Twelve

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money here.

AN: This story was written for the 2010 ss/hg_exchange as a gift for lady_karelia. Many thanks to my wonderful betas, dreamy_dragon73 and Clairvoyant.

Once James had recovered from his illness, Hermione left 12 Grimmauld Place. The three made a quick trip back to Ontario because Hermione wanted to say goodbye to Little Anne and Art. She needed to thank them for all their help, especially for helping to find the Spiralhorn Sprouts to cure Jamie. Severus made arrangements to rent the cabin every year for the spring thaw to harvest more sprouts and visit their friends. After returning to England, Hermione, Severus and Lucius had all settled together in Malfoy Manor.

They had some discussions about how they saw the whole triad functioning. Neither Lucius or Severus had been openly sexually active with men before...in spite of all the rumors of debauched Death Eater revels. And yet, perhaps as a result of the triad, they each felt something of an attraction there now, which Lucius used as an excuse as to why he'd been teasing and flirting with Severus for weeks. Hermione pointed out that while they could function quite well with her as the head point of the triad and the two men sharing her affections between them, it would be a much stronger threesome if all partners were equal in all ways, including sex. And she admitted that for some reason she found the idea of the two of them together rather sexy. They decided to work on it.

The three then spent the next five months working on perfecting their Tantric techniques in preparation for the planned ritual. Mabon was quickly approaching, and they felt themselves well prepared for the task.

To say they had an easy time of adjustment to each other would be untrue. They still had their moments of anger and frustration. Clashes of personalities and temperaments were a common occurrence. It was usually Severus and Hermone's tempers at odds with each other with Lucius as the mediator. But there were times when the history of the two friends caused Hermione to feel separate and isolated from the men. Then again, the same could be said for Severus when Hermione and Lucius spent hours on end wrapped up in advanced Arithmantic calculations that utterly bored him. But they were all learning. Learning from each other how to cope with their differences and their passionate natures.

~

Hermione was working on her Arithmantic formulas and had discovered a problem with the data regarding the triad. An anomaly. She was uncertain how to deal with it.

With the advent of Severus' 'last-chance' potion, the plagues that had been affecting the wizarding world seemed to be coming under control. The other problems that had been attributed to the abundance of negative energy seemed to be slowly resolving themselves, as well.

They had been very diligent in their practice sessions, and Severus had a theory. He felt that although they had not formally performed the ritual, the powerful release of energy created by all of their enthusiastic preparation sessions was having a positive effect on the wizarding world.

The thing that had Hermione worried was that her projections showed if things continued in the same fashion there wouldn't actually be any need to for them to form the triad at all. All of the problems would be on a steady path to self-repair without them having to do anything. It might take longer without the ritual than with it, but the wizarding world was no longer in such desperate straits as to make it absolutely necessary.

She would be free to live her life without being tied to two irascible Slytherins. Six months ago she would have been elated to have this news. But now the very thought left her feeling cold and alone. She wanted to be tied to her Slytherins, but would they want to be tied to her? For one brief moment, she considered keeping the information to herself, just shoving all of her calculations in the waste bin and pretending she knew nothing about them, just going ahead with the ritual as planned. Once completed, the binding would be irreversible.

But then, she thought about how she hated it when people didn't give her all of the pertinent information to make an informed decision. She knew that she had to tell Lucius and Severus the truth, even if it meant that she might lose them. It was only fair to give them the choice. She was miserable because deep down she feared what their choice might be.

~

Hermione approached Lucius' study and found him at his desk going over some documents from his many business ventures.

"Hermione, what's wrong? You look upset, love." he asked.

"I've found some information that's a little unsettling, Lucius. I'd like to discuss it with both you and Severus."

"Very well, let's meet in the library in..." he checked the time. "Oh... shall we say an hour?" At her nod of approval he added, "I'll fetch Severus from his lab and meet you there then."

~

Once Hermione left his study, Lucius immediately popped into Severus' lab.

"We have trouble brewing, I'm afraid," Lucius informed his friend grimly.

"You always overreact. What seems to be the problem?" Severus asked while keeping count of the clockwise stirs to the potion in his cauldron.

"I think Hermione has realized the truth. She just came to my study. She wants to talk to both of us. She looked worried."

"It's probably about something else entirely," suggested Severus.

"I don't think so; she had her hands full of Arithmantic calculations. I think she's been running the numbers and has come to the realization that the triad is no longer a real necessity."

"Damn it! I was hoping she wouldn't figure it out until after the binding was enacted," Severus said. He'd stopped stirring and had ruined his batch of potion. "Oh, fuck!" he exclaimed, throwing the stirring rod in the sink and banishing the contents of the now ruined potion.

"We really must do something, Lucius, or we're going to lose her. She wanted no part of this whole triad in the first place, and now she has an out. Maybe we could Obliviate her memory of the recent data, and by the time she figures it out again, it would be too late, and she would already be bound to us."

"That seems fairly extreme, don't you think, Severus? If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd think you were actually serious. Perhaps we should try being honest with her."

"Now there's a novel approach," Severus sneered, his voice thick with sarcasm, "but not very Slytherin of you, though, is it? I swear you're becoming rather Hufflepuffish in your old age."

"Don't let Kingsley hear you denigrate his house, or he'll find a way to hex you."

"Hmm... Kingsley. Now there's an idea. He's a good friend. Maybe we could convince him to convince Hermione that he still needs the triad. She would probably do it if he asked her to."

"Maybe she would do it if we asked her Severus, if we told her the truth."

Severus sniffed. "The truth? Is that the best you can come up with."

"It worked years ago with Cissy. She refused my suit in the beginning because I hadn't told her that I loved her. Witches often need to hear the words, Severus. Hermione may believe that we only want her for the triad, the power, the influence, the mind blowing sex. We've never told her the truth...that we both love her madly."

Severus slumped on his lab stool. "That might work for you, Lucius. You two have a great deal in common. But she and I... well, we don't."

"Oh, I think you do, Severus. You just don't see it."

Severus straightened his shoulders, pulled himself up to his full height, flicked some imaginary dust from his robes and checked his wand as if he were going into battle. "All right, we'll try it your way. I never thought I'd see the day Lucius-Bloody-Malfoy relied on truthfulness to get him what he wanted. But I swear by Beelzebub's bollocks, if this doesn't work... the option of Obliviation is back on the table."

Lucius simply shook his head. Severus had never let anyone, and especially not Hermione, see this side of him: the vulnerable, rather frightened side. He had quickly become comfortable having the three of them together. Lucius knew that Severus loved Hermione too, just as much as he did. But getting him to admit it to her, as well as to himself, was another thing entirely. The idea of baring his emotions, of leaving that delicate underbelly exposed to attack was still a bit beyond his emotional means.

Lucius sighed heavily. The things one must do for love.

~

Hermione had worked herself up into quite a state by the time her two wizards met her in the library. She had gone from one extreme to the other. First, she thought she would just tell them that they had their freedom and needn't be tied to her any longer; then she would return to her original plan to just chuck all the evidence and say nothing at all. But in the end, she was simply too honest to try to trick them.

Unable to bring herself to explain, she simply handed the calculations to Lucius. "Here, look at these figures."

Lucius looked them over carefully. "Hmmm... yes... well, I see." Glancing up at Hermione out of the corner of his eye, he saw she was drawn as taut as a bowstring. Her stance was stiff, her hands clenched in fists so tight her knuckles were white, her lips drawn into a thin flat line as she bit them nearly off. "Sweetheart..." he began but was interrupted by Severus.

"What is it all about, Lucius?" he asked, feigning ignorance. "Care to explain it to me?"

"It seems that Hermione's calculations indicate that the need to form the triad is for all intents and purposes now a moot point. The wizarding world is recovering entirely on its own."

"Indeed?" said Severus slowly. "So, what is it you propose we do now, Hermione? Simply pretend none of this ever happened? Just walk away? Start over?" Saying the words sounded harsh, and as he turned to look at her, she looked as if she were about to shatter.

"I... I sup... suppose that now... we can do whatever we like." She swallowed, eyes staring straight down at the carpet. "You are both free to walk away, start over, if... if that is what you want."

Lucius made as if to speak, but Severus held up his hand to stop him. Lucius was right. She needed the words, she needed to hear the truth. It was now or never. If he didn't want to lose this witch, he had to tell her how he felt.

Severus stepped toward her and lifted her chin with his fingertip to see her eyes welling up with tears she'd been trying to hide. He spoke softly, "Ah... but what if we don't want to walk away, a ghrá mo chroí. What if everything we want, all three of us, is right here in this room?"

He wrapped her in his arms and whispered, "I love you, muirnín."

Lucius stepped in to join their embrace. "And I love you too, Hermione. And believe it or not, I love this damn bastard as well. I've lost too much in my life to risk losing the ones I love simply because I couldn't bring myself to tell them how I feel. We both want to complete the ritual to bind the three of us together forever. Those bloody calculations be damned!"

A sob escaped as Hermione clutched both her wizards to her tightly. "I love you both. I was... I was so afraid that I was going to lose you, so afraid that if given the choice, you would leave me. I wanted to throw all those calculations into the fire...without saying anything, but I had to be fair to you."

"Severus wanted to Obliviate any memory you had of making the calculations," revealed Lucius with a chuckle.

"Don't bring that up now, you arse," admonished Severus guiltily. "It was not my brightest idea ever, but I thought we were about to lose the love of our life."

~

Several days later, the trio prepared to complete the final binding ritual. Beginning with an hour of meditation at dawn, followed by a three-way sensual massage to heighten their awareness, then they shared a ceremonial bath together. They had each chosen a new rune to represent the coming together of the triad. These were tattooed in the center of their chests.

Lucius' was Thurisaz, which meant reactive force, instinctual will, vital eroticism, regenerative catalyst, tendency toward change, catharsis, purging, cleansing fire, and male sexuality.

Severus' was Ehwaz, which meant movement and change for the better, gradual development, steady progress, harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty, and an ideal marriage or partnership.

Hermione's was Dagaz, which meant breakthrough, awakening, awareness, time to plan or embark upon an enterprise, the power of change, transformation, hope, happiness, the ideal, security and certainty, growth and release, and balance point, the place where opposites meet.

They had spent the ensuing hours building the Tantric energy to unheard of levels, bringing each other to the very brink of orgasm over and over again, then carefully backing off. They took care to work in frequent breaks between their bouts of sexual activity to feed each other tidbits of food, pieces of fruit, and sips of water to keep up their strength and to re-hydrate their bodies. Hermione recalled her statement to Severus after their first encounter about 'death by sex,' and she was beginning to wonder if it weren't actually possible.

They had just finished an intense session in which Hermione and Lucius had worked Severus up into a frenzy with hands, fingers, mouths, lips, tongues and teeth and had then soothed him afterward. They were all nearing the end of their endurance. The three had previously decided how they wanted to complete the ritual: double penetration with Hermione positioned between her two wizards. They'd been preparing Hermione, as she'd never had anal sex before. She was losing her last bit of virginity and Severus thought that incorporating this into their ritual would intensify its strength.

They started the final portion of the ritual with fifteen minutes of meditation, lying together with Hermione in the middle with one hand over Severus' heart and the other over Lucius'. Both men placed their hands together over hers. They worked on centering themselves...mentally, emotionally...and concentrated on deep cleansing breathing.

They started slowly, lightly stroking over each other's bodies, hands and fingers caressing, rubbing, touching. Then lips, tongues, teeth were added, lightly scraping, drawing moans and gasps. Lucius slid down to kiss the soles of her feet, lick around her ankles and, one by one, suck on her toes. While at the same time, Severus nibbled and nipped at her earlobes, flicking the tip of his tongue into her ear before sucking his way down her neck to lick lightly over her collarbone. Hermione groaned and threaded her fingers through Severus' hair, trying to pull him closer for a kiss.

"Oh, no, my dear, I think at this point we need to make you the focus of all our attentions, without having you distracting us." Upon saying this, silken ribbons wrapped themselves around her wrists and secured her hands to the bedposts.

"Oh, very good idea," agreed Lucius as similar ribbons secured her ankles, spreading her legs wide for his enjoyment.

Hermione could have very easily escaped the bonds had she wanted to. The ribbons were delicate and mostly symbolic in nature. But of course, she was quite happy just where she was.

Severus worked his way down her upper torso as Lucius worked his way up her thighs. Severus nuzzled her breasts, touching and stroking over them and using his mouth to lick and kiss and nibble his way all around them. Finally, he closed in to concentrate all his attention on her nipples. Severus closed his lips over her right peak, suckling and flicking it over and over with his tongue, then he bit it gently before soothing it with his tongue. He then began, ever so lightly, to scrape his teeth over the tip as he suckled and pulled away. He repeated this action, driving Hermione wild. As he was busy with his mouth on the right side, he pinched and pulled and twisted on the left side with his fingers before soothing with gentle strokes. Then, when she could stand it no more, he switched sides until she arched her back, pushing her chest towards his hungry mouth, moaning and begging, "Severus, oh, Severus. Please, please..."

Meanwhile, Lucius had worked his way up to her core, sliding his hands over her legs and following with his lips. When he reached the apex of her thighs, he used both thumbs and separated her labia to expose her pink petals, wet and slick. Leaning in, he breathed in her perfume. He licked, slowly at first, from bottom to top, over and over, taking his time to savor the taste. Watching Severus play with her breasts, he waited and when he saw him suckle on her nipples, he closed his lips over her tight little clit and sucked it at the same time while Hermione was moaning and making these breathy little groaning noises. He slipped one finger down to pump in and out of her, then spread her moisture back farther. He used a magical lubricating spell and pressed the tip of one finger against the tight rosette of her arse. Taking his time, he slowly penetrated her with first one finger, then two, going slowly and taking care to prepare her thoroughly.

Hermione was so close, and yet she knew she mustn't come. She had to wait for them all to come together. She babbled incoherently, "Oh, stop, stop, stop... please, stop... I'm going to come... I c- can't... Oh gods, gods, gods!" She was nearly sobbing.

Both men immediately eased back and gave her a chance to calm down before they began to lightly stroke their hands over her torso. Severus banished the silken ribbons, then guided Hermione over to the side and instructed Lucius to lie down in the middle of the big bed. Once he was settled, Severus placed a pillow under Lucius' hips. He assisted Hermione to raise herself to her knees; her body was shaking, and she had trouble controlling her motions. She positioned herself over Lucius, then lowered herself onto his hard, ready cock. Hermione shuddered and gritted her teeth, releasing a low groan.

"All right, love?" asked Lucius softly, he appeared to be having a bit of trouble controlling himself as well.

She nodded, but shuddered again. "Oh, my sweet gods, I'm not going to last long; that's for sure," she whispered.

Lucius placed his hands on her hips to steady her, and Severus leaned down to reassure her. "You're doing wonderfully, muirnín. Let's all take some cleansing breaths to calm ourselves. Together now...breathe in deeply and out...long slow exhale. And again..." they repeated the exercise several times then Severus asked, "All right now?"

Hermione nodded. "But I'm telling you, I'm not going to last, I'm so close even now."

Lucius chuckled. "Sweetheart, none of us is going to last long at this point, believe me."

Severus instructed, "All right, when we come together we'll all say the words of the binding, then just let nature and magic take their course. No more holding back at that point." He used the lubrication spell on both Hermione and on his cock, and he positioned the tip ready to enter her from behind. As Hermione held herself over Lucius, he helped support her, holding her hips steady as he separated the cheeks of her glorious arse to aid Severus. Hermione tensed while pushing back against Severus, which caused Lucius to gasp as she tightened around him as well.

"All right, a chuisle, bear down just a bit now... that's it, love." Severus was now gritting his teeth and trying to control himself; she was so damn tight around him despite the months of preparing her for this very moment. "You feel so fucking good, Hermione."

Once Severus was fully inside, they all three chanted the binding vow. "I, Hermione Jane Granger, do willingly bind myself to you, Severus Tobias Snape and to you, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, heart, mind, body and soul from this day forward. The triad is formed. So mote it be."

"I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, do willingly bind myself to you, Hermione Jane Granger and to you, Severus Tobias Snape, heart, mind, body and soul from this day forward. The triad is formed. So mote it be."

"I, Severus Tobias Snape, do willingly bind myself to you, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and to you, Hermione Jane Granger, heart, mind, body and soul from this day forward. The triad is formed. So mote it be."

Upon completing the vows, they began to move in each other's embrace, establishing a slow, steady rhythm. As Lucius thrust in Severus would slide out, their cocks gliding against each other with just the tiniest bit of Hermione's body separating them. There was little she could do while sandwiched between her two wizards except feel the fullness of both of them penetrating her most sensitive places, sliding, rubbing, stretching her wide. She soon could feel the little tingles of energy caressing her skin, across her nipples, between her legs. The tension built, stronger and stronger. She was close, so very close...

"Oh, fuck... oh, my gods, I'm so close... please, somebody.... touch me, help me..." Hermione pleaded.

Severus' fingers slipped down to circle her clit; at the same time Lucius lowered his lips to her neck and sucked hard. Her entire nervous system spasmed as if there were a current running through her.

"Oh, fuck... Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods!... Oh, fuck! I'm coming! Come... now, now, NOW!"

And they did. They all three exploded simultaneously in a maelstrom of ecstasy so great that they all screamed out together. Lucius later claimed they had levitated off the bed by at least a foot. Hermione saw many little starbursts of light and energy exploding in the air around them like a miniature fireworks display. And Severus said he felt a force like a strong wind twisting through the room and wrapping around their bodies to enfold them in its embrace.

All three felt the strength and majesty of the core magic swirling around them and through them, binding them together: hearts, minds, bodies and souls forever.

~

Much later, as they lay together in exhausted bliss, Hermione (ever the analytical little swot) theorized. "You know, in the beginning there were a great many reasons for this triad. And we all speculated as to why we were chosen. We three out of many."

Lucius nodded in agreement. "Yes, I wondered, why? Why us? Because of our houses, our personality traits, our backgrounds, our skills, our training, our strong points?"

"I think none of those were the right reasons." Severus smiled the smile of a wizard who was completely and utterly satiated. "I think that the magic chose the three of us because we were simply meant to be together; because the ability was deep down inside of each of us; the potential was already there for us to care for one another deeply and truly and forever."

Hermione smiled a satisfied little smile. "And therein lies the truth, my darlings. There is one real reason for the triad. The best reason, the only reason. That reason is love."

fin

AN: I want to repeat and multiply by a thousand my gratitude to my wonderful betas dreamy_dragon73 and Clairvoyant. Without their generous help this story would not be possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

And as promised, I said I would post lady_karelia's original prompts at the end.

The main premise was from the first prompt:

After Voldemort's fall, the wizarding world is in shambles. Hermione uses Arithmancy to figure out what could be done to restore normalcy and is surprised when everything points to a new trio needing to be formed, only this time with two Slytherins, namely Snape and Lucius Malfoy.

And I used just the first line from prompt # 3:

Snape disappears after the war, and Lucius and Hermione form a tentative friendship while trying to find him.

Happy endings for all, please.