Eighteen

Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters and have very little hope of ever doing so. If you've read the disclaimer at the top of each chapter, you will know that some people believe the earth to be hollow and inhabited. No paper was wasted in creating this tale. However, the electrons are actively preparing a rebellion.

trees

were in(give

give)bud when to me

you

made for by love

love said did

o no yes

earth was in

(live

live)spring

with all beautiful

things when to

me

you gave gave darling

birds are

in(trees are in)

song

when to me you

leap and i'm born we

're sunlight of oneness

e. e. cummings

Hermione woke up sometime during the night, knowing the man who had his arm wrapped around her midst was not Lucius, but he felt good, comfortable, and comforting, and that was all that mattered to her in her less-than half-awake state.

Then, early in the morning, she woke up again. His erection pressed firmly against her, and his hands were caressing her breasts. It felt rather pleasant.

"Severus... what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" The low voice rumbled straight into the core of her being.

"Um..."

His hands moved downward, and she was unable to deny the promise of pleasure they offered. "Lucius..." she whispered.

"He wants this. As much as I do," the voice answered her. Its tone held complete assurance.

His hands felt... different. Gentler, and yet more... almost aggressive at the same time. She gave in. And was rewarded.

There was the twinge of pain and there was ecstasy, all simultaneous and yet worlds apart. It felt exquisite. If only life could always be this way...

More sleep, her body spooned against his, felt delicious.

"Oh, wonderful!"

Lucius's voice woke her. "Hm?"

"What a sight! It makes me happy!"

"Lucius." Hermione rubbed her eyes.

Severus stirred and opened his eyes. He smirked upon seeing Lucius and opened his hand in an inviting gesture.

"Love, four hands and two mouths offer more pleasure than one..." Lucius's mouth demandingly crashed down on hers, and she relished the feel of him, not giving a thought to his words.

"Let us try... Let us prove it to you..." He made short work of his clothing by Vanishing it and joined Hermione and Severus on the bed.

Hermione never had a chance to think it through. Hands caressed her from head to toe, mouths nibbled, licked, occasionally nabbed only to lightly blow over her exposed skin, making her shiver with physical delight.

One union, different fingers brushing lightly over her nipples, another mouth nuzzling that point on her neck. A brief withdrawal that made her want to cry out. Another union.

And then the world exploded around her, and the only conscious sensation was bliss. Perfect bliss.

A long silence followed until her first lover spoke. "See?" Lucius looked far too smug, as did Severus. But then, they had every reason to feel that way, Hermione admitted, albeit only to herself.

"So... we've moved from us two to us three," Hermione stated the obvious. Slowly, her mind moved into gear, and she regarded Lucius with curiosity. "Tell us about your trip, love."

Lucius needed no second invitation. "And the next full moon is about ten days away. By then, I'm hopeful that Draco will have seduced the Potters, and we all will cast our magick: here, throughout the inner earth, and in London as well," he finished.

"Who would've thought... Draco and Harry." Hermione shook her head.

"I dare say that is of less importance than the fact that the world is changing rapidly and we'll be contributing to the downfall of evil," Severus said.

"Hm, yes, true," Lucius agreed and then sighed. "I feel somewhat disadvantaged here. You both have experience in defying evil, as do the Potters. I do not."

"You may not have the experience, but your mind works just fine, old man," Severus drawled. "Besides, we're in the enviable position that we have hundreds of thousands of people on our side as well as a mass-awakening to the reality on the surface of the planet. That makes it a rather unique situation, so we all start out on even grounds."

In the following days, Severus made a habit of inviting Hugo to join him whenever he had business in the potions gardens, which the boy never failed to enthusiastically accept.

"I don't want to go back to Hogwarts," Hugo said as they were walking back to Karl's home.

"But since you have to go back, you might as well enjoy it," Severus said. "And besides, if you want to apprentice in any subject, you will need NEWTs to show you're apt."

"Can I apprentice with you, then?" Hugo asked keenly.

"If you get O's in Potions and Herbology, I might consider it." Severus's reply sounded gruff.

But the boy ignored his tone. Hugo's step immediately became springier, and he was skipping by the time they reached the garden near Karl and Lola's home where Rose was leaning against a lion on the grass, engrossed in The Old Man and the Sea.

"Guess what, Rose," Hugo said. "I'm going to become a Potions master when I'm grown."

"You do that," Rose said, looking up at him. "I want to be a librarian at the library here." She pointed wistfully to the dome a short distance away, which housed the largest collection of books Rose had ever seen. "Fat chance..."

The lion nudged Rose, and she got up immediately. "Thank you for letting me be so comfortable." The animal nodded and took off.

"Oh, there you are!" Karl was walking towards the three. When he reached them, he addressed Severus. "Lucius wants to take Hermione shopping. I'm sure they'll be fine in Buenos Aires, but neither knows their way around, so I think it would be advisable that you join them."

"Lucius has nothing better to do than shopping?" Severus asked and shook his head.

Karl laughed. "He mumbled something about having wanted to do this a lifetime ago. I could imagine it to be enjoyable, no?"

"I suppose... Oh, yes, Lucius was going to take her shopping that weekend in Buenos Aires, but then we ran out of time. I better humour my lady, then. And his lordship." Severus curtly nodded at Rose, Hugo, and Karl and made his way to a craft hovering near to the gardens.

He arrived to witness an animated debate about lingerie. As he entered the house, Hermione said, "No, Lucius, please. I don't care what label a bra is, seriously. I don't need La Pearla! As long as it's not a Wonderbra and looks decent enough and is comfortable, I'll be happy!"

"Darling, please let me choose them for you. You know nothing about lingerie." Lucius sounded very much his typical Malfoy superior, and Severus snorted.

"Why do you wish to buy lingerie, anyway? I prefer Hermione naked, don't you?" He smirked and continued. "Besides, I hate to burst your bubble, old man, but Argentina is more likely to provide unknown labels, individually crafted for quality rather than... fashion." The last word held a sneer to it.

Ignoring Severus's words entirely, Lucius said, "Oh, good. You're here. Can we go, then?" He looked at Severus, smiled, and opened his arms. "Give us a kiss, boy."

Severus's smirk turned into a genuine smile, and he bent down to kiss first Hermione, then Lucius.

"How are we going to get to Buenos Aires, love?" Hermione looked at him curiously.

"We'll walk up to Shackleton's Hut and Apparate from there," Severus said. "I know how to fly a craft down here, but I've never navigated one on the surface, so that's not really an option."

The three donned their cloaks and made their way through the cave up to Shackleton's Hut. The temperature seemed to drop with every step, and when they reached the hut, Hermione shuddered when she saw the well-preserved seal blubber hanging from the walls. "Yuck." She shivered, not sure whether it was from the ghastly sight or the intense cold.

Severus pulled Hermione and Lucius into an embrace and Apparated to the front of Entrada al Paradiso.

"You know... when all this is over and the world has righted itself, we'll come here and stay a night. In room sixty-nine," Severus said as he gazed at the building.

"What a splendid idea!" Lucius exclaimed, and Hermione snickered.

They walked to nearby Libertador, stopping increasingly often to admire the window displays of boutiques and larger shops.

Some hours and several shops later, Hermione had had enough. She had to hand it Lucius: his taste was excellent, as was Severus's, and they had chosen several bras for her, all silk or lace, and matching underwear. She smirked at the thought that none of them were commercial labels, and Lucius was happy with the purchases. "Can we leave now? I have enough bras to last me a few years, and I'm tired of the ice-cold shops and the heat outside!"

"Good idea," Severus said. "Although, I cannot possibly resist the availability of fish here. Why don't we stop at Los Amigos to eat before we go back home?"

His partners nodded in agreement. "I wonder if..." Lucius started.

"Yes, exactly what I'm wondering. Come, I'll Apparate us." Severus held out his hands for Hermione and Lucius to take and Apparated to the front of Los Amigos.

"Wonder what?" Hermione asked. She followed the eyes of her lovers. "Oh!" Between two of the upstairs windows was now a rather large scene, showing a brown-haired witch and two wizards, one black, one blond, and two children whom Hermione instantly recognised as her own, entering a barn high up in the mountains.

"I guess we've made it to Los Amigos in more ways than one," Severus said wryly. "Let's go inside for dinner. I'm starving."

As the days passed, news about happenings on the surface of earth became ever more positive. Within less than two weeks, all major Muggle currencies had collapsed. One ingenious Muggle's discovery of disabling the microchips with strong magnets spread like wildfire, and before the day was over, there was hardly a Muggle with a functioning microchip left.

The Muggle media, which had always been controlled by the same forces who exercised the power over the entire surface of the planet, suddenly started to print and record actual, unadulterated news free of spin.

Miraculously, riots never happened. Instead, it was a most peaceful revolution with everyone showing their compassionate side. Bartering became the currency of the day, and those unable and in need were simply carried along within their local communities.

The collapse of currencies was quietly followed by the collapse of all corporations. With no currency, the population turned to small-scale producers open to bartering, and chain shops, malls, and supermarkets closed down within days. Greed had finally destroyed itself.

"I have been waiting so long for this to happen," Lola said, her happiness palpable, as she gazed at the near-full moon one evening.

"I'm surprised there hasn't been any uprising," Hermione said. "Having that carpet of security pulled from right under your feet must be a shocking experience I'd imagine."

"You know... I doubt people realised just how enslaved they were until that carpet was pulled," Lucius said thoughtfully.

Severus nodded. "Exactly. The concept of slavery was introduced so gradually, so subtly, people thought a life with at least two jobs, what little free time they had wholly managed courtesy of peer pressure, thus leaving no time to think clearly, they never knew."

"Yes," Lola agreed. "And that's why there are no riots." She smiled at Hermione. "People now have the goal of creating a society without greed, and they are willing to pack their egos away for that. Because life is not worse without money...it is far better."

"And what's even better," Karl added, "is that tomorrow night's magick will truly set the current situation into reality to stay."

Lola nodded thoughtfully. "I wonder if we should not merely aim for freedom as a goal. We could achieve more." She looked questioningly at Karl, then glanced at Severus.

"Divine Law could be re-established on the surface," Severus suggested.

"Indeed," Lola and Karl said as one.

"Divine Law?" Hermione asked, confused.

"The law of the universe, which rules everywhere above the third dimension," Lola explained. "It is also the law of the inner earth. The highest rule is to follow the principle of service to other; hence the lack of ego."

Hermione nodded slowly. "That makes sense. It eliminates the possibility of war."

"Yes," Severus agreed. "And if we create this situation with... magick, the surface of the planet will inevitably rise into a higher dimension, leaving behind only those self-serving characters."

"Like Edwina and co," Lucius offered.

Karl smiled. "Exactly. And another important Divine Law is: as above so below. If you consider that our dimension here has been higher than that on the surface since time began, all we are doing is working with nature, aiding the planet to once again align and achieve balance: as above so below."

Lola looked from one to the next until she'd made eye contact with everyone. Then she addressed Lucius, Severus, and Hermione. "The full moon will rise tomorrow as the sun sets here. In London, it will rise at seven local time. Lucius, will you inform your son?"

Lucius nodded. "I'll send him my Patronus now." He got up and walked a small distance away from the group.

"Maybe you should spend your time until the rise of the moon in harmony with each other," Lola suggested. "I have made arrangements with Reia to watch over Rose and Hugo tomorrow evening. I expect most young folk will be at the auditorium and contribute to the magick with sound."

Hermione looked at her questioningly. "With sound?" She did not quite grasp the meaning.

Severus laughed. "Music, Hermione. The entire universe is made of sound, and if you know the rules, which everyone down here does, you can utilise music to positively influence the outcome of magick."

Hermione sighed. "I see there is an entire world for me to learn."

"Doesn't that make you happy?" Severus chuckled.

When Lucius returned, Severus got up. "Come. Let's go home. We should prepare for tomorrow night."

For prompt details, please see Chapter One.

Most grateful thanks go to southernwitch69 for making this tale readable. Thanks are also extended to blue_paris for enlightening me on what a Malfoy would consider decent lingerie and what would be highly unlikely to wear for someone as closely acquainted with Lucius as Hermione is.