Half an hour later, the rain calmed down a bit. It was still raining, but not too heavy and with barely any wind. Elsa grabbed an umbrella. "Let's go to your cabin."
None of his cabin mates was there. Harry changed, wearing the repaired trousers again. It was still too early for dinner.
"Why don't you continue reading your book? I can read along with you and help you understand if needed," Elsa suggested.
Harry found it impossible not to agree, although he didn't like the idea. He took the book out and moved to the table. Elsa sat at his side.
It was difficult enough to read it all alone. With a girl at his side, Harry felt hot and cold all at once, yet he tried to concentrate. Some of McGonnagall's and Flitwick's lessons turned out to be very relevant now. Eventually, he managed to make everything else fade, so he could read the book. He found out that the female body was much more complex than the male. And then he read about the period. He felt sick at the thought of bleeding for a few days once a month. How could they even live with so much blood spilling out of them?
Elsa was very attentive. She saw Harry pale and knew what he was reading. "Harry, don't let that bother you," she said softly.
"You're bleeding every month!?" he asked with alarm.
"It's not that bad, really. Think of it like you've cut your finger with the edge of a paper. It may bleed for quite some time, yet very little blood is lost. I've only had it a few times, and it was never more than about half a glass of blood for the whole duration. I drink much more than that even in a single day."
"Doesn't it hurt?" Harry was still worried.
"It may, just like that cut I was comparing this with, but it doesn't hurt too much and most women don't even need pain relievers. It may affect our moods, though, as you may read a bit further."
Harry finished reading before dinner and was quite content to give the book back to Elsa. "It's not catching, you know," she teased him.
"It still makes me uncomfortable even to think of it."
"What will you do next week, then, when my period is expected?"
Harry seemed unable to reply.
"I expect you to just act normally. It's less painful than a stomach ache, and it won't affect me at all if I use the proper provisions, which I've taken with me to be ready. I may be a bit less patient and more snappish, but that's about it."
Harry still seemed unsure.
"Look here, most of the girls in your class have already got their period, I'm sure. Do you know when any of them got it unless she tells?"
Harry thought of it. Hermione was a bit more touchy sometimes, although he wasn't sure it was periodical. He had noticed nothing else. "No," he finally said, "I don't think I've ever known about that."
Elsa smiled at him now. "And that's how it should be. A girl's period is something private that she doesn't need to share with anybody unless she wants to."
Harry finally smiled. "I'm glad you taught me. You really are a good friend."
"And don't you forget it," she said in mock annoyance.
The rain ceased by dinnertime. Harry walked with the four girls, each also carrying an umbrella. They almost stumbled into his cabin mates at the entrance to the main building.
"Have you eaten already?" he asked.
"No. We're going home," one of them answered.
"When?"
"Oh, we're going to pack. My parents will come in about an hour."
"And yours?" he asked the other boy.
"We're neighbours. They're also taking me home. You'll have the whole cabin to yourself," he smirked.
'I'll be all alone,' Harry thought. 'Well, not really alone. I have Elsa and the other girls for company.'
With four chatting girls around him, dinner took quite a long time. They watched some television after dinner. Each girl seemed to favour another program, but Elsa stayed with him. She even held his arm most of the time. "It makes me feel better," she said. "It's actually the first time I'm so open with a boy. I really don't know what's happening to me."
"Growing up?" he suggested with a smile.
"Oh, you!" She hit him playfully in mock annoyance.
He really liked it too. In a way, it was like having Hermione at his side again, despite the evident differences, yet it wasn't the same. Hermione was his best friend who happened to be a girl. Elsa was a girl who was becoming a good friend. He wasn't sure what this difference meant, but whenever he was close to Elsa he felt fuzzy and warm inside. He wondered if that was also how she felt.
By the time they returned to the cabins, it was quite late. He was sure he would find none of his (former) cabin mates.
"Leave the door unlocked. I want to move in with you," Elsa told him, just before they went to their separate cabins.
"Why? Don't you want to stay with your friends?"
"I've already told you they are not really my friends. I feel closer to you than to them by now. Besides, I like to have another empty bed near mine, so I can spread my clothes on it. There were six beds in there last time. There are only four now, and you have three empty beds in your cabin. That's reason enough to join you."
"But I'm a boy and you're a girl!"
She smiled teasingly. "I thought you'd never notice." She then turned a bit more serious. "I don't mind. I'm actually fed up with girls' dorm gossip. I think I'd like it better with you. Besides, I can always go back if I don't like it."
For some unknown reason, Harry hoped she would like to stay with him. Probably because he had always been alone, he reasoned, but it didn't seem to be the real reason.
Elsa came some time later, carrying a large suitcase and a full backpack. Harry helped her as soon as he saw her leaving her cabin. "You're a gentleman! I like it," Elsa said teasingly. He didn't mind.
It didn't take her long to set the bedsheets on the bed nearest to Harry's. She then opened her suitcase and spread most of its contents on the two unoccupied beds. Harry blushed when he noticed some knickers and a training bra among them. He hoped she didn't notice.
He let her use the toilet first. By the time he finished brushing his teeth and changing into his (too large) pyjamas, she was already in bed.
"Good night, Elsa," he said softly.
There was no response. He turned off the light and tucked himself in bed.
He woke up suddenly. He remembered dreaming about his confrontation with Quirrel about two weeks earlier, yet that was not what awakened him. He then felt a hand pushing him. "Move a bit. I want to sleep here too."
"Elsa?" He was still half asleep, but that was a kind of request he didn't expect, awake or asleep.
"Yes, just like I use to go into my parents' bed when I feel lonely. Now, make room. We need to sleep some more."
He moved aside obediently. Elsa climbed under his blanket and turned her back to him, but moved so close that they were touching. She was back asleep immediately. It took Harry much longer to get accustomed to the warm body in bed with him, but eventually, he fell asleep as well.
Harry woke up when the light from the window shone in with bright daylight. He wanted to get up, but he found he couldn't. A blond head was using his left arm as a pillow and his other arm was held in place by a smaller hand. He tried not to panic. He then remembered the night and calmed down, until he noticed where his hand was held. It was resting on Elsa's abdomen, only slightly below her chest. He was also becoming aware of another part of his body. According to the book, "morning wood", as it was usually called, was natural for boys going into puberty, yet having it with a girl pressed close to you was quite unsettling.
"Good morning, shy boy. Slept well?" Elsa asked, stretching her body, but still keeping his hands in place.
"Yes. How about you?"
"Perfect! Much better than sleeping alone. I think I'm going to make it a habit, to go to bed with you each night." She seemed to have noticed some implied meaning and blushed a bit. "Only for sleeping, you should know."
"Of course. I wouldn't know what to do if you wanted anything else. Yet now I need to go to the toilets real bad."
"Only for a pee, or for some other kind of release?" She moved her body closer to his, brushing his erection teasingly.
"Only for a pee. It would also make this... bulge go away."
"Well... Maybe we should wake up if you want us to exercise today too. It looks sunny outside." She shifted in bed a bit reluctantly, freeing both his hands. Harry moved quickly out of bed, trying to move in a way that would hide his bulge. It was quite difficult when his left arm was still barely functional due to having served as a pillow.
He returned soon. Elsa was still stretched on his bed. "Are you sure you want to go exercise?" she asked lazily.
Harry was almost tempted to return to bed and cuddle with her. Almost. "I think I need it. Some of my muscles still ache a bit from yesterday's exercise, showing that I'm not in good enough shape." He hesitated only a moment. "I'd like you to come with me."
She smiled. "Fine. I did say we were partners, didn't I?"
She got out of bed and walked to the toilet, removing her nightgown while walking. Harry turned around quickly, afraid his body would react improperly again.
He kept his back to her until she was fully clothed. "Let's go now," he said.
"You know you are a coward, don't you?" she whispered to him while they walked.
"Why do you think so?"
"You turned around. I wouldn't have minded if you looked at me, even with my knickers off. I'm not ashamed of my body, but you were afraid to look."
Harry blushed at the mental image. "I wanted to give you some privacy. I thought you would like it. Besides, my body may react in ways that I consider inappropriate."
"Why? Is there something unnatural in your reaction?"
"The book says it's natural, but it's still embarrassing."
"So, you are a coward."
"No, I'm not." He had confronted a dark wizard only two weeks earlier. He didn't think he deserved to be called a coward.
"Then prove it!" she teased him.
"Fine. I won't turn my back to you when you get naked, alright?"
Her smile turned more teasing. "I may check it even earlier than tomorrow morning."
They didn't talk anymore. They reached the meeting point where the sports instructor was waiting, starting the warm-up exercises at once. Half an hour later they returned to the cabin, grabbed their things and went for a shower. Harry could hear several older boys using the showers, sounding quite rowdy.
"You can shower with me. There's no other girl here," Elsa offered.
"One may come while we're there," he said, unsure if it was wise even without that problem.
"We can easily prevent that," she said. A utility closet near the door held some signs. She took one of "Showers being cleaned" and hung it on the door. "No girl will disturb us now," she said.
Harry looked around, making sure that no one could see them, and hurried inside.