It was a little odd, Hermione thought as she considered her situation. Before the attack Riddick had been subtly laying claim to her. He'd spent most meals pressed to her side, his hands touching in publically appropriate ways, guaranteeing that everyone would eventually see that they were together. But he'd been, for someone who claimed to be uncivilized at best and animalistic at worst, scrupulously courteous in his behavior. He'd never pushed her further than her comfort zone, never fondled or groped her in a way she'd find embarrassing, in public anyway. Even his kisses were mild enough that the first years could see them and not be traumatized by 'old people affections'.
Things had changed since that night though. She couldn't be sure if it was the intimacy they'd shared, the increased trust between them, or the attack that had nearly killed her. Riddick was positively territorial about her personal space. Harry and her other friends were welcome but anyone with whom her acquaintance was barely passing… It was as if he couldn't abide anyone touching her but people he knew were safe.
He'd actually enlisted Harry and Neville to go with her nearly everywhere if he couldn't escort her personally. Luna and Morag had tried to run interference but since they weren't in all of the same classes it wasn't easy. And he couldn't so anything about the Aurors.
The interview with the Aurors had been fascinating, in a twisted sort of way. They'd been more concerned with how her three attackers had their magical cores scrambled than with her account of the attack. The attackers all being Purebloods might have had something to do with that. After all, most of the Ministry workers were Pureblood or Half blood, albeit raised magically. Even if they weren't bigoted they were still stuck in the same mentality of 'magic is better'.
Since her attackers hadn't any clue that Riddick had some power of his own they hadn't even asked to interview him, contenting themselves with speaking to Madam Pomfrey. Hermione couldn't be certain what the school nurse had told them but whatever it was they didn't seem to think Riddick could possibly have caused it. Hermione found herself in complete agreement with Riddick regarding her attackers. They had gotten what they deserved.
"You realize Miss Granger that since they attacked you that their families might very well blame you for the loss of their magic," One of the Aurors, pointed out. "Legally you could be prosecuted for attempting to end a magical line."
"Really?" Hermione rolled her eyes, "None of them are only children, all of them have parents living, and you've examined my wand. Nothing I did could have caused what happened to their magical core. And Madam Pomfrey has said they still have magic. Magic that can still be passed on to their children. They're just unable to use it. So their magical lines aren't ended by anything I did." She stared at him coldly, "Since the last time they used it was to try and end my life I can't drum up much sympathy for them."
"Considering you're Muggleborn you might find it hard to fight the charges if the families choose to bring them against you," The other Auror had almost sneered the words.
"I find it interesting that my birth would make a difference in my ability to defend myself," the witch sneered back at him. "But since I count Harry Potter as my best friend, Neville Longbottom as a brother and half the Wizarding population owes me a life debt for my help in destroying Voldemort I think I'll just take my chances." She stood, "If I were you I'd consider the fact that Hogwarts was the site of a major battle and that the Headmistress has warned all her students that there is a great deal of residual magic, dark, grey and light, that has yet to dissipate or be filtered through the Ley Lines. The curses that were used to attack me, combined with my shield and the magic of Hogwarts, plus the magic from that battle... could very well have combined to turn upon my attackers."
The first Auror had nodded, making a note of her statement, "It is the most likely explanation." He reminded his partner. "And Miss Granger has cooperated fully, allowing her wand to be examined, and stating under magical oath that she used no other wand during the fight." He looked at her thoughtfully, "You might want to be a little more careful where and when you walk Miss Granger. The three students have been expelled and since you are pursuing this, they will be charged with attempted murder. And Muggle baiting since your companion is not a wizard. That's at least a twenty year sentence in Azkaban. It's the families you'll have to worry about. We can't do anything about that legally."
The Muggleborn witch had nodded her understanding and the interview had drawn to a close. She'd watched as Headmistress McGonagall had escorted them off Hogwarts grounds and been grateful no one had asked any questions about Riddick. McGonagall had winked at her when she returned and Hermione suddenly understood why they'd been so unconcerned with him. McGonagall might not have been Dumbledore but she was a very powerful witch. And quite capable of magically influencing a couple of Aurors so that they'd ignore a man who could see Hogwarts but was supposedly a Muggle.
Hermione regarded Riddick as they entered the Room of Requirement. He collapsed onto the provided couch with a sigh of relief and closed his eyes for a long moment, only opening them when she didn't join him immediately. "Sweetness? You all right?" When she took a seat on the couch but didn't settle against his side his expression went from slightly concerned to worried. "Hermione?"
"Riddick," She took his hand and held it both of hers. "I wonder if I should be asking you that question. You've barely let me out of your sight since the attack and you won't let anyone near me." Raising his hand to rub her lips over his knuckles gave her a moment to consider her words, "Will you tell me what's wrong?"
His hand pulled away from her to grasp her waist, pulling her into his lap. "Don't know if you can understand." His voice was low, painfully controlled as he held her. "That… that night, it was like you were giving me everything I'd ever wanted. You offered that ritual, trusted me to touch you…" His lips moved over her neck, tasting her skin as he inhaled her scent. "First time in years, felt like I could have a future, a life with my woman. Someone who didn't see the monster or the animal or the murderer first. A woman who respected me but hasn't ever feared me."
"And then it was nearly taken away." She stroked his skull with her fingertips, pressing her lips to his temple. "So you've been what? Overcompensating for that?"
His sigh set her heart aching. "Just trying to make sure nothing else happens to you Mya. You're my woman. I just…I don't know what would happen if I lost you. This isn't my world. You're all that holds me to it."
Kissing Riddick was like drinking in a thunderstorm, sweet rain, thundering blood and passion like lighting in her veins as his mouth took hers and devoured. Her robes and uniform were swiftly pushed, pulled or torn aside until his silver gaze was filled with her skin. But that wasn't enough for him, could never be enough, and his own clothing hit the floor until he was equally bared to her.
"God Riddick, you're beautiful." Her awed exclamation was cut off as his mouth covered hers and his body pressed her back to the couch. Hot skin, rubbing over her and huge hands covering her breasts, sent her writhing beneath him.
"You're mine Hermione," He growled into her mouth. "My woman. Say it." His mouth found the pulse point in her neck and began to nip and suck at her skin. "Say it."
"Yes." The word was a gasp of need. "Yours. I'm yours Riddick." Reason, logic, caution didn't enter into it. He needed her. And she needed him.
"My woman." His voice was darkly satisfied. "Gonna take you…make you mine. My sweetness, wrapped around my cock, taking me in. Say it." His teeth nipped harshly at her collarbone, leaving love bites that would prove his claim on her. "Say it Mya!"
"Yes… yours…your woman." His mouth was sucking hard on her breasts now, his hands holding them to his mouth, stubble abrading her nipples erotically. "Take… take me…make me yours Riddick." His hips pressed to hers, his cock rubbing between her thighs, hard and hot, the pressure tantalizing and no where near enough to satisfy. "Please Rick. My Riddick…please."
One hand snaked between their bodies, his fingers finding her slick flesh, swollen and hot with need, plucking at her clit in a wickedly effective caress. Hermione jerked against him, her back arching as waves of pleasure crashed over her with a scream of his name. "Riddick!"
His hips lifted, twisted and ruthlessly spread her thighs apart, exposing her most sensitive private place to his gaze before the hard thick length of his cock pushed inside her. Hermione shuddered, stiffening at the abrupt invasion, his body implacable, filling her inch by inch until she was stretching around his girth.
Hot, throbbing and almost painfully tight, Riddick filled her body with his and dug deeper, grinding his hips down to hers, his mouth on her neck, gasping. "Fuck! Fuck woman…" His growl was almost breathless as he kissed her. "So damn tight Mya… ungh!" His hips rotated against hers, moving his cock inside her. The witch felt her body take him even deeper, slick and stretching her delicate tissues around him. "God damn!" His curse was filled with erotic satisfaction, his mouth finding her mouth for a long deep kiss, tongue sweeping inside to taste her moans until she was mewling and groaning into his mouth.
She couldn't move, could only wait for him to set the pace, his body hard and heavy on her and somehow the most wonderful thing she'd ever felt. His lips left her mouth, trailed down her neck to bite and suck on her collarbone before he gave his attention to her breasts again, suckling and teasing her aching nipples. Only when she was moaning his name did he lift his lips from her flesh and slowly withdraw his body from hers. Her whine of dismay as he nearly left her made him smirk and slowly fill her again. "Ohhh…god… Riddick." It was too much and not enough and she still couldn't move.
"Now sweetness," Riddick growled and his arms slid under her back and hips, "Take all of it." His mouth came down on hers hard enough to bruise as his hips thrust against hers. Hermione cried out into his mouth as he set a punishing pace. His hips slammed down to hers, filling her over and over until the intensity of it overwhelmed her. Lightening seemed to explode from the base of her spine, igniting every nerve and she screamed his name again, shattering around him.
His voice was hot and hungry in her ears, a growl of need that had to be satisfied as he fucked her through her orgasm and forced her through another, jolt after jolt of ecstasy with each hard pound of his cock inside her body. Hermione clung to him, her hips moving to meet his, arms wrapped around his back and begging him to never stop when he buried his face in her shoulder. He nearly howled his completion, his cock digging deeply inside her, pushing past her cervix as she screamed in pleasure. His seed spilled hot and thick in her womb, and his teeth clamped down hard at the apex of her neck and shoulder.
Hermione stiffened in shock at the pain of it, her body around his still vibrating with pleasure, and felt his teeth dig deeper into her flesh, growling even as his body continued to move, throwing her over the cliff of yet another orgasm until she was almost sobbing with the conflicting sensations.
Riddick growled again when she tried to move, his hands clutching her tightly to his body, caressing and teasing her shivering flesh. His teeth in her neck held her in place, even as his fingers tugged at her nipples, plucking at the sensitive flesh and making her gasp and try to arch up to him instinctively.
The witch moaned as she felt his body in hers, growing stiff and hard, swelling impossibly large inside her as she shivered with need under him. Her lover's groan of satisfaction vibrated through his chest and his hand pressed between their bodies again, his fingers rubbing and pulling her clit until Hermione was writhing, hips twitching beneath him. "Unghhh…Riddick… Riddick…"
His teeth tightened in her neck, hips moving in time with his fingers as he began to fuck her, hard and fast, his hand pressing down on her stomach. She had no choice but to feel every inch of his cock moving inside her, a battering ram of pure pleasure. She could smell her blood, sex, his seed and her juices, and the sweat of their bodies as he pounded into her.
"Riddick…unghhh…my Riddick…please…yes…" Hermione felt her body gathering for another orgasm, his teeth in her neck gripping her tight, controlling her movements, leaving her at his mercy. She could feel him, cock swelling harder, the tension riding him winding tighter and tighter as he neared his finish. Closer and closer, her body struggling for completion as he pounded into her, the witch moaned her desperation.
The release of his teeth from her neck, his lips sucking and laving the wound, allowed her to arch her body to his and threw her headlong into the most intense orgasm of her life. She screamed, her body shattering around him, wet and hot, throbbing as he thrust into her frantically, grinding inside her one last time, filling her womb in a fiery burst she could feel deep within. His voice was warm and dark in her ears but she couldn't think or understand.
She'd blanked out for a moment, pleasure overriding her brain. Hermione blinked up at Riddick and winced as she moved her neck. Her lover kissed her tentatively, her blood on his lips and she smiled, nipping at his lower lip affectionately. "Hmmm…" She kissed him again. "You bit me." It was all she could think of to say that wouldn't sound like an accusation.
He stiffened though, as if she had accused him of something heinous and his voice was wary. "Yeah."
"It was a surprise." She shrugged the shoulder that wasn't adjacent to the bite. "You needed to?"
He seemed to realize that she was only trying to understand and nodded. "Yeah… if you weren't mine, weren't agreeing to be my woman, wouldn't have needed to."
Hermione nodded, winced and offered him a smile. "You couldn't have warned me?"
"Wasn't…quite sure you'd let me." He was staring down at her, clearly trying to figure out if she was going to be angry with him.
"I agreed to be yours Riddick. Before you completely befuddled me with sex." She reminded him gently. "If that's what it takes to be yours then I'm not angry. Surprised but not angry."
"I mostly go on instinct," Riddick's tone was as close to conciliatory as he got and Hermione knew it was the only apology he was likely to give. "It'll scar…but it's my mark on you. Makes you mine, as much as you giving your body to me, the mark…seals it?"
The witch kissed him again, "All right." She nuzzled him affectionately. "I can still wear a shirt over it? You'll know it's there no matter what right?"
"It's supposed to warn other men away from you, fuckin' lot of good it'll do covered up." He sounded grumpy, irritated at the thought. "But I guess since you're still in school you have to wear collared shirts."
She smirked up at him despite the little aches and twinges of a body unused to such appetites. "Riddick, I'm pretty sure everyone in the school already knows I'm yours. Word gets around you know. It's no secret you were ready to kill the three students who attacked us."
He shifted to lie on his side, relieving her of his weight and surveying her body with unmistakable satisfaction. "Good, never put up with anyone trying to kill me, that's not about to change." He stroked one hand down her body, skimming over her hip to cup her thigh. "Fucking beautiful. And mine." His growl filled her mouth as he kissed her and she couldn't help smiling.
"Yours," She agreed and bit his lower lip. "And you're mine Riddick." She laughed softly at the surprised look on his face and kissed him again. "You claimed me Riddick. But I'm your witch and I claimed you too."
He smiled at her slowly and lowered his head to hers, his whisper dark and sweet against her mouth. "No going back sweetness."
Hermione slid her hands up his chest, absolutely love the way his silver eyes darkened to pewter at her touch. "I don't want to go back Riddick. I'm going forward at your side."
His eyes darkened to nearly black and he pressed forward, his lips hot on hers before he pulled her up against his body and groaned as she shivered against him. "Time is it Mya?" His lips rubbed against her pulse and the bite mark sending flashes of pleasure through her despite or perhaps because of its raw state. "Don' t want you to be late."
"Hmm...don't care." Hermione sighed.
He chuckled and looked up as a clock appeared on the wall in the Room. "It's all right we've got time." Big hands pulled a blanket up around her shoulders. "Gotta like this room."
She smiled as he pulled her closer, "You know I have a theory Riddick. About you. About why the Room responds to you."
His lips jerked up in a half smile as he began to unplait her braid, "Is it not supposed to?"
Hermione smiled, "People without any magic have nothing to help them see Hogwarts. There would be nothing for the Room to interact with. The Room has its own magic but if you don't have any you can come in with a witch or a wizard but the Room won't react to your thoughts or requirements."
Riddick's hand carded through her hair as he answered, lips on her throat, his mind clearly not entirely on the conversation. "Hmm...so you think I'm some sort of a wizard?"
She rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest, right above the handprint, adding sternly, "Do I need to put on my clothing to make you pay attention?"
"Fuck no," His vehement response was extremely flattering even as he considered what she'd said. "Okay, so you think I've got some magic. But you said there are people who aren't witches or wizards who can see Hogwarts but they can't do magic." His tone changed slightly as he spoke, his thoughts clearly no longer on her body pressed against his.
"Squibs." Hermione nodded. "They have just enough magic to see the castle, interact with the ghosts, that sort of thing. But I've never heard of them being able to blast three attackers with energy out of pure anger."
"And because of the Wrath you think I'm a wizard?" Riddick's gaze hardened. "Would that make me good enough for you? Being like you?"
Hermione blinked at him in shock. His reaction was so far from what she'd expected that she was caught flatfooted. "What? No? Wait, you think..." She shook her head gathering her scattered thought. "I didn't have sex with you because I think you're a wizard."
"Then why?" His hand squeezed the nape of her neck, his voice a growl. "You start talking about this right after I claim you. Like you just realized you're bound to an ignorant savage and you've got to elevate him somehow."
"Oh my god!" Hermione poked him again. His conclusion that she was justifying this relationship by declaring him a wizard was the most insulting thing she'd ever heard. "You're such an ass! I had sex with you because I love you. I let you claim me because I love you and I want to be yours. I thought you loved me, even if it wasn't something you could say." She started to disentangle her body from his, rage setting her atremble, shoving at him impatiently. "It was an idea I came up with when I heard Madam Pomfrey talking in the hospital wing. Only magic can scramble someone's magical core. Powerful wild magic."
It was the first time she'd seen him caught completely by surprise. Sitting on the couch the Room had conjured and widened for their use, nude and comfortable in his skin Riddick was simply staring at her. "You're not lying."
Hermione drew the quilt around her body, vividly aware of her own nudity, the wild mass of her hair falling around her shoulders and down her back and the bloody bite mark on her neck aching. She'd never been as vulnerable to anyone in her life as she'd been lying next to Riddick and he'd thrown her trust in her face. "No, I'm not," She snapped the words out like a firecracker. "I gave myself to you Riddick. Gave you all of myself. And you just accused me of...of... the worst kind of hypocrisy. If that's what you think of me why did you claim me?"
Now he looked like he'd been caught flat footed, his eyes darting away from her and back, before he scrubbed a hand over his shaved skull. "I…couldn't not. I had to make you mine." His eyes darkened to near black as he stared at her. "You're... I don't have any words, not for what you are, not for me." He shook his head, "Can't say I love you because I don't know what that is. I'd kill for you Mya. I'd put my life on the line for you. I'd stand with you against anything."
She rolled her eyes at him again. "God Riddick, Harry could say the same thing. What makes what you feel for me different than what he does?" The witch was so angry her hair was throwing off sparks. She could feel her magic expanding to tingle over her skin.
"Because you're mine!" He stood and roared the words at her. "Damned if I'll let anyone else have you. Claim you. I'm going to keep you and take care of you. Protect you. It's gonna be my kid in your belly and me you come to when you're upset. Nothing that I haven't told you. I got no more secrets. I might be an ignorant savage but I'm yours now Mya. And you're mine. That's never gonna change." His stare could have burnt her alive it was so hot with fury. "I haven't put my life on the line for anyone in a long fucking time. Never risked more than I could survive. But for you... I'd burn the goddamn world down. I'd fucking tear my heart out to keep you. I don't know what the fuck that is. But it's inside me, in my blood, screaming it's will with every damn heartbeat. And it's for you." Riddick's growl reverberated through his body as he closed the distance between them, his hands clamping around her upper arms. "You wanted me. Thought that I was enough for you. Then you start talking about how I'm a wizard. Like I'm not enough unless I got magic. How the fuck was I supposed to take that?"
He was pressed against her now, blue light pulsing in that handprint on his chest and she could feel her magic rising to meet that pulsing light, her hair crackled and sparked with it. Eyes like black pearls glared down into hers. "Give me everything I ever wanted and in the next breath you're saying things that make me feel like I'm not good enough for you. Take me into your body, take my mark and then talk like what I am 's not enough. The fuck am I supposed to think?" Huge hands gave her a slight shake that was remarkably gentle given his anger and the amount of magic he was generating. "Don't know what I am besides Furyan but you belong to me now and I'm not giving you up!"
"I never asked you to!" She felt like snarling right back at him. "You're not less than me. You're brilliant. You're so damn intelligent and strong, and your magic matches you. I can feel it Riddick, your power, rubbing over mine. I don't care if you ever cast a spell. Or if all you do is lose your temper and blue light spills over you. My nature is to find answers. To solve puzzles and unwind riddles. I've never hidden that from you. If you don't like that all of the sudden because you have to see yourself differently then maybe you claimed the wrong witch. I thought it would be good news. I thought you'd be glad."
"Why would I care? Why'n the unholy fuck would I be glad?" Riddick's glare was no less intense but she was glad that even in his rage he could listen to her arguments. That boded well for the future at least.
"Because we could do the ritual I found," The witch snapped. "Because it wouldn't mean you 'sucking the magic out of me'. It would be safe. Even if you have a different type of power, magic is magic. Mine is wrapped around you now and it isn't hurting you. That light, the Wrath, whatever you call it, isn't hurting me."
He pulled her closer, the rage seeming to drain out of him with each breath, "All this, the whole 'you've got magic' is because you want to..." Riddick kept his gaze fixed to her face as if reading her expression, almost daring her to lie. "Because you want to do the ritual the binds us together, body and soul. So we can't lose each other, ever."
"Yes." She was still irritated with him and it showed in her tone. She may as well have added 'you fucking moron' after her clipped answer.
"Woman, talk about burying the lead." He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him and half carrying her back to the couch. There he kept her wrapped in the quilt and pressed his mouth and nose to her neck, inhaling deeply.
Hermione let him hold her, though she deliberately kept her hands light and impersonal on his shoulders and remained stiff in his arms. Her anger was still buzzing through her veins though her magic had at least stopped sparking at his touch. But as her anger subsided the hurt she'd felt at his accusation came rushing back and she blinked back tears. "Riddick, what you said, what you accused me of, that was incredibly hurtful. And rude. I haven't ever done anything to deserve you treating me like that."
His sigh was followed by his arms pulling her closer, "Yeah. I know. I shouldn't have said that. I took what you were saying all wrong." He leaned back so he could look her in the eyes. "It's not easy for me to think the best of people sweetness. I don't have a lot of experience with anyone doing, like you said that one time, doing what's right over what's easy."
"Riddick, you claimed me, you've said I'm yours. Even after you accused me of that...you still said I'm yours." She wanted so badly to understand what was going through his head. "I can't comprehend how you can say that and believe that, and then think I'd even... That I could behave that way. Don't you trust your own judgment?"
He shook his head, "Always did before. But I never met anyone like you. You're like a honey pot, all the qualities I want, pulling me in. For me though, trust never works out. People end up dead, selling me out, setting mercs on my ass. And with you," Riddick paused, visibly trying to figure out what to say. "You haven't done any of that. You've fought to protect me. Stood up for me to your friends…even. Part of me can't believe you're real. Even knowing you're mine. Feeling it, in here," He thumped his chest with the side of his fist. "I keep waiting for the shiv in the dark. Because it's been my experience that it always comes. Honey pots always have a trap."
It was her turn to sigh. "I get that. I do. I suppose I just hoped you knew me well enough to give me the benefit of the doubt if I wasn't holding a knife or wand in my hand and holding you prisoner." Hermione shook her head, "This won't work between us if you can't trust me at least a little."
"I do sweetness..." Riddick closed his eyes wearily. "I warned you that I was fucked in the head didn't I? Told you I lost everyone? Necros took away everything I ever knew. I don't wanna lose you too Mya. But I gotta understand your intentions. Beating around the bush isn't the way to get through to me. You gotta say stuff straight out. Because I'll jump right to the wrong conclusion and the worst possible way. That's how my brain works. That's how I've stayed alive so damn long. By rights I shoulda been dead couple dozen times over. But I know people, I know the base of them. I've never really gotten to see the best of them. Not even with Jack or Abu. A little bit with Caroline but I saw the worst of her, the base of her, before she ever tried to be better."
Hermione relaxed against him finally, resting her head on his shoulder, "All right. I'll try to give you the headline first and then get into the explanations." She sighed sadly, more grieved than she could express over how badly he'd been treated in the past that even trusting and caring for her, he still had such an awful kneejerk reaction.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I'm an insensitive ass and jumped to conclusions," Riddick's hand threaded into her hair, rubbing her neck and scalp. The gentle caress said more about his regret and concern than his words ever could.
"Thank you." She kissed his throat. "You're forgiven. First offense and all." His idiocy could be excused once, provided he didn't make a habit of leaping to conclusions. And even furious with her, he hadn't hurt her, hadn't called her names. As far as reactions went his had been fairly mild considering his history. She hadn't even been dating Ron during fourth year and he'd been unbelievably vitriolic when she'd gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum.
"Thank fuckin' God," Riddick pulled her closer. "Be some kind of a record, woman wanting the claim dissolved five minutes after it's sealed."
"Only you Riddick," Hermione shook her head in teasing dismay, laughing at him softly. His sense of humor always made her laugh, no matter how awful the circumstances.
"Told you I was unique." His rusty chuckle mixed with her laughter.
Author's Note: So the course of true love never did run smooth. They were kinda due a bump in the road, even if he was just interpreting something wrong and reacting badly. I didn't want it to be huge but I did want to show that Riddick does have some issues still. Hermione might forgive him but he can't keep doing that or there'll be a real problem.