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Hungry Thirsty Crazy	By : AndreaLorraine Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 47434 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Author�s Note:� Whew,
I definitely got slammed with school & work in the last few weeks.� Fortunately, I have a few days to breathe
before midterms kick in.� So, that said,
I received about 40 entries for the kitten naming contest and I�ve narrowed it
down to three names.� The winner won�t be
revealed in this chapter; the muse went in a different direction and I�m still
deliberating over the three I really like.�
There will definitely be a winner announced in the next chapter because
I�m planning to actually write the reveal into the chapter, so if you sent me
an entry, make sure you keep tabs on the updates.� Since I have a few days with relatively low
amounts of school work and job work, it�s my hope that there won�t have to be
3-4 weeks before the next chapter.

A number of you weren�t too happy with Hermione last
chapter.� I want to say that last chapter
was what I call �too good to be true� syndrome for both Lucius
and Hermione.� They�ve both been through
so much that when everything is peaceful and seems to be going right, they
can�t believe it�s real.� Add to that the
dimension of Lucius being who he is, and Hermione
still being semi-entangled with Ron, who she does love but doesn�t want to
spend the rest of her life with, and you�ve got one very confused and moody
witch.� Let�s keep Hermione�s character
in mind, too; she likes to be in control and to know the rote answer for
everything.� In this situation she has
neither.� She is really pushing herself
beyond her comfort zone.� With all that
said, try to forgive her! :)� Now that
she�s felt a bit of that love zen, she won�t be
doubting Lucius anymore, but that still doesn�t solve
all their problems.

On with some responses:

Mia:� It�s true that
people do get interrupted in real life, but I couldn�t do that to Lucius and Hermione.�
I think Ron appearing would have destroyed whatever fragile bond there
is between them and spoiled the chance of a real relationship.� Besides, Ron is so absorbed in his own
business that he wouldn�t think to go looking for Hermione � that�s the sort of
character I�m painting for him.� He�s
oblivious and definitely taking her for granted.� I�ll delve into that some more in the near
future.� I shall endeavor to keep things
invigorating.

Tambrathegreat: Thank you!� I don�t mean to make Hermione flaky, but she
just wouldn�t be so easily sold on a relationship with Lucius.� She is a very cerebral character and though
she�s been trying to throw caution to the wind, old habits die hard (with good
reason).� I have enjoyed painting the
picture of Lucius and Hermione as two people who
understand each other where they cannot understand themselves � there�s a
symbiotic beauty in that.

Heidi191976:� Thanks!

Bluezauza:� That was quite a rant!� The part about the Department of Mysteries
resonated with several readers; good to know that many of you agree with me on
that.� It�s true that much of what
Hermione is seeing behind Lucius�s mask is somewhat
shocking to her in its normalcy.� I think
it�s interesting how you pointed out that she is just as prejudiced as Lucius once was, if less blatantly.� It�s also important to note that in spite of
her wavering attitudes, she is still there with Lucius.� He deserved to be left a few times early on
and she stayed the course.� Thing is,
Hermione is a character who always wants a plan and an answer and neither are
forthcoming with Lucius�so cut her a little slack for
feeling nervous, eh?

Cathartes: Glad to hear it�s
withstood the re-read test.� I hope the fic has some staying power even when it is finished; it�s
certainly one of the most powerful things I�ve ever written.

Poet_lover: It�s nice to hear that
my writing can evoke a variety of emotions.�
It�s hard to capture that exact mood and transmit it in words so success
is its own reward!� I can�t comment on
either of them falling in love, but I will say regarding the loss of Lucius � I�m no Hemingway.

LaBibliographe: Yes, I�ve often
lamented that Hermione was really our only well-developed heroine in the
books.� As for Jurassic Park,
no joke, that was my FAVORITE book when I was 9 or 10.� Most of the genetics stuff went right over my
head, but I read that book so many times it fell apart.� Yes, you can say it � I was a strange
child.� Cat-wise, no, I�ve never actually
owned one (courtesy of father�s horrible cat allergy and already owning a
dog).� However, my boyfriend and I were
given a stray kitten last summer � he keeps it because I already have a pet,
but I did get much more familiar with cats after watching the lil guy grow up and spending time around him.� Cats aren�t the only ones who view the loo as Happy Petting Ground.� My dog regularly follows me in there, too,
and plops down on my feet to be petted.�
Weird animals.� Don�t be too unhappy
with Hermione; I think my general note up above has probably addressed your
concerns about her.� She�ll shape up, I
promise.

Laur: Thank you!

NutsAboutHarry: Glad you enjoyed
the quickie; I thought they needed to dispel the tension and re-accept one
another, hehe.�
What�s your obscure pairing?

Jesse: Thanks!� And
you�re not stupid, lots of people put the name submissions in their reviews
instead of in an e-mail.� I thought about
having people put it in a review, but I didn�t want to seem like I was fishing
for reviews and the e-mail would give people more time to think. :)

Anon:� Curious?� About the story, or was that a submission for
the naming contest?�

Sapphire: Hey, you can say it as many times as you
want.� He�ll be over in 15 minutes.� You�re not too happy with Hermione either�cut
her some slack, Lucius behaved poorly at the beginning
of their trip and he isn�t always easy to deal with, so Hermione is within her
rights to be a little neurotic.� The
important part is that they worked it out, quite splendidly methinks.� I think their bath time moment will have a
very strong impact on Hermione because she�s finally understood what can exist
between them � if she lets it.

Mara:� Speechless,
eh?� Excellent.� I�m a night owl, too, but it�s hard to be
that way when school hours demand that I�m up at 7 am during the week.� Fortunately I can function on lower amounts
of sleep.� I�ll do my best to keep up the
story�s intensity.

Kazfeist: Heh,
I don�t know how �Arthur� would work out for Lucius
OR the kitten.� Yup, the power supply is
working splendidly, though I�m thinking of going back to a desktop to avoid any
further laptop problems.� Not sure I can
after having the laptop for 2 years.�
It�s just so convenient to be able to write wherever I want.� Sometimes I even write in class.� That�s a trip, cause I�ll be writing
something ridiculously smutty in the middle of a lecture, hehehe.

Mrs_Helene_Snape: Don�t be too
hard on Hermione.� What she�s doing with Lucius is outside her comfort zone.� If you were her and not completely blinded by
the sexyness of Lucius, you
would have your doubts, as well.� The
point is, this relationship is progressing very fast without any real
conversation about what it�s becoming or what it means.� That�s bound to make anyone as intellectual
and structured as Hermione unsettled.�
The difference between her and Lucius is that Lucius is at a point of surrender.� He believes his time is limited and he�s
never known true love; he sees no point in fighting or questioning or doing
anything besides just living the time he has left.� He made that decision when he broke down and
talked to Hermione in chapter 12.

Ithilwen: Sorry about the faulty
nomenclature!� I really couldn�t tell the
difference.� I will tell you that at this
point, Lucius is no longer considering going off the
drugs when he�s done with the book.� He
sees that there is still worth in his life.�
There�s a small victory for everyone to celebrate. :)

Meankitty69: Yes, the double T�that is what I aspire to when
I write lemons.� Thanks as always!

Andarte: Thank you!� Glad you�ve enjoyed the story so far.

<>

They had gone to bed early, lulled
by the villa�s lightless shroud, and so they woke up early.� Hermione could have slept on for a while
longer.� However, the touch and slide of Lucius�s hands was more enjoyable than whatever dream she
was having.

It was just before dawn.� The light in the room was low and softly grey.� Lucius was spooned
against her back, his warm skin feeling like an extension of her own.� Even as she smiled sleepily at how cozy and
secure it felt, he nudged a leg between hers, parting them slightly.� His hand slid from its cradling hold on her
breast to the apex of her thighs.

A low, sweet heat traveled with his
hand.� She sighed, waiting for his
fingers to part her, but he was in no rush.�
For a few minutes he just held his hand there, cupping her sex.� Then his lips began a gentle pressure across
her shoulder.� With a nudge of his nose,
he pushed her hair aside and moved on to the side of her neck.� She had to squirm then, pressing forward into
his hand.

He trailed kisses up the side of
her neck and when she felt the warm brush of lips on her earlobe she tensed in
anticipation.� The application of his
tongue sent a shivery rush to the flesh he held almost like it belonged to him.� Her breath came faster and her nipples
hardened to aching points.

By the time his hand began to
tease, she was sodden with desire.� He
knew it, yet all he did was put a firm pressure on her, rubbing up and down
slowly.� Though her swelling clit was
enclosed by the soft protection of her mons and
labia, she could feel the movement and the pressure.� It was torturous and wonderful at the same
time.

A moment later his muscles flexed
and he rolled, pulling her on top of him.�
He shifted back with her in tow. �It propped them into a position not unlike the
night before in the bath; she was seated between his muscular thighs, her back
along his chest, only this time she could feel the burgeoning heat of his
erection against her lower back and his touch was anything but tame.

She gasped when his other hand, now
freed, came up to pinch sharply at her nipple.�
It flirted with the borderline of pain.�
Even so, she found that she wanted him to do it again.� He was still doing that maddening massage
between her thighs, a little faster now, his palm and fingers pressing upward
against the flesh that hooded her most satisfying places.� She had read that an indirect approach to
stimulation could sometimes be just as pleasurable as a direct one; Lucius was proving that to her now, his hand touching
everywhere but where she wanted him to.�

He kissed the side of her
neck.� Hermione just breathed, absorbing
the incongruous sensation of his fingertips.�
Lucius continued his slow ministrations, his
other hand still lavishing a variety of attentions to her nipples.� They were quite hard, unashamedly enjoying
his alternating approaches of stroking, tugging, and rubbing.

She sighed at the loss of contact
as his top hand left her breast.� A
moment later she felt his fingers against her lips.� She was about to suck one into her mouth when
she remembered.

The
spells?

Already
done.� His hand tilted her chin back
and to the right.� I knew when I woke up that I had to have you.

Hermione purred at his confession
and stretched to kiss him.� His lips were
relaxed and didn�t hold the urgency of the day before.� He was kissing her like he had the first
time.� Slowly, deliberately, sensually,
so that she could feel every little move and tease.� The same cool humidity was in the air around
them; it would rain today.

Let it rain.� It would keep them inside all day, penned in
by the grey skies with only one another for entertainment�she tossed the
thought at him.� He tugged gently at her
lower lip with his teeth.

Are
you sure you want to be �penned in� with me all day? he asked, voice
undercut with a humorous warning.

She looked into his eyes.� They were bright but calmly filled with
desire.� That look promised a very
attentive coupling.� Hermione was fine
with that; yesterday evening had been so hard and quick and frenzied.� The contrast of a lazy morning session would
be welcome.

Yes,
I�m sure.� She smiled.� Light
the fire, it�s a bit cool in here.

There was a tic in the left side of
his mouth; he was trying not to smile.� Shall we lie on a bearskin rug and make love
in front of it?

�No,� Hermione laughed.� �I think we fulfilled our clich� quota
yesterday.�

�Don�t call a writer clich�,
Hermione,� he groused good-naturedly.�
�It�s like telling a woman she�s fat, or a man that he has a small
penis.�

�Well, you are neither fat nor
lacking in the penis department.��
Hermione colored as soon as it was out of her mouth; damn that faulty
brain filter!

He couldn�t contain the smile
anymore.� It spread brilliantly across
his face, revealing his very white teeth that, upon closer inspection, weren�t quite perfect, but very nearly so.� �But I�m still clich�?� he teased.

She gave him a look.� �You couldn�t be clich� if you tried, you
bastard.�

�Mmm, you
know just what to say to turn me on.��
The statement was only half-sarcastic.�
He gave her another barely-there kiss and then reached for his
wand.� With a flick of his wrist and a
spell, the fireplace crackled to life.�
�I hope that Healer Smythe doesn�t decide to
pay us a visit,� he added as an afterthought.

�Close the floo.�

�He�s a rotten spy and he would
deserve the unpleasant surprise.�

�Why do you say that?�

�Jo-Jo told me he was here the
night we�first became amorous.� That is
how he knew to send the condoms.�

�And aren�t you glad he did?� she
chided, lightly pinching his forearm.�
�Close the floo.�

�I already have, silly witch.�� His hand finally trailed up from between her
thighs to join the other.� One stayed
beneath her chin and the other rested at the base of her neck.� He was unmistakably in charge.� Now�enough
talk.� His tongue grazed her
ear.� The
only words I want to hear from now on are �Lucius�, �oh�,
�yes�, �please�, �God�, �fuck�� he trailed off.

You
seriously underestimate my vocabulary, she returned playfully.

And
maybe you seriously underestimate my ability to obliterate it.� His words were accompanied by another wicked
pinch to her nipple.

Hermione yelped; that one hurt more
than before.� She tried to squirm but he
held her in place, his arms unyielding.�
Evidently, he wasn�t playing anymore.�
His mood had shifted from light to domineering.� She lay still and tense in his embrace,
wondering what he would do.

He seemed to approve of that.� His lips trailed lightly over the side of her
neck, sending little tremors of anticipation dancing through her body.� She wasn�t really frightened but she couldn�t
claim total comfort.� Her apprehension
couldn�t quite be stifled because this part of him reminded her of who he was �
or who he had been.�

The more time she spent with him,
the more she realized how apt it was that Lucius was
a Slytherin.�
He was so like his house�s mascot, the serpent.� They had a bad reputation and she was as
guilty as anyone in perpetuating that.�
She had forgotten that there were wondrous and positive things about
snakes. �They were graceful, fine-tuned
creatures, and too often the few poisonous ones overshadowed the many benign
species that existed.

And like all snakes, poisonous or
otherwise, Slytherins could shed their skin.� Lucius certainly
had; that old armor was left behind in his cell in Azkaban.� Superficially, he bore the same stripes and
scales and fangs as before.� Only she
knew that inside he was a different man � a better man.

She couldn�t doubt him
anymore.� It would ruin him and he didn�t
deserve it.� She never would have thought
that she would be the one having more
difficulty adapting to their strange relationship; he was the one letting go of prejudices, the one who was set in his
ways.� Yet he had settled into this with
barely a whimper.

Maybe there was no fight left in
him, or maybe Hermione was more prejudiced than she ever realized.� Since she had entered the wizarding
world she had been inundated with its commonly accepted beliefs, some of which
she detested with every fiber of her being and others that she accepted as
absolute fact.� Now she could see that
some of those things she�d acknowledged as divine writ were every bit as
prejudicial as the things she railed against.�
Prime among those was the belief that all Slytherins
were at their core deceptive, terrible people.

Some were�but so were some Gryffindors.� She
only needed to look as far as Peter Pettigrew to prove that.� Even their animal, the lion, had its share of
faults; lions could be lazy, brash, caught up in group think, and needlessly
violent or territorial.� Until now it
hadn�t been convenient to think about, so she ignored it.� Realizing that, it was a little bit easier to
understand how Lucius could have spent so much of his
life believing what he did.

Bias was easier than truth until
someone came along to challenge it.� They
had done that for each other.� And he had
not for one moment punished her for demolishing his ignorance.� She wouldn�t continue to do it to him.

�What are you thinking about?� he
whispered against her ear.� �It had
better be me.�

�Or else what?� she offered back.

�No �or else�,� he replied, sliding
his hand slowly down her body to dip between her thighs and sample her
wetness.� �I know you�re thinking about me.�

He was very correct, especially now
that his fingertips were ghosting temptingly against the sensitive areas that
had been primed for his touch.� She had
to smile at his self-importance.

�You�re right,� she admitted as she
parted her legs wider, resting one foot next to the outside of his knee.� �I�m�thinking about how I�m glad I�m
here.� I�m glad I took the risk.� If I hadn�t��

�Not now,� he said softly.� There was the slightest note of vulnerability
in his tone.� However, it was absent when
he spoke again.� �You are still too
loquacious for my tastes.� I shall have
to change that.�� His free arm wound
around her body, just beneath her breasts, securing her tightly against
him.� �Now, not another word except the
ones I approved.� If you say anything
else, I�ll have to punish you.�

Hermione bit down hard on the
inside of her lip.� She wanted very badly
to ask what the punishment would be, but she didn�t dare.� She would have to focus on just
breathing.� Once his hands got moving,
she had no doubt that incoherency would follow.

It had � three times.� She knew now that pleasure and punishment
could be the same thing.� He had held her
against his warm, disciplined body and teased her so exquisitely with his hands
that one orgasm had rendered her boneless, two had her eyes rolling back and
high-pitched, gasping cries being pulled out of her at an alarming volume, and
on the third she thrashed so hard that she wound up laying on her back across
his thighs by the time it ended.

She stared up at him dazedly, curls
sticking to her sweaty skin as she panted and tried to regain her mental
capacities.� Hermione had never realized
how many different ways there were to stimulate a lover just through touch.� Lucius clearly had.

Each of the orgasms had felt slightly
different; it was almost as if no two were the same.� She wondered if it was also that way for
men.� Of course, it was much more
difficult for them to experience multiple orgasms so she wasn�t sure any of
them really knew the sensation of one building upon the other.�

He was smiling faintly down at her
as he reached to brush a sodden curl out of her eyes.� She was a little thrown by the warmth in his
gaze. ��There was such contentment there
in spite of the raging erection a few inches from her cheek.� It seemed like he had forgotten all about it
� as much as a man could, anyhow.

That
was what I was going to do to you next had the condoms not arrived.� His fingers traced the gentle curve of her
cheek.� His face had taken on that look a
man sometimes got when he wanted to kiss a woman and wasn�t bothering to
disguise it.� You said that today we are penned in...so there�s no rush� ��

She smiled up at him.� In that
case, you won�t mind if I go do something else for a while?� She was just teasing him, of course, and
wouldn�t dream of leaving him in this state, not after the way he�d just
scrambled her brains, but she couldn�t resist.�
She started to rise from the firm pillow of his quadriceps as if she was
going to leave the bed.� Hermione made it
halfway up before his hand clamped in her hair and halted her.

I
very much mind.� You won�t be doing
anything except me.� His other hand
joined the first and he pulled her to her knees.� He didn�t pull hard and it didn�t truly hurt,
but there was no mistaking the fact that he would keep her there by force if he
had to.� It might have bothered her if
she didn�t know that there were few places she�d rather be at this moment.

His left hand relinquished its hold
on her hair, only to snake behind her thigh and lift.� He deposited her leg astride his so that she
straddled him.� Then he pushed against
the back of her neck, his fingers still tangled in her mess of curls at the
base of her skull.� It pressed her flush
against him, her breasts against his chest and his neglected erection branding
hotly into her abdomen.

She felt as if she could burn up
just from the way his eyes roved over her face.�
Merlin, he was beautiful when his chin was tilted up in something other
than arrogance.� They sat that way for a
few minutes, each taking in the other�s expression.

Then his patience evaporated.� He raised his lips to hers and kissed
her.� She felt his hand flex, tightening
in her curls.� This wasn�t like any kiss
he�d given her before.� He kissed her
like she was the answer to everything, like she alone could fill whatever void
existed in him.

She had never expected him to be so
passionate.� Yet another way in which she
showed her bias and naivet�; snakes could devour their prey whole, couldn�t
they?� It wasn�t in their nature to do things
half way.� It was all or nothing once
they made up their minds.

Lucius
had clearly sorted his.� She was
breathless; he was demanding but exhilarating, spurring her to rise and meet
the crest of his passion.� Her eyes
fluttered open for a moment when he dropped his hands to her rear and pressed
her against him.� His hips moved in an
agitated spasm.� He wasn�t even trying to
control himself.� That was what she had
wanted all along, but it was almost too much; she could feel the sharp nip of
his teeth on her lips and knew that if his mind became too fogged, he would
bite hard enough to draw blood.� That was
generally the sort of thing they were trying to avoid.

Oh, but those little bites felt so
good!� The little unexpected frisson of
pain made her tremble with something she didn�t quite understand.� So did the sense of animalistic urgency that
seemed to have overtaken him; he lifted his mouth from hers to release a soft
groan and then she was tilting to the side.�
Hermione let out a small, alarmed cry and threw her arms around his
shoulders.

He was reaching for the condoms,
heedless of the tangle of woman in his lap.�
She clung to him and after a fumbled moment she was righted again.� This time she kissed him, rolling her hips to
grind against his throbbing cock, and the moan he released into her mouth was
one of the most erotic things she had ever experienced.

His hands locked on her hips and in
a flex of his arms, he separated their closely molded bodies.� She knew that he needed the room to attend to
important matters but she didn�t want to relinquish the contact.� Leaning forward, she rained open-mouthed
kisses over his collarbones and chest.�
He was trying valiantly to apply the condom in spite of her attentions
and the inability to see what he was doing.�
However, the press of her lips and teeth against his nipple proved to be
too much.� His hand slipped.

�Fuck,� he lamented in a tense
whisper.� �That one�s useless.�

She looked down.� It was no wonder he hadn�t been able to
manage it; he had about two inches of space in which to maneuver and didn�t
have any visual confirmation.� It was her
fault.� Thankfully, they had a ready
supply and her overeager mauling of his torso (had she really left those
marks?) wouldn�t cost them anything except a few more seconds.

Lucius
looked as though those seconds were equivalent to death.� Until she wrapped her hand around his cock,
anyway; then the pained frustration in his face melted away.� She stroked the burgeoning steel, amazed at
how silken it felt and how thick and substantial he was in her small fist.� He throbbed persistently, pushing against the
firm circle of her hand.� It was just one
more indicator of how vehemently aroused he was.

�Hermione,� he forced out between
heavy breaths.� �Need��

She knew what he needed.� This time she reached for the condoms.� Then she took his wand from where it lay on
the mattress and cast the necessary spell, momentarily too drugged with
endorphins to know whose it was.� It
didn�t really matter; it worked and a few seconds later she was tossing away
the first condom and rolling the second down over his straining cock.� One more spell and at last she could lower
herself upon him, joining them together.

God, that was exquisite.� She had never been so sensitive; she could
feel every solitary millimeter of friction-laden flesh as he filled her.� Her insides gave an involuntary clench.� With a stifled groan, Lucius
pulled her down on top of him, chest to chest, to plunder her lips.

His hands strayed once again to her
backside, cupping and kneading as he began to thrust shallowly against
her.� Combined with the stroking of his
tongue against hers, Hermione felt like they were two cells merging under some
scientist�s microscope.� Soon they would
just fuse right into one another�

That scattered thought made her
reach for him mentally, wanting to coil in and around his mind, to feel the
rush of that coupling, as well.� He
complied thoughtlessly, a cry wrenching out of him as they connected.� His body tensed and a rise of his hips
pressed him more deeply inside her.

Her nerve endings fairly
exploded.� Not only did that strong
piston of his hips brush against an incredible place inside her, but she could
feel him now, feel the concentrated ecstasy of his pleasure.� It was so different from her own; hers was
diffuse, coming from many different places and pooling around his questing
cock, drawing ever closer in concentric, spasmodic circles.� His was the exact opposite.� It was so potently focused that it brought
tears to her eyes.� It blazed through,
obliterating thought, slowly dispersing through the rest of him, to the fingers
and toes and roots of the teeth in wide ripples�

She didn�t know where she ended and
he began.� There was no concept of time,
either.� It could have been minutes or an
hour.� Nothing mattered but their rhythm,
the roll of his hips and the answering rock of hers.� She didn�t want it to stop, not ever.� She would be lost without the feeling of him
buried inside her.

She knew she was making sounds
because she could feel the air rushing in and out of her lungs and the
vibration of her vocal chords, but she couldn�t hear anything more than a
pulsing white rush.� Her sight, too,
seemed drastically altered, blinking and pinwheeling
in fantastic slashes of color, his eyes the brightest blue she had ever seen or
perhaps imagined.

The sensation when orgasm began
defied any conventional definition.� She
could feel the rapture circling, his flashing out and hers pulling in, like
particles in a nuclear centrifuge spinning ever closer.� In seconds they would collide.� In seconds they would release every ounce of
energy their fragile bodies contained.

Again she knew she was shouting,
but she couldn�t hear it.� She could only
feel the expansion of her chest and the violent contraction of her diaphragm as
the air rushed out.� There was one agonizing
pause, like a game-winning shot sitting upon the rim of the basket, waiting to
be tilted in or out by gravity and chance, and then�

Cataclysm.� Everything exploded.� Colors burst in mad shapes and waves behind
her eyes.� His orgasm was layered on top
of hers; she felt the hard, ravaging spasms and clutched on to him tightly.� It wasn�t at all like hers.� That she could pay attention to, because it
was so shocking.

The shock lasted only a moment. �After it passed, her mind reeled with the
reflections of pleasure that ricocheted between them.� Everything was a mirror; the grating pleasure
of his thrust was the rubbing ache of her slide.� The steady clench of her orgasm was the
excruciating throb and burst of his.� They
were simple creatures, different yet the same.�
They were a dichotomy of flesh.

She wasn�t sure when it ended � if
it ended.� Her brain still
floundered.� The pleasure inside her
pulsed at a level that she almost couldn�t believe was real.� This was a dream.� This was all a dream and she was lying beside
Lucius still asleep.�
But if she was, did she really want to wake up?

Time was a meaningless thing as
they lay in each other�s arms.� Shapes
and colors were still reeling before Hermione�s eyes and sound made no
sense.� But she could feel; she was so
in-tune with her senses that it was overwhelming.� His skin was so hot, and so slick with sweat,
and full of his scent�she felt enveloped
in him.

Her arm was heavy when she moved it
and the air she guided it through was like liquid, rippling infinitely away
from her in a mirage of watercolors.�
Dimly she knew something wasn�t right but she couldn�t reel in her
thoughts enough to care.� All that
mattered was that Lucius was curled against her.

She woke some time later and the
first thing she realized was that she had regained her ability to process
auditory input.� That had been the
strangest thing earlier; in her mind she knew sounds were being emitted, and
she was sure her ears were working fine, but something was quite off in the
part of her brain that made sense of such things.� It hadn�t been alarming at the time.� It was in hindsight

She did understand what was being
said now, only a few feet away.� She also
understood that the speaker was not very happy.

�I expect this from her, Lucius,
but not from you.� These are things that twentysomethings do.�
You�re forty-five.� Forty-five!� Let that sink in.�

�Tiresias--�

�No.� I expect better of you, Lucius.� Did you ever think of what it could do to you when you�re on seven other
medications?�

�Smythe,
I have no idea what you�re talking
about!�� Lucius
was becoming agitated now; Hermione suspected that he did not respond to reproachment particularly well.� But honestly, what was Smythe ranting about?

�I�m talking about the two of you
using recreational drugs!� How else do
people wind up unconscious and unresponsive in their beds, to the point that
their house elves are afraid they�re going to die?�

Hermione�s eyes widened.� What on earth?� They had done no such thing.

Smythe
went on, utterly incensed at their supposed recklessness.� �What was it?�
Tell me now.� Heroin?� LSD?�
Illegal potions?� You can become
addicted, you know!�

Lucius
looked absolutely gobsmacked.� He blinked and shook his head.

�Tiresias,
we didn�t use anything.�

�You can�t lie to me.� I checked everything and I mean
everything.� The alterations in your
neurotransmitters are consistent with either a very strong opioid
or LSD.�

�I don�t even know what a bloody
neurotransmitter is,� Lucius returned.� �If I don�t know what it is, why would I seek
to alter it?�

�Don�t play dumb with me.� These things don�t happen by accident.� I swear to you, Lucius,
if I ever catch you doing this again�good
God, you could have overdosed!�

�We didn�t do anything,� Hermione
spoke up.� She sat up in bed, determined
to take some of the heat off Lucius. ��Honestly, we really didn�t.��

She had forgotten that she was nude
and the sheet slipped down.� There was a
brief moment of embarrassed panic, but then she remembered that both men in the
room had seen her naked already.� Plus, Lucius was standing there without a stitch of clothing on
and it didn�t seem to bother him at all.

Smythe
turned to her, a retort ready on his lips, but for some reason it died.� His eyes narrowed slightly.

�You had sex while mentally
linked.�� He said it bluntly, without
preamble or any obvious reason for the sudden deduction.

Hermione�s eyes flashed to Lucius.� It was true,
they had, but no one knew about the Vow and Smythe
wasn�t psychic�was he?� In their silence,
Smythe went on.

�You saw all manners of colors and
shapes and impossible things.� Sound and
time were distorted.� You felt like you
were melting together, losing your own identities.� Are any of these accurate?�

Lucius�s
arms unfolded from their position across his chest.� That was a tell; he, too, had experienced
those things.� Hermione wasn�t
alone.� Was Smythe
inferring that sex with a mind-link, like the kind they�d just had, could cause
all those bizarre experiences?

�Yes,� she said at last.� �You�re exactly right.� How did you know?�

Smythe
pointed.� �Your chest.�

Hermione looked down and her eyes
widened.� The runes Lucius
had drawn earlier were visible, red and raised above her right breast.

�I saw his, but didn�t notice yours
until you sat up.� I�m no rune expert,
but I have read that when two people share certain runes, it is possible for
them to connect mentally.�

�Wait�his?� she asked.�
�Share�runes�?�

�Yes,� Tiresias
nodded.� He pointed once again � this
time at Lucius�s rear end.� Lucius twisted
slightly, confused about what the healer was indicating, and in doing so he put
it in her direct view.� She pressed her
hand to her mouth.� At some point during
their psychedelic lovemaking, she had drawn the runes on his arse!

�It makes sense.� When he was ill, you knew what he wanted
without him speaking.� You have a mental
bond,� the healer concluded.

�So�� Lucius
began cautiously, concealing his shock, �what exactly does it mean, that we
were connected during sex?�

�Let me ask you this.� Do you know what time it is?�

�I suppose it was�about six thirty
when we woke up?�� Lucius
considered carefully.� �I would guess
that it is about noon.�

�It�s early evening.� 16:42, to be exact.�

�What?� There is no way we were asleep that long.�

�Not asleep � in a drugged stupor.�

�I think we�ve already established
that there were no drugs involved other than the ones I am supposed to take,� Lucius muttered
blackly.�

�And now I believe you.�� Smythe sat down on
the chaise.� �Sex with a mental link can
impact the brain the same way a mind-altering drug would.� It scrambles your neurotransmitters.� Essentially�it�s a drug �trip�.�

Lucius
frowned and looked at Hermione before returning his gaze to the healer.� �And the problem with that is�what, exactly?�

Hermione raised an eyebrow.� That wasn�t the response she expected from Lucius.� Then again,
he had grown up during a time of heavy experimental drug use, muggle and wizard alike.�
Maybe he�d done a little tripping of his own.

�The problems are myriad.� You can experience a crash, depression, withdrawal
symptoms, addiction, and in some cases permanent damage.� Do you think everyone in spell damage wards
were hit by Confundus Charms or victims of faulty obliviations?� he said caustically.� �The majority of sex magic is illegal for a
reason.� People don�t always become
addicted or end up drooling in the hospital, but even if they don�t the link
can temporarily cause impaired judgment, hallucinations, seizures, aggression��
he was most definitely eyeing the bruises on Lucius�s
chest.� Hermione didn�t have the courage
to tell him she�d put them there before
they really got going.�

�Frankly,� Tiresias
said, �I think you two are lucky that neither of you felt the urge to
bite.� And evidently you had the presence
of mind to put on the condom.�� He
gestured at the floor with a jerk of his foot.

Lucius
had the grace to color.� She couldn�t
blame him for not going to the loo to dispose of the
thing; movement simply wasn�t an option after that encounter.� With a slight cough, Hermione tossed him his
wand.� His perceptions were right again;
he caught it easily and banished the condom off the floor with mortification
plain upon his face.

Smythe
shook his head like an exasperated parent and stood up.� �I have no problem with the two of you having
sex.� In fact, I�m deliriously happy that
you are.� But you can�t ignore the fact
that you need to take special precautions.�
You could have infected her this morning, Lucius.� It was reckless.�

Hermione saw the expression on his
face grow darker, morphing from embarrassment to misery.�

�It�s my fault,� she said sharply,
provoked by the blunt dagger Smythe had just driven
into Lucius.� It
wasn�t fair for the blame to be placed solely on the blond wizard.� �I initiated it.��

�It doesn�t matter.� You�re both smarter than this.� Don�t risk it again.�� He picked up his robe and headed for the floo.� Pausing, he
said, �Just rest now.� Call if you have
any residual problems.�

Then he was through the floo and gone, leaving them to stare at one another in
shock.

Eventually he came to sit on the
bed.� His wand was clasped in his hand
and even when she cautiously moved toward him to rub a comforting hand over his
back, he didn�t react.� Smythe�s words had really bothered him.� It was true that they had dodged a bullet;
even one errant bite could have been disastrous.� But the important thing was that they were
fine.� She was fine.� She hoped Lucius
understood that didn�t allow guilt to eat him alive.

She kissed the masculine curve of
muscle on his shoulder.� His skin jumped
slightly; he was in another world.� With
a sigh, Hermione wrapped her arms around him.�
After a moment he placed his palm over her wrist.� In another moment he moved it away.

�We are playing a game,� he said
softly.

Hermione blinked, lifting her cheek
from where it rested against his back.�
�What?�

�We are playing House.�� He shook his head and the ends of his hair tickled
her.� �Like children.�

She didn�t bother to point out that
whatever House they were playing, it was decidedly un-childlike.� That wasn�t the point.� The point was�everything they had avoided up
to this point was about to come out.

�What�s wrong with that?� she asked
quietly.

�It is an illusion.�

�You�re right,� she sighed.� �It�s a fantasy of normalcy and perfection
and happiness.�� She thought back to all
the games of House she had played with her friends before she had ever known
she was a witch.� There had been many
happy afternoons in fake plastic kitchens or playground hideouts.

�Exactly.� All fantasies end.�� He carefully unwound her arms from his
torso.� �And we should end this one
before it puts you at greater risk or causes us any more pain.�

Her jaw clenched in
indignation.� �You mean before it causes you any more pain?� she demanded.

�I am not thinking only of myself.� You have a life.� I don�t fit into it.�

�I think that�s for me to decide, Lucius,� she retorted.

He turned to face her.� �You aren�t thinking it through.� The best we could hope for is something
covert.� You would have to live a life of
constant secrecy and worry.� If it became
public knowledge that we�� he sighed heavily, �it would ruin you.� I have no status to speak of and I am well
beyond caring, but you�you are a heroine, a muggleborn
champion.� If they know that you are with
me...�

�I don�t care what other people
think,� Hermione stubbornly negated.

He tilted his head slightly, and
his eyes, when they met hers, were shrewd.�
�Really?� Then what of your
friends, Potter and Weasley?� Do you think they would be ecstatic to know
what is going on here?�

She had to close her eyes.� Those words were like a sock to the gut.� She loved Harry and Ron, but they were not
known for their equanimity.� Nor were
they known for their capacity to forgive.�
Lucius was a demon to them and probably always
would be.

If she told them, the first thing
they would do would be to suspect foul play on Lucius�s
part.� They would use every ounce of
their influence, which was understandably daunting, to try to prove it.� As Aurors, they
could make his life hell; they would use anything they could find to try to
convict him.� If they couldn�t make
anything stick their focus would turn to Hermione � was she mental?� Having some sort of breakdown?� Using an illegal potion?� If no diminished capacity could be proven,
then�

Well, that was the part she really
feared.� Then they would draw the conclusion
that she had somehow �gone to the dark side�.�
The assumption that she chose a Death Eater over them would follow.� In their eyes she would be a traitor and that
would be the end of the friendship.� She
would be as good as dead to some of the people she cared about the most.

Hermione felt like someone had
placed her heart in a vice and was gradually tightening it.� The trouble was that she cared about Lucius, too.� More
than she should.� More than she ever
thought possible.

�You know what you never have to do
when you�re playing House?� she asked, looking up into his eyes.

�What?�

�Choose between two awful things.�

His lips twitched minutely.� Then Lucius reached
out to touch her, his fingertips brushing tenderly across her cheek.� �I don�t think for a moment that I am the
less awful choice.�

The vice tightened another turn at
his touch.� It was so gentle.� So perfect.�
She squeezed her eyes shut and a tear slipped from the corner of one.� He sighed and wiped it away with the pad of
his thumb.

�I�m not trying to hurt you,
Hermione.� I�m�� he looked down at the
sheets, �try to contain your laughter, if you can, but I�m trying to do the
right thing.�

She sniffled.� �Why would I laugh at that?�

�I assumed you thought it was
impossible.�

�No,� she smiled weakly, �just
improbable.�

He smiled back for a brief second.� Then he leaned forward to gather her against
his chest.

Men
like me are dangerous.

She inhaled his scent.� You
promised you�d never hurt me and I believe it.

That
is not the only hazard.

She looked up at him, a question in
her watery eyes.

�I have nothing to lose,
Hermione.� Nothing is more dangerous than
that.�� He kissed her forehead and then
slid off the bed, heading for the loo.

She heard the water run and finally
released the breath she�d been unintentionally holding.� Hermione collapsed backwards onto the bed.� Oh, Lucius�the poor
thing thought he had nothing left to lose.

Except
your heart, you fool, she thought.�
And she was sure he heard her, but there was only silence�silence and
the memory of colors that would only exist when her mind was locked to his in
the throes of passion.�

She regained her courage about ten
minutes later.� Lucius
had spoken some tough and necessary words, but the true indicator of how he
felt was the fact that he was still here.�
He had done nothing to remove her, either.� If he truly wanted to stop playing House, she
had no doubt that he would do something about it.

With a steadying breath, she walked
toward the loo.�
Upon the opening of the door he turned and pushed his sopping hair out
of his face.� He�d charmed the hose to
levitate so the water cascaded down on him like a regular shower.� She was about to open her mouth and protest
on behalf of the floor when she noticed that the stones seemed to wick the
water away the moment it hit.

But what was she doing looking at
the stones?� Lucius
was wet and naked in front of her, most endearingly wiping water out of his
eyes.� He gestured with his hand.� Smiling, Hermione went to join him.

He pulled her under the water
without hesitation.� It took a while to
soak through her riotous curls.� As she
waited, she cautiously ran her hands over the marks she had left on his chest.� There were five of them, little purple
crescents.

�I didn�t realize I was��

�It�s fine,� he murmured.� �I liked it.�
Besides, I left one on you, too.��
He pushed some of her hair aside and cupped the side of her neck.� She could feel a very slight pain where he
touched and bit her lips.

�I�m sorry,� she whispered.

�For?�

�I didn�t think before I initiated
the bond.� I shouldn�t have been so
careless.� I had no idea what it could
do.� I never meant to put you in that
position, where you would have to be worried about��

His other hand joined the first on
the other side of her neck and he tilted her head up so she could meet his
eyes.

�It is no one�s fault.� It was a mistake we would have made sooner or
later and we are fortunate that everything turned out all right.�

Hermione nodded.

�And you have to admit,� he
continued, �it was bloody fantastic.�

�I�m not so sure that�s the word I
would use to describe it.�� A grin had
come to her face of its own accord.� It had been fantastic, but at the same time
it was terrifying because she had felt like she was dissolving, literally and
figuratively.

�Regardless, it�s probably best if
we don�t do it again.�

�I couldn�t agree more.�� Hermione sighed as she reached for her
shampoo.� �Poor Jo-Jo, we must have given
her quite a scare.�

�Yes.� I suppose we ought to�� Lucius
grimaced, �apologize to her.�

She shook her head mildly at his
disgruntlement.� The room was filling
with the scent of apples as she lathered her hair.� It was impossible to miss the way Lucius drew in deep inhalations of the steamy, fragrant air;
the scent was intrinsically comforting to him.�
When she stepped forward to rinse, he helped, running his fingers
through her hair and brushing bubbles away from her eyes.

Conditioner followed, and he let
her do that on her own.� His eyes were
slightly amused at the way she had to persistently yank at the tangles where
the curls had merged together.� At last
they were manageable and that task was done.

Lucius
initiated the mutual washing session that came next.� He had the right idea, though, kissing her
while their sudsy bodies rubbed together most agreeably.� Whatever their squirming missed, their roving
hands got.� It was then, in a soapy swipe
over his buttocks, that she felt the raised marks of the runes.

She looked up at him as her hands
traced the characters like Braille upon the white paper of his skin.

�What did you write?� he questioned.

�The same thing you wrote on me.�

His brow furrowed slightly, but he
was quiet.

�Are you angry?� Hermione
asked.� His silence was a little
unnerving.

�I am not pleased to have been
marked�for obvious reasons.�

Oh, hell.� She hadn�t even thought of that.� He�d been branded once before and it only led
to despair.� But if he could experience resentment
over someone doing it to him, how could he guiltlessly do it to someone
else?� There was some kind of disconnect
in his brain when it came to that.

�� Do you
think I was pleased?� she challenged.

�� I reckon
not.�� He reached up for the showerhead,
breaking its levitation, and began to rinse her back.�

�� She wasn�t
going to ask him why he had done it.�
That was territory that was still too shaky and she wasn�t sure that the
prospective answer wouldn�t terrify her, if he even knew what it was.� To ask that question now would be like
walking on top of a lava flow that wasn�t completely cooled yet; at any moment
the tarry foundation could give way and deliver her to a pocket of boiling
earth soup.

�� It was all
so tenuous.� She knew with every rational
part of her, and even some of the irrational ones, that what they had hovered
on the edge of a blade.� Every force that
existed was endeavoring to push them over except for their own stubbornness �
and perhaps denial.� Or was it jaded
optimism?

�� He had been
right earlier.� What could they hope
for?� Secret liaisons?� A personal life full of lies?� She knew he wasn�t as averse as her to lies,
but she could deduce with little hesitation that he was running out of energy
for deception.� He bore two great secrets
constantly � the HIV and his authorship of the books.� That was exhausting enough.� To add a furtive affair with someone half his
age, someone that defied reason�it could put him over the edge.

�� And Hermione�she
could lie to Ron and Harry, but it would be difficult.� In spite of their numerous attempts to prove
otherwise, neither man was stupid.� They
would figure out that she was seeing someone and her avoidance of introducing
him would raise a red flag.� Her lips
pursed slightly; maybe she was giving them more credit than they deserved.

�� Prime among
her best friends� abilities was a capacity for obliviousness.� As much as Lucius�s
ability to foresee her behavior bothered her, it meant that he understood her.� He comprehended the way her mind worked and
why most of the time.� The same couldn�t
be said for Harry and Ron.

�� They loved
her and that was never in doubt, but even in their closest moments they didn�t
truly know her.� When she had a strong
reaction to something it always seemed to stun them.� She had endured their little �Hermione is
mental� glances more times than she could count.� To a more perceptive person, like Luna, for
instance, her behavior was rational and even expected.

�� She had
been friends with them for nearly a decade, but she was still a mystery to
them.� A certain amount of that could be
ascribed to the general misunderstanding that occurred between men and women.� However, the rest�she sighed.� There was a distinct and not entirely
bothersome possibility that if she did engage in a clandestine relationship
with Lucius, they wouldn�t even notice.� It would be hurtful, but convenient.

�� Still,
secrecy just wasn�t palatable.� She
bristled at the thought of having to conceal her affections.� She had never been the kind of person who
made excuses for what and who she liked.�
It would be difficult to start now.

�� It was
impossible; the media would assassinate both of them if they dared to go
public.� Their friends and family would
either think they were insane or detest them.�
She was forgetting that Lucius had Draco to consider, just as she had Harry and Ron, and Draco had never demonstrated the warmest of feelings for
her.� It was safe to say that he mattered
as much to Lucius as the other two-thirds of the trio
mattered to her.

�� She leaned
forward against his chest.� The warm
water washed over them in a comforting wave, the exact juxtaposition to the
rapids in their minds.� More was said in
silence than in all the words they could utter.

�� Hermione
sighed.� It was Friday night.� Tomorrow was Saturday, the day of Paolo�s
party and the last day of her �vacation�.�
On Sunday the fantasy had to end.�
On Sunday she had to go back to her flat, her job, and her life � and
she had never been so reluctant to live it.�

<>

End note:� As I�ve
said a few times before throughout this story, don�t assume things based on
this chapter.� Coming up in the next
chapter: Paolo�s party and their last night together�or is it? �
- 17
- 18
- 19
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