February 1980
Marauder House
Hermione woke enveloped by James, her cheek resting on his bare chest while their limbs were tangled with the sheets. Blinking awake, a sleepy smile formed on her lips, and she leaned forward to press her lips to his. He stirred, tightening his grip around her, and she kissed lower on his neck, then his collarbone. With a hum, he shifted and she felt him against her belly.
Fingers trailing over the ridges of his abdomen and the flat planes of his chest, she couldn't help but be entranced by him. Curiosity piqued, she allowed her hand to travel further south, gripping him through the fabric of his pants. A moan slipped from his lips as she gently rolled him onto his back and kissed down the valley of his abdomen.
He stilled. "Hermione?"
Sliding down his body, she nestled herself between his strong thighs and peeled the garment away. With a gentle touch, she studied him, stroking down his shaft with her fingertips, relishing in the hiss he dragged between his teeth and the way his body tensed.
Just because she was inexperienced didn't mean she hadn't done her research. While she boasted no firsthand knowledge, she had listened in horror as Lavender recounted the first time she'd gone down on Ron fifth year. Somehow, this had made Lavender the resident expert and it became quite the topic in the dormitories. As such, Hermione knew the fundamentals: no teeth, relax your jaw, utilise your hands.
However, the practical application was more terrifying than any theory when staring down an erection. James didn't move, always patiently awaiting her next move, and when she leaned forward to press a kiss just there, he moaned.
Peeking up through her lashes at him, she gulped once. "Will you tell me if I do it wrong?"
His jaw remained hard and cut, his throat tense, but his gaze softened. "That's not possible."
With a resolving nod, she gripped the base of him and slipped the tip between her lips, tasting him for the first time. An expletive whispered through the air from above as his hand came down to bury in her curls. She let her tongue explore a bit, her hand repeating the same motion as last night, but she quickly found she didn't really know what to do. A strange fear of not being good at it—of not being as good as another witch—churned in her belly, and she popped off his penis with a glower.
"Tell me what to do; I want to learn."
A disbelieving laugh burst forward, his eyes rounding. "You're doing—"
"Please," she whined, pumping him slowly as she stared up at him. "I don't like not knowing how to do it properly, and I want to make you feel as good as you make me."
"You do, Hermione."
"Please?"
An almost irritated growl rumbled from his chest, and he choked back a laugh and nodded. "Okay, just try and take a little more into your mouth if you can but don't overdo it. You might gag yourself."
Hermione rolled her eyes obscenely. Cocky git. But she did as she was instructed and rose up to take more of him in her mouth, sliding down his shaft as her hand rose up to meet her mouth.
"That's—" His voice was strained. "That's fucking perfect. You can suck—Fucking hell, yes. Just like that, love." Tightening his grip in her curls, he began gently thrusting, meeting her in tandem. At the sound of his pleasured noises, she felt liquid coat her sex. Squirming, she began to work quicker on him, hollowing her cheeks as he brushed the back of her throat and with a furrowed brow, she tested herself, taking him deeper.
To her extreme displeasure, she did gag a bit, but found it not as violent as she'd have imagined—so she tried again.
"You're so perfect," he praised, his back arching as he gripped her curls a little tighter. "Tell me if it's too much—I just can't get enough of you. Fuck."
His words of affirmation dripped over her skin, and she pumped him furiously, her jaw beginning to tremble from the effort. "I'm going to come, Hermoine." He reached down and pulled her off his cock. She yelped in surprise as he instructed her, saying, "Keep going with your hand."
From this vantage point, she was on her knees between his thighs, watching his face transform and his muscles tighten. She wasn't quite sure what to expect. But then he came, white liquid shooting onto his abdomen, and Hermione watched on in a mix of awe and studious appreciation.
It was rather odd, she found, but something about the look of his face when he came undone by her touch and the grip of his fingers digging in her thigh turned her on even more. She gave him a final pump and let him go, watching him turn boneless in relief.
He took a moment, just one, and leaned up to grab the hem of her t-shirt. In a single quick movement he lifted it from her shoulders, his chest still heaving, and wiped his stomach free of the sticky mess left in the wake of his orgasm. As he did so, his abs flexed beautifully, and Hermione couldn't bring herself to focus on much else, even though she was now shirtless in front of him. When he finished, he smirked up at her and grabbed her by the waist.
He lifted her with ease, settling her knees on either side of his chest and began to scoot down the bed until his head was between her thighs.
"Oh! Oh, nonononno—Ahhh." Her words were cut short as he slipped her knickers to the side and ran his tongue along her seam. "James... Merlin." All reasonable thought left her as he easily pressed two fingers inside her wet folds and began dragging in and out in lazy thrusts, his tongue dancing over her clit.
A rough hand tugged at her hip, and she settled further on his face, crying out as he reached new depths inside her.
Who needed sex?
Truly? Because this was so much more than enough. She could do this every day for the rest of her life with no qualms whatsoever, and there was zero possibility that anything felt better than this. He did something with his fingers, twisting and curling, and her hands shot off her thighs to grip the headboard as she sank even lower.
"You taste like heaven, love." His lips brushed against her clit as he spoke, and she dug her nails into the wood and rocked once. "I love it that you're ready like this for me. Only for me." Curling his fingers again, he flicked his tongue over her clit, and she shattered, her entire body tensing as a wave of pleasure coursed through her. She couldn't move except to hold herself upright as his fingers tickled back and forth inside her, drawing every last ounce of her orgasm from inside her.
Finally, when the feeling had waned, she fell to the side of him, panting and delirious. The mattress dipped underneath her as he came up to her side—grinning.
Realisation crashed over her, and she jammed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets. "Oh my god. I've just sat on your face. Oh my—" Groaning, she rolled onto her side and grabbed a pillow to suffocate herself with. "I'm going to die now."
"What?!" A laugh spilled from his lips and he rolled on top of her, stealing her weapon of choice and staring down at her as though she were some adorable woodland creature and not like someone who had just fucked his face.
"I'm horrified. I shouldn't have—"
"Hermione, that was the sexiest moment of my life, and I want to do it every day," he paused to kiss her cheek and then the other, "every hour—" He kissed her nose. "For the rest of my life. I will happily die eating your—"
"JAMES!" Hermione barked out a laugh and swatted at him as he captured her mouth in a crushing kiss.
"You're perfect," he whispered when their lips parted.
Grinning, she bumped her nose against his. "You're incorrigible."
"Will you spend the day with me?" As he spoke, his gaze roved her features and his fingers pushed the curls from her brow.
"Yes," she said, pulling him in and kissing him senselessly.
xXx
It was odd travelling from the romantic evening before to the normalcy of a Friday in Diagon Alley. They walked the shops hand in hand, pausing to poke at various items. As they worked their way through the aisles of Flourish and Blotts, she paused when she came to a biography on Rowena Ravenclaw.
Dumbledore had noted that he thought Tom Riddle may be hunting down artefacts from the founders to turn into Horcruxes.
Replacing the book, she made a mental note to scour the library at headquarters for more information and turned to find James studying the ceiling with great interest. Grinning, she asked, "I take it this isn't your favorite store on Diagon?"
"It is decidedly not." He scratched his jaw and turned to regard her with a smirk. "But then, I'm here for the company so it'll do."
With a huff, she closed the distance between them. "How about twenty more minutes here and you can pick what we do next?"
His arms banded around her, and his smirk widened. "That's giving me an awful lot of power, Hermione. I could think of any number of salacious activities to fill our afternoon."
Just as she was swatting and about to reprimand him, a sharp clearing of a throat tore her from the moment. They both turned and stilled at the sight of Lucius Malfoy, this time very much alone.
"Miss Granger, is it not?" he drawled icily, his eyes glacial as he ignored James at her side. "I was wondering if I might have a word?"
Adrenaline spiked in her system, and Hermione felt suddenly hyper-aware of her surroundings, on James' hand tightening on her hip and his chest hitching.
"What do you want, Malfoy? Death Eater revel at the Leaky?"
Lucius' lip curled as he finally turned to James, and Hermione had the strangest sense of déjà vu. She'd been privy to a Potter-Malfoy showdown before. "I've no idea what you're talking about."
"Sure," James said, his mouth curling into a smile. Taking a dangerous step towards the blond, his hand fell from her hip, and his voice lowered. "It's only a matter of time before you slip up, Lucius. I hope I'm there when they arrest your sorry arse."
"Careful, Potter."
Both wizards glared the other one down but where Lucius was cool and collected, James was heated and eager to push buttons. "I always am." Without taking his eyes off Malfoy, James spoke over his shoulder to her. "Love, do you have interest in taking a meeting with this prick?"
Sniffing, she tilted her chin in the end, ignoring the way it trembled. "Not particularly. Was there something you needed?"
At that Lucius turned to her, a Cheshire grin spreading on his thin lips. The resemblance between him and his son was undeniable but Lucius had even pointier features. The thin skin under his eyes was nearly translucent and his cheekbones high and aristocratic. He had the uncanny ability of speaking down his nose to her no matter how his head was positioned, and it made her lift her chin higher still.
"A question, actually. Where did you go to school? I can't seem to place you from Hogwarts and though I'd be a bit older, surely I wouldn't have forgotten you." Faux charm oozed from his pores and it made Hermione bristle. "You don't seem to be a Beauxbatons witch—nor Durmstrang or Castelobruxo. Your accent isn't diluted so I wouldn't think Ilvermorny."
James scoffed. "You seem to care a great deal, Malfoy. What are you on about?"
"It's a simple question." All amusement had been drained from Lucius' voice and features, and his silver stare didn't waver.
"I was taught at home by a governess."
Something wicked flickered over Lucius Malfoy's features. "A governess? How lucky that you—as a Muggle—would be able to find a magical governess who would teach you. Any of them worth their galleons are hoarded away by the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"Guess I'm lucky." She shrugged, hoping for nonchalance though her heart was thundering in the cavern of her chest. "We ought to be going I think…"
James' hand quickly captured hers, and he stepped past Malfoy without another word. But before Hermione could cross, Lucius' walking stick slammed into the wooden bookshelf next to her head, halting her.
"The fuck, Malfoy!" James let go of her hand and shoved him away, earning a feral snarl from the blond.
Lucius turned to Hermione, his peaceful demeanor shaken. "There is no registered adult witch in England by the name Hermione Granger. Who did you steal that wand from, Mudblood?"
"Excuse me?" Hermione balked, her mind failing her as she grappled with the accusation. "I got this wand from Ollivanders when I was eleven years old, as witches do." Her voice shook as she fought back tears. She could handle most anything Malfoy could send her way but being humiliated like that in front of James was almost too much. She felt shameful about her heritage although she knew there was no reason to.
On trembling legs, Hermione made to leave but was halted again by Malfoy's taunting drawl. "I know something's off about you, Mudblood. I'll figure you out and have your wand snapped in the Wizengamot all in due course."
Hot tears pressed in on the backs of her eyes, but she remained strong.
"Done, Malfoy?" James sneered. Jerking at his robes, Lucius fussed before offering a withering, apathetic gesture at the pair of them. "Brilliant." Faster than Hermione thought possible, James had cocked his fist back, throwing his weight into a punch that reverberated throughout the quiet bookstore. Lucius Malfoy fell in a heap of robes and wails.
Hermione choked out a laugh before clamping her palm over her mouth and staring in horror at the sight in front of her.
"Talk to my girl like that again and I'll give your arse the beating you should have gotten at school, you poncey fucking prick." James shook his hand free of the inevitable sting and then grabbed Hermione's hand to leave.
"You'll pay for that, Potter!"
Hermione chanced a glance back at the wizard still sprawled on the floor, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and snarling at their backs. James didn't respond, however, rounding the stacks with his middle finger lifted and tugging Hermione behind him.
As they crossed the threshold of the shop, Hermione sucked in a desperate breath of icy air and reeled on James. "What on earth were you thinking? You can't just do that to Lucius-bleeding-Malfoy! He's a Death Eater!"
Scoffing, James pulled a face and began walking again. "Yeah? So? I'm an Order Member. Those Death Eaters are nothing more than bullies and terrorists. He wouldn't dare try anything—"
Hermione's arm shot out, fingers curling in robes as she halted him. "He does try something. Many somethings. He's not convicted in this war but he is in the next. Still, he escapes from Azkaban and…" The words died on her tongue, and she sagged as the adrenaline waned from her bloodstream. "He's very dangerous, okay? I know firsthand; I don't want anything to happen to you."
James smiled and kissed her once. "Nothing is happening to me, alright? I'm James Potter." His smile widened to a grin. "It's going to take a lot more than prissy little Lucius Malfoy and his manicured wand hand to take me down."
Yes, it would. It would take a lot more.
xXx
Alastor Moody was possibly more terrifying under these circumstances than the Moody she knew. Tattoos stained his skin all the way down to his knuckles and the full use of both eyes left him free to glare at her. With his fingers steepled against his lips, he sucked a hard breath. "So, you've caught the attention of Lucius Malfoy—who you claim is a Death Eater but you have no proof—and you need me to forge registration documents to avoid further suspicion?"
Hermione grimaced. "Um, well yes. It sounds rather bad when you say it like that though."
"It is rather bad, Miss Granger." Moody's eyes narrowed before he let out a tired sigh and dropped his hands to his desk to pick up a long, black-feathered quill. "Wand specifics?"
She gingerly placed the wand on the desk. "It's vine wood, ten and three-quarters."
"Core?"
"Dragon heartstring." At her side, James tucked his chin and hid a smile but remained silent.
"Do you need to register yourself as an Animagus?" Moody paused to glare for a long moment at James who folded his lips inward, eyes bulging. Then, he continued, "Have you passed your Apparition practical? And would you like to claim any O. or N.E. ?"
"I am not an Animagus, and I can Apparate. I wasn't able to take my N.E.W.T.s due to the war, unfortunately. During my fifth year I received eleven O.W.L.s. Ten O's and—" She wrinkled her nose. "—one E."
Moody paused, eyes flickering up at her in disbelief. "Really?"
She tried not to take it personally, but her spine steeled and straightened. "Yes, really. I enjoy academia."
With a long sigh, the Auror continued. "Birthday? Blood status?"
After answering the remaining questions, the room fell nearly silent. The only sound left was quill against parchment. Finally, when Moody seemed to have finished, he set it down and again brought his joined fingers up to his lips. "I'll get this taken care of for you immediately."
"Thank you, sir. I appreciate your help." Gathering her wand, she rose, James following shortly after. Before she'd made it to the door, Moody called out to her.
"You'd do well to keep your distance from the Malfoys. If you're hoping to move quietly as you acquire your trinkets, I'd keep your nose down. And Potter—did you think more on what we talked about?"
The air stilled, and James sucked in a sharp breath. "A bit. I'll have an answer for you shortly." They made their way from the Auror office and once in the lift, James mumbled, "Sorry, he's such an arse. I wish I could say he wasn't always so bad but he is."
"What did he mean at the end there?"
Chewing on his lip, James rocked back on his heels. "They want Sirius and I to come on as Aurors. They'd expedite the training course for us."
Blinking, Hermione considered the simple statement. "You weren't an Auror." End of. She knew it for a fact, actually. The lift ground to a halt and more people filtered on; James and Hermione were herded to the back corner.
"What?" He laughed and the sound frustrated her.
"You were never an Auror. You didn't work after Hogwarts. Don't you think it'd be an unnecessary risk with everything else going on?" She was being ridiculous but she'd only just found the git; she wasn't ready to send him out there with a brigade of wizards catching the very people she'd just been ordered to hide from.
James huffed in surprise, his brow twitching. "I never work? I mean, I know I don't have to, but I'd get bored as hell sitting around—"
Too far. She'd said too much.
Something must have flashed across Hermione's face as she inhaled sharply through her teeth. The voice overhead announced the Ministry Atrium and without a word she began working her way through the throngs of people. James remained stoically silent until they were stepping back onto Diagon Alley. The air was nearly frigid with a soft drizzle falling around them, dampening her curls.
"Hermione?" She walked on, refusing to pause in case she put her foot any farther in her mouth. "Hermione!"
"What?" She wrung her hands together painfully as she marched towards nowhere in particular.
James stopped, throwing his hands up in the air. "Hermione, would you just stop? Talk to me!"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she halted midstep. This was a conversation she'd avoided since she'd met him, and she didn't want to have it now.
"Tell me whatever it is you are trying to hold back! I can tell it's bothering you; I can handle it."
Shaking her head, Hermione silently thanked the universe for the misty day, praying it camouflaged the tears. "I can't, James."
"Hermione, whatever it is, it's not going to happen. That's why you're here, right? We'll fix this—together."
Nodding, she shifted on her feet. There was nothing more that Hermione wanted than that, but to save everyone, to make sure they all made it out on the other side with far fewer casualties wasn't going to be possible. She'd still lose people because this was still war. Even considering losing James caused an endless ache in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to even speak the words into existence.
"What? I'm dead—is that it?" His voice was nonchalant but when her gaze snapped up, she could see the fear etched into his features.
"It's complicated." It was a weak attempt at side-stepping, and he snorted loudly, canting his head to the side with a frustrated glare. "I can't talk about it, James."
"Can't?" he asked, brow arched high. "Or won't?"
Shrugging, she gave him a watery smile and reached for him. "Does it matter either way?"
Silence stretched on as they stood in the soft London rain together, and his large hands gripped the tops of her arms before he sighed and relented. "Come on," he said finally. "Let's get you home and into something dry."
Nodding, they made their way to the Apparition point in silence. She'd bought herself a little more time, but eventually, she was going to have to tell James about October 1981.
xXx
A/N: Howdy and hello! Hope this weeks update finds you well and happy and safe. I had a lot of fun with this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it! Things are about to start moving (although, remember this is a very long story..)
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See you in a few days my darlings!
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