An update for Mistletoe. One more chapter after this one. Enjoy... I would not recommend reading at work.
Hermione couldn't help but look for Minerva upon the conclusion of the battle. She knew the elder woman had made it through the skirmish, but no one seemed to know where she'd vanished off to since then. For the matter, no one but herself seemed to care much. Hermione cared too much, and there inlayed the problem. After the kiss they'd shared over a year ago, Hermione had been forced to readdress nearly everything she thought she knew about herself. She'd never really been attracted to anyone but Ron before that day, and in retrospect she accepted that she was attracted to him as a person more than she was attracted to him physically. Viktor, she'd previously recognized, had drawn her attention because of his physical form more than any common bond. That said, in the case of Minerva, she was attracted to both sides of that coin, and she knew from what her mum had told her that this an ideal situation.
"You shouldn't have sex without a relationship," her mum had told her as part of the birds and bees discussion, "And you can't have a lasting relationship without sex. Both are important, and you can't ignore your desire for either one. So, look for both when identifying potential partners."
Hermione really had thought that both applied to Ron, and to a point it was true, but while the idea of kissing Ron had given her warm and fuzzy feelings, the reality of kissing Minerva had been so much more, and the idea of doing it again made her want to melt into a puddle. Seventeen months ago, the reasons why she couldn't, or at least shouldn't pursue Minerva were decidedly plain, but now, she wasn't so sure. She had to know if Minerva had felt anything at all when they kissed. She needed to know if she had a chance before making any decisions about the future.
Hermione made her way toward the elder woman's quarters, having already checked the Head's office, and Minerva's personal office on route. If she wasn't there, then perhaps she'd try the kitchen. Hermione knew she was longing for a good cup of tea, and imagined Minerva might have thought the same. Luck was on her side, however, because the door to Minerva's quarters was open, and the older witch was sitting inside on her sofa, just staring out a window. "Minerva?" she asked in a soft tone.
The newly appointed Headmistress looked up. "Miss Granger," she breathed. "Come in, my dear. I'm glad to see you well."
"I wouldn't be half as well without your help," Hermione admitted, thinking about how canned goods and other supplies seemed to pop up whenever she and they boys had needed it most. It had taken her the better part of four months to figure out their mysterious benefactor was the very woman before her.
"How did you figure out it was me?" Minerva chuckled, patting the seat beside her on the sofa, which Hermione took gratefully. It had been a long day. It had been a long year, in fact.
"The scarves you wrapped some of the items in smelled like you," Hermione said wistfully, leaning against her mentor's slender form. "Gods, I missed you."
Minerva allowed the contact. "Suppose I should have thought of that," she sighed. "I was hoping to remain anonymous."
"Why?"
"You know why, Hermione," Minerva stated in a whisper, as she stroked the younger woman's hair.
"Because you didn't want me to question why," Hermione voiced, having already theorized as much. "You didn't want to let me believe it had anything to do with me."
"Correct," Minerva confirmed.
"But I did, didn't it?" the young Gryffindor asked. "That kiss meant something to you, didn't it?"
The Transfiguration Professor pressed a soft kiss to Hermione's forehead, then stood and beckoned her companion to follow. "It meant both more and less than you know, and this conversation does not change my mind. We can't do this." At that, she transformed into her animagis form and took off down the corridor.
"Well that's cryptic!" Hermione shouted after her, jogging to catch up.
Minerva did not stop, and by the time Hermione caught up with her there were others around. She knew there would not be another conversation on the topic, and despite her interest otherwise, Hermione would not press. If nothing else was gained, she knew she was in a position to return to Hogwarts next term to finish her education properly – something she'd been willing to forfeit if that was all standing between she and Minerva having a relationship.
A decided downfall to have many over seventeens in the castle this Christmas was the amount of enchanted bloody mistletoe. Minerva had been avoiding it for a week now, and doing a fine job of it, though despite not getting caught in the stuff, it did remind her of two Christmases prior when she had gotten caught, and ended up kissing Hermione Granger. The two had only had one conversation about it to date, just after the final battle, and since then Hermione had kept a respectful distance. She wasn't distant, per say, but she wasn't making any obvious moves, nor was she sitting in glass with a glazed over look on her face that Minerva had seen often enough over the years, on students who fancied a teacher. It was an acceptable truce.
Just as Minerva had rounded the corner toward the library, intent on checking out a few books to read over the holiday break that had just begun, another student came running around the corner, bumping into her and shoving her into the adjoining doorway by sheer momentum.
"Sorry, Professor!" the student, a Gryffindor boy in his third or fourth year by the looks of it, yelled behind him as he kept right on running.
Minerva about to transform and take chase, intent on docking points as soon as she identified the ever shrinking blur of a boy, when she realized that she could not move more than a single step. Minerva looked up with trepidation. "Bloody fucking hell," she ground out through gritted teeth, upon finding herself once again trapped by mistletoe. At least, she assured herself, this particular doorway was well within view of the adjoining ones, and she could warn off anyone who came along.
After her encounter with Hermione, Minerva had done some research on how to break the enchantment on mistletoe, and while she had found a way, it could not be done from within the containment, as no magic worked inside it at all. She couldn't even send a Patronus for help. The spell was not complicated, but took more power than a student could have, so Minerva concluded the best course of action was to wait till another student came along, have them fetch Filius or Pomona, and then one of them could free her.
Her perfectly good plan didn't seem to have any holes in it until one Hermione Granger rounded the corner ten minutes later, and all of the sudden Minerva saw how very badly things could go right now. Hermione's eyes were bright with amusement. "For the record," she smirked at her teacher, eyeing the mistletoe above. "I had nothing to do with this. I learned my lesson last time."
That was somewhat of a relief. "I'm glad. Miss Granger, would you kindly fetch either Professor Flitwick or Sprout. After what happened last time, I did some research and found a way to break the enchantment, though it cannot be done by anyone in the confinement, and requires high magical power levels."
Hermione chuckled. "I did the same research. I could do it, you know."
Minerva looked at the younger woman expectantly. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Oh no, Minerva," Hermione teased. "I said I could. Not that I would."
And that was the moment that Minerva began to panic, realizing what the younger witch intended to do. "Oh don't you even dare, Hermione Granger!"
Minerva inched back as far as she could against the containment barrier, and Hermione just kept grinning. "This isn't funny!"
"It's hilarious, actually," Hermione argued, stepping slowly forward, sighing when she felt herself pass through the barrier.
"Why are you doing this, Hermione?" Minerva asked, feeling the draw to the woman in front of her overpowering her self-control. "We can't be what you want?"
"Why?"
"Because?" Minerva tried.
"Might it be because of that little issue animagi have with the after effects of a mistletoe enchantment that you never bothered to mention to me?" Hermione asked sweetly, pulling Minerva close and gently biting down on the other woman's neck.
Minerva groaned, partly because of the arousal coursing through her, and partly because of the information Hermione had acquired. "How long have you known?"
"Just a few days," Hermione admitted. "I was coming down to the library just now to return the books I found the information in."
"Know-it-all," the older woman whispered breathlessly. While during their previous encounter, Hermione had been respectful enough to keep her touch above waistline, even after the kiss had gotten heated, she was not being so kind this time. Minerva was currently backed against the doorframe, with Hermione's knee rising to put pressure on her groin, as her nimble fingers brushed the underside of Minerva's breasts.
"I know you want me. I know I want you," Hermione whispered, bushing her lips ever so slightly against Minerva's. "What I don't know is why you're fighting it."
The draw was too much. "Shut up," Minerva muttered, closing the scant distance between them and thrusting her tongue down Hermione's throat in one motion.
While their last kiss had certainly been passionate, this one was furious. They both held some anger and more than enough frustration toward each other, and that emotion poured into their movements. Both ignored the spell breaking as they clawed furiously at each other, bumping teeth and biting lips. As much as Minerva knew she ought to stop, she couldn't find the will, and Hermione seemed to be like minded. With what little sense of self she had left at the moment, Minerva flicked her wand and cast a few wards to protect their privacy, after which her wand clattered to the floor.
Hands free again, Minerva tugged at Hermione's sweater, and Hermione in turn began undoing the buttons on the older witch's robes. After about two minutes of struggle, Hermione groaned loudly, pulled out her own wand and banished their clothing to a pile next to Minerva's wand, tossing her own on top of the heap. Naked, burning flesh met, and after a few more minutes of exploring with their tongues, Minerva kneeled to the ground, pushing Hermione against the nearest wall, and after lifting one of the younger woman's legs over her shoulder, she pushed her tongue into a very, very wet cunt.
Hermione moaned loudly. "Oh, gods… Minerva…" she whimpered.
Minerva had never felt more animalistic than in that moment, licking Hermione's clit furiously, taking immense pleasure in the way the younger woman orgasmed over and over and over again. After about the fifteenth, the single leg Hermione had been standing on finally buckled. Minerva caught her, making the impact with the stone floor less harsh, though with the state of bliss the younger woman was probably in right now, landing full force would doubtfully have bothered her much.
The older woman's body slid gracefully over Hermione, and the pair resumed kissing languidly as the elder waiting for her lover to catch her breath. This happened quicker than Minerva would have guessed, which she discovered via an undignified squeal as Hermione roughly pulled her hair to one side, rolling her lithe form off of the younger woman, at which point Hermione quickly moved into position to take her first taste of Minerva.
"That's it," Hermione whispered as Minerva's first orgasm began to build under her lover's ministrations.
"Please…" Minerva pleaded, body buzzing lightly and a promise of more just on the horizon. "Sweet Merlin, Hermione… please don't stop."
Hermione was nothing if not accommodating for the next ten minutes or so, by which point Minerva was well into the double digits of orgasm count. Just about the time she didn't think she could take any more, she felt Hermione's fingers sliding along her slick folds, and suddenly her body was on fire again. "Fuck me…" she whimpered. She wasn't sure if her comment was meant to be a defeated plea for her young lover to stop, or an unfathomable desire for more, but Hermione took it as the later.
Minerva screamed as Hermione thrust into her roughly, and then moaned loudly as Hermione pulled out slowly, only to thrust in again, just as hard, causing another scream, albeit weaker from exhaustion. Three orgasms in the space of two minutes would do that to a woman.
"Aren't we a vocal one?" Hermione said after a few more minutes of much the same, when she got up, sitting next to Minerva as she panted, naked on the floor.
The older witch turned and offered a weak glare. "Can I have my clothes back? I'm too damn old to be lying on a cold floor."
Hermione nodded with a smile, getting up to retrieve their things. She spelled both their clothing back on, and then joined Minerva back on the floor, albeit they were both sitting, backs to the wall now. The remained that way, silent for a while before Hermione finally brought up the hippogriff in the room. "So, what now?"
Please Review... *says sweetly to the mass of panting readers*