Large Factors and Small Moments

Chapter 8: Large Factors and Small Moments

"Hi, Uncle Lucius. Are you still working on the accounts even though Mum's gone?"

Lucius looked up from the computer terminal to see Pansy standing in the doorway. Vivian, Narcissa, and Draupadi were still on the continent, and Lucius thought he could crack the Druid code under the guise of helping with the Parkinson accounts. He had spent an hour bookkeeping to cover his real purpose.

Hadley had determined the number the Druids used to encrypt their records, and according to Hadley, the Druid code could be cracked by factoring this number into its two prime components. Lucius had written the factorization code and was trying it on small numbers that he could easily check.

He had forgotten that Pansy was home for the Holidays. She entered the room and sat in a nearby chair.

Lucius sighed. 'What was that saying about the best laid plans of wizards and imps?'

"I remember last summer when you would come over and help Mum with the accounts."

"Uh-huh," he said, preoccupied.

"Mum's something of a bitch, but I think she likes you."

"I wouldn't know," said Lucius, still preoccupied.

"I remember that whenever you helped Mum with the accounts, she was happy the next day. She would go around humming and housekeeping and be really nice to me."

"Okay," said Lucius. He wished she would go away since he didn't want to reveal what he was doing to anyone.

"I think you did more for Mum than the accounts," said Pansy. She had stood up and was walking over to him.

Lucius hid the factoring program and called up a bookkeeping program. It filled the screen. Pansy was behind him with her hands on his shoulders.

"I tried spying," said Pansy. "I could hear Mummy moaning, but I could never find the two of you."

"You have an overactive imagination," said Lucius.

"Mum was always nervous the days you were to come over. It was funny to watch her primping. It was a bit nauseating at her age. How could you stand to take her anyway?"

"I keep telling you that you have an overactive imagination. And you shouldn't talk that way about your mother."

Pansy was still behind him and pressing her breasts into him. "You can confess. I know you had her. Did you mount her like the bitch that she is?"

'I've got to get rid of her,' he thought. 'I know. I'll gross her out. That'll send her running.'

"It's easy enough to show your mother wouldn't want any part of me," said Lucius. "Surely, you've inherited the refined Parkinson taste for clothes, furnishings, and sexual partners. Suppose I move this chair back from the desk and give you room to sit on my lap. The very thought will repel you."

Lucius moved the chair.

Pansy eyed his lap. "It doesn't look that repelling."

Pansy sat in his lap. "It's actually very comfortable, Uncle Lucius."

'It'll take a bit more than I thought to gross her out,' he realized.

"It may feel comfortable now, but what if I did those things you're accusing me of doing to your mother? What if I ran my fingers through your hair and told you I liked it?"

"Do you really?" she asked.

"Yes, you've always been a petty girl."

"What else did you do to Mummy?" she asked.

'I hate to be crude, but I've got to get rid of her,' he thought. He said, "If those crazy things you're saying are true, then after sitting in my lap for a while, your mother would begin to feel like a little girl."

'This won't take long,' he thought. 'It better not take long,' he thought.

It didn't take long. Pansy put her arm across Uncle Lucius's shoulders. Then she leaned against him, placed her other arm around him, and sighed. Lucius massaged her shoulders until she relaxed. Then he placed his other hand on her hip and encouraged her to snuggle against him.

"Mmmm," went Pansy contentedly.

Lucius continued to go for shock value. "Do you really think I held your mother the way I'm holding you? Do you really think your mother cuddled the way you're cuddling?"

"Yes," said Pansy, kissing her Uncle Lucius. "I think you made Mummy do the pussy dance."

Lucius revised his plan for shocking Pansy.

"Was she fun?" asked Pansy.

"I still say you have an overactive imagination," he said.

"Mummy was really sweet after you visited. I was always glad when you came and did the accounts for her ... when you did her and she came."

"What would you think if your mother talked about you the way you talk about her?"

"How would she do that?" asked Pansy.

"She would ask me if you had fun sitting my lap."

"She wouldn't do that," said Pansy.

"Yes, she would. "And she would ask if you kissed me on the cheek like a little girl or if you gave me a proper kiss like a young lady."

"Like this?" said Pansy.

"One doesn't count. And she would ask if they were quick pecks or slow and sensuous."

"Like this?" said Pansy, her breath mingling with his.

"Your kisses are okay, but you don't brush your breasts against me. I'd have to tell your mother you're timid and chaste."

"I'm not timid," said Pansy, putting forth a more earnest effort. Her kisses were getting longer, her nipples were getting harder, and her breathing was getting heavier.

'I'm starting to enjoy this,' he thought.

"Uncle Lucius," she whispered.

"Yes."

"I have a confession to make," she said.

"Yes."

"I'm almost the same size as Mummy. When I heard you were coming over, I borrowed her underwear." She paused, "But my breasts aren't as big."

'I should be better at this by now,' he thought. Neither Narcissa nor Natalie was voluptuous. He was constantly reassuring them.

"You're very attractive, and your breasts are nice."

"You're trying to make me feel better."

"No, I'm being honest." He ran his fingers over her temples and through her hair. "You're attractive. You're smart. I like holding you. I've always liked you."

This time she was nuzzling him with real affection. "Do you really like me? Do you think I'm pretty as Mummy?"

"Oh, yes," he said, hugging her. 'Yes, very much,' he realized. 'I wish she would stop carrying on about her mother. But I have to go with what's in her head if I want to have a go with what's in her panties.'

"Let's see," she said, unbuttoning her blouse.

Lucius noticed two pert breasts in a loose bra. "Lovely," he said. He kissed Pansy on her forehead, on her nose, on her lips. She held him as he nibbled down her neck, across her shoulder, and down to a nipple which had slipped out of the loose bra. He heard her gasp as he took first the nipple and then more of her breast. 'Gods, this is nice,' he thought. She was moaning.

He moved to her lips. "You're pretty, and you taste good," he told her.

His lips began their journey down her neck. She impatiently pushed him to her other breast. He tended it until he could taste her.

'I want her essence,' he decided. He waited for an opening.

"Ohh," she said. "Is this what you did to Mummy?"

He returned to nibbling her lips. Her breath was sweet.

"Do you honestly think I did this?" He placed his hand on her knee.

She continued her affectionate, inviting kisses and parted her thighs.

"And this?" he asked. His hand was feeling its way up her leg.

She was giving him a soft-eyed look. Her legs were parting for him. His hand was at the junction of her thighs. It was soft and warm and moist.

She stood, lifted her skirt, and sat down with Uncle Lucius between her legs. He saw a familiar black silk garment.

"Recognize Mummy's undies? I bet you've been in them."

'That's the spirit, girl,' he thought.

He continued. "Do you honestly think I did this to your mother?" He placed Pansy's hands in his lap and let her unfasten his trousers. Pansy was flushed and wide-eyed as she pulled out his cock.

"Do you think I made your mother stand up?" Lucius lifted Pansy to her feet as he had lifted her mother.

"Do you think I pulled your mother's panties aside?" He pulled her mother's panties away from Pansy's furry center. Her furry center was slick, as slick as her mother's had been.

"Do you think I put my dick in your mother?" He placed his cock at Pansy's entrance.

"Do you think your mother moaned?" Pansy moaned as Uncle Lucius parted her flesh.

There were the intimate sounds of Pansy penetrated by Uncle Lucius.

"Tell me you did Mummy," gasped Pansy.

He caressed her face with his fingertips, parted her lips with his tongue, and murmured, "You're lovely, Pansy."

"Were you nice to Mummy, too?" said Pansy.

She pressed her breasts against him and squirmed in his lap. "Did you make Mummy wiggle, too?"

Her moves become more and more intense.

"Do you think I held your mother's cute ass and watched her squirm?" Lucius held Pansy's cute ass and watched her squirm.

"Do you think I watched your mother's face as I had her?" Lucius watched Pansy's face as he had her.

"Do you think your mother moaned and wiggled for me?" Pansy moaned and wiggled.

Pansy cried out.

Pansy Parkinson...like her mother before her...did the pussy dance for Uncle Lucius.

He held her while she recovered. She was still curious. "Is this how you did Mummy?"

'I was hoping she had forgotten about her mother,' he thought. He said, "Partly. I always ravished her a bit because she was such a fetching bitch."

Pansy looked quizzical.

"I would stay inside your mother, move to the rug, and perch on top of her with nothing between me and the hard floor but her delectable self."

"Let me stay inside you, Pansy. We'll move to the rug like this. You feel delicious."

"I would tell your mother she was a lovely, classy lady, and I would move inside her until I felt her get slick again."

"You're a bright and pretty girl, Pansy. You're getting wet for me again."

"I would look at your mother as it dawned on her that she would have another orgasm."

"Yes, Pansy, you're going to have another one, sweetie."

"I would watch your mother try to resist. She was a bitch that liked to remain in control. She wasn't that eager to wiggle for me."

"You're trying to resist, too. You don't think it's fair that I can make you and your mother wiggle."

"But your mother was a primal bitch. I was the most powerful male around; I could mount her and have her. Your mother would be an unfaithful wife for me."

"You're mounted, Pansy. You're going to yield like your mother."

"You moan like your mother, Pansy."

"Your mother's a lovely lady. She's beautiful when she's moaning and wiggling."

"You're lovely, Pansy. You're beautiful when you're moaning and wiggling."

"Your mother came for me."

"Come for me, Pansy."

"Yes, sweetheart, just like your mother."

"After your mother came for me, she lay there looking demure. She lay there like a wife who wanted to be unfaithful...her soft eyes asking me to take her, her spread legs inviting me to come inside her."

"You look as demure as your mother. I'm going to take you, sweetheart."

"I had fun between your mother's legs. She was unfaithful for me. I came inside her."

"It's fun between your legs, Pansy. I'm coming inside you, Pansy."

Pansy sat upright, thoroughly disheveled. "Wait for me. I'll be right back."

Ten minutes later, she reappeared, freshly scrubbed and clothed. "I'm so glad you waited for me," she said. She joined him on the couch. He held a happy and affectionate girl as she gradually drifted off to sleep...snuggled against her Uncle Lucius. He arranged her comfortably, fetched a blanket for her, and returned to his program...leaving one of his better laid plans sleeping on the couch.

'All this to factor a large number,' he thought. 'No wonder Arithmancers do their best work when they're young.'

He finished and tucked the results into a pocket. 'At last,' he thought, 'we can decode the Druid message.'

He looked at Pansy still sleeping on the couch. 'There's no reason to be unkind,' he thought. 'She's a bright and lovely girl. She's good company when she's relaxed and not trying to act superior.' He would read and wake her in a little while. When he sat in the chair next to the couch, however, the noise of the old chair woke her.

"How are you?" he asked.

She was fine. She wanted to play the lady of the house. "You simply must stay for tea."

He let her work out their new relationship by letting her play the hostess. He considered leaving and avoiding the complication, but he didn't want to commit the sin of neglect.

She prepared the tea in the usual manner. Nothing unusual was happening between them. They talked about her school courses, his latest investments, and the quirks of using a computer for accounting. They were two adults leading normal lives.

"Lucius," began Pansy. "Lucius ... ," she faltered.

'Our re-enactment of her mother's seduction was too hard on her,' thought Lucius. 'I've let my base nature have its way, and I've done damage. Can I make amends?'

Pansy looked vulnerable instead of angry. Lucius reached over and held her hand. She folded her hands around his and held it in her lap.

'Pansy is the true aristocrat of the family,' Lucius reminded himself. 'She's the heir of the Parkinson line.'

"Let me show you," she said. She unbuttoned her blouse. On a silver chain hung a jade ring.

Lucius caught his breath. Narcissa had given Pansy that ring for her seventeenth birthday. It was a sentimental trinket. It was suppose to glow when a lady found her soul mate.

'Why is she wearing it?' thought Lucius. 'She can't be serious, not after the terrible thing I just did to her.'

Pansy looked expectant.

Almost involuntarily, he said, "That's wonderful, Pansy," and then he kissed her hand.

Pansy, sitting still, seemed to glow and writhe as the serpents on the ring were said to glow and writhe when the soul mates were together.

"Will you walk with me in the garden?" asked Pansy.

He accompanied her as they strolled through the brown and barren winter landscape.

'Narcissa, Natalie, and Pansy,' thought Lucius. 'People can imagine them acting formal, they can imagine them in a rage, but very few can imagine them intimate. And they tend not to be intimate. Their pairing is a rare thing, a precious thing. It is a worthwhile thing, but it is a delicate thing.'

'How breakable ladies are,' he thought.

"Will you bring Sasha the next time?" asked Pansy.

"Sasha likes to visit you," he said.

"I haven't seen her in the longest time. I miss her. Can you come back soon?"

"I can bring her over tomorrow," he said.

"Wonderful," said Pansy. "If you come over early, we can take her out in the fields."

Pansy had hunted with Uncle Lucius and Sasha. Pansy had squealed with delight.

'The limp bodies of beautiful animals don't bother her. She knows I'm doing her mother, and it doesn't bother her. There's not a bourgeois bone in her body,' thought Lucius proudly.

They found a stone bench warmed by the sun. She crossed her legs, pointed her knees at him, and put her arm around his shoulders.

'When I come over tomorrow,' thought Lucius, 'she will dress for sport, her strong body will carry her into the hills and valleys, her eyes will light with fire as I master the game, she will squeal as my bolt penetrates its body, and her aristocratic soul will be satisfied as it thrashes and goes limp. Then, on the spot, she will undress for sport, her strong body will carry me into her hills and valleys, her eyes will light with fire as I master her, she will squeal as my bolt penetrates her body, and her aristocratic soul will be satisfied as she thrashes and goes limp.'

Lucius felt something stirring. He wanted to stir Pansy. His sudden lust for her jarred his mind. As incongruous as it seemed, he reflected on his relationship with Natalie. Natalie's husband could return at any time, and she could decide to stay with the father of her daughter. If she made such a decision, she would stay with her daughter's father even if Lucius was the love of her life, even if the love of her life begged her to stay with him.

Lucius knew that under such circumstances his declarations of love and devotion would only strengthen her resolve. His declarations would give her all she wanted and needed from him. His only hope of keeping Natalie was to never make the mistake of needing her.

A deep chasm of pain opened before Lucius. 'Damn. Why can't things ever be right?'

He sobered. 'The universe doesn't care, old bean. I'm just passing through...beset by conflicting demands and unintended consequences.'

'Pansy offers hope,' he thought. 'If I were cold-hearted, I could take the high road, but I'm emotional, weak, and vulnerable. There's a mismatch between me and the universe.' Lucius ran his hands through Pansy's hair. She snuggled. 'She's pretty,' he thought. 'She's stable and loving.'

In his thorough fashion, Lucius considered the cataclysm of all three women remaining attached to him. 'Narcissa wants a daughter. She'll be busy and tired, and she'll appreciate my not making extensive demands. Natalie's in a demanding profession. She'll want lots of evenings with only conversation and cuddling. Pansy's still a student who's only occasionally available, and when she graduates, she'll only have a young girl's desires. By the time Pansy's matured and on line, Narcissa and Natalie will be older and glad to slow down.'

He reviewed his plan. 'It's not perfect, and there'll be rough patches, but it maximizes everything for the girls. That's great. They're all wonderful, and they deserve the best I can give them.'

He sobered again. 'Most likely, Narcissa will become involved with a daughter, Natalie will return to her husband, and Pansy will find someone her own age.'

'I could take up a hobby,' he thought. 'Or I could join Mr. Parkinson on the continent. Perhaps it's more amenable to a romantic soul.'

He sighed. 'It's a long journey, and there's nothing at the end, but good company can make it worthwhile.'

He brightened. 'I should definitely look for some good company. The present company is great, better than I could hope for, but I can't expect it to last.'

His thoughts were interrupted. "I'll wait for you," said Pansy.

Pansy stood and offered Lucius her hand. "I know you're involved with other people, Uncle Lucius, and I know I'm just a young school girl, but I'll wait for you. Someday, we'll be together."

'I can't dismiss this as nonsense,' he thought. 'I was a year older when I decided I would wait for Narcissa.'

Pansy seemed to float back into the house holding his hand.

Pansy and Lucius ended the walk in her room. She had taken him to her inner sanctum where she removed everything except the jade ring on its silver necklace. She was perfectly dressed.

Pansy started to say something, but Uncle Lucius put his finger to her lips. Then he kissed her, just a soft caress as if she were something precious. She wanted him to do it again. She decided she could try it. She gave him a slow, soft, intimate caress with her lips. Surely, Uncle Lucius would be kind and forgiving of a young lady's first efforts. Yes, he was. His lips were close, inviting. She tried again. He didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed to like it. She felt both calm and tingling. When she tried it again, his tongue parted her lips. She was taking calm deep breaths. She opened her mouth for him when she kissed him again. The rest of the world was vanishing.

A small part of her mind wondered if Mummy had done this.

He touched, kissed, and admired every inch of her. He was between her legs. His tongue touched a special part of her. Her determination to act the proper lady joined her discarded lingerie. His tongue stripped her...she was properly his lady.

As he entered her, he achieved the fabled unity of mind, body, and spirit. "Go for it," they told him.

She danced and danced. She looked at him and saw he cared. The ring lay between her breasts, covered with sweat and warm from her body. The serpents glowed and intertwined, but not as much as Pansy glowed and intertwined. Like a true lady, she let him stir her twat. Like his true lady, she let him stir her soul. She let him intertwine the two. She knew unity with her Lucius. She knew another existence.

She felt her spirit soar and Lucius capture it.

She opened her eyes to discover everything was still except her heavy breathing and pounding heart. But Lucius was holding her, and that let her return gently. He let her return safely with her lady-hood and her affection intact.

She held her lover, now her partner. She felt her world change: all her other concerns seemed smaller.

Observing the proprieties, Lucius had a final cup of tea with Pansy. It was important that she finished the afternoon with him as a true lady. During tea, Pansy sat on the couch beside him and put her arm around him. She was both possessive and relaxed. It was Lucius's nature...his weakness...to take care of rare and beautiful things. A Pansy who wanted him as her lover was a rare and beautiful thing.

Once home, Lucius proceeded to his study where he locked himself in and spread the Hadley Druid documents over his desk. At last, with the code broken, they were making sense. He thanked the gods for his friend Severus. Severus had tricked the kids out of the grim old place and had photographed the documents the Order had hidden in a cupboard. Severus had slipped a potion to Draupadi and had made a midnight raid to photograph the documents the Death Eaters had hidden in her greenhouse. Severus had commented the potion made her less restless, whatever that had meant.

Lucius sighed. Hadley had done all the important work one hundred years ago. Arithmancy was not for people who wanted their reward in this life.

A few hours later, he had to put the documents away and meet Severus for a Death Eater gathering.

It was two hours before midnight on Winter Solstice when Lucius and Severus parted after a bonfire ritual conducted by the Dark Lord. They were both glad there was no captive to torture.

Lucius arrived on the front porch of the Granger residence apprehensive about the reception he would receive. He knocked and the porch light came on. Then Natalie was in his arms and pulling him inside.

"Oh, Lucius, it's freezing. Have you been out in the cold? Let me take your cloak. Sit right here. I can start a fire in the fireplace for you."

"I see you have a Yule tree," he said. "It's small, but it's pretty with the white lights you have on it."

Natalie busied herself with the fireplace. "I thought a tree would cheer me up, but it just made me more depressed. I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that." She started the fire, stood up, and looked at the tree and Lucius. "I'm glad I have it now. You belong in front of a fireplace and a Yule tree." She kissed his forehead. "There's something primitive about you."

She called out from the kitchen. "Do you like eggnog? I'll make two strong ones. Let me turn the rest of the house lights off."

In the intimate light of the tree and fireplace, Natalie sat next to Lucius sipping her eggnog. She set her drink aside to put her arms around him and her head on his shoulder. When he didn't protest, she moved into his lap. She sipped from his glass.

"Oh, Lucius, you're so warm. I feel warm with you." She sat comfortably in his lap. "I've been cold a long time."

She hadn't wanted to say it, but it slipped out. "Lucius, I need this."

'Something else that's rare and precious,' thought Lucius.

As Natalie was turning her house lights off, Severus was lighting his rooms in the dungeon. The professor part of him hoped that Hermione was home or in her dorm or at the grim old place. The rest of him hoped she was here. When the lights came on in his parlor, he saw she was asleep on his couch and she had decorated the tree. Draupadi had brought the tree and decorations days ago, but the two of them had spent the time taking care of Draupadi's growing amorous appetite. Severus, having lived lonely, appreciated instead of resented Draupadi's demanding nature. Draupadi's stern exterior contrasted with her private passion¬...a secret ravisher.

He covered Hermione with a blanket and turned the parlor lights off and the tree lights on. He sat on the rug, leaning against the couch where Hermione slept, admiring the tree that Draupadi had brought and Hermione had decorated.

'I didn't want to have an open affair with a married woman so I fill the hole in my life with a student,' he thought. 'I've made things worse. How will this end with Hermione? Will I become a father to her? Is this a fling? Will we become lovers? Events could turn. We could become the deadliest of enemies...our previous affection feeding our cold hatred. At the moment, I'm reveling in her company instead of protecting her as a student. I'm a selfish, evil man.'

As he sat musing, Hermione sleepily reached out a hand and ran her fingers through his hair. "You're back. Was it terrible?"

"No. Luckily, no," he said.

"I'm glad," she said, moving closer to him, moving within kissing range. A minute later, she paused and lifted the blanket to invite him to join her. They lay side by side.

He let the warmth and the aroma of Hermione seep through him, driving out the cold and the stink of the Death Eaters. 'I need this,' he thought, 'after all those years with no one to drive out the cold and the stink. Her warmth is special, warmer than fire. Is this the best part of the relationship? Is the best part her smiling at me over her morning cup of coffee in the Great Hall? Is the best part waking up with her in the morning? Could we spend tonight together? I think her dorm's empty. No one would know.'

As he soaked up Hermione's warmth, Severus thought about married Draupadi. 'Will she decide to be true to her ailing husband? Will she decide her relationship with me is a sordid affair?'

Severus thought about volatile Draupadi. 'I need fortitude to withstand her passion and maintain a relationship with her. Poise and coping ability don't come from failure and denial. They come from the knowledge that you are potent, and the knowledge that you are potent comes from concrete demonstration.'

As he soaked up Hermione's warm affection, Severus wondered why she had chosen him. 'The school's too small,' he thought, 'and we don't have an influx of talented exchange students. She never met anyone compatible in her own age bracket. She's a scholar, and it would do her good to meet someone creative who's equally intelligent, but who regards scholarship as a second-rate activity.' The strangest idea came to him. 'She needs a male version of Draupadi.'

'I wonder how Draupadi and Hermione would get along. Luckily, I'll never have to worry about that. Hermione will mature and change and leave within a year or two. And I've made enough enemies on both sides that my chances of surviving the war are slim.'

Natalie, ensconced in Lucius's arms, was having primitive urges: the pagan ritual that would get them through the longest night. She wanted to perform the rite in front of the sacred fire and the ceremonial tree. She nuzzled her wizard to tell him she was available. He lightly stroked her hair. She pressed against her warlock to let him know she was eager. He encouraged her.

Hermione, warmed by Severus, was feeling a seasonal need: the civilized practice of exchanging gifts. She needed the exchange in front of the hearth fire and the domestic tree. She kissed her wizard to see if he wanted a gift. He kissed her back. She pressed against him to let him know she was ready for an exchange.

Natalie felt wanted as Lucius tore off her clothes and placed himself between her thighs; Hermione felt cherished as Severus removed her garments and arranged himself between her legs.

Lucius placed his tongue on Natalie. She yelled.

Severus licked Hermione. She yelled.

Lucius did not use any finesse whatsoever. He applied his tongue over and over while his lady love yelled and squirmed. He did not relent in the sacred rite. He bound his pagan with his primitive art. He did not know a woman could yell so long and become such an animal. 'By the gods, she's feral,' he thought. Her cries reached a crescendo. Her fingers were grabbing his hair, and her thighs were squeezing his head. He had exercised the rites and offered the goddess her due. He held a flushed, limp, grateful Natalie.

Severus was crude and straightforward. He licked her sensitive spot again and again as his mistress yelled and rolled her hips. He did not stint in the exchange. He drove his companion senseless with his domestic gift. He did not know a girl could be so loud and go so wild. 'By the gods, she's primitive,' he thought. Her cries peaked. Her fingers pushed him into her, and her legs pressed against him. He had performed the exchange and received a goddess for his gift. He held a smiling, relaxed, happy Hermione.

Lucius prepared for the second part of the rite. He waved his wand and a mattress appeared for Natalie. She was on her knees and elbows before the sacred flame and magic tree. 'Give me what I want, sweetie,' she thought. Her sweetie began the rite: holding her, spreading her, entering her, mounting her, servicing her. It was simple and right for Natalie.

.

Severus continued the exchange. A pile of rugs appeared for Hermione. She was on her knees and elbows in front of the homey fire and decorated branches. 'Anything for you, darling,' she thought. Her darling accepted her gifts: gripping her, parting her, joining her, completing her, pleasuring her. It felt easy and natural to Hermione.

Lucius knew Natalie had a beautiful face, cute ass, and sexy slit. He presided over the primitive rite by brushing her hair aside to see her beautiful face as he held her cute ass and caressed her sexy slit. It was obvious that it satisfied his soul to take his loving, classy lady. It was everything Natalie wanted.

Severus believed Hermione had a pretty face, lovely ass, and inviting slit. He ended the exchange of gifts by holding her hair back to watch her pretty face while he gripped her lovely ass and gushed into her inviting slit. It was clear that it soothed his spirit to have his affectionate, spirited girl. It was everything Hermione could ask for.

Well, not everything she could ask for.

"It's not midnight yet," said Hermione. "Let's use the Prefects bath. I can scrub you down with all their special soaps. We'll take our wands and make the water swirl around us."

"I have a perfectly good tub right here."

"Oh, come on, love, you've always wanted to use the Prefects bath, haven't you?"

"No."

"Yes, you have. Now's your chance. Don't you want to get in a tub with me?"

"That's not a fair way of putting it," he said, but he grabbed his wand and followed Hermione through the corridors. He hoped no one would spot them. 'This is not safe sex.'

It was Winter Solstice, and the goddesses were content.

Natalie held Lucius, believing every woman needed a primitive warlock.

Hermione cuddled Severus, knowing every girl deserved a kind wizard.

'T was the night of the solstice, but creatures were stirring.

Lucius was tossing and turning and muttering. "Don't touch the jewel. Don't touch the jewel."

Natalie put her arm around him.

"They're on both sides of us. We can't get out."

She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hang on, Severus, I'm coming."

"Sir Lucius, at the ready," she quipped sleepily. Then she woke enough for rational thought: 'A jewel radiating danger? An army surrounding them? Snape the very model of ferocity needing rescue?'

This could not be good.

Hermione was all entangled with her leg between Severus's and her hair in his face. Then she tossed away and was curled up on her side of the bed. Then she was sprawled across him with her limbs blocking his circulation.

'Damn,' thought Severus. 'I get the restless ones.'

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Author and Beta Note: And so, dear reader, our intrepid pair has gathered all the pieces. Can they, in one short final chapter, put the puzzle together, decide the fate of the jewel, ward off the opposing sides, resolve their relationships, and experience personal growth? How about four out of five ... three out of five ... well, how about surviving?