Hermione oped her eyes blinking slowly. It took her a minute to place herself. The luxurious room was only vaguely familiar. And though she was very comfortable, her head was definitely not on a pillow. The masculine scent filled her nostrils and she smiled. She was nested on the arms of the Duke of Wiltshire. The images of last night came back on a flood.

"Warm milk, with a twist," he had said, smiling and placing a mug on the kitchen table in front of her.

"Thank you, your Grace, she had answered, feeling way more daring than her usual demure self. She smelled hints of something sweet, like caramel or vanilla and raisins, and...alcohol? She looked at him, a questioning but flirtatious look on her face

"Brandy. From my cellars. The best in Europe. If that doesn't make you sleepy you are in trouble."

She took a long sip of the delicious concoction and let it warm her up. It was very relaxing, but it didn't help with her current state of arousal. She opened her eyes and he was looking at her intently from across the table

"I am pulled towards you," he admitted. "Is like nothing I have ever felt. I know kinship, but this is not it. This is different, is more like…"

'Longing?" she asked

"Longing," he confirmed. She stood up and walked around the table to him

"Yearning?"

"Yes, yearning," he said, pushing back his chair to let her come close

"Desire?" she asked, standing in front of him,

"Desire, definitely," he said pulling to undo the tie of her robe and sliding his hands around her naked waist to pull her closer to straddle him. The kiss was deep, intense, and they both felt a crackling that could only be magic, a channeling of their power into their union. He kissed and licked her jawline, neck, collarbone, and breasts thoroughly before standing up to deposit her on the table, then kissing his way down her belly to reach her core. She arched herself in pleasure, entranced by the view of his grey eyes looking at her lustfully from down there. She surrendered to the intense feeling and her reward came in wave after wave of ecstasy. When she came down from her high he kissed his way back up to her mouth, then closed and tied her robe back before lifting her in his arms.

"Let's take this to the bedroom before Mrs. Pomfrey decides she wants a midnight snack and we give her a heart attack," he said kissing her temple.

She chuckled, leaning her head on his shoulder and holding onto his neck, feeling elated. When they got to the bedroom he deposited her on the bed and proceeded to make love to her in every possible way, a night like neither of them have had in their long lives.

"That's a smile I want to wake up to," he said, bringing her back to the present moment.

She lifted her eyes and found stormy grey looking at her with something that can only be described as adoration.

"Good morning, Your Grace."

"You use the title to mock me, don't you?"

"A little. It's kind of sexy, though. Makes me feel like I have to do as you command."

He lifted her up on top of him on a swift move

"I think I like that very much," he said, pulling her down for a kiss.

A couple of hours later after another round on the bed and a very eventful shower together they finally made it out of the room.

"Good!" they turned around at the sound of Pansy's voice "it only took you two about seventy years to fuck that out of your systems. I guess that's not bad for immortals."

Harry chuckled at her quip while the other two rolled their eyes and they all exchanged morning greetings. Pansy grabbed Hermione and pulled her to walk with her in front, whispering questions in her ear. The two women walked holding hands, giggling and sharing confidences. The two men exchanged complicit looks, both obviously turned on by the female interactions. It was obvious that they were comfortable touching each other's bodies, and that would be a sight.

When they got downstairs they stopped at the threshold of the kitchen. Ron was sitting at the table, Parvati standing next to him, holding him by the hair while she gave him a lascivious kiss. When she was done she simply let go of him and walked away without saying a word. She only stopped in front of Draco, looked at the newcomers and said

"Let me know if you will be needing any contracts. This sudden influx of associates is not ideal for business. Makes it hard for me to keep track of your fuck ups. I'll be in my office in London." And with that, she kept walking.

"Who's the sweetheart?" asked Pansy, taking a seat on the table.

Ron tilted his head to watch the lawyer go, following the movement of her hips on the tight pencil skirt.

"She's actually quite delightful, once you crack the bitch shell."

"So you shattered her open with your big man hammer?" Pansy countered cynically.

"I did," he said raising his coffee mug in a toast. "And I found an endless well of sweetness inside." the others answered with snorts.

Ron shook himself from the sex daydream, looked at the couples and said

"Well, since we are all obviously well rested and thoroughly fucked to satisfaction what's the plan?"

"I think we need to go looking for the vials," said Hermione but she stopped herself when Madam Pomfrey made her cheery way into the kitchen.

"Good morning everyone!" the old lady chirped. "There's coffee, tea, eggs, muffins, crumpets, sausages…" she said pointing at the different pots and pans on the huge stove.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," replied Draco, "if you don't mind we have some business to discuss, so we will help ourselves."

"Of course, dear," she said happily and walked out towards another wing of the house. The woman was a treasure.

"I think we need to find the vials and destroy them," Hermione continued. "Hopefully, we can handle them as if we were fighting an immortal, cracking them with a cursed blade. I guess the difficulty will be in conjuring the power only to break an object, is different than conjuring when being attacked."

"I have done it," said Pansy, Draco, and Ron at the same time.

"I think I got the ability to conjure the power on its own from Grindelwald", said Pansy, "he had likely thought about it, maybe he knew Riddle's secret and had planned on striking him."

"I learned it from the Samurai," offered Ron. "I spent the early 1800s in Japan and the immortals there believed in charging the swords with the power of their own. I always thought it was overkilled. Turns out it was a useful skill I guess."

"I just can," Draco said plainly.

"Alright then," said Hermione. "There are four areas we need to explore. Scotland, Norway, France, and Albania. Any ideas on how to narrow that down?"

"What do we know about Riddle? Maybe we can get some clues if we can figure out his mind" Harry ventured. "I met him for the first time in Ireland but I don't think he is from there. I think he is a Scot."

"Dumbledore might be able to help," said Draco. "Let's finish breakfast and we find out what else he knows."

They did so. Draco had ordered the painting reframed by his carpenter as soon as they arrived at the manor and it was now on a private drawing room, hanging on a wall facing floor to ceiling windows. When they entered the room the man in the painting seemed to be contentedly looking at the landscape.