, “I guess this the formal engagement. Amanda, will you marry me?”
Amanda looked at the ring, looked at Louis, and breathlessly replied, “Oh yes. This is what I want!” She started to give Louis a tiny modest kiss, but it ended up a passionate reasonably long lasting kiss, that was followed by applause from the people in the store. About 11:00 AM they called Amanda’s parents, and by 12:00 noon east coast time, 9:00 AM California time they were at Amanda’s house.
Ann Meijer met the couple at the front door and asked, “So why did you come here so early on a Saturday morning?”
Amanda, with a look of total surprise on her face, blurted out, “We’re engaged!” After a slight pause, “To get married,” and after another pause, “This summer!”
Ann looked at the couple a minute, like she was processing this bit of information, then yelled, “Tony! Tony! Amanda and Louis are here and they are engaged! They are going to get married! This summer!”
Anastasia came flying into the front hallway, looked at her sister, grabbed her sister’s hand, looked at the ring, jumped up and down and gasped, “You’re engaged! You’re engaged! You’re going to get married! This is sooo romantic.”
Andrew was not far behind, and he asked, “Is Harry Potter going to be here? Harry Potter with his scar and Ginny Potter the Quidditch player and Albus Peverell with the Wand of Destiny and Cleo Peverell with the other elder wand, will they all be here for the wedding? This is fantastic! I’ll meet the Potters. Wait until I tell my friends!”
Anastasia looked at her brother and yelled, “ITS NOT ABOUT HARRY POTTER! It’s about Amanda and Louis and ROMANCE and SHE’S NOT MARRYING HARRY POTTER STUPID and I think its soooo romantic.”
“WILL YOU STOP FIGHTING ABOUT MY WEDDING,” Amanda cried. She was beginning to tear up. “I’ve never even had a boy friend and I finally am engaged and you are fighting about … I don’t even know what you are fighting about but please stop!”
Tony had arrived and grabbed both of the children by the back of their shirts and growled, “To your rooms, both of you. NOW.”
Both of the children looked at their dad, and promptly went to their rooms.
“I grew up with eleven other cousins, and now there are seventeen of us. A few of them are a little wild,” a grinning Louis explained. He was not at all bothered by Amanda’s brother and sister. “Plus all the next generation. Amanda, don’t worry. Your brother and sister do not bother me. Everything will be fine.”
The two couples walked into the living room and sat down. “We would like to get married this summer,” Louis told his future in-laws. “I expect we should get married here.”
“How big is your family now?” Ann wondered.
“I have a hard time keeping track,” Louis pondered. “People keep getting married and having babies. At least seventy, if everyone comes. Just family.”
“We have a much smaller family,” Ann told Louis. “Both Tony and I have a married sister, younger, with 2 children each, to invite, so that’s only 12 people. Well, there are grandparents, so maybe another dozen or so. I have some good friends in the home schooling association, but the people I need to invite includes probably 3 couples with, … are children going to be invited?”
Louis replied, “I can’t imagine a Weasley or Potter wedding without lots of children. The last couple of weddings there was a special program and babysitters for the children, something for children of all ages to do.”
“Oh good,” a relieved Ann responded. “Among them the three couples have nine children, three to ten years old.”
“I don’t have any business associates that need to be invited,” said Tony. “If all the plans are made before anyone realizes that the Potters are coming I will be fine.”
Ann asked Amanda, “Do you have any friends that you would like to invite?”
“I really have not kept in touch with any of the people I went to school with before college,” Amanda explained. “I’ve had a few e-mails with a couple of people who I went to college with, but I would not invite any of them to my wedding.”
Amanda’s mother looked at Louis. “You’ve talked about good friends as well as family. Do you have any people you want to invite?”
Louis replied, “We’ll probably have a party at the pond this summer for friends, so they do not have to travel to California. There are a lot of people who are friends, who I grew up with, that will want to meet Amanda.”
They spent some time talking about the wedding, and then had the children come back. The rest of the day was pleasant enough, and after an early dinner Louis and Amanda went back to their apartments.
*
Sunday both Louis and Amanda had to catch up with schoolwork. Over the next week there would be a continual exchange of messages between Louis and his family, and it was decided that Amanda and Louis would travel to England Saturday night and go to the normal family Sunday morning meeting.
Louis was reasonably popular, and was making friends with many people at the classes. He was interested in how they could best invest the money from the Harry Potter Estates, plus the companies making Muggle mechanical parts, DPW, was always looking for industrial processes that needed a little magic to make them work better. DPW was immensely profitable, for a variety of reasons, and his father had a share in the ownership of that company. Amanda was meeting people through Louis, but by herself she had a hard time making friends. She was terrifically smart but not all that social, and she was very happy to be making friends with Louis as a couple.
Monday during one of the classes one of the women in the class noticed the engagement ring on Amanda’s hand. After class she went over to Amanda and asked, “Did Louis give you a ring?” Amanda nodded yes. “Why?” asked the classmate.
“We’re going to get married this summer,” Amanda replied, just a big unsure of herself.
“You’re engaged?” asked the classmate.
Amanda looked a little surprised, but then agreed, “I am engaged! I’m still surprised.” She smiled. “Engaged is a good thing, I think. Yes, I know it’s a good thing.”
Saturday Louis and Amanda went to visit Louis’s parents. Saturday evening Fleur and Bill greeted the couple warmly. Fleur hugged Amanda, and she let herself be hugged, then hugged Fleur back. People touched each other in the Weasley and Potter households! It was kind of nice.
The whole family was going to be going to grandma and grandpa Weasleys’ house in the morning, but before they went to Grandma and Grandpa Weasley’s house Louis told Amanda “There is a ritual you have to know about. When a couple first gets engaged, grandma Weasley gets a book from her bedroom, The Witches and Wizards Graphic Guide to Married Sex, and gives it to the woman. The woman opens the book and notices that four couples helped the author couple and illustrator couple, including Arthur and Molly Weasley, grandmother and grandfather, and says something. Then the woman starts to open the book and comes to the first illustration, which is very graphic and certainly not something you want your little children to see, and quickly shuts the book again.”
Amanda asked, “I’m supposed to do this?”
Louis agreed, “Yes, you will be given the book, and you should notice that grandma and grandpa Weasley helped to write it.”
“What about the pictures?” Amanda wondered.
“Just close the book when you see the first picture. Whatever your reaction it will be OK” said Louis.
Finally, the whole family was together, well everybody who was not away at school. Everybody had found out that Louis and Amanda were there because they had just gotten engaged, and Molly said, “I have a book I give to all engaged couples, Amanda. Give me a minute, and I’ll give you a book.” Molly went to her bedroom, and came back with the latest edition of The Witches and Wizards Graphic Guide to Married Sex. Amanda looked at the box, took the book out, and looked at the first page.
Amanda carefully looked at the first page, and then remarked, I see you helped write this book, Grandmother Weasley. Is that why you have so many grandchildren?”
Molly beamed, replying, “I am sure none of them were virgin births.”
Arthur did not say anything, but he had a lusty and self-satisfied smile. All the other couples had big grins on their face.
Amanda slowly turned the pages until she came to the first illustration. She quickly closed the book and looked at Louis. “It’s got drawings of people, naked people! Louis?” She had a rather horrified look on her face.
Lily volunteered, “You ARE people, Amanda, Louis!”
Amanda felt her body, like she was trying to reassure herself that she was a person, a female person.
“We’re not going to do anything you do not want to do,” Lewis tried to reassure Amanda. “We should read at least some of the book together.”
“OK,” Amanda squeaked in a small voice.
Sunday after the family morning meeting Harry and Ginny got together with Bill and Fleur, Louis and Amanda. Harry was worried about security. “We haven’t had a witch or wizard wedding in California since Dudley married Belinda a generation ago,” Harry told the others. “We need a secure location, and I need to meet with the California Aurors and my staff to have security in place. I’m sorry Amanda but dark wizards are always a concern for me and my family.”
Louis interjected, “Some weekend we should probably have a meeting with Amanda’s parents. I’ll let you know when we know more.”
Amanda was reasonably quiet as they went back to North America. Louis told Amanda, “I’ve read the book. We had a copy, the cousins, that was passed from one seventh year to another. Most of the stuff in the book is optional. You certainly do not have to do everything, just what you are comfortable with.
“Albus has the happiest wife in the world, and I asked him what his secret was. What did he do that made Cleo so happy? And he told me that they really did not do all that many things from the book. He just made sure that he spent all his energy making sure that Cleo was happy, and that made him happy.”
Amanda wanted to confirm, “We’ll still get naked and have sex?”
Louis grinned. “Of course. No sex no marriage, but only what you are comfortable with.”
“I’m glad I’m with you, Louis,” Amanda replied, shyly smiling. ‘I’ve always been worried because I’m part Vela and we are supposed to be so beautiful and know all about men and guys have been attracted to me and want to touch me and push themselves on me and I got to fear any man touching me. I just do not understand. And you have been so patient and gentle. Thank you! I like it when you hold me. I think I will be OK when we get naked and have sex. I know I ought to really like it. I think I will.”
About mid-week, as they were talking about getting married and the wedding, Louis asked Amanda if she had thought about who she wanted as her maid of honor. “I’m not sure who I want as my best man,” Louis said. “I’m closer to my cousins than anyone else.”
“Well who are you close to, who would you ask?” asked Amanda.
“Albus and I were at Hogwarts together for three years” said Louis. “He’s amazingly easy to talk to, just a real nice person. I have spent some time with not only Al and Cleo but also Scorpius and Rose Malfoy.”
“It’s too bad they are not close to us” said Amanda.
“We are Magi!” Louis insisted. “International travel is not very expensive or time consuming. We could see them, if you wanted to.”
It turned out that the next weekend was good for all the couples, so Friday night Louis and Amanda took the North American Closet network to Europe, and found out there was a Closet that led to Switzerland. They came out in a Closet in Switzerland.
They traveled to the castle, where to their surprise Rose and Scorpius were there to greeted them. When Rose realized that Amanda knew about not only computers but also the cell phone network she and Scorpius had to talk to them about the Wizarding Cell Phone Network, how the algorithms were set up to allow a phone to use both, and just how signals got from Muggle space to Magic space. There was some controversy over just how many extra dimensions were involved, although the one dimension that the Magical radio waves went through, and that most of magical space was in, was becoming reasonably well identified. The details were all over Louis’s head, although he knew a little about what they were talking about.
Ten minutes into the conversation Al came into the room. Louis went over to him, and Al observed, “They are talking about real complex stuff. Amanda must be real smart to know this stuff.”
“Do you understand what they are talking about?” asked Louis.
“In general,” Al replied, “but I do not have to learn the Muggle side very well to help with the Magical side of the Cell Phone Network. You can only learn so much.”
“I thought you could learn everything,” Louis kidded Al.
“No one can do everything,” Al responded, “no matter how smart you are or how hard you work. Besides I have a growing family that takes some time, and a lot of other thing that I have gotten involved with.”
“Where is Cleo?” Louis wondered.
“She’ll be down in a minute,” Al replied. The cousins sat and listened to the other conversation for a couple of minutes, and then Cleo came into the room.
Cleo as usual was in fine form, and again greeted Louis and Amanda warmly. She offered to make them special shampoo and scents, cologne for Louis, perfume for Amanda, that would make them more attractive to each other and, at least for magical people, less attractive to other people. Louis thanked Cleo, and afterwards told Amanda that Cleo owned a large business making scents and shampoo, with charms, but to offer to make one for you, special, herself, was an honor not to be turned down. Of course Cleo had made scents for all the immediate family, but when she made one for you that indicated that as far as she was concerned you were family.
Louis and Amanda had a delightful visit that Saturday, and stayed the night. When they were in their rooms Louis asked Amanda, “Do you feel comfortable with my cousins and their spouses?”
“Well,” Amanda replied, “I like Rose and Scorpius. I can talk to them. I like Al and Cleo too. No one treats me like I’m strange, even though I know I am strange sometimes. I’d rather have two of them as best man and maid of honor than anyone else, but I do not know who to ask. I do not know them very well.”
The next morning, they had a delightful breakfast. Rose noticed that Amanda seemed somewhat unsure of herself, however. They were finished with breakfast when Gardner Granger-Malfoy made mouth motions that indicated that he wanted to nurse, saying, “Mum, mum, mmmmm.”
“I’m still nursing Gardner some,” Rose let the rest know. “We both enjoy it, and there is really no good reason to stop.”
Rose turned to Amanda and suggested, “Amanda, come with me, just the two of us.” Amanda was glad that she was going to have a chance to talk to Rose alone, woman to woman. When they got to the rooms Rose and her family were using, Rose poked one breast through a clever slit in her dress top and unfastened her bra. “You can do this so no one sees when you are out in public,” Rose explained, making no attempt to hide anything, “but when us women are together it does not make a lot of sense to be modest.” Once Gardner had latched on and was nursing Rose asked, “What is bothering you, Amanda?”
“Do you have to do everything in the book?” asked Amanda, a concerned look on her face.
“Of course not,” Rose grinned. “If you are not ready to get naked and make love, have sexual intercourse, you are not really ready to be married. But most of what is in the book is optional.”
“So what do we do on our wedding night?” asked Amanda.
Cleo got out her copy of the book, pointed out the spells she would use, and wrote them down. She pointed out the chapter on the Missionary position, the first and most basic position. “Start out like that,” she explained. “Anything else is optional.”
“What do you and Scorpius do?” asked Amanda.
“Well, we are occasionally rather adventurous, but most people are not, I guess,” Rose reflected. “Most people don’t talk much about it.”
Later Amanda had to get Cleo aside and ask her. Amanda was nothing if not thorough, and she wanted to make sure she knew all she could learn about this sex stuff.
“We’ve never gotten very far beyond the missionary position,” Cleo volunteered. “Of course Al can make me have multiple orgasms in this position. I am so lucky …” Cleo had a faraway look in her eye. Amanda was discovering what others had observed. When it came to talking about Al and making love it did not take much to cause Cleo to loose concentration.
In a minute Cleo came back to earth. “Where was I?” she pondered. “Oh, if you both enjoy it do it. If one of you does not want to do something don’t do it. Be patient with each other.”
“Does anybody try to do all the things in the book?” asked Amanda.
“Sure,” Cleo grinned. “Rose and Scorpius are just like Rose’s mother Hermione. They treat the book like a text book that they have to get good marks on, so they have I am sure tried out every position, every variation, that they could. I do not know but I would not be surprised if somewhere one or both have a spread sheet with all the positions and what is most pleasurable to each. They are very different people. Rose wants to keep in control and analyze everything. I am content to just relax and enjoy what Al does to me, and help as much as I can so he can enjoy himself too.”
“But you just use the missionary position, and don’t worry about all the rest of the stuff in the book?” asked Amanda, her eyes wide open in surprise.
“Oh, we do a little. We love taking a shower together. Highly recommended,” Cleo laughed. “But I’m almost twice as heavy as Al. Can you see me on top? It’s not a contest. Love each other and please each other.”
“I feel better,” Amanda muttered. “I’ve never been good at reading people. I love reading books and mathematical formula and computer code. I love reading a well written piece of computer code. But I’ve never been any good at reading people and I am still terrified that I will really mess up this sex stuff. I thought you had to do all of that, like your honeymoon was so you could get through the book, like it was homework or something.”
“Even Rose and Scorpius did not do that!” Cleo gasped. “Take your time. It’s not a contest, just if you concentrate on trying to please your partner you will have the best marriage.”
“I’ll have to ask Louis what he wants, but he seems to be OK with that, because I just do not get all this silent language stuff. ‘Just try and please him.’ I’ll try.”