Investigation of Passion ch.16

His mom had the decency to wait outside the room until he dressed. Harry felt nervous as he approached the door, unsure how she would react. She had implied she didn't mind him and Hermione having sex. They said they were going to his room to listen to music. What else could that mean in her mind?

Bellatrix had changed into her nightgown at some point, a tiny, thin, white one she had worn for as long as Harry could remember. She had her arms crossed and frowned at him, her light brown hair hanging loosely over her shoulders.

"I found this in one of my plants," Bellatrix said. She held up a small wireless camera, one that Hermione had bought.

Harry's heart raced. How the hell had they forgotten about the cameras? The mini-fridge was distracting, and then he hadn't even thought about them. He raised a hand to his head, only then realizing that his mom was watching him, assessing his reaction.

"You know about this, don't you?" she said.

His first impulse was to deny it, but it was too late. She was his stepmother and would see through any lie that justified him completely. It would only lead to more disappointment, and Harry wasn't sure he could live with that.

"It was supposed to be a joke," he mumbled, feeling his face flush. Maybe he could make her think it was part of an elaborate prank? It was a step away from the truth, and if he could play it right, nothing would have to change between them.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Harry," his stepmother whispered. "What possible joke could require filming me in the privacy of my room?"

He had no answer for that. It was hard for him to even look at her. How could he be so stupid?

"mom..." he said. "I..."

"You wanted to watch me," she said slowly. "You wanted... to see me naked?"

He heard the embarrassment in stepmother's voice, and it only made him cringe deeper from his own foolish mistake. How could either of them continue living in the same house?

"Tell her the truth." Hermione's voice cut into the hallway conversation from Harry's door. "It'll be even weirder if you let her think that."

"Hermione!" Harry snapped. He shook his head instinctively. The last thing he could do was tell her the truth.

"What is she talking about?" Bellatrix asked.

"Nothing," Harry replied. "She..."

"Harry watched a video online that convinced him you might have a secret," Hermione said. "He was just trying to investigate and find out the truth."

Harry exhaled slowly. What Hermione said was essentially true, though with a few crucial details omitted to make it sound a bit more innocent. Would it be enough for his mom?

Bellatrix looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione, her expression full of emotions but practically unreadable.

"I need some time alone with my son," she said. "Hermione, would you mind heading home for tonight?"

Hermione nodded. She had already changed back into her clothes and placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder as she headed toward the stairs. He wasn't sure how he felt about his stepmother sending her away. On one hand, the conversation seemed easier without Hermione. On the other hand, it left the two of them alone to deal with the situation and wherever it might lead.

"Harry," Bellatrix said. "Do you want to sit in your room and talk about this a bit more?"

He shook his head immediately. "Not really. What Hermione said was true. Can we leave it at that?"

"Sweetie, I may have phrased it as a question, but I wasn't really asking," his mom said. "I need a better explanation than what she gave."

She put her hand on his shoulder, and he was slightly surprised at how calming it felt. They both walked into his room and sat on the bed. His stepmother said nothing, using the silence as an interrogation technique, the tension slowly building until Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"mom," he said. "I don't know what to say."

"The truth would be a good starting point." She smiled at him, reaching out and rubbing his knee.

"The truth..." he muttered.

"I don't care what it is," she said. "I just want honesty between us. After that, I will still love you."

Harry closed his eyes, frowning and clenching his jaw. It was much easier for her to say that than to make it actually true. He took a deep breath, knowing he had no choice and had to continue.

"It was an erotic movie," he whispered. "A porno. It featured a woman who looked like you, mom."

He forced himself to watch her reaction, part of him still not wanting to abandon the thought that it might be her. She blinked a few times in surprise, her mouth opening. She raised a hand to cover it and closed her eyes for a moment. She wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed. She was horrified, and not of herself, but of him. Harry felt his heart twist with pain as his face burned with his own stupidity, but along with the other emotions came one more surprising one.

He felt relief. This was as close to the ultimate truth as he had ever come. Watching mom's reaction to the absurd theory concocted by him and Hermione was better proof of her innocence than anything they could have gotten from the camera, as far as he was concerned.

"...Okay," his mom said. "I think I understand. So the recording was..."

"Just to see if you were doing anything unusual!" Harry said quickly. "It's not like I wanted to see you naked or anything."

His stepmother smiled slightly, which helped him relax. If she could still smile at him, at least he knew he hadn't completely burned their relationship to the ground.

"I think I understand now," Bellatrix said. "You could have just asked me."

Would she have told him the truth? She would have told him "no," which he now knew was the truth, but would he have believed it without seeing her genuine reaction? He wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's okay, sweetie." She reached out and squeezed his knee quickly. "I'd like you to show me the movie you're talking about. If you don't mind."

Harry's jaw dropped. He was already shaking his head, not even considering that possibility. Showing stepmother one of the movies would only make things worse and infinitely more embarrassing and confusing.

"Harry, I'm an adult woman," she said, noticing his reaction. "I've watched porn before. I'm not going to faint at the sight of a sexual act."
He stared at her in disbelief. She had watched porn before? His stepmother, watching porn? It was hard to imagine, but of course, it was more likely than somehow managing to go through life without encountering that side of the Internet.

"mom," he said. "Can't we just let this go? I'm already embarrassed enough. Watching one of those films isn't going to do anything but make this whole situation even more awkward."

"Video?" she asked. "There’s more than one?" Harry could have kicked himself for letting that detail slip. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing he could rewind time to earlier in the day and stop Hermione from buying the cameras.

"Sweetie," she said. "I'm not going to stop loving you or judge you. If you don't show me what inspired this... theory of yours, we won't be able to dispel it."

She rubbed his knee again. Harry sighed, knowing he had no choice. The idea of sitting on the bed and watching porn with his stepmother brought an unwanted twinge of arousal. And it wasn't just any porn. It was porn featuring a woman who looked almost exactly like her. He bit his lower lip, regretting that there was no other option.

"Alright," he said. "If you really want to."

"I do," his mom replied. "And I promise I won't make this any weirder."

He wondered if she could keep that promise as he got up and went to the computer.

Harry easily found the first of the two videos. The banner ads on either side of the video player were more than enough to make him feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, seeing them on the screen with mom in the room. He cleared his throat and looked at her over his shoulder, hesitating before pressing play.

"It's a solo video," Harry said.

"Alright," his mom replied.

Why was he explaining this to her? She would find out soon enough. The situation was ridiculous, and Harry decided it would be best to get it over with as quickly as possible. He hit play, switched to full screen, and sat next to stepmother on the bed.

The volume was turned down halfway, so they had to be almost silent to hear the woman’s words. Harry watched his mom more than the video. She was completely focused on the screen, her face looking thoughtful and slightly surprised. Which made sense. It was probably a strange feeling to watch her doppelganger speaking and acting in such a dirty manner.

His mom placed a reassuring hand on his leg as the woman began to undress. Instead of making Harry feel better, it only highlighted how bizarre what they were doing was. Watching porn with his stepmother. Porn with a woman who looked like her. Her hand rested on his thigh.

He tried to think pure thoughts as his cock slowly started to harden in his jeans. She would notice. He was sure of it. She would feel his bulge when he reached full hardness. She would know how aroused he was, and their relationship would never recover. Harry had to calm down by any means necessary.

The woman on the screen began to masturbate. Harry noticed his stepmother breathing a bit faster than usual. It was a strange form of torture, trying to keep his cool in these bizarrely arousing circumstances. In the end, he couldn't manage and, feigning a cough, he subtly shifted away from his stepmother, preventing her hand from getting too close to his now fully erect penis.

The video seemed to last much longer than usual to reach its conclusion. When it finally did, the silence that filled the room was absolute and condemning. She was ashamed of him. Harry could feel it without her saying anything. He was ashamed of himself and what he had put her through tonight.

"Do you watch a lot of these kinds of films?" his mom asked.

Harry shrugged, feeling his face heat up. "Not really. I watch porn only when, you know. When I need to."

Bellatrix shook her head slightly, turning to look him in the eyes. It was hard to meet her gaze, but when he did, he saw his stepmother staring back at him. His thoughtful, loving stepmother. She was still there, and he was still her son.

"That's not what I meant," she said. "I mean... do you watch porn like this? With older women?"

"No!" he answered quickly. "I just stumbled upon this one. I really don't."

"I hope not," his mom said. "I don't think Hermione would appreciate it."

She smiled slightly, her last sentence indicating she was teasing him a bit, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"I'm sorry, mom," he said. "This whole thing got out of hand."

"It's alright." She hugged him. "Sweetie, it's okay. But I need to ask... and this question won't be easy for either of us. Harry... do you find me attractive?"

Harry's heart raced. She was right next to him, her arm around him, practically halfway to embracing him. Their faces were only inches apart. How could she ask him that, here and now?

"What?" he asked.

"Do you find me attractive?" his mom whispered. "In... a sexual way."

This time she looked away, and Harry could see her cheeks redden as she blushed.

"No!" he said quickly. "I mean, it's not that you're not beautiful. If you weren't my mom, then... I mean, that came out wrong. Yes, I am attached to you. Any man would be. But..."

Harry closed his eyes and winced, knowing he was only making things worse with every word he said.

"Promise me," stepmother said, "that you'll never watch films like that again. About any older woman who... looks like me."

"Of course not!" he said.

Bellatrix let out a long sigh. She smiled and looked at him in silence for a long time. She took his hand and ruffled his hair, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you," she said. "And I promise I won't make a big deal out of this, sweetie. The only reason I asked for that promise is that I don't want you to get, well, for lack of a better word, perverted by that kind of pornography. You're an adult man but still young, Harry. Full of hormones and developing habits. I don't want you to end up with any weird fixations."

Her words were both a reprimand and a relief. He could breathe again. There were no more secrets he had to keep from mom. They could return to their normal, happy life.

"I promise I won't, mom," he said. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie," she said. "Very, very much."

She kissed him gently on the lips, surprising Harry. He let his hand slide over her body as the kiss lingered for a second, then longer. His mom pulled back slightly and kissed him again. She didn't stop him as they continued like this, kissing, holding each other in a half-embrace, sitting on the bed.

"I should go to bed," his mom said when their intimacy finally ended.

"Me too," Harry replied. He stood up to hug her one last time, only then noticing how hard his cock was. Bellatrix seemed not to notice, hugging him tightly. Her perfume was intoxicating in a nostalgic way.

She kissed him again as they parted, once on each cheek, then on the lips. Harry pulled her close, his erection throbbing with shameful pleasure as he let it press against her body. His sweet, perfect stepmother. She had looked at his disgusting, perverted side and still loved him. What more could he ask for?

"I love you, Harry," she whispered in his ear.

"I love you too, mom."

They kissed again. Harry's hands slid down, briefly touching her ass. The small moment of contact seemed to snap Bellatrix out of her daze, and she placed her hands on his chest and stepped back. He watched her walk out the door, then sat on the bed.

Things were simpler now and yet more complicated than ever.