Anything You Ask.

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks as always to June for her wonderful suggestions and all of her help.

Chapter 10 – Anything you ask.

As predicted, Harry was in heaven. The moment he walked into the dungeon room that Lucius had converted into a Quidditch shrine, Harry lost all track of time. Odin and Sage directed him to several points of interest while they were there, but after two hours even the children decided that Harry was on his own, and they left him to go look for their parents.

"Did you see his eyes?" asked Sage as they walked up the stairs from the dungeon.

"They were downright scary. He looked like Ron when he walks into Honeydukes," answered Odin.

They emerged in the hallway near the grand staircase and decided they needed a snack. As they passed the living room, they noticed their Uncle Lucius kissing Ginny.

"Ewww," they both cried simultaneously. Lucius and Ginny immediately broke apart and stared at the two young Snape children, who began giggling and running down the hall. "They're getting as bad as Mummy and Daddy," Sage was heard to have said.

Lucius looked down at Ginny and smiled.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," she said, as she herself smiled.

"Well, I am very happy that you took the initiative. I find myself with constant interruptions every time I try to...make my move." He laughed and kissed her again.

Ginny wound her arms around Lucius. Forgetting her broken hand, she tried to grab his shoulders and gasped in pain.

"What's wrong?" asked Lucius; he worried he may have hurt her somehow.

"My hand. For a moment I forgot it was broken, and I tried to grab your shoulder." She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I can't get close enough to you."

Lucius laughed.

"My dear, if I were any closer to you, I would be behind you." He tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice was thick with need. "I want you, Ginny. I've wanted you from the moment I arrived here and saw you."

"You have?" She'd always thought him unattainable; he was only someone to look at from afar and dream about. Ginny knew that he'd rarely appeared in public since Narcissa passed away. She also wondered if he had shared his bed with any other witch since then as well. She hoped he hadn't.

Lucius took hold of her good hand and lead her from the living room. They walked out to the hallway, and he looked around. He wanted to make sure they were alone and that no one saw where they were going. Satisfied that they would not be seen, he continued to lead Ginny to the stairs. They walked up quickly, and then he pulled her along to his room. Before going inside, he looked at her and smiled. He opened his door and motioned for her to enter.

Ginny felt a fluttering in her stomach as she walked past him and entered his candlelit room. She turned back to him as she shut the door and warded it. He'd taken the tie from his hair, and it now hung loosely around his shoulders as he walked slowly towards her. Ginny backed away from him as he walked towards her.

"You are the first woman since Narcissa passed away to make me want again, Ginny."

Ginny felt the bed behind her knees, and she stopped.

Lucius reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, as he caressed her cheek with his other hand. "I need you, Ginny. Please, tell me you want me?"

"Yes," she breathed, "oh, yes. I want you very much, Lucius."

That was all Lucius needed to hear. It had been so long since Lucius had felt the softness of a woman's skin against his skin, and Ginny felt glorious to him. Ginny felt the urgency in his kisses as she began to unbutton his shirt. Lucius stopped kissing her and picked her up. He placed her gently in the center of the bed and lay next to her. He slowed his kisses, as he began to unbutton her blouse. As he kissed her, he felt the wetness of tears and lifted his head to look at her.

Ginny sat up and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I...I'm sorry, Lucius. But I can't do this," she said.

Lucius sat up; he lightly took hold of her chin and moved her head to face him.

"Did I do something, say something? Tell me, Ginny, so that I may correct what I have done," he pleaded. He wasn't sure why she was crying, but he knew that if he had something to do with it, he needed to make it up to her immediately.

"It's me. I'm not looking for some one-night stand." She turned her body away from him, not wanting to face him as she decided that now was the time to tell him everything she felt about him. "You may as well know, I'm in love with you. I have been for quite some time. I've seen you on a few occasions, but I was too afraid to even speak with you. I couldn't bear to know this would be the only time I would ever have you."

"Ginny, look at me, please," said Lucius from behind her.

She turned back to face him, steeling herself for rejection. Men usually ran when women told them they were looking for something permanent and stable. After all, how long had she known Harry and Neville? They knew she was looking to have a family of her own. That's why they kept stringing her along – they were getting as much bachelorhood before making a commitment. Having been without a wife for so long, Lucius no doubt would not want to give up his freedom now, not for her.

"I suppose I shall have to get used to this nasty habit you Gryffindors have of jumping to conclusions." He smiled brightly, hoping she'd heard his use of the future tense in his sentence.

His words were not lost to her. She smiled and scooted closer to him.

"I have quite a few bad habits, you know. It may take you a while to get used to them all."

He laughed and continued to unbutton her blouse. "If you are through pouting, my sweet, I would like to show you just what you have to look forward to, if I am the man you want."

Ginny arched her brow. "I am sure that you are, but if you feel the need to assert yourself, then by all means, be my guest."

Lucius kissed her and gently pushed her back onto the bed. She was so lovely. To him, Ginny represented something he never thought he would have again. She represented love, given freely and without obligation; she was his salvation. There was an emptiness inside of him, and she filled it the moment he laid eyes on her. He found himself now picturing her holding their first-born child in her arms. This was something he wanted more than anything.

"I think," he said as he swallowed hard, "I think I may love you. I have never been in love, Ginny. Narcissa and I loved each other, but our marriage was something that our families put in motion. But you, Ginny – it's you I am in love with. I shall treasure you, if you will allow me." He kissed her softly and caressed her cheek.

"Lucius, anything you ask of me, anything – you shall have." Ginny was lost. To think that he loved her had been something she never thought would happen, and now he'd said it. Nothing mattered now, nothing but Lucius.

Two rooms down the hall, Severus and Hermione lay next to each other.

"I love you," said Severus as he kissed her neck. "I think, sometimes, that this is all a dream. That I will wake up and you will be gone, and I will be in a cell in Azkaban living out my days in this vortex of despair, or in some ward at St. Mungo's."

Hermione frowned, and moved the hair from his temple.

"Why do you think those things, love? I am real, this is real." She worried for him when he spoke like this. So many years in the service of the Dark Lord made him occasionally question the happiness in his life.

"We live in a world of magic, Hermione. It would be easy enough for this to be a manufactured memory." He sat up and looked at her; he saw her face now filled with worry. "If this is not real, then I hope to never wake up from the dream."

"Severus, please," she said as she pulled him down to lie next to her and kissed his cheek. "I am real. This," she said as she kissed his lips softly, "this is real. Voldemort is gone, dead, and will never come back. Hush now, my sweet, and let me love you."

Hermione moved to lay on top of him. Her legs fell to his side, and she raised herself slightly. She brushed her hair across his chest and moved her wet core against his hardness.

"Can you feel me? Voldemort could never make this up. Nothing he or anyone could ever do would feel as real as this."

"Hermione," he whispered as he looked into her eyes.

She raised herself slightly and took his erection in her hand, then positioned herself over him and sank down slowly.

"Feel me, love, feel me." Hermione leaned down and kissed him.

Severus wrapped his arms around her waist as he raised his hips to her motions.

"I would have died so long ago, had it not been for you. My life, you are my life," he said as he kissed her.

So many times he wondered how long he would have lived had she not come into his life. After the war, he was lost and alone. Never having loved or been loved, he wondered if he would have spent his life alone. Then he saw her that day as they were both shopping, and his life changed. She loved him just as he was. His children thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He often wondered if this life was something conjured up in some dream state. He could easily been in a vegetative state lying in the Hogwarts hospital wing, or in St. Mungo's. But, something told him this was all real.

Yes, this was real. It had to be; there was no way his dreams would include Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.

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I thought a few tender moments with both couples was needed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.