Chapter Three

Special thanks to stgulik, for her sterling beta work. As always, I own nothing you read here, but if I did, these three would be getting up to all sorts of highjinks.

This chapter contains explicit sexual content and slash.

"No, you witless dingbat, you have to secure them shutters first, or you'll have a broken head before you know it! Not that you wouldn't deserve it," Argus added, muttering to himself about the folly of amateurs doing work best left to the professionals.

Millie wasn't impressed. "Leave over, Argus. You're sounding like a right gonad. It's not Arithmancy, you know, fixing these windows."

She was on a stupidly high ladder, repairing the top-most stained glass windows of the Great Hall. Argus was directly under, holding onto the ladder for dear life, angry he was not fit enough to climb the eighty steps up to the top to work on the windows, terrified Millie would lose her balance and fall. They'd been cautioned to use as little personal magic as possible in the room as they cleaned and shined and repaired, so there was nothing for it but so shinny up the ladders and do it themselves.

The overall damage to Hogwarts during the final battle had been originally assessed as Severe. The following week, it had been upgraded to Oh Shit, We've Had It. Because the castle had sustained such intensive structural damage, its magic had to be recalibrated.

Swarms of Repairwizards and witches had volunteered for the disaster relief programme to restore the castle. Headmistress McGonagall had originally asked Millie to stay on when Argus injured his leg. He had suffered a bad fall while mending the moving stairs, putting him behind schedule. School could not reconvene until most of the repairs had been met, so Millie stepped in. It never occurred to her not to. Having nowhere else to go except some poxy fifth cousin's hovel in Hungary, Millie had decided to stay on at Hogwarts to assist Argus.

At first, it had troubled the old man, as if they all thought he wasn't fit for the job anymore. Snape eventually talked him round. Well, whispered him round. After almost a year, his voice had not returned; it was now a hoarse whisper that soon became as recognisable as his former bass tones.

Millie and Argus fell into an easy work routine, one often anticipating the other's moves and working well in tandem. Millie liked the old caretaker; he was good for a nasty laugh and a drink, and sometimes in the evenings Snape, back to living in his old dungeon rooms down the hall, would join them.

After a particularly productive day, they all sat around talking of old times, and drinking to absent friends. Argus raised his glass to Mrs. Norris, of course. She had been killed in the battle, but not before blinding a Death Eater with her claws. She was buried in the Garden of Remembrance, along with all the owls, familiars and house-elves who had died in the battle. Millie remembered the old cat fondly, though Argus never could be persuaded to tell them what happened to Mr. Norris.

"To Mrs. Norris," Argus announced, holding his glass high. "May she be sitting on a cloud in heaven, eating caviar and sardines and chasing mice." Tears floated in his pale eyes. "And may him that did her be roasting in hell right now with an incontinent seeing-eye dog as his eternal companion."

"Mrs. Norris," Snape and Millie repeated in unison, and they all drank deep, because deep pain required a deep drink.

Millie talked about her folks, and how her Nan Odessa warned her about those who would use her. "I guess we were all used by someone or another," she would say, thinking of Adelaide and Veronica. Adelaide had become a Death Eater, which had not surprised Millie. She had been killed in the battle as well. Veronica was missing, presumed fled. Millie had spent many a night wondering if Adelaide had been the one who killed her parents, but as Snape had reminded her, the dead were all blameless. Millie talked about her folks, and Snape told her stories about her dad, when they were in school together. They raised their glasses to her family. Their ashes were also in the Garden.

Snape, in turn, also whispered of his regrets. He told them the complete story of Lily Potter, not the one he pegged together to give Potter when he thought he was dying. They listened raptly as he told them about the overheard conversation at the door of a pub hotel room. It was amazing to Millie that this one simple act had started an unbroken chain of events which eventually led to the final battle.

"I didn't intend to survive," Snape said, his eyes sorrowful. "I'm not even supposed to be here. Sometimes I think it was a mistake to survive."

"Aw, Snape, don't be a lamebrain!" Millie said, trying to humour him. "We don't think you're a mistake. You're supposed to be here. If you weren't, I'd have to put up with Filch all on me own."

Argus made a rasping sound of mock indignation. Snape recognised their efforts to cheer him, but remained a bit wistful. His eyes met Millie's and she hurt for him. Without his voice, his eyes had become even more expressive, sometimes saying more than words could ever convey. Now they were at once accusing and forgiving. "In any case, sometimes I wish I'd hexed the pair of you for rescuing me."

"Well, the next time you're feeling so inclined, hex Granger," Millie said, saluting him with her glass. "She's the one who told me to go and find you. Although I doubt you could make her feel any more miserable than she already does. Married to that Weasley oik these six months and already pregnant." She grimaced and shook her head. "My dad always said those Weasleys didn't have babies, they had litters."

The two men chuckled. They toasted Granger anyway, reasoning that she needed it more than they did. As they filled their glasses, Argus regarded Millie. "You don't fancy having a little 'un then, Millie love?"

Millie shrugged. "I don't know, really. Truth is, I don't so much hate the idea of having babies as I do passing down my ugly mug. It's no fun going through life looking like me, you know," she said. With sudden clarity she added, "I used to hate to look in the mirror, but I don't really feel too down about it anymore, come to think on it. It's just a fact of life, like being left-handed or having a crooked toe. But I'd still hate to inflict it on my kid."

Snape nodded. "I've felt the same, I'll not deny it. But in this case, I really think you've always sold yourself short, Millicent."

She snorted. "Oh, ha ha. Funny as him-what-tells-jokes-on-t'Wizarding-Wireless-who's-so-funny-I-can't-remember-his-name."

Snape looked at her levelly, those eyes of his soft and reproachful. "Beauty is as beauty does, Millie." He stood up and drained his glass. "After a few jars, I sometimes think we're three of the most beautiful people I know."

Even Argus laughed. "I think that snake affected your eyesight instead of your voice, and you've been faking us. You mind my words, Millie. He'll be singing a bit of Don Giovanni when he goes back to his rooms."

Snape gave Argus his almost-smile, and put his hand on the older man's shoulder. "Good night, old friend. Good night, Millie." He pinched her cheek softly, then left them, his tall, proud bearing all the more touching in its dignity.

When the two of them were alone, Millie sighed. "I'd best be on my way as well. Getting back to the Broomsticks. Did I tell you? I'm thinking of maybe renting a small house in Hogsmeade. Nothing fancy, mind, but it would certainly be cheaper than giving all my money to Madam Rosemerta."

After Millie's house and family were destroyed, she couldn't bear returning to Barnsley. While helping with the repairs to the castle, she'd taken a room on long-term lease at the Three Broomsticks. It was cozy enough, but she knew it was eating into her savings faster than she'd like.

"Why don't you, Millie love?" Argus asked pleasantly. "You could rent to own, have you own place nearby." He frowned in his whisky. "Now that I'm used to having you around, I'd hate for you to go live further afield."

"You would?" Millie asked, pleased. "I don't like the idea of going anywhere, either," she added. She thought for a moment. "But if I get my own house, and that's a big if, what would I do with myself when this job's over? What if there's nowt to do, and I'm stuck in a house I can't sell in a place I can get no work?"

Argus waved his hand dismissively. "Bollocks! You can work here." He studied the contents of his glass. "If you aren't sure you want to get your own place, you could stay here for awhile. Plenty of room. You'd save money."

"Here with you?"

"I wouldn't mind."

"But what would I do here?" Millie asked. "I mean, it's a kind offer, but once I got here and the job was done, what would I do to stay on?"

"You could be the new DADA teacher."

Millie laughed. "Like they'd give me a job teaching! You're daft!"

Argus considered. "They might. You're a good fighter. And there's no one in this school that protects as fierce as you do, Millie Bulstrode. Like a momma bear with her cubs, you are."

"Pftt. Give over!"

"I mean it," Argus said solemnly. "I were there. I saw you, fighting that last night." His hard face softened. "You were like an avenging angel, you were. None could withstand your attack. You put yourself between death and many an innocent, you did."

He shook his head in remembrance. "I were terrified going to that Shack to go after himself," Argus said, nodding his head in the direction of Snape's quarters. He smiled. "But not you, oh no, not our Millie. You walked out there, bold as brass, darin' 'em to keep you from him. Oh, lass," he said with a smile. "I'll not live to forget that night. You were," he paused, and gently touched her cheek, "you were beautiful."

Millie looked down, unsure what to say. "The thing is," she said, "I believe you. I felt right and good, and knowing I'd done the right thing. Beautiful is as beautiful does.

"You know, you and Snape are the only two people I know who've ever called me beautiful. And you're the only two people I know who are actually beautiful to me," she said slowly, as if not understanding her own words, only knowing they had to be said.

"He is beautiful, isn't he?" Argus said quietly, and Millie nodded. "I love that boy." He looked at her. "I love you and all. I've not had cause to say it much in my life, but I love you both. You're both special, and you don't know it."

Millie nodded, and thought a little more. "Here, are you two doing it? Sexual, I mean."

Argus laughed. He had long since grown immune to her bluntness. He nodded, looking off in the distance. "About six months ago, yeah. Never before," he added hastily, as if that was somehow important. "He came here one night, feeling low. He said he didn't have one good thing to look forward to. I think he were, well, contemplating things. Bad things. Suicide things.

"Well, I hated seeing him so down, and just put me arms around him, friendly-like, and held him. And then, I were stroking him. I felt odd at first, like he were gonna hex me or summat, but he lay still, and I kept touching him, and then suddenly he opened his robe and he was so beautiful, and he pulled me close, and then I had m' hand on his cock. Ah, lass, it were so hard and velvet and lovely, and I had to put m' mouth on't. "

Millie held her breath as Argus spoke, his voice soft with wonder and far away with the memory. She felt the saddle between her legs grow hot and begin to ache a little. She licked her lips, willing him to continue.

"He tasted so sweet, innocent-like, and he were hungry for it. Well, I just licked and I sucked at him until he were wild and passionate with it. He were like beauty, dark beauty. I'd never thought of him in that way before. But I couldn't stop until he was coming in m' mouth. He just bucked and moaned in that way he has of speaking now, and I couldn't get enough. He cried afterward, poor thing; he'd never really been touched with love, and it nearly broke him again. He'd never been with a man before either, you see. Always with women; prossies mostly. But he's a passionate man, and loving in his way."

In the suffocating silence, Millie stared at him so hard her eyes almost fell out. He seemed to come back to himself. "I won't bugger him, no. He's too delicate for that. And we don't go at it like rabbits, lest you think we're a couple of randy old farts slobbering over each other."

Millie blinked. Her eyes were dry from staring. "Does he bugger you then?" she asked, then blushed. "Sorry, it's none of my business."

He chuckled. "No, he doesn't. And I'll not let him suck me either." His voice was sincere with concern. "I don't want to risk damaging his throat again. I carry hope his voice'll return."

Millie grinned. "You don't want to risk damaging his throat? Is that a delicate way of bragging, Argus?"

He frowned. "You what? Oh!" His eyes flew open, and then he laughed. "Cheeky saucebox! No, I'm just saying-"

"I know," Millie said, feeling absurdly happy. "I know what you mean, you randy old bugger. Or not."

He shook his head, laughing. "You take the ginger biscuit, you do." They laughed and took another drink. "No. He brings me off by hand, but I don't ask for it. If he's willing, I'll not say no."

Millie looked at him. She saw Argus every day. He was spry for his age, whatever that was. He wasn't ugly, really, just severe. He was strong. He was, as Snape had said, beautiful in his way. "If I were willing, Argus," she asked softly, "would you say no?"

He looked up at her his eyes wide and stunned. Then, as it sank in, he closed his eyes. "I've been waiting a long time to say 'yes' to you, Millie love."

She licked her lips again. "I don't know if I'm any good at it or not," she said, feeling suddenly huge and clumsy and self-conscious. "I've never had a proper orgasm, what they call coming." She blushed. "I've never done it. I mean, I've done it lots, but I never got there, you see-"

Argus cut her off with the gentlest of kisses. "Take off your clothes, lass."

Millie undressed quickly, not wanting to prolong any disappointment she saw in his face. She turned back, feeling defensive and almost wishing she hadn't said anything, when Argus reached for her and pulled her onto his lap to straddle his hips. His large, worn hands were on her large breasts immediately.

"Gods, you're beautiful," Argus said, as if it were the most obvious statement on earth. He kneaded and jiggled her breasts a little to watch them bounce. "A man could spend many a lovely hour playing with these." He leaned down and sucked her nipple into his mouth and rolled his tongue and teeth over it, making her pussy hot and wet. She gasped and moaned as he sucked, thinking about what he'd done to Snape's cock, what he was doing to her tit.

As he suckled her, he reached between her legs and parted her pussy lips with his fingers and slipped them in, moaning around her nipple as he found her dripping wet and ready. He released her nipple and looked up. "Spread you legs a little more... ah, yes, that's so wet," he slurred, as if she'd made him drunk with her body.

His finger found a little part of her and he rubbed it with the callused tip of his finger. A shockwave went through her that was so intense she thought the room itself was moving. "What's that?" she gasped, looking at him. "And when are you going to touch it again?"

He gave her another kiss. "That, Millie love, is what we needed to find to bring you that orgasm you've been looking for. Now, undo my trousers, love, and get it out. I'm ready fit to burst for you, lass."

She slid down on Argus' cock, breathing hard as it filled her. He was not a big man, but his cock felt huge within her, and they both gasped as she settled down on him. "That's good," he breathed, and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, marveling. It did feel good; it felt fantastic. It wasn't so small she felt like a cathedral, and not so huge she felt like she was being sawed in half. He felt like home. She tentatively rocked against him slowly, finding her rhythm. He grasped her hips with surprising confidence and moved her the way he wanted, and she closed her eyes as they fucked slowly, their heavy breathing the only sound in the room.

A gentle hand clasped the back of her head, and Millie started. She looked up to see Snape standing over her. He was gazing down at her with luminous eyes, his mouth parted slightly. "I leave you two five minutes, and you start without me. There's gratitude for you."

There was none of the sarky disdain in his face; he looked real, like she was seeing him for the first time. He looked a little sad, and yearning. She had a ridiculous desire to cuddle him while Argus fucked her.

Argus looked up and smiled. Snape had a hand on his shoulder as well. Argus murmured quietly, "I hoped you'd come. You can join in, if you like." Millie looked at Argus, who glanced up at Snape. "He's a good lad. He'll not hurt you. And he's lovely to look at underneath them robes. Aren't you, lad?"

"Show me," Millie said, and grasped Snape's robe and pulled him down toward her. His kiss was warm, his lips soft, but hungry. Millie undulated on Argus' cock as Snape kissed her forehead, her cheeks, then plunged into her mouth, his tongue soft and slippery, twining with hers like a snake. He cupped her cheek to hold her still while he dipped his tongue in and out of her mouth, nipping at her bottom lip, then gently suckling back into her mouth.

His hands slid down her throat until they were kneading her heavy breasts. He dragged his palms against her dark nipples, making them stand out hard and needy. He tweaked them and pinched them with slender, strong fingers, making Millie even hotter. She sucked on his tongue, and he played with her breasts, squeezing them almost to the point of pain, but never quite hurting her.

Argus stroked Snape's black head affectionately. "I told you, didn't I? You'll not tire of them. Suck 'em, lad. They're soft as sin," Argus whispered, and Millie tightened around his cock, making him moan. "Wicked girl," he said, with a soft, barking laugh.

Obediently, Snape set to her nipples, licking and sucking them until they were wet and shiny and Millie was hissing in pleasure. He stroked her rounded belly as he sucked on her tits, and Millie felt the beginnings of something deep between her legs, something she'd always heard about, but never experienced, even with all the blokes she'd fucked.

Snape was kneeling on the sofa beside the lovers, kissing down toward the juncture where she and Argus were joined. The thought of that slick tongue between her legs, maybe even licking Argus, made that something grow and take on an urgent ache in her pussy.

Before he could go there, Argus stopped him. "Take off your clothes, boy. You're such a handsome man. I want Millie to see that pretty cock o' yours."

Again, Snape obeyed as if under an Imperius, and Millie stilled as she watched her former Head of House rise from the sofa and remove his robes, his boots and pants.

He was as pale as Millie was dusky, his old scars a map of his life and the shit he'd put himself through. The wound at his neck had faded, but still looked dangerous. His skin almost glowed in the candlelight; black hair dusted over his chest and pointed an arrow toward his crotch, where it finished in a thick nest of black wiry hair. His cock was pretty. It was long and perfect, and hard as blue steel. Mrs. Norris couldn't scratch that, Millie thought.

Argus was looking at Snape with fond desire. "Oh, he's a lovely thing, isn't he, Millie?"

"Yeah, he is," she said, trembling, the something between her legs growing hot as she watched Argus watch Snape. "I wanna suck it," she breathed, her nose full of the scent of Snape, warm and woodsy and green like clean musk.

Argus gently cupped Snape's heavy balls, and Millie's cunt clenched as Snape gasped and put his hand on her shoulder, as if his legs didn't want to support him.

"Lick it with me, Millie. Come and taste for yourself what a sweet cock it is," Argus whispered, and together they leaned forward, and Millie felt Snape's hand move from her shoulder to the back of her head. Snape smelled delicious, clean, even his pubic hair, and when she took her first lick of his shaft, she hummed. He was sweet.

Snape made a silent chuffing sound and clutched the back of her head as she and Argus worked Snape like a lolly, licking from the base. They nipped and licked and sucked against Snape's flesh, which was incredibly hard beneath the silky skin. Argus delicately peeled Snape's foreskin back, and Millie couldn't help but smile at the bead of salty pre-cum sitting like a prize on the head, which was round and red and shining like an apple.

When they reached the tip, by some unspoken design, they kissed one another, the head of Snape's cock between them, catching their stray licks and nibbles as their lips met around the head. Snape was gasping incessantly, whispering words Millie couldn't hear, but the something roared between her legs as if to answer him.

She broke from the kiss. "Could I-" She couldn't believe she was going to ask. "Could I put my finger up your arse? Would you like that?"

Both men laughed. Snape stroked her hair. "Gently," he answered.

Argus smiled, and from his discarded jacket produced a small pot of something that looked like jelly. "Give us your finger then," he commanded, and Millie watched as he coated her middle finger with the slick substance.

Snape, above them, sighed, and grew very still. Argus said quietly, "Now, Millie girl, be easy. It's sensitive, but made to feel pleasure just as much as your own sweet place." He took Snape's balls in hand and gave them another gentle squeeze. "Spread your legs, lad, and allow Millie to insert her finger in your little hole. Yes, that's a good lad," he praised, as Snape opened his stance. "Just relax. Our girl won't hurt you. Good... good." Millie felt Snape's tiny rectum unfurl for her, and she tried to be gentle, even as Snape hissed and threw his head back.

He uttered a juicy curse as she imbedded her finger to the hilt. "Press down now, and you'll feel a little bump," Argus instructed. "That's what you call his prostate. Rub it if you can; it'll make him feel even better."

Millie did as Argus said, until Snape's grip on her hair tightened and he whispered, "Fuck!" Unable to help herself, Millie looked up at the man standing beside them, naked, his balls in Argus' palm, his pucker opened to her. Snape was beautiful. Head kicked back, mouth opened, helpless with pleasure, he was as lovely a man as she had ever seen. And she was making him that way.

"That's it. Well done, Millie love. He knows you'll not be hurting him here," Argus said, his raspy voice assuring and warm. "Now, come on, Severus. Be a good boy and give ol' Argus your sweet cock." He leaned forward, and Snape gave a hoarse, helpless cry as his cock slid into Argus' waiting mouth. Argus didn't move his head; instead, he made Snape come to him.

Millie watched enraptured as Snape's long white cock slid in and out of Argus' mouth. Her finger moved in his rectum in counterpoint. She began to fuck Argus again, wringing a moan from his mouth, which in turn made Snape cry out. The three of them were an unbroken current, from Millie to Argus to Snape to Millie again, and the something building in her pussy grew as Snape's cock eased in and out of Argus' welcoming mouth.

Snape made a sound, like a whispered cry, rocking from Argus to Millie and back, moaning helpless words like please and yes and fuck and soon Millie was moaning them too, her pussy quivering around Argus' cock and her finger pulsing in Snape's arse and she cried out, understanding.

"Oh, fuck, I think I'm coming," she whined, and her body pulled inward like the tide withdrawing from the shore. Snape pulled her hair hard and hoarsely ordered her to Come with me, Millie! and the wave crashed back, throwing Millie forward and making her scream over and over like a banshee. Her eyes were clamped so tightly shut she was almost blinded and Snape's arse tightened over her finger and he rasped a silent shout of release at the same time. Millie clenched around Argus' cock over and over, the pleasure painfully intense, and Snape thrust and thrust and thrust, until Millie could see the milky come coating the softening shaft as it slipped from Argus' mouth.

Millie came back into herself as her finger slipped from Snape's body, and he staggered back on the sofa. Argus caught Millie and pulled her into an embrace. "Good girl. You came; you came hard," he panted, licking his lips. He smiled crookedly at Snape, and pulled the younger man close as well, until Snape's head was resting on Argus' shoulder. "I'll tell you, this one did as well. That finger did the trick, didn't it, sweet?" Argus kissed Snape's mouth softly, but the younger man was almost too dazed to notice. Snape's eyes were locked onto Millie, and he said a thousand things with them that Millie had thought only pretty girls would hear.

"Yeah I did," Millie said, feeling sated and exhausted. She was inches away from Snape's face as she lay against Argus' broad chest, and Snape's touched her cheek and kissed her with tentative gratitude.

Argus was delighted. "Good girl." He glanced down at Snape. "That were her first orgasm, lad. Poor girl has never had a proper one, and look how much she enjoyed it."

As the spent couple panted and shivered, Argus laid his head back against the sofa, looking pleased. "It were good, watching you both come off at the same time." He gave Millie a soft kiss on her swollen, parched mouth. "Come on, lass, bring me off as well. Be a good girl and fuck me home."

Millie gladly moved against Argus, as much as her shaking legs would allow. As Argus began to thrust upward, Snape rose from the sofa and knelt on the floor behind Millie. "Lie back against me," he whispered gently, and gratefully Millie leaned back against him, letting him support her weight.

As she and Argus moved together, Snape played with her breasts, lifting them, presenting them to Argus like gifts, and Argus tugged and twisted her nipples until another orgasm started to brew again, deep inside her.

Argus' thrusts grew erratic; he was on the verge. "I'm so close," she whispered back to Snape, and Snape kissed her shoulder and reached between her legs and played with her clit with surprising expertise.

"That's it," Argus moaned, as Snape's fingers teased Millie higher. "Come wi' me as well, lass..."

"Come, you succulent little morsel," Snape whispered in her ear. He licked the pink shell. "Come and I'll lick your pussy till you scream."

Millie raced Argus to the end, and they landed at the same, blissful time, both crying out in unison, and Millie thought she was going to faint. She sagged back against Snape, who held her up, even as she drifted off.

She woke in a huge bed, between the two men. They were both naked. Argus had his back to her, mildish snores emitting from him as his body moved with his breathing. Snape was spooned against her tightly, his erection nestled between her arse cheeks.

Millie thought about how the three of them had stumbled into this bed, the things they had done. She felt a pleasant ache between her legs; both men had been as enthusiastic about getting her off as they had one another. For a girl who had never managed an orgasm in her life, she'd certainly made up for it last night between these two randy Northern gits. The thought made her smile.

Funny thing was, Argus seemed to be the ringleader, the master of ceremonies, but he never tried to be the top all that much. Sure, he'd rogered her stupid, horny old goat that he was, but true to his word he never buggered Snape. In fact, he was actually gentler with Snape than with her; as if he thought she was strong enough to take what he had to give, and Snape was more delicate.

That thought filled her with pride, especially when she crawled on top of Argus as he lay on his back and sank onto his cock; she felt Snape gently open her up and fill her arse with that pretty cock of his. She had nearly screamed the place down. It had hurt a little, but it was a good hurt, and they were gentle and slow with her. The three of them fit together like they had been fashioned that way.

Now Snape was awake and teasing her breasts. She turned her head around. She'd never really been this close up to him, and she could see every old acne scar and beard stubble on his gaunt, sallow face. His eyes were large and lovely in the dawn light. There was heat and hope and almost painful longing in them. As she stared back, they crinkled at the edges as he gave her one of his almost-smiles, and Millie thought he might be thinking about giving her another orgasm to go along with it. The two men seemed of a mind to see who could give her more.

She smiled ruefully. "You randy old bugger," she said, and stretched back for a kiss. He laughed in his silent way, and lifted her leg. He slid into her with a contented sigh, and peppered her shoulder and arm with kisses. His fingers tugged at her nipples with each thrust, and his breathing soon grew ragged. It felt warm and comfortable and good, like some vital food she needed to get going, like a cup of coffee every morning.

Argus stretched suddenly and rolled on his back, sporting an impressive morning wand himself. He turned his head, saw the couple, and pinched Millie's nipples. "Up and at 'em, eh? Well, you young folk have more energy in the morning than a broken down old thing like me." He rose with a grunt. "I'll be back wi' breakfast." He stumped off, scratching his arse and mumbling about where his trousers had been thrown.

By then, Millie was too close to coming again to really do more than nod. Snape had found his rhythm, and damn if it wasn't a good one. He turned them over until he was behind her, and he took her doggy style, rolling his hips and making her head light up.

He was urgent and playfully rough, and when he wrapped his long arms around her and found her clit, she knew she was going to come like the Hogwarts Express. His thrusts grew faster, less precise, less controlled, and with a mighty surge he hit something inside her, and Millie threw her head back and howled like a dog. She came with fecking bells on, as Snape plowed her into the bed.

In the main room, the door swung open, then clapped closed. They ignored it, until Snape stiffened suddenly, then started fucking her as if he would earn House points for it. Millie glanced over her shoulder to see Argus bending over Snape; she grinned when she heard the lapping sounds as Argus rimmed Snape's lovely naked arse. With a thrust that nearly catapulted them both through the headboard, Snape pumped her so full she looked like a ruddy geyser when he was finished.

Argus watched the tangle of limbs collapse on his bed, and laughed. He said, "I've brought breakfast if you're interested. Come on if you're coming." He stumped into the kitchen, leaving them to recover, laughing at his own joke.

When she could string more than three words together without gasping, she called after Argus, "Gis a minute, eh?" Millie could feel Snape's warm, plentiful release seeping from her as he slid out of her. Her fanny was buzzing like bees were inside it.

"Come and cast a Warming charm, one of you," Argus replied, but didn't sound too worried about it.

Snape pressed her shoulders until she realised he wanted her to roll over. He lay against her, using her ample breasts for a pillow. It made Millie feel at once safe and protective, as if he needed her comfort as well as her body.

After awhile, he gently kneaded her breasts. "I love these," he said, and even his whisper sounded raunchy somehow. "I have to say it: you must indulge me in a tit wank after breakfast."

"Oh yeah? And what's one of those, then?" she asked.

He raised his head from his downy pillow. "You've never let anyone have a tit wank? With these luscious boobs?"

She laughed. The mere idea of Snape saying 'boobs' was hilarious enough. "No. I've got a good idea what it is, but I've never done it."

He lay back onto her breast with a contented sigh. "Then I am in for a rare treat, indeed."

After a beat, she said, "Do you and Filch do this often? Fuck each other with someone else?"

She felt him shake his head. "We've never done this." He sighed and ran his long fingers through her hair. He continued, "I've only ever been with him three or four times, to be honest."

Millie frowned. "So are you straight or bent?"

His chest hitched in silent laughter. "Gods, woman, you really are the coarsest witch I know. Not that I'm complaining. It's one of the reasons I put up with you."

He was silent for a moment. In his hoarse whisper, he said, "You know what I've learned about almost dying?" When she shook her head, he continued, "I've learned that it's not about whether you've got a cock or a cunt, it's whether or not you act like one. Argus has been my friend for most of my life, but I never even considered him a bed partner until about six months ago." He traced a mystic symbol over her belly. "It's not about him having a cock or you having a pussy. It's about you being Millie and him being Argus."

She nodded, understanding, and pulled him closer, feeling as protective as that momma bear Argus had called her.

He idly fondled her nipple. "I don't know why I survived, Millie. I don't have a future to speak of, literally. I don't know if I'll ever get my voice back, or what I'll do even if it comes back."

Millie listened, and even though he was whispering, she could hear the sadness in his tone. It made her feel bad for him. Who the hell knew Millie Bulstrode had a heart?

She looked back at him. "You don't worry about all that shite. Eat breakfast. Get your strength back. Work on fixing your voice. That's all you have to do."

His eyes, once so full of bitterness it was hard to look at them, now held sad resignation. "And then?"

Millie growled in her throat. "And then life goes on. You and me and Filch will work, and eat, and fuck in the evenings, and get on one another's nerves and tell the world to leave us alone. That's what we'll do. And if we don't hex each other to hell and back, we'll do alright, I reckon."

Snape looked at her a long time. "So you think you'll stay awhile, then?" There was so much hope in his expression that it made Millie's eyes water.

She shrugged. "My old Nan once said that after you rid yourself of all them what fucked you over, the one's left are the ones you rely on." She frowned. "You know, I always thought she was talking about the ones I could rely on, but I think she meant it the other way round and I was just too young to get it."

Snape pulled her closer. "It's good that you're here, Millie Bulstrode. I won't be too much of a burden, I can promise you that."

"You're not one now." Millie rose. "Be right back." As she rose, she smiled down at Snape. All that Death Eater shite had never bothered her. As far as she was concerned, he was just a man with a lot of baggage. She was strong enough to help him toss that baggage right into hell, if that's where he wanted it to go. If not, well, she'd help him carry it. It wasn't that big a burden.

She padded into the kitchen naked, her large breasts swaying. Argus oogled her appraisingly. "You look pleased with y'self," he said, and Millie watched as the bulge in his trousers grew.

She placed a Warming charm on the food. "Come on back to bed. The food can wait." She took his hand. "Did you mean what you said about me moving in here?"

He stopped. "Wouldn't 'a said it otherwise."

"Well, I think we ought to make a go of it. You, me and Snape."

He smiled at her, then put his arms around her. "You're a fine woman, Millie."

"Yeah, well, don't spread the word around. I got a reputation for being a hard case. Besides, you and me have a job to do. We've got to get him in there-" she pointed to the bedroom, "-speaking again. I think he can do it. He just needs a reason to. I figure if we keep on fucking like that, he's gonna want to make some suggestions of his own. He'll need to be heard," she replied with a wry smile.

Argus looked at her, then grinned. "Like that, is it?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, and put his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, then. Let's all have a cuddle, then we'll make some plans."