The Librarian

Chapter 6

"Sex magic!" Lucius choked and sputtered, nearly snorting tea out of his nose. "You must be joking." He paused and then focused on Severus and chuckled. "Oh, I see. That's it exactly, isn't it? Very funny, Severus, you almost had me that time. Ha ha ha!"

Severus smirked. "I'm being completely serious. According to MacDougal, using Tantric methods aren't necessarily a required component of charging a talisman, but it is an efficient way to raise the high levels of magical energy needed. Safer for Hermione, or else she could risk a drain of her own magic. "

"Dear Merlin, he sounds quite mad. You didn't leave Hermione there with that lecherous old coot, did you?" Lucius sounded worried.

Hermione walked into the dining room to join them for lunch. Passing behind Lucius' chair, she paused to teasingly tug the neat blond queue tied back with a leather thong. "Goodness, Lucius, you almost sounded concerned about me for a moment."

Severus smiled as he'd been the one to tell her that Lucius was very twitchy about anyone touching his hair. She did it often now to just to irritate him.

Lucius lightly smacked her hand in retribution. "Well, truth be told, I was more worried for my own sanity, love. You have no idea what a burden it was to try to keep Severus' spirits up when you were gone for just a couple days. The poor boy was practically desolate without you."

"Hm... Yes, I'm sure," commented Hermione. "And by the way, Lucius, Liam is not a lech. He's a highly respected wizard who's an expert in the crafting of talismans and amulets."

Lucius huffed. "Really my dear, how highly respected can he be if he is feeding you fairy stories about Tantric magic?"

"Fairy stories?" Hermione said coldly, clearly not appreciating Lucius denigrating her mentor.

"Everyone knows all those old stories about sex magic are merely a myth."

Hermione moved to Severus' chair and bent to brush a kiss on his cheek before sitting next to him. "You mean you didn't tell him?"

"No. I didn't think you'd want me sharing the intimate details."

Lucius paused, straightening in his chair. He looked from one to the other. "What are you two talking about? What details?"

Ignoring him, she addressed Severus. "I didn't expect that you'd tell him specifics. But I thought guys liked to brag about their accomplishments—in general terms of course, nothing too detailed. You know like the number of times of you made me..." Hermione's face took on a rosy tint. "Well, I think it was three last night."

Lucius' eyes popped open wide, and darted back and forth between them.

Severus chuckled, dark and dirty. "Three! Don't fib, sweet. It was five, at least."

She leaned forward and in a hushed voice clarified, "I meant the three right together. You know, as in multiples, the others were extra."

Taking Hermione's hand in his, Severus turned it palm up. He pressed a kiss to her wrist just over her pulse point, causing her eyelids to flutter. He turned to Lucius. "We can assure you, Tantric magic is not a myth."

"Oh, definitely not," Hermione agreed emphatically.

Lucius gulped. "So you two have...?"

"We have... um... begun to study the method," offered Hermione.

Severus smirked. "It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it."

"Well if you find the project too objectionable, old boy," Lucius taunted with a leer in Hermione's direction, "I'm more than happy to step in and volunteer my services. I wouldn't mind a few lessons myself. "

Severus shot him an icy glare which Lucius ignored. "In fact, it would be my pleasure to lend a hand or any other parts Hermione might want the use of. I'd be ecstatic to spend time with your lovely librarian, working on extra-curricular projects." Lucius waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

With low growl, Severus was on his feet his wand inching its way into his hand, a hex on the verge of his lips.

Hermione just as quickly had her hand on his wrist. "Severus, stop. He's pushing your buttons." Turning to Lucius, she scolded, "And you should know better than to tease him like that. One day you'll regret it when you push him too far."

Severus sat back down, saying nothing for a moment. Truthfully, he'd been surprised by his own reaction. At Lucius' comments, he'd felt a surge of possessiveness so strong, he'd wanted to blast his friend across the room.

Eyes downcast, looking guilty, Lucius cleared his throat. "Hermione was quite right. I was teasing you, and it was clearly in an inappropriate manner. I apologize, I honestly meant no harm."

"It's possible that I may have over-reacted." Severus was quickly learning that when it came to Hermione, he was not nearly as tolerant of Lucius' juvenile sense of humor as he used to be.

Hermione spoke up, breaking the tension. "I did want to ask for your assistance, Lucius."

"Of course. How may I help, my dear?"

"I was wondering if your library might contain information on the subject of Tantric magic. Liam was able to provide us with a couple of books. Apparently, over the past century or so the magical world, at least here in western Europe, has discounted the practice entirely. From what I can tell, much of the information they did have was eradicated." Hermione frowned, clearly appalled at the possibility of books having been destroyed.

"My theory is the Victorian era," Severus offered. "The magical world is more affected by Muggle influence than they will readily admit. The idea of sex magic would definitely have been looked down upon most harshly at that time. "

"You might be onto something. Hm... I wonder," Lucius paused, rubbing his chin as he pondered.

"What is it?" asked Hermione, hopefully.

"I do recall an incident right after my grandfather died, I was quite young at the time. My grandmother had been going through his personal study and was scandalized by some of his books, so much so that she told my father to burn them. However, I remember him ordering the house-elves to store them in the attic instead." Lucius shrugged. "It might be nothing, but I'll check when I go home."

The next day Lucius entered Hermione's office, levitating a heavy box of books before him.

"You found something!" She was unable to hold back her pleased smile.

"I did. I didn't go through them all so I'm not sure if it's what you had in mind. I'm certain that these are the books that so offended dear grandmama."

Hermione opened the box and she and Lucius began pulling books out and stacking them on her desk.

When they were done sorting through them, they had found five books devoted solely to the subject of Tantric magic and four other books that contained one or more chapters on the topic. There was a good amount of information here to fuel their studies.

Glancing through the remainder of the books, Hermione picked up one large thin volume."The rest of these appear to be wizard erotica, and while interesting, not really what I was seeking for our research."

Lucius noted with a smile that although it wasn't what she'd been looking for, she continued to leisurely leaf through the volume which contained detailed illustrations.

"Oh my." Hermione tilted the book first one way then the other. "Is that... is that even possible? Physically, I mean."

Lucius looked over her shoulder at a picture that depicted a witch being pleasured by two wizards at once. He cleared his throat delicately before he replied. "Yes... Yes, it is."

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Lucius, eyes wide.

His gaze did not meet hers, but he nodded slightly. Then, running a finger under the edge of his collar, as if it were suddenly too tight, he said, "I'm going down to see Severus for a bit. I assume he's in his lab?" Without waiting for a reply he headed for the door. "Keep the books as long as you need. There's no rush."

"Severus?" Hermione had checked his lab, and all around the house and finally realized he might be gathering potions ingredients so she decided to look outside. She found him sitting in the gazebo, an empty basket next to him. "Hey, I've been looking all over for you."

"I came out to gather some herbs, but got distracted. Thinking."

Hermione looked closely at him. He seemed to be in an odd mood—pensive. "Are you all right?"

He glanced up, and gave her a sorry hint of what was supposed to be a smile. "I'm sorry, this is always a difficult time of year for me no matter how hard I try to ignore it."

Halloween. Why hadn't she realized? She'd blathered on for weeks about using Halloween, for doing the charging—until Liam had vetoed the idea. It was too soon; he'd said she needed more time to create the talisman and for she and Severus prepare. They'd settled instead on the winter solstice. Liam had approved as he said it represented the end of the cycle of darkness and a new beginning, which is what she hoped her gift would bring for Luna.

She hadn't even considered how Halloween might affect Severus. And now it was only a couple of days away. Gods, she was such a thoughtless cow. "You shouldn't have to ignore your feelings. I'm sorry, it was very thoughtless of me. I didn't even think about how difficult Halloween is for you. It's good that Liam convinced me to wait for Yule."

Severus held out his hand. "Come sit with me." When she took his hand he pulled her onto his lap.

"I want you to understand, it's not that I still love Lily. Looking back now, that seems like more of a teenage infatuation gone wrong." As he spoke, Severus' thumb rubbed idly over the back of her hand. "Upon reflection, however, I think that her rejection of me was inevitable—not just because of my actions when I called her that horrible name, but because deep down we weren't really suited. I'd managed to convince myself that if not for Potter she would have chosen me. But now, I don't think that's true. After she died, I was never able to get over the guilt."

"Oh, Severus." Hermione wrapped her arms around him, stroking his hair and murmuring words of comfort. Her heart ached for him. Then an idea began to take shape. She had the perfect amulet for Severus, it was one she'd made for herself years ago. She could renew and strengthen the spells on it. She would find it and give it to him as a gift.

After a bit, they got up and walked back to the house. Halfway there Severus stopped and turned to ask her, "Earlier you said you were looking for me. Was there something...?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot," she said, grabbing his arm in excitement. "That's why I came to find you. I know now where we have to go to charge the talisman. Liam suggested someplace significant to me. And he said it's not integral to the process, but if the location has a connection to old magic it can increase the energy."

"Stonehenge is right here in Wiltshire, or there's Avebury," offered Severus. "Surely some of the best known and oldest of such places in the world."

"You're right, they are, but they're not my spot." Hermione stopped on the stone stairs leading into the house, one step up from Severus. She rested her hands on his shoulders and looked into his face. "Remember a while back when we talked about coincidences?"

"Yes, it was when you'd returned from your trip to visit Miss Lovegood." Severus said, wrapping his arms around her. "I said that true coincidence is very rare."

"Yes, and do you also recall the two stone circles that Luna and I visited? The Ring of Brodgar and the Stenness Stone Circle?" He tipped his head in acknowledgment. "Well, in my reading today I discovered that in older times they were known by different names."

"And I suppose you are going to tell me their significance?" he prompted her teasingly.

"I shall indeed. The Ring of Brodgar was once called the Temple of the Sun." She bounced on her toes, barely able to conceal her excitement. "And the Stenness Stone Circle was called the Temple of the Moon. Severus, the moon—Luna! Coincidence?"

"It does seem unlikely."

"And that gave me another idea, so I looked up the qualities of moonstone."

"Of course you did. And what did you find, my lovely little swot?" He nuzzled at her neck.

"Lots of stuff, but the thing I found most useful is that moonstone is a powerful filter stone. Filters attract positive energy flow and keep negative energy away and they also work to keep things from sapping our energy. What is our magic if not a sort of energy? I'm definitely going to incorporate moonstone as one of the crystals I use."

Still holding her snugly, he gave her a kiss. "You are a genius, my dearest."

"No, I'm not. But I am a damn good researcher." Hermione grabbed his hand to lead him into the house.

On Halloween morning, Hermione set a small black pouch next to Severus' breakfast plate.

"What is this?" asked Severus picking it up, his brow furrowed.

"It's a gift for you."

"A gift?" He looked suspicious. "Why? It isn't my birthday."

Hermione felt nervous. What if he thought she was interfering, or that she knew better than he how to deal with his own feelings? Too late to worry about that now, she swallowed hard and forged ahead. "I thought of it when we were talking about Halloween a couple of days ago. It's one of the amulets I made for myself years ago. It didn't work all that well for me, but I thought it might be helpful for you. I've renewed and strengthened the spells I cast originally and added a couple more."

She twisted her hands together nervously. "Go ahead, open it."

Severus didn't move; he just held the pouch in his hand staring at it. She gnawed at her bottom lip, positive now that this had been a horrible idea. She stepped forward, reaching for it. "I'm really sorry, it was a silly thought. Here, I'll take it back and get rid of it." She grabbed it and pulled, but Severus wouldn't let go and for a moment there was an awkward tug of war over the blasted thing. "Severus, please, I didn't mean any harm. I should have realized that it was a stupid idea, really just let me have it."

He stood and she tried to pull it away once more but he pulled it back, jerking her to him. He wrapped his arms so tightly around her that she feared her ribs might crack. His face was buried in her hair and she could barely hear his whispered, "Thank you."

"Y... you're welcome." She hugged him tightly in return. "You know it might not even work. I mean I hope it helps, but these things are sort of iffy."

He pulled away from her and stared back down at the pouch still in his hand. "I doesn't matter if it works or not, it's the fact that you wanted to do something for me, to try to help me. That you would care about me enough to go to the trouble..."

Hermione reached up and cupped his face in her hands forcing him to look at her. "Severus, of course I'd do anything I could to help you—anything. And I do care about you, I care deeply. I... I love you." Severus' eyes went wide with shock; his mouth opened slightly but no words emerged. Clearly he'd been struck dumb by her revelation.

She smiled up at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. But the truth is, it's how I feel, and I'm not sorry about that at all. I love you, Severus Snape, very much. Please don't worry, I know you don't feel the same way, and I don't expect it. But it doesn't change how I feel."

In the next instant she found herself wrapped in another bone-crushing hug. "I love you too." The words were whispered against her hair again, the four most beautiful words she'd ever heard.

A moment later he dropped down into his chair as if his legs would no longer hold him. He'd pulled Hermione down onto his lap, and his arms wrapped around her as though he'd never let go. Tears streamed unbidden down her cheeks, while Severus took several deep breaths as if he'd like to cry happy tears too, but was too much of a manly wizard to allow such a thing to happen.

She was worried that he'd said it out of obligation. "Severus, that means a lot to me, but I don't want you to feel pressured to say the words back to me. I still love you no matter what."

Finally he regained control of himself and managed to brush her tears aside with his thumbs. "I say the words because they are true. I do love you. I've known it for a while. I was afraid to tell you, though, afraid to take the risk, afraid you wouldn't feel the same. I was being a coward."

"Hey!" She bunched his shirtfront in her fists. "Don't call my wizard a coward. He's the bravest man I've ever known." She kissed him hard. When he tried to caress her face, the pouch, the loop of which was still attached to his finger, bopped her on the nose.

She grabbed it out of his hand. "It's about time you opened the blasted thing."

Loosening the drawstring he shook the amulet onto the table: a black stone with a few thin striations of silvery grey, attached to a black braided cord. Severus smiled. "How did you ever guess? It's my favorite color." He examined it closely, then looked up at Hermione. "It's some type of obsidian, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's called apache tears, or perhaps one would be an apache tear. They're found in the American southwest and parts of Mexico."

Severus held it up by the cord to examine it in the light, then placed it in his palm and just held it there. "And what are its qualities?"

"It's known for relieving grief and sadness, repelling negative energy, and removing emotional barriers. It's also said to promote forgiveness and protection." Hermione shrugged, "It's a little late to be of much use to you this year. But in the future, when you start feeling sad or melancholy in the days leading up to Halloween, you could wear it around your neck or just carry it in your pocket if you wanted to."

Severus tucked it into the inside front pocket of his robe. "Thank you again." He smiled at her as he drew her to him for a kiss.

After Halloween, time seemed to fly too quickly. Before they knew it the winter solstice was just a few short days away. They'd traveled to Stenness where Liam had offered them the use of his former home, a cottage outside of town and not far from the standing stones.

With the date and place decided, they needed to plan the final logistics. As Orkney lay on latitude 59 degrees north, the day of the winter solstice would provide only about six hours of sunlight and the weather would be cold.

"Severus, even with warming charms, being naked on the cold, damp ground is not my idea of a good time and it certainly can't be conducive to successful sex magic," Hermione complained.

"I'm sure we can come up with something." Severus thought for a moment, then spun around. "I know, we'll use a tent. We can set it up as close to the standing stones as you want, even inside the circle if you choose. And with it warded and disillusioned there's no chance of it being seen by Muggles."

Hermione gave him a murderous look. "You do realize that you're talking to the witch who spent nearly a year traipsing around England in the worst possible conditions, living in a tent, picking up after two teenage boys and a never ending pile of stinky socks. I swore that I would never, ever set foot in another tent again under any circumstances!"

She'd been acting quite the bitch all morning, so Severus graced her with a nasty smile."Well then, it seems that fate is about to make a liar out of you." When he turned, though, one look was his undoing. Her face crumpled in despair and her bottom lip began to tremble. "No! Don't you dare cry. There is no crying allowed."

Hermione sniffled loudly. "I don't know why I thought this was a good idea. We're never going to be able to make this work."

With three strides he had her tight in his embrace. "It is a good idea, and we are going to make it work. Do you know why?" Her face was buried against his chest as she shook her head. "It's going to work because you, my darling girl, are the most brilliant witch I've ever known."

"Oh, Severus." She snuffled some more. "What if, after all this, it doesn't help Luna at all?

"Even if that happens—and I don't believe that it will—then at least you will know that you've done everything you could to help your friend. And even more important, Luna and Blaise will know it too."

That was all it took to set her off and she sobbed in his arms as he swayed gently, comforting her like a child. "Shh... it's all right, love. I changed my mind, you go ahead and cry all you want. Get it all out. You're stressed and you're worried and you've been pushing yourself too hard. It's all come to a head."

When her sobs subsided, he pushed her back, offering her a hankie. "Everything will be fine. I'll take care of the tent. It's the most practical solution and even you must admit that wizarding tents can be quite comfortable, even luxurious. It's only for one night and I promise I will make sure it's perfect."

Hermione nodded, wiping her face. "Perfect means no stinky socks, right?" she said with a weak smile. Then she dipped her head and mumbled roughly, "Thank you for putting up with my madness. I'm sorry for the melt-down. I guess I was more stressed than I realized."

Severus led her to the sofa by the fireplace. "Sit. I'll make some tea – you could use a cuppa." When he returned Hermione was holding the talisman she'd designed for Luna. True, she'd had Liam's guidance, but the final decisions were hers. She'd incorporated moonstone, quartz, and amethyst with protective and strengthening runes and symbols engraved on the back..

Severus set her tea in front of her and took the pendant. Sitting next to her he examined it. The finished piece was a large oval, over two inches long and an inch and a half wide. The stones were set in silver with Celtic style swirls wrapped around them. It was beautiful. "If the talisman making doesn't work out, you could still make a fortune designing jewelry. There isn't a witch alive who wouldn't treasure this."

Hermione smiled wanly and sipped her tea. Setting the pendant down next to the tea pot, Severus tipped her face to look at him. "I want you to finish your tea and then go rest. While you're napping I'll take care of the tent." She opened her mouth to speak but he put his finger against her lips. "I promise you won't be disappointed."

After kissing the tip of his finger she said, "I was just going to say that I trust you, and thanks for taking care of me. I'm so used to being the one taking care of other people, I guess I just don't see it when I need some care myself."

Hermione watched as Severus lit the red candles all around the bedchamber of the tent. He'd kept his promise and it was perfect. He'd made the room look like something out of the Arabian Nights. The huge bed was covered with colorful pillows in of all shapes and sizes. Gauzy silk drapes and swags hung from the ceiling around the bed tied back with satin ribbons. The room was heated both by warming spells and a of couple small portable fire places. The entire space was now was lit by the gentle glow of candlelight and the combined scents of vanilla, ginger and ylang ylang filled the air.

Hermione fussed with the belt of her robe. She'd picked a deep, rich red for her robe, symbolic of passion, desire, love, and energy. Severus had chosen black. She couldn't help but smile to herself—typical Severus, however an appropriate choice as black was a symbol of elegance, power, strength, and authority. They'd donned the robes and nothing else after they'd separately completed spiritual cleansing baths with scented salts and oils.

Severus had finished with the candles and now stood before her. "I think everything is ready. How do you feel?"

"I'm excited—nervous. I'm not so sure that staying celibate for several days to build the sexual energy was such a good idea."

Severus smiled at her quizzically. "And why is that?"

"Because if you so much as breathe on me I'm going to go off like a rocket." Severus chuckled at her admission. Taking a deep breath, she smiled up at him. "How about you, how are you feeling?"

"Like you, I am excited and definitely aroused." He took her hand and pressed it to the front of his robes so she could feel his erection. "But surprisingly not nervous at all. I feel exhilarated, as if I could take on the entire world." He cupped her face in his hands and drew her to him for a kiss.

Reminiscent of their first kiss it started slow and built to a crescendo. During the course of this, Hermione managed to slip loose a button or two on his robe to reach in and caress his cock in her hand. He felt hard, yet the skin was silky soft. She dropped gracefully to her knees before him, cupping his balls in her hand to roll them between her fingers and tug just a little roughly, as she knew he liked. This was confirmed by his quick intake of breath and a softly whispered, "Yesss... oh yes."

She wet his cock with long slow licks and kisses up and down it's length. Her fingers circled the base and she pumped slowly as she sucked the tip into her mouth to swirl her tongue around the head. His responding groan incited her to slide him even further between her lips, sucking as she pulled nearly all the way off, then slid forward, going a little farther each time.

Hermione tossed her hair back with a flick of her head and looked up, and their eyes locked. He reached for her, first caressing her face before threading his fingers through her hair. He held her where he wanted her, taking control, he pushed forward, each thrust bringing him a little deeper into her hot slick mouth. He didn't force himself on her so much as hold her in place. In that moment, Hermione should have felt controlled, but instead felt a profound sense of power. She hummed against his hard flesh and Severus' eyes practically rolled back in his head as he pulled off with a soft popping sound.

"Vixen! You do realize your goal is not to get me off as quickly as you can," he panted. "You're killing me already, you little witch."

"Brightest witch of the age, or so I've been told." Hermione smiled up at him. "Just trying to build the sexual tension a bit, love. Is it working?"

"Only too well," he growled as he reached to help her to her feet. He led her beside the bed where he untied her robe while she undid his and they laid them aside. He gathered her close and kissed her again before helping her onto the bed.

"I need some time to recover from your little game, so it's your turn to be the object of my attentions. I want to try some sensation play." Severus ran a fingertip very lightly from her shoulder, down her arm, back up to trace across her collarbone then down around her naval and back up. "But if you get too close you must tell me, in case I'm too involved to notice. You're my focus and as such I want you to submit to my ministrations. Understood? "

"Yes." Her reply was a mere whisper. Dear goddess how was this going to work? Just having him trace a finger tip over her made her nipples draw up to hard little nubs and her pussy clench tightly.

Severus leaned over her. "Close your eyes."

Hermione's brows drew downward. "Why?"

"I don't suppose you'd accept 'Because I say so?'" At the slight roll of her eyes he continued. "Because I want you aware of each touch, each sensation. Let it all wash over you. Let it stimulate you, arouse you. I want you to to feel it all."

"All right." Hermione closed her eyes and felt Severus shift next to her, then he gently kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her chin. His lips were on hers and she tried to kiss him back.

"Uh, uh, uh. Relax. Just feel."

With a groan Hermione nodded and he continued. He brushed her hair behind her ear, and his tongue traced the shape of it, sliding around and down until he suckled her earlobe between his lips before releasing it with a slight nip. At her gasp he chuckled and even that sound drove her mad. He continued his descent and lightly kissed several spots along her neck, then sucked at the spot that never failed to drive her wild. She gave a tiny buck of her hips as she whimpered a bit. He stiffened beside her and that made her smile, knowing that her little involuntary sounds and movements affected him.

Severus pulled back a bit and she felt him reach across the bed to the night stand. He began to trace patterns over her naked body with something soft and flexible. She was torn between trying to figure out what he was using and whether his tracings were random movements or meant something. She finally decided it was a feather, a quill perhaps, but by that point she didn't care if the designs had any meaning. If he continued much longer, he would surely drive her mad. He traced it all over her, over her breasts, nipples, down her torso, around her naval, to her sides, down her legs to her feet and back up, purposely avoiding her now soaking pussy.

She squirmed around, moaning softly. Gods, she just wanted him to touch her there. Instead she felt him reach across to return the feather, and then his hands came back to her breasts. He squeezed them, plumped them, shaped them. Then his fingers pinched and twisted her nipples lightly at first and then with increasing pressure until it was on the edge of pain and yet somehow he made it felt good. He continued to toy with one nipple as his clever mouth found the other. His tongue lapped around it, licking and flicking at the tip as her wiggles and whimpers increased. Finally he closed his lips around it and suckled, occasionally he scraped it lightly with his teeth before sucking it hard again. It made her hips buck against the bed. He chuckled evilly, and moved to the other side to begin all over again.

By the time he'd finished his play with that breast she was squirming and pressing against him. "Be still," he scolded. "Concentrate on the sensations."

Hermione took a deep breath and tried to settle, making a conscious effort, but a sound escaped her lips that sounded suspiciously like a sob. "Hermione, open your eyes, sweetheart." Severus pulled back to look down at her. "Are you all right."

"I can't stand it. I want you to fuck me now!"

Severus' laugh was deep and throaty. "That's how you're supposed to feel, but we need to draw it out. That's the whole purpose, to build the energy slowly. I have so much more planned for you."

She moaned helplessly. "I think you're too good at it. It's torture. I want you to keep touching me, but if you do I know that I'm going to explode."

"Shh... come here." He gathered her close. "Take a few deep breaths and relax. We'll just rest for a moment or two, then you can torture me again for awhile."

She could feel the slickness dampening her thighs and Severus hadn't even touched her pussy. Well, she'd try her own version of sensation play, she'd show him torture. She poured a drizzle of massage oil onto her hands and then spread it over his back. Taking her time she slid her hands in rhythmic swirls and circles from the base of his spine all the way up to his shoulders and back down in light teasing strokes. She continued over his taut buttocks and hips, down his thighs and calves and ankles. "Turn over," she whispered, and started all over on the starting from the soles of his feet and working her way back up.

They played back and forth for an hour or more, taking turns teasing and inciting each other to sensual heights, then backing off to let things cool down. It felt like it went on forever. Hermione was sure she was going to be driven slowly insane before the night was over.

"Can you feel it?" Severus voice was deep and husky, as he pulled away from her lips. "I can feel the energy, rising, thrumming between us. Like that time in Liam's office when he made us touch each other palm to palm to feel our magic."

"Yes, I feel it too," Hermione agreed, rubbing against him. "Only this is ten times stronger than that day."

"I know." His lips slid along her jaw line and down to hit the trigger spot on her neck where he paused to suckle, pulling a long moan from her. She rubbed against him, practically humping his thigh. "And I'm not even inside you yet. It'll be a miracle if we don't spontaneously combust. I want you now, Hermione."

"Please," Hermione begged. "I thought you'd never ask. I want you so much."

Severus rolled onto his back and pulled Hermione on top to straddle him. He held his cock, sliding the tip through her wet slit, poised at her entrance, but he let her take control from there. She descended slowly, sliding down then pulling back up, inch by inch, taking him further in each time until he was seated fully inside of her. She gazed into his eyes and sighed happily. "Oh gods, finally. You feel so good."

"You do too, but I know something that will feel even better—move."

So the dance began. Slowly at first, in and out, the tempo increased gradually until they had almost reach the peak. But before they could tumble over, Severus pushed her back and pulled out. "We must try to prolong it, to ride the crest a bit more," he murmured in answer to Hermione's disappointed groan.

Sliding from beneath her, he arranged her on her hands and knees and holding firmly onto her hips, in one swift thrust, he was buried inside. He started to build the rhythm all over again. Soon he was sliding over her G-spot on every hard thrust.

Hermione was trembling and again felt herself on the verge of orgasm when Severus pulled out and flipped her over onto her back to settled between her thighs.

"Damn it. Severus, No! No!" she shouted, pounding her fists against the bed in frustration.

He grabbed her hands and stretched them above her head, pinning them there with one hand as he hovered over her. "I know, sweet, I know. But the energy is high, so high. Can you feel it?" She nodded frantically. "I want to finish like this, so I can see your face and kiss you and tell you how much I love you." As if to prove his point he leaned down to kiss her.

"I love you too," she gasped when he pulled back. "So much. But if you stop again, I think I might kill you."

With a grin he slid in to the hilt. "No stopping this time, I promise. We finish together. And remember our purpose—the ritual." There was no slow, gradual build this time, Severus pounded into her in swift, sure strokes. He released his hold on her wrists, and bracing himself with one hand, he looped an elbow under her knee and pulled her leg up. The position opened her further and he slid even deeper. "Oh gods, yes."

He was slamming into her, filling her, pushing her to the edge, closer and closer. "Oh please, oh please..." Hermione gasped, her breaths coming harsh and fast. "Severus... I'm so close... please... fuck, oh fuck!" She felt herself topple into the abyss, her orgasm took her. She thought she might have screamed but wasn't sure. As Severus came inside her with a loud guttural grunt she felt another orgasm roll through her, and even though she was sure he'd come, he kept thrusting, rough and deep and another shock wave hit. As hard as it was to concentrate, each time she tried to focus the energy she felt on Luna's talisman.

Hermione didn't know if she'd passed out or just collapsed from fatigue but when she came back to herself, she wasn't sure how much time had passed: seconds—minutes—more? It couldn't have been too long, though, because she felt Severus slip out of her. Instead of flopping down next to her as she'd expected, he proceeded to nip his way down her body. "Open for me," he commanded, settling between her thighs.

"Severus, no. I can't possibly..."

"I think you'll find that you can, my dearest," he insisted, ignoring her protests. "And you will," He began to pet and play with her, his thumb circling her clit as he slipped first two then three fingers inside. He knew just the right spot and he rubbed against it over and over. He kissed and licked and tongued her and when her arousal rose to the peak he sucked her clit between his lips sending her over the top. Hermione soon discovered that Severus was right, she could and she did, again and again. She learned that you really can have too much of a good thing, and that Severus Snape was a man who took his Tantric Magic very seriously. By the time he'd finished, they collapsed into each others' arms totally exhausted.

Hermione wanted to give Luna the talisman as a Christmas gift, so she invited Luna and Blaise to celebrate Christmas Eve at the dower house. It was just supposed to be just the four of them: a nice quiet, intimate evening, but as things unfolded Hermione wondered if the magical world had anything like Murphy's law.

First Harry Floo-called, whining that he was going to be all alone. When Ron heard Harry was coming, he wanted in too, along with his new girlfriend Pansy Parkinson. Severus declared if her dumb-arsed duo was coming he should be able to invite his as well, so Lucius and Draco were added to the list. Then Pansy asked if she could bring two friends, Millie and Gabrielle, who were alone for the holiday. It turned out that the girls also happened to be teammates of Harry's. Since Wynnie and Malcolm McGonagall had gone off to Italy to visit their daughter, Hermione ended up asking Mac and boys along with Liam, and of course that meant Minerva since she usually spent the holiday at her brother's home. So much for the quiet, intimate evening.

Considering it's impromptu nature, dinner for fourteen people—Mac's boys having chosen hang out in the kitchen with Snip—went quite well. Sated, they moved the party to the parlor for after dinner drinks and to exchange gifts and pleasantries.

Hermione, wanting to get Luna and Blaise alone, asked them to meet her in the Library. Catching Severus' eye, Hermione tipped her head toward the hallway. Severus extricated himself from a conversation with Liam and Lucius and slipped out of the room behind her..

He closed the door to the parlor and turned to Hermione. "Something you need, love?"

"I've asked Luna and Blaise to meet me in the library, I wanted to give her the Talisman privately. Since you played a huge part in making it, I'd like you to be there too. If you don't mind, that is." Hermione fidgeted nervously, plucking at the cuff of her robe.

"Of course I don't mind." Severus stepped close and tipped her chin up to look at him. "I want you to remember what I said back in Stenness. Whatever the results, Luna will appreciate all that you have tried to do." Taking her hand, he drew her down the hall towards the library.

"Severus, your library is beautiful," said Luna as they entered the room.

"Yes, the remodeling project turned out quite well," added Blaise.

"Thank you. I am quite happy with it. Although," he said with a nod toward Hermione."I'm afraid that my librarian has her work cut out for her. There is still a great deal to be done."

Luna nodded with a knowing smile. "I'm thinking that the Librarian will have to close her office in Thurso as I suspect she'll be working out of Wiltshire from now on."

Hermione flushed at Luna's comment and went to get her gift out of the desk.

Severus leaned towards Luna and said conspiratorially, "How very intuitive of you, my dear. You may be right about that."

Hermione returned with a thin square box in her hand. "Please, sit, both of you," she said, gesturing to a seating area by the hearth. "Luna, I wanted to give you your Christmas gift privately. It's something I made especially for you." Hermione handed her the box.

Luna removed the ribbon and paper and opened the box. "Oh, Hermione! It's gorgeous." She ran her finger over the face of the pendant. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I made it with you in mind. Remember years ago, when I tried my hand at making amulets?" Luna nodded. "Well I'd decided to start again, but then I learned about talismans, which are similar, but in general stronger and the energy is more focused."

Hermione reach over and lifted the talisman out of the box. "These two small gems are your birthstone, amethyst, known for repelling negative energy and enhancing intuition. This larger round luminous stone is moonstone, because it made me think of you—Luna. It attracts a positive energy flow, and stops other things from sapping your energy. And this big smoky white stone is quartz, it's a good balance stone." Hermione turned the pendant over to show Luna the runes. "See, I chose Algiz, for protection and to channel energies appropriately, Kenaz for the fire of transformation and regeneration, and Sowilo for the life-force, health."

Luna slipped the chain over her head. "Thank you so much. I love it, Hermione. You're the best friend in the world." She wrapped her arms around Hermione in a tight hug.

"So, do you feel anything Luna?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "I mean can you feel any of the spells, the protection, positive energy, anything?"

Luna shrugged with a smile. "I feel good. I feel loved. It's nice."

Hermione tried not to show her disappointment. She gathered up the ribbon and paper to throw away. Blaise tagged after her and grabbed her wrist. "Hermione, wait. I know what you were trying to do. Severus told me."

She rubbed a thumb under her eye to brush away a tear. "I didn't want to say anything. If it didn't work I didn't want either of you to be disappointed."

"I want you to know how much I appreciate what you tried to do for her. But you know what? I'm not disappointed at all. Sure, if it had worked it would have been nice. But it wouldn't have changed how I feel at all. Even if she never gets her magic back, I'll still love her just as much as I do right now."

"Oh, Blaise!" Hermione threw her arms around her friend and hugged him tight. "I am so happy that Luna has you. And you're absolutely right, she is perfect just as she is."

They both turned to look across the room and saw Luna having an animated discussion with Severus by the fireplace. She seemed excited about something and was pointing at the mantel, while Severus had a blank look on his face.

Blaise laughed, "I think we'd better go save Severus. I don't think he fully appreciates Luna's perfection as much as you and I do."

They started across the room, but Hermione stopped dead in her tracks halfway across the room when she heard Luna say something to Severus about Nargles. She grabbed Blaise's wrist in a death grip.

"Luna?" Hermione's voice was low and tense.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Did you just say something about Nargles?"

"Oh yes, I did," said Luna. "I don't want to seem rude, but I thought Severus should know that there's a whole nest of Nargles living up on the mantel. Something should be done or before you know it, you'll have a whole colony of the little buggers."

"Luna? Can you sense the Nargles right now?"

Luna's eyes grew even larger than usual. "I...Oh my... I can!"

Hermione felt a rush of excitement. "Blaise! She feels the Nargles!" With a shout of joy, Blaise gave Hermione a hard, fast hug before turning to sweep Luna into a tight embrace, twirling her around and round.

"Let's give them their privacy," Hermione said as she grabbed Severus hand and pulled him out of the library, closing the door behind them.

In the hallway, Severus looked at her in total confusion. "I have no idea what just happened back there."

Hermione grinned like a mad woman. "Don't you see? Luna could feel the Nargles. It means her magic is coming back."

"Hermione, there was absolutely nothing on that mantel. It's all in her head."

"Of course it's in her head, Severus, but why should that mean that it's not real." She held his hand over her heart. "You can't see my love for you, but I can assure you that it's very real. Do you believe that?"

Severus gave her one of his rare smiles and bent to kiss her tenderly. "Always."

The End

AN: As promised, here are the prompts from Sabrebabe. I used these two prompts combined to create my story.

* Post War, Hermione has gone into seclusion and has taken up creating Magical Artifacts anonymously. Highly sought after and very expensive, the unknown artist has a long waiting list of offers. A Former not-quite-as-dead-as-they-thought Professor has been looking for the mysterious Craftsman (probably at Lucius' insistence). Why, and what happens next?

* Post war. Severus' books have seen much better days. Hermione needs a job that won't drive her crazy. Severus has old books and manuscripts that need TLC, binding, mending, and cataloguing. Perhaps Lucius's library has fallen on hard times, and needs a new home?