Chapter 19

Hermione decided mornings didn't have to be so bad when one had a mate who enjoyed lavishing one with attention.

A very specific kind of attention.

Running her fingers through the softly greying hair of her lover (her love), Hermione's hips bucked as she came to full awareness with a nip to her inner thigh.

"Good morning," he whispered huskily, laving a trail between her thighs that ended at her insistently throbbing clit.

She could only moan in response, her hands pressing his face more firmly against her body, her hips moving without her permission. His tongue worked her steadily until orgasm was only a few flicks away, and just as her body began to tremble, his tongue moved to plunge into her pussy instead. Tasting deeply of her, he moaned at her taste, sending vibrating shockwaves through her body and making her wonder if he planned to kill her with this torture.

Twice more he teased her, backing off just before she fell over the edge and eliciting a shriek of frustration the last time.

"Hermione," he called quietly, bringing her floating mind back to reality for an ugly moment.

"Yes?" she cried, trying to grind her hips up and get some much desired friction.

"Do you love me?" he asked, a smile in his voice.

"Yes!" she shouted, hands making fists in the sheets and tossing her head.

"Show me," he commanded. He moved away from her writhing body to sit against the footboard. He watched her intently as her eyes widened in disbelief and then embarrassment. Her body was spread on the bed, flushed and slick, completely exposed to his penetrating gaze.

"How?" she asked, starting to get up to go to him, but he raised a hand to stop her, and she fell against the bed, body humming with denied orgasm.

"Show me how much you want me, what you want me to do to you," he whispered, never looking away from her eyes. She shivered at the heated stare, his eyes so light a gold that her body clenched with desire.

Tentatively, she slid a hand over her ribs and belly, resting it lightly on her mound, looking to him for approval. His growl was indication enough that she was pleasing him, so she moved her hand lower.

Parting her lips with a nervous finger, Hermione circled her clit lightly, trying to watch Remus but failing as the pleasure began to build immediately. Her head fell against the pillows, and her hips circled to meet her steady finger. She felt completely exposed, her body completely pink with a heady combination of arousal and embarrassment.

"Use your other hand, too," he directed, watching avidly.

Hermione's breath hitched at the softly spoken words. Her other hand joined her first before sliding lower, two fingers slipping within her slick heat. She moaned at the invasion, moving her hand unsteadily as if it weren't hers, imagining it was Remus'.

Wet noises reached her ears, and Hermione's flush darkened. She couldn't remember being so thoroughly embarrassed and so completely turned on.

When her long-awaited orgasm finally came, her body clamped down on her pumping fingers, her body rising from the bed in a desperate jerk. She cried out Remus' name even though he was merely a bystander to her pleasure. Her fingers slowly left the apex of her thighs, resting lifelessly on the bed beside her as she panted.

"You are so beautiful," Remus told her, crawling alongside her body and gathering her limp form into his strong arms. She lowered her hand to his cock, intending to tease him into a similar show for her, but found him limp.

When she looked at him questioningly, afraid that he hadn't enjoyed watching as much as she'd thought, he trailed her fingertips through the sticky come on his belly.

"We came together, as it should be."

*

Telling Ron that his strange behaviour of late had essentially been Remus' and her fault was easier than she'd expected. He'd been so grateful that he wasn't going crazy, and so thankful that she'd forgiven his actions against her, that he would have accepted space aliens as a plausible explanation.

"So, what does this mean?" Harry asked.

Remus and Hermione had arrived at the Burrow just after dinner. They'd immediately sat down with Ron, joined by Ginny and Harry, and explained their discovery.

"Well," Remus began is his best professor voice. "It means that Hermione and I are an outmoded concept. Nothing like this has happened in hundreds of years. But because of my lycanthropy and your instincts, Ron, as a friend and a former lover of my mate, you were directed by your subconscious to back away from Hermione. Your human desire fought with those instincts, causing a temporary mental unbalance. We believe it will completely disappear once Hermione and I are bound."

"You mean, I didn't really mean to hurt you, 'Mione?" Ron asked quietly. He seemed to find it difficult to meet her eyes, but she smiled at him regardless.

"That's what we mean. It wasn't your fault. Tonks', either."

"Remus," Harry started, "did these instincts or whatever also cause Hermione and Ron's break-up in the first place?"

It was a good question; Hermione didn't know the answer.

Remus looked thoughtful before responding, "I don't believe so. I think the instincts only initiate when I actually recognise my mate. I didn't do that until after she'd already moved in with Tonks and me. That does mean, however, that these instincts did cause my breakup with Tonks."

Hermione squeezed Remus' hand. She knew how guilty he felt for the way things had happened with Tonks. But Hermione knew that even without the intervention of their instincts, Tonks could never have made Remus truly happy. Not like she could.

The Floo sounded and Hermione and Remus both tensed. They had asked Harry to invite Tonks to come to the Burrow to talk. It was a neutral place, but no one could be sure how she would take the news.

"What's going on, guys?" Tonks asked before her gaze fell upon Remus and Hermione, sitting closely together, Remus' hand on his mate's thigh. Her eyes narrowed but she made no comment.

"Tonks," Hermione began slowly, "we need to tell you something. Will you have a seat?"

She did, taking the last chair and crossing her arms in front of her chest protectively. "Well?" she asked snidely.

Remus tsked disapprovingly, and Tonks glowered at him. He handed her Lycansmythe's book, open to the informative chapter. She looked at him questioningly, but he only gestured for her to read.

As she did, Hermione watched her expression carefully. Tonks' eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Once she finished, her eyes closed and she leaned back. A sigh of what could only be relief escaped her lips.

"I'm not crazy?" she asked softly, eyes still closed.

"No!"

Hermione was surprised by Ron's passionate exclamation. He looked a little chagrined at his loud tone, but he continued.

"It wasn't your fault, Tonks. I mean, the jealousy, yeah, that was all you. But you getting violent and hurting Hermione, that wasn't really you. It was like... their love pushing us out of the way, so they could be together."

Remus matched Hermione's smile at the simple and effective way of putting things. Tonks' eyes met Remus' and he smiled encouragingly. "I know it wasn't you, Tonks. I'm sorry about all of this."

Tonks shook her head. "I'm happy for you, really. Beneath this anger that I have, I am happy. I love you, and I think I always will, but I know we weren't meant to be together. At least, I do now." She sighed again, looking like a weight had been lifted. Her gaze turned to Hermione, who met it steadily.

"I'm so sorry for what I did to you. It was so wrong, and even with an explanation, it doesn't excuse it. Or the way I behaved before. My jealousy has always gotten the best of me, but I am working on it. I'm sorry for hitting you."

Hermione nodded, saying, "Thank you, Tonks. I'm sorry for all of this as well. But I love Remus, and I will take good care of him. We're happy, and I promise I won't hurt him."

Tonks looked a little more cheerful, a little more like her former self. "So, are you going to do this binding thing? Because I'd really like to get back to work."

Ron laughed, "You and me, both!"

Remus smiled in that long-suffering way of his. "We will be doing the bonding. In a few days, actually. After that, you can both expect to feel completely normal."

Ginny piped up for the first time. "Hermione? Only a couple days? You have a dress and everything picked out already?"

Hermione chuckled softly at her friend. "No, Ginny. It's not like a wedding. It's a simple ceremony, only the two of us, the person performing the binding, and two witnesses."

Ginny frowned. "It sounds an awful lot like a wedding. Why can't you wait and plan a big to-do?"

Remus squeezed her hand lightly, and she felt everyone's eyes on her. "We can't wait because other people are counting on us. I'm sure Ron and Tonks wouldn't appreciate staying on probation until I can decide between fondant and butter cream icing. It's not a big deal, Gin. But we do want you and Harry to be our witnesses."

Harry smiled broadly. Any uncertainty he'd had before had diminished when they'd told him about the fact that they were true soul mates. If anyone respected the power of love, it was Harry Potter. "We'd be honoured," he stated formally.

Ginny whimpered, "Can we at least shop for a dress?"

Remus laughed. "You should, Hermione. It'll be fun."

Hermione finally agreed and they made plans to go out the very next day.

Tonks cleared her throat and stood. "As fun as hearing about my ex getting married truly is, I think I'll leave. I'm not myself enough to be able to handle this without getting upset. I'm sorry. Congratulations." And with that, she hurried through the Floo and was gone.

Her abrupt departure left the remaining five in an awkward silence, but Ron broke it by saying, "Well, I'm going to head out as well. It feels good knowing I'm not mad after all, and I'd like to celebrate. Best of luck to you both, and let me know when I can expect to be my usual self again!" With a somewhat tight smile, Ron left as well.

"I really am happy for you both. It's easy to see how perfect you are for each other, and even the universe agrees."

Hermione smiled at Harry's kind words. She felt so relieved to receive his approval. It meant a lot to her, and she knew it was important to Remus as well.

"Thank you, Harry. It means more to us than you can know."

"So when exactly will the binding be? And where? And what should I wear?" Ginny asked in a rush.

Hermione fielded her excited friend's question. "This Saturday, at Grimmauld Place. And you can wear whatever you like. I mean it when I say it won't be a big thing. It shouldn't take more than half an hour."

Ginny looked as though she wanted to say more, but Hermione caught Harry giving her a little squeeze, and she only smiled.

"I suppose the blue dress with the lace will do just fine."

*

"I really can't believe you're getting married," Ginny declared for the seventh time. Hermione had convinced her friend to shop in Muggle London rather than going to Madame Malkin's, where gossip abounded and Hermione's news would be spread faster than Muggle margarine on toast.

Hermione sighed as she passed over row upon row of pretty gowns and outfits. There was simply too much choice in the Muggle world, she realised.

"I'm not getting married, Ginny, for the last time. Honestly, can you stop this? I was promised a nice, fun outing with my girlfriend, and that is so not what I'm getting." Hermione was huffy and beginning to get petulant. She just wanted to go home to her full moon-impassioned boyfriend and get fucked silly against a wall, on a table, or over a couch, depending on which room he found her in first.

"I'm sorry! It's just that... well, you only get... bonded once, and you act like it's another chore on your errand list! I hate to think that in twenty years you'll regret not having your special day."

Hermione pulled a simple black sheath dress from the rack and held it up for Ginny to look over. Her red-haired friend's mouth gaped in horror, and Hermione took that to mean this was not the dress after all.

"I just want to be with him. I don't care about a ring or a dress or a party. I just want Remus to be mine, and I want to be his, just like werewolves were ages ago. And I want Ron and Tonks to be happy as well. I won't regret not getting married because I'm with the man I love," Hermione said with only a touch more conviction than she actually felt.

She'd never been the little girl who'd danced around in her mother's veil. She hadn't made her Barbies get married, nor had she doodled other men's last names in place of her own. She was a realist. She'd expected to get married when the time came, a small ceremony after which she would keep her name and everything would be pretty much the same.

So she had to quell the voice that was unhelpfully chiming in that she wanted that white dress, and she wanted that gold ring. It wasn't fair to herself and it certainly wasn't fair to Remus. He'd never expected to get married, he'd said as much to her on several occasions. And she wasn't going to be the one to bully him into doing so. The binding ceremony would be small and short, and it would be perfect. Afterward, she would be as good as married. She would have her mate, her love, all to herself. Her friends would go back to normal, and instincts all around would be satisfied.

It was a very reasonable and sound decision.

So she hoped Ginny didn't see when her fingers lingered over a white, lacy, floor-length gown before moving on to a soft yellow one and placing it over her arm to try on.

Author's Note: For those who read Some Things Change, the sequel is now posting under the title The Only Constant. It can be found here or at my livejournal under my penname literaryspell.