A/N: It's my birthday! It's no major landmark (check my profile for age) but it seems significant this year. Therefore, a fic! I'm not sure if I'll keep it up, it's just a short little thing. But here, in honour of my special day, is a special story :) It's coming in two instalments – the second to be out very shortly.
By the way, this fic has SLASH. Not full on, but definitely more than implied. If you're not comfortable with that, please don't read it. It's not worth the distress!
OOOoooOOO
"Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."
~ Maurice Chevalier
Hermione groaned herself in to consciousness as the light hit her eyelids. Morning. Cheery, bright, retched morning. She burrowed in to her white duvet as deeply as possible, hair curling wildly around the pillow. Did she have to move? A couple more hours couldn't hurt. Especially on this day.
Her birthday.
Twenty-five had been a good year. What harm could moving in to twenty-six possibly cause? Other than an early life crisis.
Her sole comfort was the pre-emptive celebration of her friends. She'd walked in after work the day before, only to be violently assaulted by noise makers and brightly coloured streamers. Grimmauld Place had been transformed beyond belief.
Harry, Ron, Sirius, Remus, Luna, Neville, Ginny and Charlie were all crammed in to the sitting room, smiles stretching their faces.
"Surprise!"
She'd nearly fainted. Low blood sugar from skipping lunch did not help her body cope.
Thankfully, all the excitement had now passed, and she could wallow in the misery of her birthday on her lonesome. No reminders, no stress, no thinking.
A bath would do nicely.
Hermione wasn't typically one to pamper herself, or even care to, but on this day, of all days, why not indulge? Change the routine.
She thanked Merlin, as she settled in to the steaming tub, that her birthday fell on a Saturday. A good book, some candles, and a thorough shave could work wonders.
She was just about to grab the towel when there was a loud knock on the bathroom door.
"Hermione? What's taking so long? I need to use the loo!" Sirius whined from behind the hallway.
"Sirius!" she called back, "You have a suite! Use it!"
"Can't. Remus is in there and he won't open up." She could almost hear the pout in his voice.
She sighed. "Okay, just give me a second." She picked up the towel from the tiled floor and stood, pulling the plug. For a moment, she was uncomfortable that Sirius could hear the water dripping off her body, but quickly relaxed. She'd been living with the men for little over a year and they were in a healthy relationship.
Almost.
Okay, so they had the occasional huge blowout fight. But those were quickly resolved in noisy and, if the screams were anything to go by, fulfilling makeup sex.
Hermione quickly towelled off and wrapped herself tightly. She opened the door to find a very shirtless Sirius Black, doing a jig.
"Thank Merlin, woman, you – " he broke off and wide eyes took in her towelled body.
"I what?" She frowned and followed his eyes down her length. Nothing unusual.
"I... you – nothing." He blinked and returned to her eyes. "Happy birthday, you little adult, you." He winked. "Do you feel like a real woman?"
She rolled her eyes, a standard response to Sirius. "Go. You were waiting for the loo."
"Right you are, milady." He curtsied and spun towards the toilet, not bothering to closet the door.
'Men', Hermione shook her head and retreated to her room to waste away the day.
She read two chapters of a book, laid out clothes for the following work week, braided her hair, ate brunch, had a nap, organized her underwear drawer, unbraided her hair, and read three more chapters.
And it was only supper time?
Hermione sighed in displeasure and did something she could rarely claim. She gave up.
She carefully nestled the bookmark into the crease and rested it on the desk. The smell of roast chicken was wafting lazily through her door and there was no illusion of restraint as she jogged down the stairs.
"Herms! Hermy! Mione!... Grange!" Sirius cried happily from the stove. He flipped something in the frying pan and it landed with a happy splat in the Teflon.
"Gods, Sirius. Thank you for the thorough butchering of my name."
"Anytime, love." He grinned widely and left the stove to set a place for her.
"Where's Remus?"
He set a glass of wine in front of her, which she absentmindedly drank. Sirius had become surprisingly domestic in recent years.
"He's gone out for the afternoon. Said he'd be back this evening. Are you doing anything special later on?"
"Um, no," she answered, craning her neck to see him at the stove. "I thought I'd just spend the time reading."
Sirius brought the chicken to the table and served them, all the while scoffing incredulously.
"Reading? On your birthday? Hermione. No. I have to put a stop to this." He sat down across from her and dug in. "How do you feel about firewhiskey?"
She huffed disapprovingly. "You're not getting me drunk for my birthday. I'd much rather spend a quiet night. Is that your answer to everything?"
"Oh please," Sirius said, dismissing her opposition with a wave of his hand. "What's the worst that could happen? Let lose. Have some fun. Find out what Ron is always blathering on about!" He gestured grandly, becoming enthusiastic.
To her annoyance, his charm once again won her over. It was notorious for a reason.
"Fine," she smiled reluctantly, "just a glass. And then I'm going to bed."
"Great!" he grabbed for her still mostly full plate, and took it to the sink. "Just let me do the dishes and we'll head to my study. It's the only place for a proper nip."
She thought about protesting, but his excitement was catching. She didn't understand how she caught his emotions so quickly, but Remus seemed to as well. In fact, just about everybody did. He was a dangerous man.
Sirius doing dishes consisted of a few complex wand twirls and seemingly random jabs.
"Finished! Let's go. Seven o'clock isn't too early to start, is it?" The thought seemed to cool him but he instantly cheered. "No, never mind. Nothing's too early on your birthday!"
Hermione allowed herself to be half dragged to Sirius' study, a part of his suite, and just across the hall from her own bedroom.
"So," Sirius said, finally seeming to calm himself now that he had her where he wanted her. "How was last night? Were you surprised?" He poured two glasses of firewhiskey and handed her one.
"I was definitely surprised. Who planned it?" She sipped her glass and he did the same.
"Uh, I think it was Ron. Not sure. Might have been Harry. Or Ginny."
Her lips tugged up. "Mhm, I'll have to remember to thank someone."
"Did you have fun, though?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Erm, I suppose." Her eyes darted. She couldn't badmouth a surprise party. "It was really lovely of you all to think of me. I'm just not one for celebrating my birthday." That's right, Hermione. Don't beg for questions.
"Why not?" Ugh.
She drained the last of her whiskey and he refilled her glass. "I'm just not. Cakes and all that? They just remind me that another year and passed and..." Whoops. She'd gone one word too far.
"And what?"
"It's just..." She hesitated. "I always feel like there's some sort of expectation. Like I'm supposed to reflect on my accomplishments. But I'm always exactly where I was the year before. Same job, same haircut, no boyfriend."
She blinked. No boyfriend? She hadn't meant for that to come out. She wasn't that much of a lightweight, was she?
"Right." Sirius nodded sympathetically and put his hand over hers on the table between them. "I've never quite liked birthdays myself. Always reminds me that I lost so many." He smiled but she saw the flicker in his eye.
"Oh Merlin, Sirius, I'm so sorry. I'm complaining about turning twenty-six when you didn't even..."
"No, no, it's okay." He left his chair to kneel before hers. His height gave him an advantage, and he was only slightly lower than her. "Remus has given me back my life," he smiled tenderly, "I don't even feel like I lost anything."
She smiled gently at him, and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "I'm so happy for you."
"Well..." Sirius glanced away bashfully. Hermione had never seen him exhibit this particular emotion and frowned slightly. "You helped. Having you here," he shook his head, "It helps so much. I just want you to know that."
It was such a rare display of honesty and sobriety that Hermione's eyes burned and she blushed. "Thanks for saying so." Although the compliment made her uncomfortable, it was touching.
They sat, a foot apart, staring at each other. She didn't know what he was thinking. This particular expression wasn't one she was familiar with on his face. And then suddenly, he was closer. Not just an inch closer, but rather a mere inch away.
"What – " her question was cut off by his lips. Gentle, barely present, but definitely there. They brushed against hers teasingly, never touching for more than a second.
She felt disconnected, as though she was watching a film. For that reason, she thought nothing of kissing him back.
The moment she responded, the kiss changed in intensity. He leaned forward and pressed against her lips more confidently, no longer fearing rejection. She moaned as his tongue slipped past her lips.
Then she pulled back. She stared at his flushed face and swollen lips for all of two seconds before slapping him hard across the cheek.
"Ow!" Sirius yelled. "What the bloody hell was that for?"
"What?" she screeched. "What was that for? You bloody kissed me!"
"Yes!" He stared back at her in heated confusion. "If you didn't like it, you could have said something before bloody slapping me!"
"You're with Remus!" How could he do this to Remus? Hadn't he just been saying what a good man he was? How he made him forget?
"Oh. Oh!" His face twisted awkwardly. "No, it's okay. I mean, we've discussed it, and it's okay."
"What?" her face scrunched, "What, you mean you just cheat on him? Does he do it too? That's... I didn't realize you had such an open relationship." She edged away from him deeper into her chair, uncomfortable with the sudden loss she felt, not having his lips to hers.
"No, no. That's not right. Listen. We... We've talked about you. About how one of us could... go for it." He shook his head and sat back on his heels. "This isn't coming out at all right."
"No, I don't think it is," she said slowly, "Let's start from the beginning. What have you said about me?"
Sirius heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "I fancy you. And Remus does, too, although I'm not sure about my rights to disclose that. So maybe keep that a little close to the vest, if you know what I mean." A shadow of Normal, Easy to Understand Sirius peaked through as he winked.
"You... you both fancy me? Fancy me how?" Her blush was back and her eyes couldn't seem to focus on one thing. She couldn't believe what was happening. The two sexiest men, who happened to be in a relationship, liked her? Really liked her? She hadn't even dated in months – she wasn't exactly desirable.
"Fancy you how?" Sirius smirked and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd have gotten something from the kiss, but I can explain again, if you're really confused." He leaned in, still smiling cockily.
Against her better judgement, against any judgement at all, she received him. There was no shy start off as before. Her mouth opened readily under his and her hands came up to rake through his hair. She felt him moan roughly in to her mouth, at her eagerness.
His hands travelled down her body, feeling her curves as they kissed.
"Merlin," he whispered as he moved to her neck. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" His hand tracked up her t-shirt and found her braless. Encouraged, he pushed her shirt up, exposing her to his hungry eyes. "Gods, Mione."
She knew they were moving quite quickly, as he cupped one breast and nibbled at the other nipple, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She arched naturally in the chair and his hand snaked down her body, resting at the hem of her track pants.
He looked up from her breast, eyes asking permission. She couldn't quite remember giving it, but was sure it must have come in the form of an embarrassingly eager moan. He dipped his fingers beneath the waistband and teased her, running them from side to side.
"God, Sirius. Please." She wasn't above begging. Not for this.
He took mercy on her and slipped her track pants off, leaving them to puddle at the floor. He grabbed her hips roughly, and pulled them to the edge of the chair. She squealed and grabbed the headrest behind her for balance.
"Sure, love?" Sirius gave her one last chance to leave this lightening fast encounter.
"Shut up." Her boldness surprised even her. But, she rationalized, it wasn't every day you had a willing Sirius Black staring up at you from between your legs.
Unless you were Remus.
The thought was somewhat sobering, but all doubts were forgotten as Sirius' lips closed around her panty-covered pussy. The fabric was already damp from her arousal, and Sirius' flicking tongue heralded another gush.
"Mm, pet, you smell wonderful." He took one outer lip gently between his teeth and tugged. Hermione's hips bucked at the sensation, and she blushed at the unusual compliment.
He slowly slid the knickers down her legs and she tried to press her thighs together, suddenly shy.
"Ah, ah. You can't hide from me now, love. I gave you your chance." He gently coaxed her legs open and settled between them once more.
She couldn't watch. Never before had a man stared at her centre with such intensity. It was unnerving.
"You're so..." He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "Perfect."
With that, he licked his lips and descended on her. He moved around her entire pussy, dipping into her hole, before flicking and darting his tongue through her folds. Tasting every inch.
He took his time exploring, never staying in one area too long, and keeping her guessing. He was unpredictable, which made it all the more exciting. His fingers tickled behind her right knee, and helped her realize it as a newly discovered erogenous zone.
By the time he reached her clit, she was shaking uncontrollably. She had an iron tight grip on his hair, something she would have felt bad about, had she been able to. Her entire world had focussed into a pinpoint, which happened to share space with Sirius' tongue. Every twirl, every twist, was rapture.
How had she been sharing a house with this man for so long, without learning of this talent? His tongue deserved a throne.
It didn't take long for her to come. One more unforgiving suck on her clit, and she fell apart beneath him. All the gathered heat rushed back to her limbs in a flash, her toes and fingers tingled and her vision blackened. She couldn't help the severe arch of her back. It was sheer skill that allowed Sirius to hold her hips down, helping him finish the job.
As the last soft shocks died away, she fell back into the chair with a sigh of relief.
What had just happened?
OOOoooOOO
As I said, nothing serious. Just some quick fun for my birthday! Second part to come!