Author's Note: So, hopefully this will help you guys will forgive me for yesterday's cliffie lol ;) Also, it looks like I'm going to be busy this weekend, so I've decided to post two chapters each today and tomorrow rather than have everyone wait until Monday for the final two chapters. One in the morning and one in the evening. That means I'll be able to post the last chapter tomorrow evening and not have to do it over the weekend. Again, thank you all for the love you've been sending! Massive love to chiseplushie for beta services rendered! Alpha thanks go to ShayaLonnie.

Thanks, Worthfull1

P.S. I own nothing, anything recognizable belongs to the lovely Ms. Rowling.

For Sable…

Chapter 4: Exploration

September 7, 1998

The Haven

This is exactly the opposite of every romance novel I've ever read, Hermione thought as her chapped lips met Sirius' soft ones. Aren't I supposed to be the soft one?

She was so wrapped up with that thought, she failed to notice that Sirius had paused.

"I can hear you thinking," he murmured against her mouth.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." He pulled away. "You have trouble disconnecting, don't you?"

Hermione nodded ruefully. "The only time I seem to be able to turn my brain off is when I'm exhausted, and if I'm exhausted, the last thing I want to do is have sex."

Sirius thought about that for a bit, staring blankly at a spot on the wall and instinctively stroking her back as she settled against him again. He had to figure out how to get her involved enough to feel and not think. There was, of course, always the option of coming on like a freight train and simply overwhelming her until she had no other option but to disconnect, but he didn't want to do that. Not yet, anyway. He feared if they went that route this early in the game, she wouldn't be able to respond to soft and slow, and Remus would most likely start out soft and slow…

"Sirius?" Hermione's voice cut into his thoughts.

"Yes, love?"

"My legs are getting a bit stiff."

Sirius blinked. "Of course they are," he said. "Sorry, kitten."

She climbed off him and he shuffled down to lay fully on the bed. Raising his arm, he invited her to snuggle close. She did, resting her head on his chest and picking at the buttons of his shirt.

"You busy tonight?" he asked.

"No. Why?"

"Take you to dinner? There's a new tandoori in town I've been wanting to try."

Hermione nodded, her curls tickling his chin. "Okay."

"Wear jeans; we'll take the bike."

"No flying," she demanded, prodding his chest for emphasis.

"Chick-en," he accused, prodding her shoulder in retaliation. "I'm going to get you airborne if it's the last thing I ever do," he declared.

"You try it and it will be the last thing you ever do," she warned, sitting up. She reached for her wand and cast a tempus. "I need to get ready. Got a meeting at the Ministry."

"Who with?"

"Kingsley," she said, walking over to her wardrobe. "Lunchtime's the only time he's got right now, and he's trying to convince me to take an apprenticeship in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione stopped, arms laden with a change of clothes, and turned to Sirius. The handsome animagus was still lying on her bed, hands behind his head, watching her with interest. The corner of his mouth turned up.

"Want me to go?" he asked.

She lifted her chin defiantly. "No," she said, trying to sound casual, but the word came out as more of a squeak anyway. Sirius' smirk deepened. Hermione huffed, but laid her clothes on the bed and stripped off her shirt before she could talk herself out of it. Instead, she talked to Sirius.

"Of course, I don't want an apprenticeship at the DoM - I don't think I ever want to go there again at all, much less work there - but it's the only time I get to talk to Kingsley and he's got some very interesting ideas about eliminating anti-muggleborn prejudice…"

Sirius lay there, transfixed, as Hermione stripped off in front of him. He'd expected her to ask him to leave, or perhaps retreat to the bathroom to change or, at the very least, stutter and stall until he took pity on her and left. But no. His lovely little lioness had taken the challenge and, despite the blush creeping down her chest, had undressed down to her bra and knickers, and he found himself suppressing a groan as she bent over to pull on her trousers.

"... I was thinking, though, about the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. You know how sensitive I am about that sort of thing, and if we're going to bring the magical community out of the Stone Age about muggleborns, we should do the same thing with magical creatures, don't you think? Sirius?"

Hermione finished the last button on her blouse and looked over at Sirius when he didn't answer. He was glaring at her fingers as though they'd personally offended him, but the heat in his eyes was not from anger. A thrill went through her as he registered that she'd asked him a question and met her eyes.

"I think the magical creatures of the world are lucky to have you in their corner, kitten," he rumbled, congratulating himself when her eyebrows lifted in surprise. Clearly, she assumed he hadn't been listening to her. "Better get moving. You don't want to be late. You said yourself, Kings doesn't have much time."

However, Hermione didn't head for the door. Slowly and deliberately, she knelt on the bed and crawled back up to him. Sirius watched her with the sort of single-minded stare Padfoot would be proud of. Leaning down, she brought her lips to his while bracing her arms on either side of his torso. Taking the kiss further than earlier, Hermione requested entry with her tongue, sweeping in when it was granted and tasting him for the first time, imbibing the spice and leather than was uniquely him.

Sirius' hands itched to be on her, running up her sides, sliding under her blouse, threading through the mass of riotous curls she called hair… but he refrained. He'd made the move earlier for their first kiss, now it was her turn, and he gladly surrendered to her.

Finally, she pulled away. "See you later," she said, stepping into some comfortable shoes and grabbing her wand and beaded bag. She threw him one last look as she walked out the door, and then was gone.

Sirius let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Fuck me, he thought. Why did I agree to this? I'll never survive her. His brain screamed at him danger danger danger, but his body cried out for more. It had been a long time since he'd been so affected by a kiss, and he knew he'd have to see this through. He'd never get a full night's rest until he he'd had her.

He was doomed.

Dinner was nice, but something had changed. They both felt it even if neither was willing to talk about it. They talked about other things - Hermione's meeting with Kingsley, Sirius' plans for setting up a foundation for war victims and anyone else who needed a bit of help, the tenuous situation with the goblins who were attempting to use the current Ministry overhaul to their advantage - but not a word was said about them.

Instead, they acted as they always did, throwing snarky comments at one another and stealing food from each other's plates, but rather than feeling like a dinner between friends, this time it felt remarkably like a date, and they both wondered, not for the first time, what they were getting themselves into.

When they arrived back at the house, Sirius shut off the bike and took his helmet off, shaking his head Padfoot-like, before reaching up to undo Hermione's. She'd already climbed off and was standing next him, waiting with a look of intense dislike on her face.

Sirius almost laughed. The helmet he'd bought her had a fairly simple clasp, but for some reason, she could never undo it. Invariably, she would wait for him to release it and then wrench it off her head and shove it at him, glaring the whole time. Sirius found it immensely entertaining.

"I don't understand why you don't just use your wand," he said, dismounting.

"Don't trust myself," she answered, hooking her arm through his as they walked up to the door. "I might set the thing on fire out of hatred, and set my hair on fire in the process. Just seems safer to wait for you to do it."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed loudly, scaring a few birds out of a nearby tree. "The great Hermione Granger, stymied by a piece of plastic!"

"If you don't quit laughing at me," she threatened, wandlessly unlocking the door, "I'm going to hex you until you're stymied by solid food."

"Yeah, promises, promises," he said, casually maneuvering himself in front of her and backing her into the door once they were inside. Bracing his hands on either side of her head, he boxed her in and dropped his forehead to hers. "Now, how about a little dessert?"

Hermione looked up at him with wide eyes, but none of the nervousness of before. In fact, he watched her breath hitch and a mild flush appear on her neck.

"What - um, what did you have in mind?" she asked. "We have ice cream."

A wicked grin stretched across his face. Lowering his head further, he ran his lips around the shell of her ear. "Let's leave the food play for another time; that can get messy. Actually, I was thinking I could take you upstairs and eat your pussy until you scream," he said, his voice husky.

Hermione unconsciously tilted her head to the side to give him better access and gasped when he took advantage of it, flicking his tongue against her pulse point, then leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses along the length of her neck.

"Do you like that?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't. Have you ever come that way?"

"No."

Sirius growled against her flesh. "Then it's bloody well time you did," he said, moving his mouth back up to hover over hers.

Hermione chased his lips, but Sirius pulled back, staying teasingly out of reach until she pouted at him. Only then did he kiss her, a slow, sensual kiss that promised her she was going to enjoy whatever he had in mind. He removed his hands from the door and ran them down her back, pausing to knead her arse, until he got to her thighs. Ducking suddenly, he grasped them tightly and hauled her up, urging her to wrap her legs around his hips.

Sirius pressed her into the door, moaning as her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers tugged at his long hair. Their bodies rocked together a few times before Sirius turned and started up the stairs. Hermione kept herself busy by nibbling Sirius' neck and slipping a hand between them to undo as many buttons on his shirt as she could.

Once inside her bedroom, Sirius set her down and pulled out his wand. He cast several locking and silencing charms on the room, and a contraceptive spell on Hermione. He thought for a moment, then cast a warming charm as well. Being chilly would not help Hermione relax and enjoy herself.

He set his wand down on the nightstand and turned back to Hermione. She was standing in the same spot, not having moved and inch. Her hair was more disheveled than usual and her lips were swollen and shiny. She looked excited, but hesitant, and seemed more than willing to let him take the lead, so he did.

Walking up to her, he steered her backwards until the back of her knees hit the bed and she sat down. Sirius toed off his boots and knelt in front of her, smoothing his hands up and down her legs before removing her shoes as well, and as he went for her socks, she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders.

Smirking at her hungry appraisal of his bare torso, he went for her sweater. "Turnabout is fair play," he murmured, divesting her of the cashmere and, before she could think about it, reaching around and unhooking her bra.

Sirius sucked in a sharp breath as her breasts were revealed to him. He chose not to dwell on the long, purple scar that cut diagonally across her skin, but instead leaned forward to nuzzle the soft flesh before taking a dusky nipple in his mouth.

Hermione arched her back, feeling a twinge in her lower regions corresponding to every pull of his lips. Her chest heaved with her laboured breathing, but Sirius' head rose and fell with the rhythm, only disengaging to switch sides. His fingers plucked the nipple his mouth wasn't attending to and Hermione distantly recognized the deep moan of pleasure as her own.

When he finally released her with a wet pop, Hermione fell back on the bed as though the only thing that had been keeping her upright was Sirius' mouth. Her head popped up, however, when she felt fingers undoing her jeans.

Sensing her slight nervousness, Sirius rose to his feet and bent over her, kissing her mouth before tonguing a trail down her body. He dipped inside her navel briefly, then resumed his position on the floor and again went for her jeans. This time she lifted her hips to assist, and the material was quickly discarded, leaving Hermione in nothing but light blue knickers with a wet spot at the gusset.

Sirius placed his hands on her knees to prevent her closing her legs and kissed up her thighs. When he reached fabric, he latched his mouth onto her covered center and sucked hard, a growl rumbling in his chest as she keened and bucked in surprise. That wasn't good enough though, so he retreated, stripped her of her last barrier and dove back in, lifting her legs and draping them over his shoulders.

The first touch of his tongue brought a squeak, and the second had her tensing. Sirius persevered, though, lapping at her gently and trying to convince her to relax, but it didn't work. If anything, her body stiffened further, and he realized he would have to change tactics.

"Hermione?"

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him as though afraid she was disappointing him. "Yes?"

"Talk to me, love. What's wrong?"

Hermione chewed her lip. "I'm not sure," she mumbled.

"Are you in any pain?"

"No."

"Is this something that grosses you out?"

"No. Not unless it grosses you out," she added hastily, and Sirius thought he'd found the problem.

He hummed, resting his cheek against her inner thigh, deliberately placing his face within inches of her core. "I told you downstairs, kitten, that I wouldn't have suggested this if it wasn't something I enjoyed," he reminded her gently. "So, tell me, what's the problem? You were all fired up a minute ago, but the second I got your knickers off and went in for a taste, you started shutting down."

He was fairly convinced he knew what her issue was, but he wanted her to say it, to acknowledge it, out loud. She'd never get past it if she never confronted it. So he waited, patiently, running his hands up and down her thighs, occasionally pressing a chaste kiss to her creamy skin while she avoided his eyes and his question.

"Is it my technique?" he pressed. "You can tell me, you know. I'm not a teenage boy who gets his nose bent out of shape. Tell me how to please you," he said, nipping lightly at her.

Hermione groaned and fell back on the bed. "I don't know, Sirius! I've heard women talk about enjoying this, but…"

"But…?"

Frustrated hands slammed down on the comforter. "But how do I know I don't taste funny?" she blurted. "How do I know I don't smell weird? Do I look okay down there? Should I have shaved more? Or less? How do I know I'm normal?!"

Sirius was lucky she wasn't looking at him because, while he was able to suppress his laugh, he'd not been able to stop his smile. He thought that was what was bothering her, but he needed to hear it. Switching thighs, he quickly took a bite, working a hickey into her skin as a reward. Hermione whimpered.

"Oh, Hermione," he sighed. "You are so much more than 'normal'. But I know what you're saying," he added quickly when her head shot back up to glare at him. "I understand. This is the most private area of your body - an area you've always been told to conceal and protect, and not talk about. You never had many girlfriends, so you never had much to compare yourself to and, even though I know you don't set much store by appearances, it's only natural to be a little self-conscious."

Hermione pouted. "I feel like I'm being stupid."

"No, love. You're not being stupid at all. You're being human," he told her. "Would it help if I were to tell you how much I'm enjoying myself?"

"How much you're enjoying psycho-analyzing me with your face in my cunt?" Hermione snorted derisively.

"Ooh, ho-ho," Sirius laughed. "What a filthy mouth my kitten has," he teased. "I wonder, should I praise you or punish you for it?"

Her head snapped up once again, her eyes aflame. "Punish me?!" she repeated. "You wouldn't dare."

Sirius laughed again, a dark, foreboding sound. "Hermione, my love, I am not above putting you over my knee. With your lovely peaches and cream skin, I imagine I could turn your pretty little arse an utterly fantastic shade of red with very little effort."

Hermione flushed a deep, infuriated red and bared her teeth. She went to say something, but Sirius interrupted.

"However," he said, leaning up to place a few wet kisses to her lower stomach, "I think we'll revisit that another time - "

"We won't revisit that at all," Hermione insisted.

Sirius grinned, but ignored her. "How about we get back to the business at hand, hmm?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes menacingly, but nodded.

"Excellent," Sirius purred. He cleared his throat. "Now, what I have before me is a lovely, luscious young woman that I am just dying to taste. What I see… is a woman allowing me to give her pleasure." He wrapped an arm around her hips. "What I smell… is you. Musky, aroused, mouthwatering." His voice lowered to a growl. "And what I taste…," he took a quick lick. "Gods, Hermione. Words don't do you justice. Smoother than the finest wine and more intoxicating than firewhisky."

Having noticed how she seemed to enjoy it when he added a bit of teeth, he alternated licking her center with leaving little bites and nibbles on her inner thighs and hips. Gradually, he felt her muscles relax, and when he heard her sigh, he focused on her nub for a bit until he felt her getting wet again.

"Trust me, kitten, I've never been harder," he said in between feasting. "I want you so fucking bad… mmm… I could eat you all night and not regret a single minute…"

So this is how she likes it, he thought to himself as she finally began responding. She needed to know that he was getting something out of it as well.

Hermione couldn't help but wonder still if he really was as into this as he said, but she knew he'd never lie to her. That was why she'd come to him. She trusted him, and if he said he was enjoying himself, then she believed him. All she had to do was relax and let him give her the pleasure he'd promised.

She took deep breaths and tried to clear her mind, focusing only on Sirius. His words, his movements, the obscene sounds he was making… It was all for her, and who was she to refuse? She had asked him to help her let go and enjoy it, and that's what he was doing. The least she could do was make an effort to participate and not just lay there like a lump. Hermione still wasn't convinced she could actually orgasm from this, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

And it got easier by the second. The more she let go, the more she felt what he was doing. It felt good. Before that moment, she'd had no idea just how far a tongue could reach, but she knew now. She hadn't realized that if she tilted her hips just slightly to the left, Sirius' whiskers would scratch against her thigh and Merlin, did that feel great! And she hadn't known, before Sirius reached a hand up, that her nipples appeared to be directly connected to her clit.

"Ah! Sirius!" escaped her as her hips danced. Ron had done this to her before, as had the Muggle boy she'd lost her virginity to the summer before going on the run, but she'd never enjoyed it. She hadn't hated it, but she'd never gotten off on it.

This time, though…

As Sirius licked and probed and nibbled and growled his way around her entire sex, leaving absolutely no spot unexplored, untasted, or unstimulated, Hermione felt a warmth flowing through her and a tingling in her belly that she'd only experienced by herself, late at night with the lights off and her teeth in her lower lip keeping her quiet.

She couldn't quite understand what the difference was this time, but as she felt a long finger slide inside her, followed quickly by another, and then curl to find something she had been convinced was a myth of romance novels, she decided she could figure it out later. Now was the time for enjoying it, and when Sirius sealed his lips around her tiny bundle of nerves and sucked hard, the pressure broke.

The warmth became a fire and the tingling became an tsunami, washing over her and causing her muscles to convulse in waves. Hermione cried out - pleas and oaths and Sirius' name fell from her tongue over and over again. One hand clenched around her comforter while the other found it's way back into Sirius' hair, grabbing a fistful of ebony locks and holding on for dear life.

Sirius helped her down, licking soothingly and massaging her from the inside. Once her fingers finally released their death grip on his hair, he pulled away and stood. Heavy-lidded brown eyes looked up at him and he raised his hand to his lips and cleaned his fingers, maintaining eye contact with her. She reached out to him and he took her hand, helping her sit up.

"I enjoyed that," she said, her voice deep and husky.

A grin stretched across Sirius' face. "I noticed." He caressed her face tenderly. "I'm glad," he added.

With a speed belying her dazed expression, she went for his trousers, undoing the button and zip before he even realized she'd moved. Hermione shoved them down, freeing his erection, and lunged at it, taking nearly half before gagging.

"Oh, shit, fuck!" Sirius shouted as he hit the back of her throat. "No no no no no!" Grabbing her hair, he stopped her. Hermione looked up at him, confused. "Next time, kitten, okay? Next time. I'm too close," he explained, "and I've just got to be inside you."

Hermione nodded and scooted back on the bed. Sirius kicked his jeans off and followed, crawling over her as though stalking his prey.

"Hermione. Look at me." Her eyes snapped up to his and he raised his hand. Rubbing his fingers together, he looked at her pointedly. "Lubricus," he said clearly, showing her the slickness the charm produced. Hermione's eyes followed his hand as he reached down, coating himself liberally before lining up and pushing smoothly inside.

She was hot and tight, and Sirius felt himself go a bit cross-eyed as he bottomed out. But then she shifted, her body pulling him impossibly deeper, and all thought left his brain. They moved together, groaning and whining, sweat gathering and making their skin slippery as they grabbed at each other. Sirius' hands alternated between her hips and her breasts, while Hermione's roamed his chest and arms, tracing lines of ink before traveling around to his back where her nails dug in.

Mercifully, he soon felt her flutter around him and he slid a hand between them to rub at her clit. Hermione's eyes closed and her neck arched back. A sob tore from her throat as she clenched around him. Sirius grunted and lost his rhythm, bucking into her once, twice, thrice more before coming with a shout.

Spots danced in front of his eyes.

He trembled.

She trembled.

With his last bit of strength, Sirius rolled to the side, collapsing next to her. Hermione dragged herself over to him, draping an arm over his chest and a leg over his hip.

"Stay," she whispered, pleading. "Stay."

"'Course," he rasped, and pressed a kiss to her curls. "Not going anywhere, love."