A/N: Still no idea where we're going. Maybe they can go and hole up in a little cottage somewhere for a few days. Maybe we can catch Hermione and Evan snogging in a corridor. I just don't know. Give me some ideas alright?!

Stay safe. Be kind. To yourselves as well as everyone else.

See disclaimer, chapter 1.

-0-

He woke alone but he grinned, all the same, feeling better than he had all week. He reached out across the sheets beside him and found them fading in warmth. Though they'd slept after loving each other and he felt much more rested now, a lot of his comfort came from the thought of having Minerva back in bed with him. Those same thoughts were making the blood rush.

He found a pair of her pyjamas bottoms and made them a bit bigger, pulling them up over his hips. He listened at the door, frowning at the silence. He counselled himself that she was not missing again, he simply did not know her whereabouts.

He poked his head around the door and found her, sitting by the window, watching something outside the window. She didn't look sad, exactly, but her arms were wrapped around her knees and her head rested on her knees. For a woman that Harry felt was larger than life, she looked small and he wondered if he damaged what they had been creating in making love to her without getting to know her better.

"Hey," he said quietly, touching her shoulder briefly.

"Good morning love," she said, smiling over her shoulder. "You slept well."

"I did finally," he nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Woke up alone though?"

"I apologise -"

"You don't have to," he soothed, his hands on her shoulders. "As long as you're okay? And that you," he swallowed. "Don't regret what we, um, did?"

"I do not regret making love to you Harry," she said gently, turning to look at him. "I am not a late sleeper and often find solace in watching the sun come up."

He looked at her and cupped her cheek.

"Do you need solace, Minerva?" he whispered.

"Sometimes," she smiled. "As you have scars, so do I."

There was a sadness in her eyes that made Harry want to wrap his arms around her and hide her away.

"I'm going to be warring with myself for our whole lives aren't I," he chuckled, remembering that she asked him to be honest with her. She frowned and he saw that she didn't understand. "Between wanting to wrap you up in my arms and hide you away and wanting to stand back and watch you take on the world."

She snorted and stood, reaching and pressing a kiss to his lips. He didn't let her go. His hands dwarfed her middle where he held her and as she let him kiss her for a while longer, he let his hands roam a little. Her arse was fantastic. Not too round, not too small. Just enough to make him grab it - making her chuckle - and lift her.

"You have all sorts of designs on my time," Minerva muttered while her teeth pulled on his lower lip.

"If you want me to take you up against this wall, you should keep doing that."

"Maybe next time."

He growled and she laughed musically as he dropped them onto the bed.

"Okay?"

She nodded while she smiled, watching him take her in.

"You," she paused. "Make me feel very desirable, Harry," she whispered. "I am not sure anyone has ever looked at me with the same intensity," she shrugged. "In the interest of being honest."

"Then they were blind," he muttered.

He took her in, her long pale thighs, covered by the short robe she'd slipped on to stem the drafts from the castle. Her emerald eyes, fixed on him were a deep green. He loved this witch more than he'd ever loved anything and it was comforting and terrifying all at the same time.

He sat back on his heels, smiling as she plucked at his trousers. Deciding to be a bit cheeky, he let himself drop down onto the bed and he crossed his legs to ease a little of the strain he was feeling. He lifted her foot and massaged it gently, taking it in. It was long and skinny like the rest of her. Her toenails were bright red, something that made him grin up at her. Her pink cheeks betrayed her stoic look.

"That's a bit sexy," he chuckled.

He picked up the other one and massaged it, for a while, before moving that massage down her calves.

"Oh," she whispered as his thumb worked over her muscles.

"Roll?" he asked.

She smiled and did as she was told and he got onto his knees and started working.

Her moans were not helping him control himself and as he started rubbing her thigh muscles he damn near lost control.

"You, my beautiful witch, are not helping me finish this massage," he mumbled, letting his fingers massage further and further up her thighs.

"Nonsense, lover," He could hear the teasing in her voice. "A good job is a job worth doing."

He teased her, brushing his knuckles against her centre and she jumped, laughing as he moved away.

"Cheeky sod."

"Want me to do your back?"

"Harry, I'm never, ever, going to say no to a massage."

"Alright then," he nodded. She groaned louder as he worked on her shoulders. As much as he hated her now, Ginny had taught him how to give a proper massage and Minerva was certainly not complaining. He worked until he'd worked on her whole back and he chuckled quietly as he heard her snoring a little. He got off the bed gently and went out into her office, calling for some breakfast.