Disclaimer:- I neither own nor earn anything from this story. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowlings and associates.

oOo

A/N:- This is it folk, this is the chapter that finally contains the lemons. As always thank you to everyone for your wonderful comments and kudos, and a huge thank you to Golden Asp for her beta work on this chapter.

Chapter Twenty-five – Important Things Settled

Over the next few days, things were put into place for the start of next term. The interview process went well, and Hogwarts had a new school nurse and a centaur teaching Divination once more.

Madam Margaret Entwhistle was to be the new school nurse. She was a very experienced nurse, who of all things, was Professor Sprout's sister. The witch was a widow; she had the same short iron-grey hair, rotund stature and merry disposition as her sister, and it had been a unanimous decision by all heads of house and the headmaster to employ her.

It appeared that Dumbledore had appealed to Firenze to come back and fill the other vacant position. But of course, that didn't affect Hermione or Severus, neither of them had anything to do with Divination, apart from being united in the view that Sybil Trelawney was no longer fit for the job.

Unfortunately, Margaret Entwhistle did concern them; she meant work for them both. With four days left before the start of term, she had asked for almost an entirely new store of medicinal potions. Emily and Isabella were still away in France, staying with Draco and Gabrielle while visiting their grandmother, and Severus and Hermione had hoped to get away themselves. It appeared however, that just wasn't to be, as they had been busy in Severus' lab almost the entire time the girls had been gone.

It was now late in the evening and the pair had been working non-stop to get things ready. "I have to say that this variant of burn salve really does appear to be better than the one Pomfrey used," Severus stated as he toiled over a large cauldron.

"Yes, all of the new matron's suggestions have brought the infirmary more up to date," Hermione agreed, unable to hide her yawns any longer.

This was also their last night before the girls returned, and term started tomorrow. Gremble had not told them that any part of Severus' new estates were ready for them to inspect yet, and Severus was starting to become agitated about this, wondering what was wrong. He glanced at Hermione as she yawned once more. "These will be our last potions tonight," and his gaze shifted to the extensive list hovering between them. Thankfully most of them had a thick red line through them, and a wave of his hand crossed off the two they were currently working on. This left only three still to be brewed; it had been a mammoth effort, but they were almost complete. Severus watched Hermione starting to bottle the potion she'd been working on, and he gathered the jars for his.

Finally, they were finished for the night, and they both stumbled out of the lab, exhausted yet again. They fell into Severus' bed, too tired to worry about more, and were soon both asleep, snuggled up together.

The next morning was when it got difficult, as it always did. Hermione opened her eyes to see Severus observing her quietly with a smile on his face. "Hello," she whispered, her voice still heavily doped with sleep.

Severus took a deep breath. "Hello," his silky voice rumbled, caressing the wispy curls floating around her face. His hand came up and pulled her head towards his. The kiss was soft but grew in intensity very quickly.

"I want you," Hermione sighed, in an almost pained whisper as their lips parted and they knew they had to get up before things went further.

"And I you, love," he replied with just as much frustration in his voice. "We better get ready and head down to breakfast. I'll brew the coffee while you shower," and he gave her a small kiss.

Unfortunately, she followed his head as he pulled back, and their mouths merged into a somewhat desperate kiss. Hermione shifted her hips forward as their lips and tongues mingled and she started rubbing herself on his morning erection.

Severus knew that they shouldn't do it, but he was only human, and her rubbing was driving him crazy. He rolled her onto her back, his mouth devouring hers and their combined groans of delight filling the room.

They were both wearing their clothes from the night before, and Hermione started undoing the buttons of her top and opened her legs as they kissed, allowing Severus to settle between them and rub against her clothed centre. She moaned loudly with each of his strokes against her.

"Off, I want our clothes off," she groaned.

In the heat of the moment Severus did it instinctively, and suddenly they were flesh against flesh. It felt so good, but it was also what brought him back to his senses. "No," he gasped, finding the will to stop his movements and shift off her. He held himself over her, desperately not touching her, and when he looked down it was into her suddenly angry eyes.

"I hate this place," she hissed, her eyes already welling with tears of frustration. "I want you, I need you," and she took a ragged breath. "Why did you stop?"

Severus could clearly hear her exasperation in her voice. "I stopped, my darling, because I want your first time to be perfect for you."

"But I ache for you, Severus," she cried, the tears starting to fall.

"And I for you, dear one, but surely the goblin will contact us soon," he said, still trying to hold himself away from her, but at the same time attempting to sooth her tears away. "Come on, love, you have first shower." He kissed her temple, and whispered into her ear as an idea struck him. "Imagine I'm there with you, maybe use your fingers to help out," and he watched her blush, but smile half-heartedly at him. "That's my girl," he murmured.

He tried his hardest not to watch as she slipped out of bed at his urging, and then into her dressing gown. She was still sniffing after her distress, but so help him, his eyes devoured all of the flesh he saw before it disappeared into her dressing gown. The view coupled with the coy but teasing look she sent him over her shoulder as she disappeared into the bathroom had his erection soaring back to life in no uncertain terms.

Severus forced himself to get out of bed and put his dressing gown on, however, his frustration vented itself not in tears, but as his fist connected with stone wall. He allowed the pain to solve his problem for him as he walked to the kitchen he started the coffee, trying not to think of Hermione taking his advice in the shower. He forced himself to focus his thoughts on the bespectacled stick insect, and that coupled with the rising bruises to his knuckles gave him relief. If that bloody goblin doesn't contact me soon… his mind pondered as he waited for the coffee to brew.

It was as he was thinking about this that Hermione came into the kitchen, and he cast a glamour over his battered hand, he was not ready to relinquish that pain yet, and he did not want her to worry over it. One look at her and it was immediately obvious that she hadn't taken his advice and she was still very frustrated. She sat down at the small table squeezing her legs together and swallowing hard.

"Why did you not relieve yourself?" he asked as gently as he could, trying to keep his displeasure over the whole business they were being subjected to under control.

Hermione swallowed hard. "I j-just couldn't, I wanted you to be there," and her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

Placing her coffee in front of her, he leant forward and kissed her head. "I understand," he said, and without further ado he was clad in his customary black robes. "Then I will not either. Come, we better get our day under way."

Severus led Hermione to the door and they wished Phineas a good morning, even though they didn't feel it. However, as they started up the hallway the tapestry caught there attention.

As usual it was reflecting Hermione's mood, and the couple under the cherry tree were very busy copulating like bunnies. "Oh, now that really sucks," she snipped.

"Ignore it, love," Severus encouraged, but after sneaking another look at the naked couple, hard at it on the seat under the cherry tree, and then glancing at Basil the Banal avidly watching the scene he withdrew his wand and blindfolded the portrait. "You dirty shit, how dare you watch that," he stated irritatedly.

They had just passed through the tapestry covering their hidden exit when Hermione stopped. "Do you think that tapestry will keep doing that forever."

"It's in a hidden passageway, love."

"But what if we leave?"

"Are you thinking of leaving?"

"At the moment, yes, but only if you and the girls do so as well," she added quickly.

"I'm glad we're invited."

"You know what I mean," Hermione told him, hearing the sarcasm in his voice.

"Would you like to leave? We do have the choice now."

"True, but I wouldn't want to leave our students in the lurch."

"No, you wouldn't," and he smiled at her.

"But I don't want to be this frustrated while living here either," she stated as Severus opened the doors of The Great Hall for her.

xox

"Oh dear," Minerva whispered to Albus, seeing how unsatisfied Hermione and Severus looked as they entered the hall for breakfast. They were both cradling matching mugs of coffee and identical belligerent expressions. "Can't you do something about those wards? Look at the poor dears, I don't think I've ever seen so much pent-up sexual tension, and we work around hormone driven teenagers."

Albus grimaced, he also saw the glow of Severus' glamour. He hadn't seen that since the height of the war when another frustration was his professor's constant companion. "I agree, the board has over-reacted to having younger members of staff, but my hands are tied; we need the money they supply us."

"But the governors didn't do anything before, I mean Severus has been on the staff for twenty years."

"Well, he seemed to be a confirmed bachelor," Albus pleaded, he had sensed the couples aborted attempt at intimacy this morning, just as he had two days ago when the wards had actually activated. He felt very sorry for them, and really thought the wards were an invasion of their privacy. Then there was the fact that he could sense things like that through the wards, it made him feel like a pervert invading the couple's privacy. The stupidest part was that they were only aimed at the teaching staff, and not the hundreds of randy teenagers who normally resided here.

"What utter rubbish! You need to try and do something quickly or you'll find yourself shy Potions and Arithmancy professors."

"I think perhaps it may be too late, the meeting with Ophelia didn't go well I'm afraid."

Minerva scoffed. "Well, I did warn you, that witch makes vinegar sweet."

Albus sighed, watching Severus seat Hermione and nod a curt good morning to him. Albus nodded and smiled to them both in return, before saying to his deputy, "I suppose I did do this whole thing to help two people along that seemed to belong together, I just didn't realise it would get this complicated."

"Yes you did, and they obviously do." She patted his forearm, "And what you've done is very sweet, you're a good man." She took a sip of her tea, before adding, with a chuckle. "An irritating one on occasion, but a good one."

"Thank you, Minnie," Albus said, before he'd heard the end of her comment. Then he sighed heavily once more. "What am I going to do?"

"Perhaps you should have been more up front with them, I think they're upset that you've kept this from them until they became engaged, and now they're stuck with wanting to further their relationship while waiting for several things to work out. They deserve the opportunity to be intimate; they're adults, this new rule is ridiculous, and you know it. Mr. Longbottom is also an adult who should be able to…" she stopped talking as Filius Flitwick walked passed. When she started speaking again, she leant in closer. "Make the three of them day teachers, then they only need to stay when they have duties outside of their classrooms."

"But Severus is..."

Minerva interrupted him. "Make Sinistra head of Slytherin, you know she's always wanted to be, and her husband wouldn't care, they do not spent any time together. Discuss it with Severus before it is too late."

"What of the trio of seventh years who have caused so much trouble?" Albus tried.

"They are more threat to Hermione and Severus, and by extension Emily and Isabella then they are to anyone else…" she thought for a time. "Well, any Order member really, I suppose, but I do not believe they would have a problem with Aurora Sinistra."

"I hope you are correct, Minnie," his comment was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. Albus looked up into the enchanted ceiling. "I'll offer them that solution if they want to leave."

"I really think you should do it now, Albus, or you might lose them for good."

"Oh, I can't believe that, Minnie," Albus said, horrified by that point.

Minerva realised that he had said it more to reassure himself than to disagree with her, but she still thought he was risking too much. She glanced down the table to where Severus was showing Hermione a letter he had received, and they both looked happy about it. That was the moment that she realised that perhaps it was already too late.

xox

The last of their brewing forgotten, Severus and Hermione were walking towards the front gates of Hogwarts. Gremble had owled Severus to tell him that while they were still working on the two large estates that the London house was ready for them to take possession.

Severus had floo-called Draco, asking if they could pick the girls up from their place later in the afternoon, and once he had confirmed that this was possible they had also Floo-called Gremble and started out of the castle on their way to London.

"I can't believe that goblins work on Sundays," Hermione said, smiling up at him.

"I've never thought about it before, but I suppose they have different priorities to us."

"I guess you're right," Hermione commented, going out the gate as Severus held it open for her. She gave him a cheeky look and smiled. "Do you think we'll be able to find a bed once we're there?"

"I will gladly lay on a bare floor," Severus chuckled, and watched Hermione blush. "In fact, I believe I might like to see you riding me." He pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow.

"Severus!" Hermione whispered, blushing more deeply.

He gave her a naughty half-smile, seeing lust curling in her eyes, and he stirred the pot. "I think we should try everything; on top, underneath, behind, sitting, standing."

"Stop, Sev, or we won't make it there, I swear."

Severus chuckled wickedly and side-alonged them to number two Grimmauld Place. When they landed in the little park opposite their new town house, Severus kissed her. "Do you know how pleased I am that you're talking to me as the optimistic witch? You're outlook on life seems to be back on kilter once more."

Hermione grinned at him. "Yes, I think you're right. Now come on, we have an agenda to achieve before we go back to that blasted old castle."

"Yes, little lioness," and he allowed her to drag him across the road and up to the front door of the house.

Gremble had apparently been waiting for them, because as they approached, the curtain beside the door fluttered and then the door opened for them. "Good morning, Lord Prince, Miss Granger. The house is ready for your inspection. Be assured it is perfectly safe now, I will leave you to personalise your wards, and I will contact you once more when we are finished with the other two properties."

"Very good," Severus said.

"Then I shall wish you both a good day," and he bowed his head before walking through the open door on their right and straight to the Floo.

As soon as they were alone, Severus immediately went to work on setting up security wards, and as he worked he sensed the house responding to him. It was a breezy presence and he felt comfortable with it and found that he liked it as an entity.

While he was occupied Hermione started exploring. She quickly found that the house was of a similar layout to the one up the road that she had spent so much time in as a teenager, except that this house seemed bigger. There were double doors both sides of the entrance way, and to her pleasure she found that someone in the past must have placed undetectable extension charms on the place.

She went through the doors on her right that the goblin had left open and found a surprisingly pleasant looking sitting room, closing those doors once she'd looked, she crossed the hall to her left and opened the other doors. It was a ballroom, much bigger than the one at number twelve and still in pristine condition with gilded mirrors lining the walls and French doors opening out onto a huge terrace, which again must have been magically enhanced.

Coming back into the hallway Hermione paused as she felt the whole building shudder, Severus' magic washed over her and she sighed in pleasure. While she was standing there, he came to join her.

"All secure, the building will recognise you, me, Emily and Isabella… and I added your father to the wards," Severus told her after pausing.

"Oh Sev, that was sweet of you," but then she gasped. "You're thinking that he might like to live here, aren't you?"

Severus shrugged one shoulder. "Well, it's only an eight minute tube ride to his work, and we'll have two other houses."

Hermione launched herself into his arms. "I love you," she told him, and her mouth was on his.

As it had this morning, their kiss quickly escalated to wild passion, and Severus started backing her towards the stairs. "The kitchen and dining room can wait, I'm more interested in the bedrooms at the moment," he mumbled to her between kisses.

"Mmm," she moaned, burying her fingers in his hair while she kissed him as he walked her backwards towards the stairs.

Arriving on the second floor Severus tried the first door and found a linen cupboard. He walked them on to the next room while allowing Hermione to kiss and lick his lips and neck. He groaned softly in the back of his throat when she also started rubbing herself against him each time they stopped. He forced his eyes to stay open to see where they were going, even though the sensations from what she was doing made him want to just surrender to her ministrations right there and then. The next door turned out to be a bathroom, but in the next there was a bed, so he walked them in.

When she felt the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed Hermione willingly fell backwards on to it, pulling Severus down on top of her. "Get us naked," she demanded, as she had done that morning.

Severus snickered and they were naked. He continued kissing her, but he started working his way down over the column of her throat and onto her collar bones.

All Hermione could do was pant encouragement; she had waited for this moment for so long that words failed her. She eagerly opened to him, allowing his fingers to sink inside her for the first time. It was exquisite, it felt like she had been on the edge of what was currently building inside her ever since the wards had parted them two nights ago.

The sounds she was making were music to Severus' ears, and he thought he just may burst before they were finished. Hermione's voice suddenly rose higher, and he rubbed that spot inside her once more, making her clench tightly around his fingers.

Hermione was lost, all she could focus on was what Severus was doing to her, and how utterly amazing it felt. It was like there was a huge ball of tension inside her and she knew that until it burst that she would not be whole again. She stilled, anticipating its breaking, and it did not disappoint, shattering her in the most delicious way.

It felt like champagne was fizzing through her veins in waves, and she lay there, arching up off the bed as rapture washed over her. Then she became aware of Severus rubbing something else up and down her still quivering and pulsing flesh. She heard him murmuring, "Beautiful… you are so perfect," and she opened her eyes lazily to look at him.

"Do it," she told him, her eyes caught in his dark ones. She knew it would hurt, she was prepared for that. What she wasn't prepared for though was the spell Severus whispered as he slid home, and all she felt was a dull ripping sensation, but no pain. "It didn't hurt," she exclaimed.

"I want to give you pleasure, not cause you pain, so I took the pain away. Are you all right?"

"I feel very full, but I'm fine… actually it feels amazing," and she gave him a languid smile.

He returned it with one of his half smiles, and moved within her experimentally. She moaned in pleasure, so he took that as a good thing and started moving properly. Knowing he would not last very long, Severus held himself over her on one arm and slid his other hand down in between them.

His witch's gasps and pants told him she was close once more, and his thrusts became erratic as he fought to hold on until she came once more. Eventually though, she just felt so good around him that he was lost. He felt her walls tightening around him and he couldn't hold on any longer. It was the most beautiful release he had ever felt, and he collapsed onto Hermione as it finished pulsing through him.

Hermione welcomed his weight, wrapping her arms and legs around him to hold him there on top of her. "I love you," she whispered when she'd finally recovered enough to speak.

Then he was kissing her, languid but deep kisses that touched her soul.

"I love you too," he whispered.

"Is it wrong of me to want to do it all over again?" Hermione sighed.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that at all," Severus agreed.

They lay there kissing for some time, and eventually Severus rolled off her and encouraged her to get under the covers. "We'll get cold."

They readjust their positions and Hermione sighed. "I don't want to go back there. I can't not have this at every opportunity, now that I've had it once. How have you lasted so long?"

He smiled at her. "Practice at abstinence," he stated, only half joking.

Hermione snuggled into his chest. "As long as we're back by breakfast time tomorrow, we could stay here tonight," she said hopefully.

"No, love, we really couldn't. We're got Isabella's first day at school in Hogsmeade tomorrow and three more potions to brew."

Sighing, Hermione looked up at him. "Responsibility."

Severus nodded. "Come here," he commanded softly, his gaze locked with hers, and deftly he rolled her onto her back as he started kissing her face. "Are you certain you're not sore?"

"No, not in the least," she told him, allowing his mouth to connect with her once more.

"Then this time we will take more time," he murmured between kisses.