Hi everyone! Been a while, hasn't it? I apologize in advance for the longer A/N, but I feel it's quite necessary to address my absence at this point:

I know I've been quite sporadic and MIA with updates of late. I've been going through some stressful times in my personal life, and writing has had to take a bit of a backburner at times. It's been a while since I mentioned it, but I'm also having ongoing issues with one of my hands, which makes it quite difficult to write at times. I've also just dedicated a lot of time over the past year to writing, and I've been feeling a little burned out and in need of a little regrouping. In a year, I posted 50 chapters of A Contract Most Inconvenient and 21 chapters of Entanglement. It might not be a lot to some, but it's quite a bit to me in retrospect.

Because of this, I'm going to continue to be sporadic for the foreseeable future. Writing is something I have always and will always adore, but I also need a bit of time for self-care — not just for my hand, but just to regroup and get myself back into a headspace where I update more frequently again. This of course doesn't mean that I'll be disappearing, but just that I'll continue to be sporadic in hopes that I can write ahead more make a decent chapter buildup which will be quite a help in the long run. Thank you all so much for following and bearing with me. My hand surgery has been delayed due to the current state of affairs for obvious reasons (praying for the health and safety of you all and your loved ones!), but I'm hoping to update as much as I can.

Again, I won't be disappearing completely of course - I'm always around on discord and I always try and answer asks, etc in as timely as a manner as I'm able. I love you all - thank you so much for bearing with me and following my fic. It means the world to me - truly.

As always, so much love goes out to RESimon — I've found an amazing friend beyond a beta in you. Thank you for always being there for me.


CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

"Welcome, Mrs. Shacklebolt," The tall, sandy-haired host greeted Hermione as she approached, looking unperturbed despite the way she rushed toward him.

She greeted him in a rush before stumbling through the tall, gilded door he spelled open to reveal where her family awaited her in the private dining room beyond. The circular room was surrounded by sprawling windows that displayed a thick blanket of twinkling stars beyond. The room was decorated in muted shades of cream, accented with ornate gold finishings that curled along the walls in intricate patterns and gilded the elegant furnishings that were placed around the room.

The private dining room was dominated by a large circular table, around which her family sat. Her parents sat flanked by Lucius and Arthur— each of whom looked nearly as uncomfortable as her father did. Harry, Neville, and Draco sat in a row, and all gave her bright smiles and greetings as she entered. Severus was as stoic as ever, although she caught his lip twitch as he took in her flustered appearance. Kingsley and Sirius each stood and pulled out a chair for her between them as everyone said their greetings to her.

"Hi," she said breathlessly. "I'm so sorry."

"Erm, 'Mione…" Harry started, "I think you've forgotten something?"

Hermione adjusted her arms around James, who had his two little fists buried in her robes. "He's going through a mummy phase," she said. "I couldn't just leave him — Draco!"

Draco's eyes widened at her bark. "Yes—?"

Hermione jabbed a finger in his direction. "Do not let him see you. Or you," she added, jerking her finger at Harry. "He's been latched to me all day and I can't lose a moment."

"Hermione," her mother rolled her eyes. "You really must learn to let go a bit sometimes—"

"— and that day is not today," Hermione answered smoothly, tucking James into her chest as she slid into the seat Kingsley and Sirius still held out for her.

Hermione caught Sirius stifling a smile and gave him a playful swat on the arm. He shot her a bright smile as Kinglsey began to speak from where he still stood beside her.

"As we all know, we've all gathered here tonight to celebrate Hermione's achievement of getting more than half of her proposal approved," he said, smiling down at her as she flushed. "She's done a mighty service to much of Wizarding society as we've adapted to this change, and her generosity in pouring so much of herself into this after all she's already contributed toward our survival will never be forgotten."

He turned to her then, giving her a warm smile as her cheeks warmed more in response to the entire room's attention on her. "I have never been prouder to call you my wife, and I have no doubts that the other men gathered here for you would vehemently agree. Thank you, Hermione. For your kindness, your generosity, your unfailing love of our society, and most of all of the love and dedication you show to our ever-expanding family—" he tickled James' hand where the infant was grabbing at his robes, " — and for all you've done for every one of us."

Hermione felt tears gathering in her eyes and buried her head in James' thick tuft of downy black hair before they could fall. As if on cue, James stretched his own arms around her in the semblance of a hug and sighed into her chest just as Kingsley toasted to her, everyone in the room repeating "To Hermione!" in synchronized suit.

A stray tear fell anyway, and she quickly wiped it away as she lifted her own glass. Her husbands' faces were blurred by the tears still gathered in her eyes and their raised glasses, yet she didn't need to see them to know them, to feel them there and relish in the sense of completion she felt with them all gathered around her.

It felt like home.

Hermione continued to look around at her husbands with stars in her eyes as the first course of their meal appeared in front of them.

She had just begun to sip from her goblet of wine when her father spoke. "So, Lucius," he started, "who was that woman you were whispering with in the parlour earlier? An old mistress, perhaps?"

Hermione simultaneously choked and nearly dropped her goblet, sloshing wine over James' head in the process. "Dad—oh Merlin James I'm so sorry—"

James looked up at his mother in confusion, droplets of wine dripping onto his cheeks.

"Michael—" Hermione's mother started, her voice drowned out by Harry, Draco, and Neville's guffaws.

"Really, Harry?" Sirius' tone was stern although Hermione caught a smirk tugging at his lips before he ducked to spell away the mess atop James' head.

Harry shrugged. "Malfoy knows it's nothing compared to when Emma—"

"Potter and Malfoy—" Severus' dark tone had them cutting off their laughs sharply, both men freezing

"You didn't see the way she was acting, Rose—" Hermione's father continued on the other side of the table.

"Do explain then, Lucius?" her mother asked, watching the man pointedly.

Lucius was sitting stiffly, and she caught his fingers tighten on his goblet before he answered. "Mrs. Zabini is a business associate."

Hermione cradled James to her chest and continued plant apologetic kisses into his downy black hair, all the while glaring at Lucius over her son's head. She opened her mouth to speak when James lunged forward suddenly. He grabbed at the roasted potatoes on Hermione's dinner plate, scattering some across the table.

"James!" Hermione tried to pry the infant's hand off of her plate, which only succeeded in dragging the plate closer to teetering off the edge.

James giggled happily as he brought the potato mashed in his fist back to his mouth. Hermione pried at his fingers and had succeeded only in getting about half the potato out of his fist when she noticed that the chaos in the room had fallen abruptly silent. Hermione looked up and blinked at where half of the table's occupants were staring at her pointedly, while the others were politely averting their gazes.

Hermione blinked, her brow furrowed as she took in the odd scene.

"Love," Sirius whispered from beside her. "Your robes."

Hermione's eyes flew down to where one of James' fists was still buried in the front of her robes. While her son munched happily on the potato he'd crushed in his fist, he'd also managed to drag down the subtle cut of her robes to a scandalous level, exposing the lacy red brassiere she wore that was nearly completely transparent.

Hermione's eyes bugged out of her head as she scrambled to pry James' fingers from her front. "James!"

The infant burst into giggles as he gripped harder, his grip surprisingly strong despite her efforts.

"So," Sirius broke the awkward silence, "who's interested in dessert?"

X

"Morning," Hermione mumbled, sliding her hand across the sheets until she felt the bare skin of her husband's chest beneath her fingers.

"Morning," he said back, sounding decidedly more awake than she felt. She hummed contentedly at the feeling of Arthur's voice rumbling in his chest and shifted forward until she could press more of her bare skin into his equally bare side.

"Why are you always so chipper in the mornings?" she said, her heavy lids still refusing to open. "Why are you always so chipper altogether?" Her voice started strengthening from its initial croak the more she spoke, and she slowly slid open her lids to find him smiling down at her.

His thumb caressed her cheek. "How could I not be, waking up next to you?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, although she could not stop a small smile from ghosting across her lips. "My hair is a disaster and my breath is frightful—" she paused to quickly cast freshening charms on their breaths, "— but you see none of it?"

Even as she said that she found herself admiring him herself. A soft smile played on his full lips, the small movement stretching up to crinkle the corner of his eyes that shone cerulean in the morning light.

"All I see is my beautiful wife next to me," he said, cupping her bare hip and caressing his fingers along it in a way that made a pleasant shiver radiate through her body.

She smiled and lifted a hand to trace it down his cheek to his jaw, pausing to brush her thumb across every smile line that she encountered. Arthur was a man of quiet beauty,

"You really don't look that old, you know," she said absently, her eyes roaming his face.

Her words only caught up with her as Arthur's brows raised. "Is that so?" he chuckled.

Hermione flushed. "I just— I mean, a muggle man in his fifties would look—" she faltered as Arthur's chest continued to vibrate with laughter.

"Old?" Arthur's eyes twinkled. "Like me?"

Hermione giggled at the mirth in his eyes. "Mhm," she hummed, her heart swelling at the sight of the mirth in his eyes. She ran a hand through his hair. "In fact, I think I can feel a bald spot sprouting up right here—"

Arthur plucked her hand from his head and kissed her fingers. "Nice try. You know as well as I that Fred and George have done enough experimentation on my head that nothing will ever shed — or possibly grow — from this head again."

Hermione giggled and leaned up to peck him. When she made to pull away, he caught her jaw and drew her in for a deeper kiss. She shifted closer to him and kissed him back enthusiastically, allowing herself to be lost in the faint smell of peppermint that always seemed to linger on his breath. She bit back a moan as he swiped a practiced thumb over her nipple in the exact rhythm that never failed to leave her keening in moments. Her eyes strayed to where his cock lay soft on his thigh, just beginning to stir with attention. Her hand crept over to it and traced it gently, making him twitch with pleasure.

"Hermione," Arthur's tone made her pause her ministrations on his cock.

"Yes?" she eased herself up on an elbow.

"We can wait as long as you'd like," he said softly. "I would never rush you."

Hermione swallowed. Her hand left his cock and she wrung her fingers together nervously, looking away from him. They hadn't broached the subject of children since the Ministry's adoption of her proposal had happened. She'd avoided the subject whenever they were alone, her heart panging each time she caught the loving looks he'd give her children as he'd play with them. Even now, visions of a fiery-hair boy with bright blue eyes flashed through her mind unbidden, reminding her of what she'd be denying him in her delay.

"Hermione," Arthur watched as she sat up and drew her knees to her chest. "Talk to me." He caught her hands and stopped her from fiddling with them.

"I'm sorry," she said, hugging her knees tighter to her chest. "I've given five of my other husbands children already, and I know you have your own but—"

"Hermione—-"

"—I'm not ready for more yet. Not for now. If it happens then it will be wonderful, but for now, I need to focus on the children that I have. And I need you to unders—" She was cut off by Arthur's hand cupping her chin.

"Hermione," Arthur said, running a hand soothingly along her thigh, "I would love to have children with you someday."

"And you're sure you can wait?" Her eyes met his, looking for any hint of hesitation in them.

"They are all as much mine, Kinglsey's and Sirius' as they are the others'," he said. He leaned forward and gave her a slow kiss. "We'll wait. As long as you want — whether you choose to or not."

He pulled her towards him and she melted into his hug, taking comfort in the feeling of his warm skin pressed against hers. She held him back, allowing herself to fall completely into the quiet calm of the feeling of being wrapped in her husband's arms. She smiled into his skin at the feeling of his heartbeat thudding a steady rhythm in his chest, reminding her of the beauty of being able to immerse herself in a moment where it was just them.

Arthur's fingers curled into her hair, and he pressed kisses into it every few moments. "And even though we might not be having any yet," he said eventually, "a little practice wouldn't hurt now, would it?"

Hermione bit back a moan as he ran a finger down her stomach and cupped her sex. "Not at all," she gasped as two of his fingers dipped inside to find her still warm and wet from the night before.

He smiled and whispered a contraceptive charm before he eased his cock into her. He pressed his forehead to hers as they let out twin moans, their breaths mingling as he settled within her. He undulated his hips slowly and slit his eyes open to meet hers. The sense of completion she'd been feeling radiated tenfold, drawing her back into the feeling of everything but them ceasing to exist. She took in the way he panted softly as he pressed into her, his lips curling around unsaid expletives of pleasure while the only sound he would let escape was her name. Her name repeated after every other breath like a mantra, simultaneously possessive and tender, murmured in a way that made her feel as though she was the most precious thing he'd ever touched.

"I won't last long," he said when his hips began to glide faster into hers, snaking down a hand to press two fingers against her clit.

Hermione moaned. "You don't have to," she said, rolling back in a rhythm that had her jaw dropping open.

He flipped them until she was on her back. He started to pound harder, while his hand continued to work her to a steady climax. She brought up her hands to run them along his chest, teasing the smattering of hair there before sliding them down lower until her hand rested alongside where his was still working away at her clit. Her fingertips teased where his thick cock slid in and out of her, and an intense climax hit her without warning.

"Arthur," she moaned. He caught her lips with his not a moment later, and he kissed her messily as his hips started to pump into hers erratically.

They continued to kiss even as his hips slowed to a stop and he rested propped on his elbows above her. He pulled out and she let out a low whine at the loss, feeling his release sliding slowly out of her. He chuckled at her and dipped two fingers into the mess between her thighs, pressing it back into her cunt. They watched each other, their mutual high still lingering between them. She cupped his cheek and smiled at him, smiling wider as he smiled back in return.

He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles before he sat up. She sighed as she sat up too, watching him move to slip out of the bed. "Do you have to go already?" She did nothing to mask the sadness in her voice.

He turned back to her and gave her a sad smile. "Duty calls, I'm afraid."

She opened her mouth to make a quip about his duties as a husband before she faltered, taking in the stiff lines of tension that had slowly etched themselves into his forehead over the past few months. "I'll miss you," she said instead, doing nothing to hide the sadness in her voice.

"I should be going before we end up spending the rest of the morning in bed though," he said, his voice tinged with a sadness that echoed her own.

Hermione crawled to his side and gave him another lingering kiss. She kissed along his chest to his collarbone, smiling softly when he gave a satisfied hum in response. Her eyes strayed to where his soft pink cock lay on his thigh, still glistening with their mingled release.

She slid out of the bed and took his hand. "Come," she said. "You'll at least need to shower before you go."

Moments later, she was guiding him into the warm steam of her shower. She summoned a flannel lathered it slowly, taking her time as she watched Arthur close his eyes and let the water run over himself. She could not ignore the tension that hadn't dissipated from his form in months. She ran the flannel over his skin, rubbing in slow, gentle circles as she tried to erase the stress of the long hours he'd spent conducting failed interrogations of the man that had threatened their family, hoping she could communicate in her actions what words could not suffice for. She took her time in running it over every inch of him, listening to his satisfied hums as she worked her way over every inch of him. When she made it to his cock, she found him already half hard. Her eyes strayed to his, finding them darkened with lust as he watched her. The flannel slid from her fingers as she let him walk her backward until her back hit the tile.

He slid into her smoothly, her cunt still slick enough for him to ease in quickly. Instead of snapping his hips against hers, he began a slow grind against her, his pelvis meeting hers in a way that had her gasping and moaning beneath him in seconds. This time, she forced open her eyes to meet his and found him looking back at her, his entire focus on her dripping with affection. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against his, hoping she was conveying even just a fraction of the warmth that spread in her heart for him. When they both crested a mutual orgasm, they shared a long, languid kiss, pouring their mutual affection into one another.

It was another long kiss later before they both stepped out of the shower. She followed Arthur back into the room as she spelled her towel atop her head, watching him silently as he spelled his own hair dry.

She leaned in the bathroom doorway and watched him gather their clothing from where it was still scattered across the floor, spelling the items into a neat pile. He lifted up her bra, his eye trained on the lacy red material. "I'm quite partial to this one, I'll admit," he smiled.

Hermione gave him a small smile. "Must you remind me?" She said, thinking of James' antics the night before. "That reminds me that it's time for me to ask my parents to move back out." She added lightly.

She watched him move about in silence for a moment longer before she spoke. "How are things going with the interrogation?"

He paused mid-movement, and his towel suspended in midair for a moment before he let it float again and land on top of the rest of the pile. His nakedness gave her an unobstructed view of the tension that seized his body the moment she spoke the words.

He sighed. "Nothing to concern yourself with," he said, giving her the same robotic answer she'd been hearing for months now.

Hermione ground her teeth together. "I—"

"Things are fine," he cut her off swiftly, flicking his wand to banish the pile of clothes.

"I thought we'd agreed on no more secrets, no more lies—"

"I'm not lying to you, Hermione." His jaw was set stiffly as he averted his eyes.

Hermione scoffed. "Really? Then why have you been avoiding my question for months—"

"I've always answered you—"

Her fists clenched. "Giving the same generic lie every time is not an answer, Arthur."

He ran a hand over his face before he looked at her. "What do you want me to say?"

Hermione bit her lip hard as she tried to quell the surge of anger that rose up within her. "Something. Anything else other than what you've been saying all this time."

"I don't know what you want me to say when you know that nothing has changed."

Her heart panged as he said the words that had been haunting her ever since the night that they'd assured her that things would change. That she would be able to go back to worrying about all the things that she had before, which now seemed mundane in comparison to the after she now found herself drowning in. She felt her throat starting to close up as panic set in, all of her worries about what wasn't happening bubbling to the surface—

"You know how much I love you, Hermione," he said, his voice cutting through before the panic could overwhelm her. "I will always do all that I can to protect you."

Hermione's jaw clenched, and her voice was tight as she spoke. "And I suppose my ignorance is the best form of protection, then?"

She met his eyes defiantly, waiting to see if he would waver and give her a morsel of anything that was hidden behind the hardness in his eyes. Instead, he stepped closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll get dressed and walk you to breakfast." He didn't wait for an answer before he disapparated.

Hermione dressed mechanically, her head still clouded with thoughts of what he was leaving unsaid. She emerged from her closet to find Arthur waiting for her, dressed immaculately in his Ministry-issued robes.

"Shall we?" He said, proffering his arm.

She nodded and let her hand rest in the crook of his elbow. He led her out of the room and toward the grand staircase in silence. Gone was the easy tenderness from earlier in the morning, replaced by a thick tension that only seemed to grow with each step they got closer to separating.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, he caught her arm and stopped her. She looked up to see his eyes shining with conflict. She held her breath as she waited for him to waver, to tell her something, anything at all—

"I love you," he said. "Don't forget that."

Then why won't you tell me the truth? Why do you stand here and lie to me when I can see the truth fighting in your eyes? Why— "I love you too," she said softly.

She opened her mouth to speak again when she caught the sound of low voices coming from the sitting room nearest them. It took her only a moment to recognize them as Harry and Kingsley. She looked up at Arthur to find a pinched expression on his face. He didn't release her hand as she made to go toward the room. "Hermione—" he started, then wavered.

He did not fight her as she gently pried his fingers from her wrist. She caught his fingers in hers for a moment before she turned and made her way toward the sound. She stepped into the room to find Harry and Kingsley facing each other, giving one another tense looks. They looked up as she entered and straightened.

Harry smiled at her. "Mornin—"

"What's going on?" Hermione cut Harry off, glancing between the two men.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, Hermione," Kingsley answered smoothly.

Arthur stepped in beside her, and she glanced up to see a silent communication ripple between her three husbands.

Hermione crossed her arms. "Is that so?" she said, looking between the two men before her before turning to see that Arthur's face has fallen blank as well. She felt a growing tightness in her chest. "We agreed that there would be no more secrets, no more lies," she said. "Yet here you are, lying to me."

Kingsley rubbed his temples. "We have told no lies, Hermione—"

"You have told no truths, either," she snapped.

A renewed silence fell, and the tightness in her chest only worsened. "Is that it, then?" she spoke through gritted teeth. "I know that it's about Lestrange. I'm tired of the whispers, and the looks you give me sometimes—" her voice trembled and she stopped.

"'Mione," Harry started, then faltered. He sank into an armchair and ran his hands through his tousled hair.

She turned to Arthur to see him and Kingsley exchanging a long look. Arthur's eyes flickered down to her. "Hermione—"

"Don't say anything if you're going to lie to me again," Hermione said. "And don't tell me that it's Ministry business, either. I'm your wife, or have you forgotten?"

"Hermione," Arthur started again, "this isn't your battle to fight anymore. We don't want it to be."

Hermione stiffened. "It was my battle the moment they went after my child!"

"We're trying to protect you—"

"How is my continued ignorance of whatever it is that's going on protection, Kingsley?"

She turned to Harry. "And even you? After all we've gone through together—" she sucked in a breath, catching the pained look that flashed across Harry's face. "You never used to lie to me, Harry. And now you do it each day."

"'Mione," he said, standing and crossing to her. "You know that isn't true," his voice faltered as she gave him a derisive glare.

"It's better that you don't speak at all then, because every word— every word breaks my heart," she said, turning to look at her other husbands. "From any of you."

Harry stood. "Maybe—"

"Harry," Kingsley warned.

"Really?" Hermione's snarl was sharper than she'd intended, but she couldn't find it in herself to stop an apologize while he continued to give Harry a hard, warning look.

"We need to tell her."

"What we need is to keep her safe, Harry." Kingsley's tone was sharper than she ever recalled having heard it, and it made her heart hammer in her chest.

"Keep me safe from what?" Her heart started to race as she met the conflict in Harry's green eyes.

"You can't take on everything yourself, Hermione." Arthur's tone was soothing, but it did nothing to assuage the panic that continued to rise within her, tightening her throat.

"I am not a child."

"But you are our wife," Kingsley's eyes flashed. "And we will do everything we can to protect you."

Hermione glared back at him. "Are lies truly a form of protection?" She turned to Harry. "Are they, Harry?"

She watched him swallow thickly. "They aren't."

"Harry," Kingsley's voice was hard.

"Lestrange—he— he wants to speak with you. Only you."


Yes, yes I did just erase Arthur's bald spot from this timeline. It does not exist. lolol. Next chapter will be up sooner than I realized - I won't leave you all hanging for too long. Also, the Arthmione scene in this chapter was dedicated to my biggest Arthmione anti, Darkcat18 on ao3. She loves this fic and is also quite squicked by Arthmione, so the dedication felt fitting (love you, hehehe).

As always, for updates on my writing progress or just to chat with me, you can check my tumblr (blankfishxx), my Facebook (Blank Fish), or join my Discord server: (remove all *'s, of course): h*t*tps*:*/*discord*.g*g/*GH6N7Sn.