Duel of Titans and Union of Opposites

Chapter 7: Duel of Titans and Union of Opposites

"We're alone and on the loose."

They nodded. The Winter Holidays had begun with a bright Saturday morning, and Severus had met Lucius for a late breakfast to celebrate the beginning of two weeks without students. Several days earlier, Narcissa, Draupadi, and Vivian had left for the continent to visit Mr. Nott and Mr. Parkinson over Winter Solstice. Despite the benign climate, Mr. Nott's health was failing, and the trip promised to be stressful. Narcissa had accompanied Draupadi for moral support.

"Are you still looking at the Hadley manuscripts?" Severus asked.

"Everyone made such a fuss that I became curious. I don't know if he was on to something or not, but it's interesting reading."

"It's something for the long winter nights," said Severus. "The only piece you don't have is hidden in the grim old place. How did you find out about that anyway?"

'A little bird told me,' thought Lucius. 'A little bird who flew away.'

"I overheard a conversation," he said. "It was vague, but I could guess what it was about."

"That's extraordinary luck," said Severus.

The morning was beautiful, but Severus couldn't stay to enjoy it. It was time to relieve Alastor Moody of guard duty at the grim old place.

"Too bad you can't come along," said Severus. "I plan to clean the place to pass the time, and you know more about it than anyone in the Order."

"That's rich. But I've seen more than enough of that place."

Severus left, thinking about Lucius finding secret places in the house to meet Narcissa. 'Wonder if there are traces after all these years? Did Lucius court her older sisters first? What had that house seen?'

'Enough of those cookies,' he thought. He would be alone, and he would proceed directly to the kitchen cupboard and procure the Hadley document waiting in a cookie jar. Lucius and Severus had waited a long time for the opportunity of Severus being alone in the house. It was a chance to photograph the documents without attracting attention.

Severus arrived to find Miss Granger talking to Alastor Moody. "She doesn't think anyone should be alone in this house," said Alastor. "But nobody stayed with me last night."

"They didn't let us out of school until this morning," said Miss Granger, looking at Snape as if it were his fault.

Alastor Moody took his leave.

'The best laid schemes of wizards and imps,' thought Severus.

"Do you think we should clean and order the library, sir?" Hermione asked brightly.

"I was thinking of cleansing some of the place," he said, "but I didn't realize you were going to replace Mrs. Weasley, the cleaning tyrant."

Miss Granger looked abashed. "I'm ... I'm sorry."

He relented. "Perhaps you just meant to be companionable."

She nodded.

"Well, unlike previous times, you are now an adult witch, and you can use your wand to defend yourself against this house."

"You remembered my birthday, sir?"

He nodded. He wasn't certain about his motives for checking when Miss Granger became an adult.

"Your being an adult should make everything easier," he said, "and Molly did neglect the library. The dark side of manuscripts is not her strong point."

They soon fell into a pleasant routine of working together. They did triage. Innocuous books were left on the shelves. Suspicious books were stacked on a library table. Obviously malignant ones were stored in an abandoned room protected by their spells. They would examine the third group later and very carefully.

Severus's complaint was that Hermione had worn her school uniform. The shirt looked too tight. 'She's going to pop a button.' He kept getting glimpses of her legs. 'I'm turning into a disgusting, dirty old man,' he thought.

"There're some books behind the couch," she said.

Before he could stop her, she was on the floor and making her way under the couch. 'Don't wiggle like that, girl,' he thought. Then she was backing out with her skirt sliding up. He groaned.

"Ouch," she said.

He quickly pulled her out. The fingers of her left hand were trapped in a book, and it was wrapping tendrils around her wrist. He pointed his wand and stopped its encircling.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"It's painful, but I don't think I'm hurt."

"The pain is good. It means it's not injecting a narcotic into you," he said.

He carefully pointed his wand, freezing and breaking off the tendrils one by one. The book was trying to back away. He held it, touched it with his wand, and whispered a spell. Hermione didn't catch the words to the spell, but it still made her shudder. Disturbing thoughts came to Hermione. 'He's almost a Dark Wizard. What am I doing around him?'

The book opened, and she snatched her hand away. Hermione thought she could hear the book whimper as he waved his wand to bind it. He tossed it into the protected room and took her to the kitchen.

"Tell me what spells you're using," she said as he examined her fingers.

'Admirable lady,' he thought. They went through the examination and healing spells.

"You'll have some bruises," he said.

"Will you kiss it and make it better?" she asked.

How could he refuse?

"I'm sorry I was careless," she said.

Severus had learned from Draupadi that these occasions were not a good time to snap at someone. He said, "It could have happened to either one of us. You were right: There should be two of us when we're cleansing this place."

Hermione was feeling much better.

Later, she insisted she be the one to climb the ladder to retrieve the books on the top shelf. Severus tried not to look. 'Is she doing this on purpose?' he wondered. She was on top of the ladder and stretching out with both arms and legs to reach some books.

"You could be more modest."

"You shouldn't look."

"I have to know what you're doing on top of the ladder."

"A properly mannered person doesn't notice certain things."

He waited till she had come back down the ladder before saying, "You'll be glad to hear that this properly mannered person didn't notice there's an indiscreet tear in your undergarment."

She blushed, ran to the lavatory, and reappeared a moment later. "There is not!" She was fuming. "A gentleman would never have said such a thing .... And he certainly wouldn't laugh."

She gathered her anger. "You ... you ... " She fired a hex that hit him in the toe. He hopped around the room.

"The word you're looking for is 'uncouth,' love." He fired a hex that frizzled her hair. She gasped. He wisely fled the room.

"You can hide, but you can't disappear!" she yelled, flinging a constrictor spell after him.

He ducked into a broom closet and recited the counter-spell before his trousers squeezed his testicles to jelly. He realized they were acting like little kids, but for some reason, it was fun. It was more than fun. He couldn't stop.

'Turnabout is fair play,' thought Severus. As Hermione stalked past the closet, he poked his wand through the small crack in the door and aimed both high and low. He vanished into the woodwork.

Hermione was three rooms away when the spell intruded upon her consciousness. The writhing of her bra straps had her nipples hard and her breasts perky. The rhythmic rippling of the elastic in her panties had her longing for relief. She leaned against the wall for support as her counter-spells calmed her garments. She rested a spell to calm herself. "I'm going to give that hairy-assed bastard such a hard-on," she swore.

She heard the stairs creak and ducked into the second floor lavatory. She pressed into the wall with her heart pounding as if the hound of hell were after her. She waited until the hound's footsteps had faded. The landing on the third floor was ideal for an ambush. With an athleticism propelled by romance, she jumped on the banister and rode it up to the landing. She leaped to the floor at the top.

"Bravo," she heard a smooth voice say. "You have to be slick for that trick. Should I look for splinters?"

That was too insufferable to deserve a reply.

"Unlike you, sir, I have given some thought to our predicament. It would not do to have an opponent sneak upon us whilst we are preoccupied." She waved her wand for a plethora of wards and alarms. "We must guard against intrusion even by those the house believes a friend. The enemy is infinitely subtle, sir."

'Someone is infinitely subtle,' Severus was thinking, but before he completed the thought, Hermione's spell had his cloak flying.

A sweep of his wand fastened her shoes and then her socks to the floor. She stepped out of them and waggled her toes at him. "Oh, most efficacious, sir."

It occurred to her that he was a professor. She waved her wand. His shirt went flying.

He remembered she was a student. He waved his wand. Her shirt went flying.

'I'm in real trouble,' she thought. His trousers went flying.

'I've got to control myself,' he thought. Her skirt went flying.

They were breathing heavily. 'We can't do this,' they thought. They were in each others arms. 'Gods, she's gorgeous.' 'Gods, he's handsome.' They waltzed towards the nearest bed.

She reached down to check. 'I did give the hairy-assed bastard such a hard-on.' She pressed herself against him. 'Oh, please, please, don't let him think I'm a little girl.' She kissed him desperately. He unhooked her bra and fastened on her breasts. 'Oh, gods, yes.' She couldn't help it that her back arched. 'If he laughs at me, I'm going to die.' She lifted her hips and pushed her panties down. 'If he's teasing me, I'm going to kill him.'

He interlaced his fingers with hers so that her hand was on top of his, and then he moved his hand over her. Everything would be mutual. Their fingers felt the elasticity of her breasts, the curve of her ass, the smoothness of her legs, and the shape of her face. He let her feel that her body was wondrous. He let her coax his hand to her sex. Their fingers traced up from her wet slit to her nub. Her hand left his to embrace him.

His hand continued to trace her sex. Over and over his fingers caressed her. She sighed. She was a girl in his arms. She flexed the small of her back in time with him. Her face became angelic. She rolled her hips. Her face became intense. She breathed in short gasps. She pressed against him. She gave a quiet, "Oh." She was breathing heavily and slowly going limp. He held her.

She rolled over on her back and parted her legs to invite him in.

How could he refuse?

He entered her gently. He stroked her until she moved with him and then he whispered that she should make love to him. Once again, her face became angelic as she rolled her hips, and then her face became intense as she pressed against him.

She signaled by smiling at him and squeezing him with her thighs. 'Oh, sweetheart,' he thought.

Severus eased into her shelter and rode out the storm in Hermione's pussy.

For the longest time, she had been afraid he would never notice her. Now he was nestled between her legs, inside her, and embracing her. He was resting lightly upon her. She felt other-worldly. As reason returned she came to a decision: If he was sarcastic about this, she would hex his balls off.

He kissed her and eased out of her. He was wet and glistening. 'He's still erect,' she thought. 'I did that. I should be careful what I wish for.'

"I want to have you like a lioness."

How could she refuse?

Hermione arranged herself on her knees and elbows. Her super rational mind observed that arousal changed perspective. A far corner of her mind noted that she should be embarrassed to present her cute round ass and sexy furry slit, but she was happy and eager to offer them to her lover. Romance flowed through her, and she was certain he would like them and want her.

He liked them. He wanted her.

He brushed her hair aside to see her face.

'He doesn't want it to be anybody,' she realized. 'He wants it to be me.'

'Oh, Severus,' she thought. 'It feels so good when you hold me, when you part me and enter me. Do you like it? Do you like sliding deep inside me? You're so gentle, sweetie. Do you want me? I'll give you anything you want. Oh, Severus.'

She felt him grip her possessively. She looked back and smiled. Severus held Hermione's cute round ass and came inside Hermione's sexy furry slit.

'Oh, yes,' they thought.

"I'll be right back," she said in a tone of voice that said he'd better be there when she returned.

He would wait. She was only a girl, she didn't have the wildness of Narcissa, she didn't have the intensity of Draupadi, but she was sweet.

'She's too sweet,' he thought. He had heard her carry on about friendship and bravery at the grim old place. 'Well, I'll be careful what I say to her. I'll be careful how I act.'

She bounded back from the lavatory, hairbrush in hand. Somehow, her hair had become tangled. She sat on the bed, facing him and brushing her hair. She had pulled the quilt over her legs to hide the fact that she was dripping and creating another wet spot. She reasoned it was part of sex and she would be mature about it.

She gave him a wistful look. "Would you dress for me the way you dressed last summer? Would you be handsome for me ... for a foolish girl?"

"You're not foolish."

"I've thrown myself at a professor...at a man who possibly hates me."

"Is your opinion of me that low...that I would ravish a woman I did not like?"

"I don't know what you think of me."

"Then I've kept my feelings well concealed, as a professor should."

Severus moved to put an arm around Hermione. "Do you mind?"

"After what we've done?"

"That was passion," he said. "This is affection."

"That was affection, too," she said. She paused. "You don't think I'm a foolish girl?"

"No. If it was foolish, we're both foolish."

"How long before you get tired of a little girl?"

"I'm certain it will be you who turns away from me," he said.

"Don't underestimate how foolish I am," she said.

On the sidewalk across from the grim old place, Lucius was feeling foolish. They had agreed that Severus would photograph the documents and hand them to Lucius. 'It's my fault,' thought Lucius. 'I let myself be delayed. Severus probably photographed them immediately and then discovered that I wasn't here to receive them.'

After Severus had left to relieve Alastor Moody of guard duty, Lucius ordered another cafe-au-lait. He looked up to see Natalie Granger and another lady coming toward him. They were obviously shopping. He was aware that Natalie was walking close by and that he could greet her, but he didn't know if she wanted a public greeting from him. What if her friend noticed and her friend was the suspicious, gossipy type? He didn't look her direction.

He noticed her walking back. She didn't turn to look at him. He felt disappointed. She and her friend talked for a while and then were joined by a man. The three seemed very friendly. 'Perhaps her lover,' he thought. The three of them left. 'She didn't try to greet me,' he thought. He felt empty, stricken.

'I've ruined everything. I should have greeted her anyway. She thinks I snubbed her.' Suddenly, the café-au-lait lost its flavor.

He paid his bill and wandered around the shopping square. He was standing in front of a sporting goods store not seeing anything in the window display.

"Lucius?"

"Hello, Natalie. Are you shopping for the Holidays?"

"I'm trying to. I'm at a complete loss even though Mr. and Mrs. Brown were trying to help me. I met them last summer and ran into them again today. I wanted to buy something magical for my daughter and her friends. She's staying at the Weasleys. They ... Mr. and Mrs. Brown ... they made lots of suggestions. But they made so many I got confused. I don't know what to get."

She caught her breath. "Are you shopping for the Holidays?"

"I was here earlier to help my friend celebrate the beginning of two weeks without students. He's the school Potions master."

"I think I remember him. He was there last summer when the Death Eaters attacked."

"Yes," said Lucius, wondering how he could keep Natalie talking to him, how he could convince her to spend time with him. He knew it was great to be around her, but the memories were nothing compared to actually being with her.

"It sounds like you haven't had any luck finding presents," he said.

She shook her head no.

"My apologies if I'm prying, but for whom are you buying gifts?"

"My daughter's going to be at the Weasleys through Christmas. I was thinking of something for her, her two best friends, and the Weasley family." Mrs. Granger sighed, "I'm trying to think of something besides a book to give my daughter."

Lucius had ideas, but he didn't want to mention them too fast. He wanted to spend time with Natalie. He felt like a pathetic conspirator.

"We can send an owl, a letter, to Molly Weasley asking for help," he suggested. "Don't mention my name in the letter. The Weasley family and I are not on good terms."

"That's too bad," she observed.

After sending the letter, Natalie wanted to treat Lucius to a tea and biscuit. She was glad to hear he was willing to wait for Molly's reply and help her shop. Several hours later, after the gifts were bought, wrapped, and sent to the Weasley residence, Natalie had learned that Lucius was temporarily alone. He agreed to let her take him to dinner that evening. She told him it was the least she could do for all his help.

That is how Lucius came to be on the sidewalk across from the grim old place, knowing he was late, feeling guilty, suffering from the cold, but not really caring.

Lucius saw the Potter kid and the Weasley kid. He saw them vanish into the grim old place. 'Where's Miss Granger?' he wondered. A few minutes later, he saw Severus.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't get loose," said Severus, joining him. "Miss Granger was in the house."

Lucius didn't think Severus sounded sorry about anything. As they walked away from the grim old place, Lucius told Severus that it didn't matter since he had been delayed.

'He has a spring in his step,' thought Severus. 'Wonder what the delay was?'

"We've got to get the kids out of there," said Lucius. "What'll we do?"

"I know," said Severus. "We'll send an anonymous owl that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle have Ginny Weasley on her sixth butterbeer at the local tavern, and it looks like they're going to take her upstairs."

"That's preposterous," said Lucius.

"They don't have to believe it. It just has to scare them enough that they'll act on it."

"Utterly preposterous," muttered Lucius. "A Malfoy doesn't have to get a girl drunk."

They sent the owl. Three kids appeared in the street, looked around furtively, and sped towards the local tavern.

Later, Severus appeared with the photographs.

"They won't be suspicious?" asked Lucius.

"Nothing's missing. There's nothing valuable in the house."

"Right," said Lucius. "Leaving the house is innocent since there's nothing to guard."

Lucius took the photographs to his study at home. He and Severus had gathered all the documents.

Natalie and Lucius ate lightly and shared only one bottle of wine. He talked of inconsequential incidents: broomsticks out of control, spells from splintered wands, and potions from mislabeled ingredients. He promised to take her for a ride on a broom. She promised to act like a witch for the occasion.

"I really like you, Lucius," she said, standing on her doorstep.

"I like you, Natalie ... very much."

Once inside, Natalie skipped the coffee she had promised him, flung herself into his arms, and dragged him to her bedroom.

He held her lightly and nuzzled her and caressed her with his lips. "Oh, yes," she sighed.

Natalie, not used to the magic world, had forgotten the wizard photograph of her daughter on her night table. The photograph's first reaction was fear for her mother's life. The second was concern that her mother had gotten involved with an inconsiderate wizard who would not appreciate her mother's understated beauty and inner qualities.

The photograph was surprised by the looks of admiration Lucius was giving her mother and by his gentle stroking of her temples and hair. Then Lucius told her mother that he wished there was a place in the wizard world for her.

The photograph, seeing her mother in a new light, became conscious of the lines in her face. But Lucius was kissing them as if he approved of her mother being a mature woman. The photograph saw her mother sigh and embrace Lucius. The prim side of Natalie's daughter came forward: 'If he keeps this up, my mother's going to start purring.'

The photograph saw her mother kiss her wizard gently and press lightly against him. It sighed as she kissed him affectionately and press firmly against him. 'Oh,' it thought as she kissed him passionately and pressed insistently against him. The photograph had never seen the sinuous moves of an aroused lady. 'My mother's giving Lucius Malfoy an erection. She wants to and she likes it.'

The photograph saw her mother break away to catch her breath then return to sucking the breath out of Lucius. It saw the wizard's hands move from Natalie's waist, over her hips, down her skirt, up her legs, across her panties, and onto her round, full, middle-aged bum where they squeezed her, pulled her close, and made her moan. 'My mother wants his hands on her,' thought the photograph.

The photograph saw Lucius release his grip and change to stroking Natalie's hair and admiring her sparkling eyes while Natalie smiled and unbuttoned her blouse. It saw him say, "Lovely," as he kissed her on the forehead and the blouse fell to the floor. He said, "Very lovely," and kissed her on the forehead again when she unbuttoned her skirt and let it fall to the floor. It saw Natalie sit, take off her shoes and socks, remove her bra, and stretch out on the bed while Lucius undressed and joined her. His lips and tongue tended the elegant features of her face. Natalie was glowing. She guided him to her breasts. The photograph saw her mother run her hands through his hair and tilt her head back with pleasure.

The photograph of the young girl did not realize what was going to happen until her mother removed her last garment. The photograph, with the moral certitude of the young, could only think that her mother was being naughty. It could not comprehend that Natalie wanted a full adult relationship with everything that Lucius could give her.

The photograph saw her mother moan as Lucius's fingers gently explored her until she was thoroughly wet. It saw his fingers make the gentlest of motions as he caressed her mother's sex. 'He's not doing anything special at all,' it thought, 'but he's making her roll her hips.' It didn't think her mother would ever let anyone do that to her

It saw her mother breathing with open mouth, holding Lucius with a loving grip, and looking at him with shining eyes. It watched her mother rolling her hips in time with his finger movements, gasping as her hip movements became intense, and gripping Lucius possessively. Her mother was flushed and still. The photograph wasn't certain what had happened, but the photograph was breathing heavily. It had no idea her mother thought Lucius was a true gentleman who was treating her kindly.

Neither Natalie's daughter nor her photograph had seen anyone between a woman's legs. Now, it saw Lucius Malfoy between her mother's legs. It stared wide-eyed. The photograph of the young girl was not prepared to see someone mount and enter her mother. It saw only a blurred image. It missed the loving nature of his entry and the grateful sighs and inviting embraces of her mother. It did not see the shock of their first time.

The photograph tried not to watch Lucius slide in and out of Natalie, tried not to see her mother's eager welcoming, but the penetration of her mother was too compelling. The innocent photograph stared. The prim and proper photograph was disappointed when Lucius changed to staying inside and riding her soft, round mother. This disappointment vanished when the photograph saw Lucius drive her mother wanton. It watched in fascination. The photograph did not know anyone's mother moved like that.

The photograph saw Natalie's moves become more and more excited. It saw Natalie hold Lucius tighter as her moves became frenzied. It saw her look at Lucius and smile.

And then.

Natalie slowly and rhythmically gasped and gripped Lucius, her face tensing with the ecstasy of it. 'So that's an orgasm,' thought the photograph. 'My mother's beautiful,' seeing her the way Lucius saw her. 'If I were a wizard, I would make love to my mother just to see her do that.'

The photograph saw Lucius return to moving in and out of Natalie. It saw her mother move to give him more pleasure. 'She's enjoying herself,' thought the photograph; 'she wants him to take great pleasure in her.' The photograph saw Lucius take his pleasure in her mother. It saw Lucius hold Natalie until their breathing returned to normal.

The photograph saw that her mother was calm and peaceful. It saw her mother constantly touching Lucius and his gentle response.

The photograph heaved a sigh of relief. A first thought was consternation that the Central Dogma prevented the direct transfer of this reassuring information from the photograph to the daughter. A second thought was that this might be for the best.

The photograph could hear their voices after they left the bedroom, but it was disappointed. It wanted to see the two have tea, return to rationality, hold hands, and become a couple.

"Let's take a bath," said Natalie. She filled the tub.

Lucius jumped back when she started the whirlpool feature.

"It's not going to electrocute you," she said.

"Electrocute?"

Natalie explained the dangers of electrocution and all the safeguards the tub had. After hearing about all the safeguards, Lucius was even more reluctant to climb into the tub. 'Is this safe sex?'

After the tub, they were in the parlor on the couch. "Talk to me, Lucius."

"About what?"

"Anything. You've lots to talk about. Start with you're a Death Eater and I'm a mundane if you like."

He tried to remember the beginning. "We wanted wizards to have some basic rights."

He gathered more thoughts. "There might be two strands to it. One is the old fear of persecution from the mundanes. It might seem unreasonable that we've had it for so long and that it's so strong, but it's there."

"The mundane world has thousand year old fears and hatreds, too," she said.

"And it might not be unreasonable," he continued. "You and the people you know belong to affluent Western European society. You're not in contact with the majority of the world's population."

She more than agreed with him. "Our society may be more fragile than we realize. If it collapses, most people will look for someone to blame. You should see our tabloids. Most of us aren't that sophisticated."

She paused. "I hate to admit it, but your fears may be justified."

"What else was there?" she asked.

"Wizard society is unjust," he said. "People can be thrown into prison without a trial. The Minister isn't elected. He arises out of some bureaucratic struggle. The taxes are a mess. The Ministry is bloated. It focuses on trivial items that are easy to regulate and ignores important items that are hard to regulate."

"Without a trial?" said Natalie, stuck on the first thing he had said.

"For a long time, my family and others worked on a proclamation that purebloods would have to appear before a court of their peers in order to be convicted," he said.

"A Magna Charta," she said. "But isn't it a bit late for that?"

He agreed. "Several hundred years ago, it would have been a step forward."

'This is the world my daughter is mixed up in,' she thought.

"This is the world your daughter is mixed up in," he said.

"There are compensations," he continued. "Your daughter is accepted as a witch, she has friends, and her talent is recognized and being trained."

'She was a top scholar in the mundane world,' thought Natalie, 'but she was lonely, isolated, and confused because she was different.' She recalled the incidents where her daughter's tormentors were hurt and her daughter said she hadn't done anything. Her mind was more at ease now that she knew her daughter had done something but it wasn't really her fault. No one had told her daughter that her thoughts could hurt and she had to be careful.

"The first eleven years can be rough," said Natalie.

"It's barbaric that we do nothing until they're invited to Hogwarts," he said.

'I'm listening to a very conflicted Death Eater,' thought Natalie. 'I should talk; I'm his mundane mistress.'

"Does wizard society move slowly? It must be frustrating. Did Voldemort offer some progress?" said Natalie.

"Yes," said Lucius.

Lucius stared into the fire. "We attract the talented who have been mistreated. Brutality breeds brutality. The capable find a way to strike back. We attract the privileged who are afraid of losing their advantages. They're able to hide and protect the violent among us. We reinforce each others worst impulses."

"But you want to do something good," protested Natalie. "Wizard society needs your help."

Lucius shook his head ruefully. "I wouldn't say 'yes' to either one."

"You're tired," said Natalie. "You need to rest."

She arranged herself with her arm around him and her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to stay the night?"

"It's comfortable with you," he said.

Natalie tried thinking about wizard society. She felt depressed. 'It looks hopeless, and I don't know enough.' She thought about her wizard. 'We both know there're a lot of things...terrible things...he's not telling me.'

Nevertheless, her wizard was back, at least for a while.

Lucius was waiting for Natalie, who was brushing her teeth. 'I've never slept with a mundane before. I've never kissed a mundane before.' He watched her nightgown move. 'Energetic teeth brushing, lady. I'm getting an erection. What is there about Natalie?'

'Does he really want to spend the night with a mundane? Do witches do something special at night? Hermione doesn't seem to. I'm nervous, but I've got to quit brushing before I take the enamel off. Try to be calm. Leave the dim night light on so we don't stub our toes, and climb into bed with him.'

'Everything's okay so far. It's kind of exciting and comfortable being in bed with him. I've already had sex with him, and he talks to me, so we're just two adults in a relationship. He's holding out his arm for me. Of course, I'll cuddle while I sleep. I like the way he feels and the way he smells.'

'Oh, Lucius, is that erection for me? Do you want me again so soon? Do you mind if I hold it? Let me kiss you, honey. I'll make you rock hard. My goodness, he's already between my legs, and I'm still lying face down. I hope you like my round middle-aged ass. Oh, you're sliding in so easily. I didn't realize that I was ready for you, that I wanted you so much.'

As a medical student, Natalie had seen the clinical movies of a penis inside a vagina. The first time, she had been shocked. The second time, she knew that when the penis spread the walls of the vagina, the female felt pleasure. The female was likely to be moaning. Both times she had watched the movie, Natalie had seen the vagina walls become slick. She now knew the vagina and the woman were welcoming the man and his penis. The second time she watched the movie, she knew there was a sloppy wet noise. She was moaning and slopping as Lucius spread her vagina and pressed again and again into her soft, round ass.

The first time she watched the movie, she had some idea what it meant when the vagina walls had their convulsions around the penis. The second time she knew it was only part of what was happening. She was enjoying his attention, his pressing into her, and his stroking her vagina. Then she was feeling good and gripping the sheet while her vagina walls convulsed around Lucius's penis. She lay flushed and sweaty and panting as he kissed her neck and shoulders and told her she was lovely.

It was almost embarrassing to watch the movie when the penis moved faster and then spurted inside the vagina. Natalie now knew that if it was the right person, the female enjoyed the penis spurting into her vagina. She also knew it was a primitive moment with the male becoming an animal. Natalie noticed that Lucius was holding her wrists and had moved his legs on top of hers. He was not going to let her go anywhere. His rhythmic spreading her vagina walls while pressing into her soft, round ass became urgent. He stopped. She knew his penis was spurting into her vagina.

It was an ordinary domestic routine...part of their relationship. Natalie knew that the routine might be short and temporary, but his affection and companionship would last and make life livable.

Lucius was still breathing hard when he nuzzled her and told her she was his sweetheart. He rolled off of her and lay on his back. Natalie embraced him.

'We should get cleaned up,' they thought. Then they passed out in each others arms.

Hermione, too, was finally sleepy.

Earlier in the day, her alarms warned her and Severus about the arrival of Harry and Ron, and her wards kept them in the foyer until Severus ensconced himself in the kitchen and Hermione came downstairs to release her spells.

"Honestly, Hermione," the two boys said.

"We're in the most danger when we think we're safe," she told them.

Harry and Ron looked at Professor Snape. He shrugged. What did they expect him to do about Miss Granger's obsessions? He politely left the school kids to their conversation, promising to be back by tea. The two boys were trying to convince her to spend the rest of the day and the night at the Weasleys when the owl arrived about Ginny.

"That's preposterous," they said as they dashed to the rescue. They found no trace of Ginny, Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle at the tavern.

They dashed back to the grim old place. Professor Snape returned an hour before tea.

"I bet Professor Snape would like to be alone without any students around," said Ron. "You should come with us."

"Yeah," said Harry. "You don't have to stay here. There's nothing valuable here. You'll have more fun at the Weasleys."

"It's a shame to leave someone alone in this grim old place," said Hermione.

Unable to change her mind, the two boys decided to bring Hermione and Professor Snape some dinner from the Weasley household.

After the boys left, he noticed she was standing on the other side of the table and glowering at him. 'But I behaved perfectly in front of the two boys,' he thought.

"And where was your famous snarky self?" she asked.

"Excuse me, o snippy one," he replied. His experience to date had taught him that he had best gear up fast when the female was in one of her moods.

"You didn't help at all," she said. "Maybe you'd rather I went to the Weasleys. After all, you've already had your way with me."

She plopped herself into a chair and looked thoroughly used and abused. "You could sit and read by the fire, enjoying your own company and thinking smug thoughts." She paused. "Was I fun?"

"It's not that way," he said, moving around the table to sit beside her.

"I wasn't fun?" she asked.

Severus gathered some thoughts. "If I had spoken in favor of your staying, they would have known something was going on. I would have sounded too eager. There's no way I can keep how much I like you and want your company out of my voice."

She was skeptical. "They're not that perceptive."

He gathered more thoughts. "It's possible they're not, but I was being cautious. Other people are perceptive, and I have to practice being careful."

She softened. He reached over, took her hand, and said, "This is going to be hard for us."

They heard Ron and Harry return, and Hermione went to greet them.

"Are you sure you want to spend the night in this terrible place with him?" Ron tried to whisper.

Severus was in the doorway. "Let me assure you, Mr. Weasley, that I am a competent guardian."

'Not bad,' thought Hermione. 'A little chat can do wonders.'

"I have placed warning signs on all the rooms that an innocent young lady should not enter," said Severus.

'What?' thought Hermione.

Ron and Harry looked pleased. Then they glanced at Hermione to see how she was taking this.

"Furthermore, I have sealed all rooms containing delicate artifacts that an inexperienced enchanter might harm," he continued in a tone of voice that said he expected agreement from Ron and Harry. "You two know full well the damage that can come from unbridled curiosity."

Ron and Harry reluctantly nodded agreement.

Hermione bridled.

"It may be Winter Holiday," held forth Severus, giving the boys a professorial glare, "but that does not release a faculty member from his obligations to a student."

"Yes, sir," they both said. They were thinking they could leave Hermione at the grim old place. It would be a good idea to be someplace she wasn't.

Severus saw them out the door in an imperious manner. Then he turned to face Hermione with the smirk of a job well done.

Hermione dashed to the front parlor and flung her self onto the couch. Severus entered a bit later.

"You beast," she said.

He sat on the rug in front of the couch and started a fire in the fireplace before replying, "You mean 'snarky beast.'"

"I admit," she said, "that you drove them off and convinced everyone who heard you that you have no regard for me whatsoever."

"There's going to be hell to pay for this, isn't there?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she replied.

"Well?" he said.

"Remus and Arthur aren't due until Monday evening," she said.

"You looked up the schedule?" he asked.

"I have tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night, and most of Monday to get even."

She ran her hand through his hair. "When Remus and Arthur arrive Monday evening and notice how little has been accomplished in the library, they'll agree that it's almost impossible to get any work done with you around."

Severus and Hermione dined on the ham sandwiches and cherry tarts from the Weasleys...partial compensation for onerous guard duty. They shared a brandy, and she introduced him to the mundane game of Scrabble. Severus resigned himself to playing against a smart school kid who knew lots of short words.

Hermione began. "SEDUCED," she announced. "Double word score plus bonus for using all my letters: 72 points."

"SCORN," said Severus. "Double word score: 14 points."

"SNARKY," announced Hermione. "Double letter score for 'K' and double word score: 36 points."

'She's cute when she's vengeful,' thought Severus.

"Are you staying here tonight?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Do you want to sleep together or alone?" he asked.

"Together, of course."

Severus suffered through the game. Hermione put the board away in triumph. Then realization dawned.

Everything had propelled them to this moment; nothing had prepared them for this moment.

'I'm going to sleep with a professor,' she thought

'I'm going to sleep with a student,' he thought.

'Omigod,' they thought.

Severus had an idea. "Care for a bubble bath before we turn in?"

Hermione, postponing the great unknown, agreed. Before climbing into the tub, she once again waved her wand for a plethora of wards and alarms that would let no one into the house. "Lest we be caught unawares by an infinitely subtle enemy."

Severus positioned himself behind Hermione and offered to wash her back. His soaping her gradually turned into massaging her shoulders. He kept up the gentle massage of her shoulders until she was moaning and moving sinuously in time with his massage. He tended her neck, and then moved to her back where he continued until her head hung forward and she was purring and smiling. He soaped her all over, rinsed her with the shower attachment, and dried her. He led a relaxed, pink and steamy Hermione into the bedroom.

The moment was too intimate, and he said more than he should. "You're a beautiful lady. You can attract any dotard you like. You're an intelligent and capable woman. They will not stay with you."

"What about you?" she asked. "Will you stay?

He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm deciding I like lionesses."

'He's sweet for a ferocious wizard,' she thought.

Once in the bedroom, she received encouraging kisses on her nose, her eyes, her lips.

'Oh, no, now it's the moment of truth when he sees I'm nothing special.' But his lips traced the shape of her face. 'He's making me feel good, making me feel I'm a mature woman.' She liked it that he was in no hurry. She liked it even more when he looked her in the eyes and said, "You're lovely, darling." She had a small embarrassed grin when he brushed her hair behind her ears and said, "Very lovely."

She was beginning to ache. She lay on the bed, pulled him to her; and guided him to her breast. 'It's nothing special,' she thought. 'He's just kissing my breast. Now he's kissing the other one. It feels wonderful. I like his hand on my legs.'

She moaned for him as his finger gently explored her sex and she became slick. His fingers made the gentlest of motions as he caressed her. 'He's not doing anything special at all,' she thought. 'He makes me feel great.' She rolled her hips. 'I didn't think anyone could do this to me.' His fingers drove everything out of her mind. 'Does he like me?' She gripped him as she had an orgasm.

Hermione was surprised how demanding she had become, how her lips and mouth engulfed him, how she was on her back, how she asked him, how she opened for him, how she pulled him in, how loud she was.

She let him move and arrange the pillows so they could lie side by side. ' This isn't passionate,' she thought until she felt the iron grip beneath the gentle way he was holding her, until she felt the demanding nature of his gentle thrusts into her, until she realized he was absorbing her every sound and move as he gave her sex. She realized she was making love to him. She was coupling with him. She was moaning and squirming on his dick as the professor took his student. She felt the unbearable pleasure that makes little girls scream. She was holding him in the quiet afterglow, still surprised that anyone could do this to her.

Severus had one more gift for Hermione. He rolled on top of her, lifted her legs into the air, mounted her, and let her watch him. 'He's arranging me so that I'm presenting myself to him,' she thought. 'He likes that. He's telling me I'm a lovely and classy lady. He's looking at me as if he thinks I'm beautiful. He's happy he's with me. He's glad he's in me. He's letting me see that he wants me, a mature woman...proud and independent and loving. He's letting me watch him lose control. He can't stop. He's holding me and pounding into me. He's letting me watch as he gasps and squirts and has me.'

Hermione reached up, pulled Severus to her, and clung to him. 'Bond with me, sweetheart,' she thought. 'Hold me.'

In a comfortable modern house on the outskirts of London, Lucius held his sleeping lady. 'I have a mundane lover,' he thought, 'but holding myself aloof would lead to pride, and scorning Natalie would be a terrible sin.'

In a quaint old house in the middle of London, Severus held his sleeping lady. 'I've seduced a student,' he thought, 'but people who are always virtuous are boors, and rejecting Hermione would be an unpardonable act.'

'Virtue, thy name is moderation.'