Hermione woke shivering slightly and felt Riddick's arms around her, pulling her close. Warm lips trailed over her jaw and up to her ear, nuzzling her lazily. Turning her in his arms, his mouth met hers and gently devoured, teasing and torturing her with tender pleasures until she was moaning in her throat and arching against him.
But he only left her mouth to fasten his lips to her breasts, sucking one nipple into his mouth and laving it with his tongue while his fingers tugged and rolled the other. She could almost feel his satisfaction when her hands clutched at his skull and her back arched, thrusting her breasts up to his mouth.
That low, almost evil, chuckle she loved so much drifted over her skin like a velvet caress as Riddick's hand slid between her thighs, nudging them apart even as he lowered his body to hers. The feel of him, wide blunt tip pressing to her entrance sent a thrilling rush of heat through her body and she moaned again, instinctively rolling her hips up to his.
Instead of sliding inside her in one slow smooth thrust her mate chose to ease his way inside her body. His hips pressed forward minutely and then retreated, sliding forward a bit more and retreating again until she was writhing under him and trying in vain to meet his hips with hers.
The feel of him, pressing down to her, finally grinding his hips to hers, left her gasping and Hermione clutched at his back, wrapping her legs around his waist, loving how his body shifting inside hers drew a groan from his lips.
Her satisfaction over provoking his reaction was short lived. A single swivel of his hips had her crying out at the shock of fire that began to fill her body. Slow, deliberate, restrained movements of his hips kept her from any coherent thought until she was coming in long hot waves that seemed to roll through her body without end.
"That's my woman," Riddick's voice growled in her ear. "That was for you." He pulled her up and easily set her on her hands and knees, "This." He paused and drove hard and deep inside her from behind, one hand on her hips, fingers just touching her clit, the other on her breast. "This is for me."
Hermione moaned as his body pounded into hers. Hard and rough and wonderful, his hands brooked no hesitation in her responses, demanding, insisting upon her pleasure, wave after wave of ecstasy rolling over her. It took all of her strength and what concentration she had left to stay upright. And then his teeth snapped down onto her nape, her long hair wrapped around in his fist and her body was flat on the soft forest floor, Riddick still huge and hard inside her.
His fingers tugged on her clit and she wailed his name as his cock dug deeply in her, her body stretching around him. "Come for me woman. My wife. Come for me right fucking now!" He pinched her clit and slammed his hips against her and the orgasm that overtook her seemed to explode out from his fingers and her spine until she was dizzy and hazy-eyed with pleasure.
She woke the second time in Riddick's arms, her husband carrying her through the forest towards Hogwarts. "Hmm…" She rubbed her cheek against his collarbone.
"Awake again sweetness?" His voice was amused and concerned.
"Yes. Are we going to Hogwarts or your place in the Forbidden Forest?" It occurred to her that the direction he was taking was towards both.
"Hogwarts. Need to get us both cleaned up." His dark chocolate voice was carefully neutral.
"Well I imagine we're both a little dirty," She offered trying to discern why he suddenly seemed so disturbed.
"That's not the half of it sweetness." He shook his head and continued to carry her, held close to his chest all the way up to their hidden suite and its attached bath.
Once he removed their cloaks Hermione understood what he'd meant. She was covered with love bites, some of them with teeth marks, her knees and wrists were bruised and she was fairly certain some of the bruises on her hips and thighs were from Riddick's hands. His own toffee colored skin had its fair share of marks as well and she guessed that whatever aspect of Ostera had possessed her was a fairly energetic and equally animalistic partner.
"Do they hurt?" She touched a particularly deep bite with purpling bruises around it on his shoulder.
"Do I hurt?" He looked at her incredulously, "Woman you're all over bruises, from me. You've practically got my handprint on your hip."
Hermione shrugged and began to run the bath, adding herbs she knew would cleanse the wounds and help ease her muscles. "Love I've fought in a war. You didn't savage me. We engaged in some very, very, energetic sex while acting as avatars for what seemed to be the ancient god and goddess of spring. I was expecting it to be hard to sit down honestly. This is… well, this doesn't worry me."
Riddick shook his head, chuckling and helped her into the tub, climbing in beside her. "Every damn time." He kissed her temple. "Every time I think I've got you figured, you go on and surprise me all over again."
The first inkling she had that something had changed was the ease with which she completed the transfiguration exercise. She normally took a few tries to get it right. It wasn't that she didn't understand the theory or the instructions. But gathering the right amount of magical power had always taken her several attempts.
Harry blinked at her when she flicked her wand and her snail turned into an elaborate snuffbox, complete with gems glittering on the lid. He wasn't far behind her, his wand work needed only the smallest correction to be effective. He waited until class was over before walking at her side opposite of Riddick and his voice when he did speak, was hesitant. "Uh, Hermione… You…make any changes lately?"
The witch regarded him curiously and shook her head. "No. Not that I recall. Why?"
"I just…noticed that you've…" Harry ran a hand through his hair a bit nervously, trying to smooth it down. It was a habit she knew was left over from his time at the Dursley's when his aunt had admonished him daily about his unruly hair.
"Harry, it's okay, just come out and say whatever you need to." Hermione relaxed into Riddick's side and smiled at her brother.
"You know I'm sensitive to magical auras." Harry reminded her and she nodded. It wasn't widely known but part of why Harry seemed so easily drawn to trouble was his ability to sense large amounts of magic. People mucking about with the third floor corridor for instance, left huge magical footprints and the impressions drew Harry like a moth to flame. Dark magic gave him headaches and healing spells (when he was conscious) tended to make him giddy, now that the horcrux was out of his skull. It was part of why he'd been so helpful with her warding project for her NEWTs. If she could fool his senses the average wizard or witch would be completely stymied.
"Of course." She nodded thoughtfully, "I thought that's part of why you and Ginny weren't together anymore honestly. Once we found out she'd never had treatment, her aura must have almost abraded yours when you two were close."
"Yeah, I think that might have been part of it, even if we never talked about it," Harry nodded and half smiled. "Now that she's better it's funny, we still don't work together. We're fine as friends but our magic doesn't want to mingle the way yours and Riddick's does. Or the way mine does with Luna."
Hermione chuckled, "One more thing Wizarding raised people figure 'everyone knows' and don't bother to explain to the newbies."
"Yeah." Harry shifted uncomfortably. "But the reason I asked is…well it's almost like you've gotten some sort of power boost. Your aura was always strong but now it's nearly crackling. You're practically throwing off sparks. Your magic and Riddick's…it's so strong, bound together and perfectly attuned, it's really amazing."
"You think…" Riddick began, looking down at her.
"It's possible… if there was some sort of binding, the ritual could have broken it." Hermione nodded. "Very possible actually. Ostera isn't something that can be controlled."
"Ostera…" Harry's voice lowered. "You two did a rite of Spring? Are you insane? There's nowhere around here that's safe for that."
Hermione folded her arms, "Don't make assumptions Harry. Have I ever undertaken a ritual without a complete understanding of what it means and with full appreciation for the safety of those involved?"
Harry shook his head, quailing slightly at her tone and phrasing. "No… no you haven't."
"Then trust we didn't do anything foolish or risky this time." She admonished quietly. "I wouldn't risk Riddick and he wouldn't risk me."
"All right…but what did you do?" Harry asked finally.
Hermione looked around at the empty hallway. "We'll have to run if we're going to make Charms. I'll tell you afterwards. We have a free period then."
Neville, Luna and, not entirely unsurprisingly, Ginny, joined the three of them in the Room of Requirement and Harry looked at Hermione expectantly. "All right. We made it through Charms." He sat back and waited.
Hermione sighed and began to explain the rite she and Riddick had taken part in, the reasons for it and the apparent result which Harry had noticed. Neville frowned thoughtfully and exchanged a look with Ginny and Luna before all three of them shook their heads or shrugged in mystification. "Honestly Hermione, an Ostera rite…that wouldn't do anything to change you. The whole idea is that you're honoring the Old Ones, our ancestors. The benefit is much less…localized."
Ginny nodded, "A fruitful season, success hunting, guidance from the Gods… those are all expected and hoped for results."
"But for someone who channeled Ostera to gain in power is…unheard of. It's Spring. No human being can hope to hold such power, other than the temporary and highly specified service as a vessel." Luna agreed. "If you gained in power it was yours all along. Participating in the rite might have…freed it somehow?" She glanced at Neville curiously.
"That's actually highly likely." The scion of Longbottom House nodded. "Spring is…riotous, for want of a better word. An artificial block on your magic would be anathema to Ostera."
Hermione looked at Riddick who just shrugged and rubbed at the knots of tension in the base of her neck. "Who would have put a binding on me?" She shook her head, "Who could have? My parents wouldn't have allowed it. We weren't in the enemy's hands long enough for such a thing. And I wouldn't block my own power."
Harry's laugh was a short derisive bark, "I'll give you three guesses who and the first two don't count." He told her quietly. "Who had the power to do it, the ability and access to all of us?"
The Muggleborn blinked, her mind racing and a very Furyan growl burst from her lips as she came to the inevitable conclusion. "Fucking Dumbledore!"
Ginny shook her head, "I don't doubt it, but why? What purpose would it serve?"
"Control," Hermione snarled. "The old man was all about control. Raising Harry as a sacrificial lamb. Giving just enough information to entice and lead but never enough to solve the puzzle until the very end. Every year a new obstacle, and never a thing done about the budding Deatheaters bullying their way through the student population."
Riddick's slow thoughtful voice interrupted would might have turned into a fine rant. "If that's the case, might be a good idea to check all of you for bindings or blocks or whatever you want to call them. 'Less you think he would have stopped at Hermione?"
Hermione barely had the thought before the Room provided a book opened to the proper chapter. Her wand in hand she practiced the motions as she silently read the incantation. "This spell…its used by Healers… it can undo all bindings not willingly undertaken."
"Maybe we ought to get someone to oversee this?" Ginny suggested nervously and Neville's emphatic nod echoed her concern.
"Magical bindings can release a lot of power," Luna said softly.
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded, "All right. But I want to do the spell that will detect the bindings. So we know if they're there." That got her a round of nods and she flipped through the pages of the book for the appropriate spell. A moment of memorization and she had the spell firmly fixed in her mind. "Revalio Nexum!"
It wasn't much of a surprise when every single person in the room save she and Riddick began to glow. Hermione's gaze hardened and she looked at Harry. "Every one of us was in the infirmary after the Ministry of Magic debacle." She reminded him. "Either Dumbledore did this with Madam Pomfrey's knowledge or he did it behind her back."
Harry's face had settled into the grim lines of the battle hardened man he'd become last year and he nodded. "So we go to Madam Pomfrey first. And ask if we have any bindings on us. If she says no, we know she's lying and we go to McGonagall."
Hermione nodded after looking at Riddick and seeing his resolve. If the healer had something to do with the bindings put on her and the others, then Riddick would want to know why. A shiver ran up her spine, the anxious feeling taking root in her brain and she hoped she was wrong.
Madam Pomfrey was someone Hermione and Harry could always count on. Until this year she'd been warm and supportive, kind and generous and not once had she given them any indication that their wellbeing was not her first priority. She'd patched them up after countless scuffles, adventures and plain old accidents for so long that it was almost impossible to conceive of her having any part in someone's intentions to do them harm.
Almost. Almost impossible.
Hermione waited with her friends and brother and husband for the gargoyle to allow them entry to the Headmistress's office and wished she didn't feel like her entire world had been shaken about and put back in place upside down. Pomfrey's expression of polite interest as they'd explained their suspicions rose in front of her again.
The Healer had completed the Revalio spell but only eyes as sharp as a Seeker's or as suspicious as Riddick's would have seen the slight deviation in her wand movements. The disappointment Hermione'd felt upon hearing the Healer lie had been like a sick weight in her stomach. It had taken all of the skill she possessed to thank the woman and lead the rest of them without comment from the infirmary.
Professor McGonagall had apparently allowed them entry as the gargoyle leapt aside without a word.
Hermione's gaze once they were within the office went unerringly towards Dumbledore's portrait. "Did you cast the bindings? She couldn't have, it would interfere with a Healer's oath, but once they were there, she could act as if a parent had placed them. It couldn't have been Voldemort; he didn't have contact with us until well after you were dead so there's no use blaming it on him."
The portrait of the late, great, Leader of the Light, stroked his beard and shook his head, "I'm sorry my dear, but I'm afraid I don't understand you."
Behind her Riddick growled and Hermione looked at McGonagall. "I'm hoping like mad that you weren't aware of this. That you knew nothing of what he'd done. Or what she did. She could only have done it if she wasn't actually a full-fledged Healer. If she didn't take the oath. If she's not a true Healer then she shouldn't be working in a school."
"Miss…" The Headmistress stopped and corrected herself, "Mrs. Riddick, I promise you. I swear on my magic that I knew nothing of any binding cast upon any of my students." Her wand lit with a wordless Lumos and Hermione smiled gratefully.
"Thank you ma'am. You have no idea how comforting that is to hear. All of us, besides Riddick have had bindings of some sort placed upon us. Mine were broken recently. But everyone else's are still in place." The Muggleborn explained quietly.
"Yeah, really not thrilled about the whole 'binding' thing anyway. It's not like I don't have enough trouble," Neville added dryly.
"Odd that it's only those of us who went to the Department of Mysteries who have bindings," Luna added pointedly. Ginny nodded her agreement, her brown eyes glaring at Dumbledore's portrait.
"We don't know that for sure," Riddick pointed out. "Easiest way to tell will be for someone to cast the spell at mealtime in the Hall."
Professor McGonagall nodded and sighed sadly, "I must admit, parents will occasionally add a temporary binding to a child's magical core if they display a large and early amount of accidental magic. Such as Mr. Potter levitating the pet cat into the crib with him. Regardless of the cat's willingness to be there."
Harry blushed and shook his head, "But that sort of binding should be removed once I started school right?"
"Normally yes," The older woman nodded. "It appears that your medical care has been somewhat…remiss." That she would have preferred to use stronger language was quite obvious to everyone in the room.
"So where should we go to get the damn things removed?" Riddick had been quiet so far but that time was clearly at an end. "There was some mention of magical backlash when bindings are broken?"
McGonagall nodded, "There are a few rooms off the great hall which are suitable. Once it was a matter of course to remove any bindings put on the children before they were sorted. The house elves can be set to cleaning them up and any excess magic can be channeled into the wards from those chambers."
"Guessin' you know the unbinding spells?" Riddick regarded her thoughtfully. "Might wanna have Hermione or me watch you, some of the others too… if there's a bunch of kids bound, best to have more than one person undoing them."
The Headmistress nodded firmly, "An excellent suggestion Mr. Riddick. Now…" She took a deep breath, visibly bracing herself, "Shall we go down to dinner?"
She couldn't believe how many of the students had bindings on them. Most of them Muggleborn or from Slytherin. But none of them first or second years, which meant that it had been Dumbledore who'd bound the magic of the incoming first years three years ago. McGonagall had been so shocked she'd gone white and had to sit down at the sight of more than half the hall glowing with the telltale gold hue of Dumbledore's bindings.
Thankfully the house elves had responded to her Headmistress's call and handed each bound student a note with a number on it. Hermione shook her head as number twenty-four was called and Astoria Greengrass entered the chamber with a hesitant step. Hermione gave her a (hopefully) reassuring smile. "Just relax Miss Greengrass. It won't hurt at all, you'll feel… a little lighter when it's done, and your magic should come more easily."
"Why are you doing this?" Astoria was apparently a little confused. "You and your…husband? Husband." She repeated the word firmly when Hermione nodded a confirmation of the relationship. "Neither of you are Pureblood. Why do you care if that old man bound our magic?"
"Because no one deserves that." Hermione told her quietly. "Harry and I fought for everyone to be equal. Not for Halfbloods and Muggleborn to be better. Equal means everyone on the same footing, with all the natural abilities we're born with. You don't deserve to have your magic bound just because you've been sorted into Slytherin. Slytherin means you're ambitious and willing to bend the rules a bit. It doesn't mean you're lazy or prejudiced. Used to be it didn't even mean you were Pureblood."
"Slytherin's always stood for purity of blood though," Astoria argued in her cool elegant voice. "Ever since he refused to teach anyone not born to a magical family."
"Well he had good reason to didn't he?" Hermione began to flick her wand, incanting the unbinding spell. When she was done Astoria's magic burst out of her in a flare that made the runes around the room glow bright blue. The Muggleborn continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. "After all, back then Christianity was saying magic came from the devil. It wasn't always safe to educate the children of more religious families. They might not keep the secret of magic. They might tell others who'd then turn to violence. But the times have changed and very few people think unusual abilities mean a person is evil. If Slytherin were alive now, he probably wouldn't have an issue teaching Muggleborn. After all, no one's been burnt at the stake for quite a while now."
Astoria stared at her a moment and curtsied politely. "Thank you Miss, Mrs. Riddick." She offered her gratitude with a thoughtful expression.
Hermione grinned as she watched the girl go. She might not be around to see it but maybe Wizarding society could change.