The Austere Stonewall

by Mudblood88

When the Ministry revives an old marriage law as a smokescreen to hide the reconstruction after the war, Hermione Granger is one of the first wave of people caught in the law. Not willing to marry Ron and doom them both to a life of misery, Hermione has no immediate prospects. With few viable options, Hermione proposes to someone else caught up by the law to help him avoid Azkaban.

25. Book 2 Chapter 11

The Austere Stonewall, Book 2: Severus

Chapter 11: Threat

Shaking his wife, he tried to get a grip on his emotions. He knew that his mask was in place and that he seemed in control but inside he was panicking a little. Dolohov was not a wizard to mess with and he had definitely threatened his wife.

When she came to, she smiled up at him but when she saw his stoic appearance, she sat up quickly.

"What is wrong?" she asked while reaching for him. He allowed her to grasp his hand while he held up the threat from Dolohov.

"You received a threat. I need to get you out of here. Get dressed," he said, pulling away.

She was still sitting there staring at him so he summed the shirt that was nearest to him, his own from yesterday and tossed it at her. Her big brown eyes just blinked at him, not comprehending the danger she was in.

Impatiently, he slipped her arms into his shirt and buttoned about three of the ones between her breasts and navel before tugging her from the bed and pulling her along behind him.

"Wait, I'm not even wearing knickers. Where are we going?" she asked worriedly.

He huffed and summoned his shorts. He cast a laundry spell at the and held them for her to step into. She didn't blink at the thought of wearing his underwear but she was looking at him with concern.

"I don't understand," she huffed and he pulled her into him inside the floo. He called out "Headmistress McGonagall's Office" as he threw the pinch of floo powder down.

They arrived in the headmistresses floo to find her behind her desk. Severus tugged Hermione behind him and he saw Minerva stand up, sensing the distress he was trying to tamp down.

"What on Merlin's green Earth, Severus? And... your wife isn't even dressed!"

He'd enjoy the scandalized look on Minerva's face later. For now he shoved the message at Minerva. She read it and the color drained from her face.

"Who is this from and how did it find her?"

"An owl delivered it," Severus stated tersely. "I accepted it just a few minutes ago. If an owl can find her, so can he. I don't know anything more than that. Forgive our unprofessional state, please."

The headmistress' face softened as she looked at his wife beside him. She was a sight. He could see a slightly discolored love bite at the base of her jaw and another at the front of her collarbone and the fact that she was wearing his shirt and underwear with her curly hair severely tousled left no room for excuses as to what they had been doing before the threat had arrived. He faintly remembered that he had no robes on nor did either of them have on shoes or socks.

He guided Hermione to the couch by the fire and sat her down before Minerva tossed him a tartan blanket which he threw over her lap. He sat on the coffee table in front of her. She looked at him and he realized she was not surprised or shocked at being told she'd been threatened.

"Explain," he demanded.

She took a deep breath as though steeling herself to tell him something unpleasant.

"I've been getting random messages from an unknown source," she admitted to the floor, no longer holding his gaze. Her shields were back up tight and he could glean nothing from her.

"You've been getting threats and you're just now telling someone? How are you receiving them? Owls?"

She shrugged. "I've not pulled any letters off of an owl but I assumed an owl was leaving them."

His eyes flashed. "You simply find them? Where?"

Swallowing, she said, "Once I found it on my bed at the Burrow. Once I found one on Ginny's desk. I found one on my porch swing at my cottage and the others have been delivered to my piano."

Severus leaned his forearms on his thighs and looked her in the eyes, trying to delay his frustration with her for later. "Think carefully. Any other location? You've not received any at Hogwarts?"

She shook her head.

"What are the threats?"

She recited them for him from memory but told him she stored them all in a box in the cottage. He would have to retrieve them, he knew, to see them with his own eyes.

"So you're being followed around, threatened and you've yet to even tell those closest to you?"

She twisted the blanket on her lap in her hands. "Harry has enough to worry about and you and I aren't that close, or we weren't until now. I didn't share because they are only threats."

"Yes, only threats. That sheds a great deal of light to why you didn't want to wait around for a better wizard to marry and as to why you aren't eating or taking care of yourself properly."

He watched her make a token noise of disagreement but he shut her down before she could formulate any justification.

Making a decision, Severus informed her of her newest rules.

"Going forward, you are not to touch the next message, should you receive any more. I want to be informed of it as soon as it happens and I want to have no one else contaminate the message until after I've gone over it. Tomorrow you will write down everything you can remember about the past messages including times, dates, and locations. I will be retrieving the past threats from the cottage. I also want to look at the memories of you receiving them."

Hermione nodded her head looking paler.

"You will need to stay at Hogwarts, of course, aside from any nights you might be on call in the hospital wing," he added this information as though it made the most sense

"You want me to stay at Hogwarts?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Severus stated, "You cannot be left alone while receiving threats. Whoever it is knows where you are, has been able to reach you before, and may include a portkey or a curse to the next message. You will stay with me where I can ensure your safety and that is not up for discussion."

Rolling her eyes, she sat up a little and accused, "You think me so stupid as to touch the message without first checking it?"

"Yes," he bit back. "When you found the first one and didn't know what it was, did you not touch it without checking it?" He waited for her to deny it. When she did not, he continued a little softer. "Once your guard is down, he may attempt something different. I didn't mean to imply you are so unwise as to knowingly touch a dangerous item but don't roll your eyes at me!"

Back to pinching his nose, he strode away from the couch towards Minerva who was watching this all unfold quietly.

"I think Severus is right, Hermione," Minerva chimed in. Hermione's eyes darted towards the headmistress before settling back on his own.

"You are my wife," he said matter-of-factly. "You will stay with me in my quarters. I more than have enough space in them for us."

Quietly and with a hint of insecurity, she asked, "Are you sure you want me to stay in your quarters?"

He flicked a hand at her, dismissively. "I more than have enough room and I meant what I said about you not being alone."

Hermione bit her lip and stared at the rug by the fireplace. She rubbed hand across her forehead seemingly absentmindedly. Reaching in his robes, Severus pulled out a calming draught and handed it to her, uncorked. She didn't even look at it, just drank it and returned it.

"I'm going to leave you here with Minerva while I go back to your cottage and retrieve all your things. Is there anything in particular that I need to be sure to grab? I'm going to set some powerful wards after I leave so I'll be walking back. You'll not be able to get in without me dismantling them. I can possibly take you back next weekend to grab whatever I've forgotten to get for you."

She listed off her robes and books that were there and a few other toiletries that she needed but didn't list anything terribly personal but he was smart enough to remember to get her knickers and bras when he packed.

Before he left he saw Minerva handing her a drink and sitting down next to her on the couch.

At the cottage, Severus cast a few extension charms on a box and began packing up her things starting with all the items she listed. Her apprenticeship robes and all her relevant textbooks were quickly followed by her other clothing. He found the rest of his owning clothing and donned it.

He tried not to notice her lingerie as he levitated the contents of her bureau into the box. He was certain he'd packed all her clothing and her toiletries when he decided to go ahead and take her comforter from her bed. Hers was nicer than his and it might make her feel more at home. Walking room to room he added a few personal items here and there. Her piano was the only thing he wasn't sure about. The thing was monstrous and he didn't really know if he had room for it. Sighing, he left it there but cast some strong hexes and curses that would keep anyone from playing it or even trying to take it.

When he had taken just about all of her personal items and even some things that they didn't need at his quarters (the blanket on the back of the couch and the tiny little pillow on the couch that she liked to hug). He found in her office books and a box that had strong wards on it so he packed it knowing that it would contain the other missives.

He cast the locking charms to seal the floo and charms and wards to protect, preserve, and keep the house safe. He left the cottage again for the second time that day, this time walking down the pathway. He added a few more wards to the perimeter of her property to keep anyone from even approaching it within a 100 yards all the way around.

By the time he made it back to Hogwarts, he was calmly deciding the rest of what needed done. The first thing he did was ready his quarters for Hermione's permanent presence. He moved his clothes around and unpacked hers. He put her comforter on his bed, tossed her throw blanket and pillow on his couch, set her toiletries on the shelves in his bathroom and cast a few extra cleaning charms. He had no extra bookcases to spare but he summoned a house elf who was able to bring him a short three shelf case which he tucked into a space in his breakfast nook. Her books fit in neatly with a small stack on top. He saw lots of books that he already owned. Perhaps they could consider joining their collections together?

With her things situated, Severus made a floo call to Grimmauld Place. He floated in the fire for a few moments as he waited for Potter to answer. When he arrived, his mouth fell open in shock.

"Professor, good to see you again so soon," he said, after he got over his shock.

"Save it, Potter, I'm not here for pleasantries. You need to come through to my quarters. I've granted you access to it from this floo for the next five minutes," he commanded and then stepped out of the floo.

Potter was not very graceful as he stumbled out of the floo and dusted himself off. He looked around and then jerked his eyes back, afraid of being caught being nosy. Severus couldn't help but huff in annoyance.

"Sit, Potter," he offered as he himself took a seat in his armchair.

Potter walked to the other armchair opposite his and sat stiffly.

"You wanted me to check on your friend and I have. I think I shall let her explain it to you because she is in need of someone else to berate her. Can I count on you to tell her what a moronic thing she's done when you are told?"

Potter blinked his eyes. "Well, I think that depends. Will I consider what she's done to be dumb?"

"Un-doubtedly," he drawled.

"Then yes, I can let her know."

"Try not to lose your head, though. Her self-esteem is fragile right now and while she needs to hear from someone she considers a friend, she also needs to know you're upset because you care. It needs to come from a loved one. Do you understand?"

There was a wrinkle between his eyes as furrowed his brow but he nodded. He licked his lips nervously. "Yeah, I get it."

"Wait here and I will retrieve her from Minerva's office. We had to leave the cottage suddenly so please no comments on her lack of attire," was the last thing he said over his shoulder before flooing to the headmistress's office.

When he arrived he could see Hermione was still sitting where he left her and that Minerva had wrapped her arm around the girl, keeping her calm. He'd been gone for nearly half an hour.

"Hermione," he called her attention away from where she'd been staring. "Let's go to my quarters. We have more discussions to be had tonight before dinner. Minerva, if you could, it might be wise to ask Molly and Arthur to evacuate. It's their choice but could you let them know that Hermione received at least two threats from a known Death Eater while staying at their house and that the threats were left inside Ginerva's room. We don't know how they were delivered. They don't need to know any more than that in order to decide to leave or to find a way to strengthen the protection on the Burrow. They may not be in danger personally, but I could not say that they are safe with the threats being left there so easily."

"Of course," the headmistress replied strongly. "I shall floo call them right away."

That being said, he guided Hermione off the couch, the tartan throw falling off her lap and onto the seat she'd vacated. He escorted her into the floo and they flooed to his quarters.

She stepped out first and he heard her gasp, "Harry!" before he'd even stepped out of the grate himself.

He watched her rush to hug her friend who wrapped her up tight and looked at Severus with an eyebrow raised at the fact that his best friend had been sitting around the headmistress's office in her husband's shirt and shorts. He was surprised that the sight of her in his clothing and all that it implied did not send Potter into a rage. Maybe the boy had matured some. Some.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Potter demanded.

Hermione rounded on him. "You brought him here to tattle on me?"

Snorting, Severus retook his seat in his armchair. "Tattling is such a first year term, don't you think. I simply thought that a matter as serious as this warranted me finding your best friend and bringing him here to offer you the chance to confide in him the situation as I know you would expect him to do were your places reversed."

She did not comment but sat on the couch. Even though Potter wasn't looking at her legs, Severus levitated her throw blanket off the couch and over her lap.

"I've received a couple threats," she mumbled to her lap.

"Threats? What kind?"

Annoyed, Hermione cocked her head at him and sarcastically replied, "The fluffy kind with invites to tea and biscuits."

Not taking her shit, Potter angrily tossed back, "Stop deflecting, Mi. What kind?"

She was silent for a moment before saying softly, "Just the kind that let me know that someone was watching me, knew where I was, and wanted to do something to me."

"What. The. FUCK! Mi, why didn't you say something?"

Even Severus could see the hurt on his face.

"I didn't want to worry you," his wife whispered.

"Did you not lecture ME about the same tendencies not too long ago?"

She must have known that she had no defence so she picked at the chunky knit blanket in her lap.

"Ask her when and where she received them, Potter," Severus added. Hermione turned to him and glared but he glared right back. She may not realize that he was trying to help save her friendship.

With a look of expectancy, Potter cocked his head and waited.

"I got a couple at the Burrow and I've had a few at the cottage," she admitted. For the first time in the last hour, her shields slipped a bit and he was able to sense shame from her.

"So the first one started only weeks after the battle?"

A nod and a swallow.

It was delightful, Severus decided to watch Lily's son go off in a snit over something. It was one of the few times he got to personally witness his mother's personality come out in him. Usually he only ever saw James Potter's pigheaded and mullish tendencies. Potter paced as Lily used to and threw sarcastic comments at his friend while he did so, pointing out her stupidity in waiting to get help neutralizing the threat. It was when he started in on the hypocrisy of her actions that tears began to fall. Severus watched her closely but did not step in to stop Potter.

"And another thing, Mi, why would you think that I would ever be too busy or stressed to help you? That's what hurts the most. We're all prone to idiocy every now and then, even you, I suppose. I mean, there's a first for everything," Potter said this with a wry grin before his face transformed back into anger. "But you can't expect that after all you've ever done for me, all you gave up for me, that I wouldn't drop auror training in a heartbeat to help you if that's what needed done."

A sniffle. "I know that Harry, I know. That's why I didn't. You've more than earned the right to live your life without any threats or problems. I couldn't bear to tear that from you. You've got a home, a girlfriend, and a job. I didn't want to be the cause of another danger in your life. I didn't want to put this on anyone."

Sighing, Potter ran a hand through his hair. "You know what you did on a scale of 1 to 10 of idiocy, that this was a 10. This was a running-off-to-the-Ministry level bad, right?"

A tear trickled down her cheek and dropped onto her hand. Severus's eyes followed it but he sat in his chair, not moving a muscle. This was not his job to deal with right now. This was Potter's and he needed to let it unfold without his interference.

"Yeah," she finally confessed. "But you're exaggerating a bit. It's probably an 8 ½."

Crossing the room, Potter sank down next to her and hugged her close, not even glancing at Severus before holding his witch. Potter wrapped her up in his arms and he brought one hand to her neck and rubbed small circles. This was intriguing to Severus as he watched his wife calm instantly under his touch. Apparently this was a button that he'd not discovered yet.

Hermione snuggled her face into Potter's neck and her breaths deepened. Finally Potter pulled back. "No offence, but you smell like him in his shirt so that's about all I can take. It's like cuddling my potions professor and that's a hard line I'm not wanting to cross."

Laughter erupted from his wife but she didn't apologize, he was pleased to note.

Severus stood, "Potter, I thank you for you coming to express your concerns. I'm going to excuse myself if you don't mind. I'm sure Hermione will appreciate a few moments with you before I get to speak to her about what has come to light today."

She shifted a bit under his gaze and Potter nodded sympathetically. He strode out of the room and shut the door to his bedroom. He found the wooden box he'd brought from her cottage and dismantled her wards in order to look over the messages for threats and they were as she said they were. Nothing but letters. No compulsion charms or other curses or tracking charms on them. He read them and replaced them in the box before he reset the ward on the box. He still wanted to see her memory of when she found them but that could wait for a bit. He paced for a bit as he considered first how Dolohov survived, second what he wanted with his wife and third how he was finding her and getting threats through the wards so easily. He could understand the Burrow but her cottage was decently warded. He knew now why she had warded it so thoroughly but still…

The door creaked open and she slinked in. He turned to look at her, hair still a glorious riot of tousled curls, his shirt still not buttoned all the way and her bare legs visible from ankle to mid thigh. He considered her needs through the pounding anger at the situation and crossed the room to hug her. Minerva's advice had helped him every time thus far, it was not likely to fail now.

She squeezed him tightly as he wrapped her up as close to him as possible. He knew that she needed to feel cared for despite what she had done and so he embraced her before he began to chew her out.

"I know you are smart enough to know that the threats began to become a problem as they continued and why you did not at least then say something, I don't know but if you ever are in danger like that again and conceal it from me you will not like the ramifications of your actions."

She squeezed him tighter and he knew that he didn't need to say anymore tonight. He pulled his shields tight and compartmentalized his anger.

"Come, I must feed you. You haven't eaten as recently as I have," he teased.

So young and innocent, she raised an eyebrow trying to remember him eating without her as they'd spent all day together aside from the half hour he was closing up her cottage.

Smirking, he hinted, "Not that honey counts as a meal but it certainly makes a nice snack."

Her face flushed bright red so he leaned down to her ear and whispered, "You taste divine, by the way. I hope you realize that now that I know how delicious your pussy is, I'll be eating it as often as I can."

At first he thought he'd been too bold for her but then she pulled his face down into a kiss. He hungrily kissed her back for a moment before he pulled away and whispered in her ear again, "Food, sweetheart, we need to eat actual food. I'm up for more of this anytime you are. An-y-time," he drew the last word out so she knew what he was offering.

He sensed embarrassment so he tipped her chin up to look in her eyes. He caught a flash of desire and then shame at how much she felt and how often she felt it. She was confused as they didn't know each other well and she'd not felt this physical desire before. She was at a loss at how to deal with it. He heard the proverbial elephant in her head. Slut.

Very seriously, Severus told her, eyes locked on her. "You are young and you've only recently been introduced to sex. For most of your youth you had more pressing matters on your mind to experience this the way most people do. It's not surprising for you to want more. It's not shocking that you want it often. It's not wrong for you to want it with me, your husband. There is nothing wrong with you. Having a sexual relationship with your husband, despite how little you know him, is not shameful. No one would begrudge you the right to it. I will not think more or less of you for wanting more than a weekly appointment with me. Whether that be three times a day or or simply on occasion."

Hermione's eyes widened at the thought of three times a day. So far he had at least gotten her off three times. He'd be sure to add at least one to that before bed, if she was willing and it seemed she was.

"I want you, too. Am I a lecherous old man for having a young, sexy, intelligent, wife who is somehow attracted to him? I would be a fool not to share with you any of the intimacies you crave. We may have married because of a law but if we can find some semblance of a friendship with each other and be comfortable together, we should be trying for that. I desire you, physically and I value your mind for the companionship you can offer me. I hope that you do as well."

It must be a Gryffindor thing to react with actions because she kissed him again. Her tongue was in his mouth before he could even process. He pushed her shoulders away from him with a smile.

"Food. I mean it. Then, we still have some time before our day is over. We both need to be at the head table for breakfast but until then I'm all yours. A decent amount of food and sleep is the only demand I'll make of you tonight."

She gave him a pouty look of disappointment that on anyone else would have been irritating. On her, it just made his anticipation grow.

He let her use the loo while he summoned an elf to lay out some helpings of what was being served in the great hall for dinner. When she returned, he noted she was still wearing his clothing and he was pleased.

She took her nutritive potion and her stomach calmer and ate her meal quickly, surprising Severus.

She finished before he did and she shifted around in her seat so much that he set his fork down and steepled his fingers. She grimaced when she saw she had caught his full attention.

"What did you want to ask?" Severus questioned.

"How do you know I want to ask a question?"

"Because you look the same as you do when trying not to disrupt one of my lectures."

"Oh, sorry. It's just….how much...is too much?"

He blinked. "Are you referring to sex or food?"

She swallowed and flushed. Ah.

"Do you mean in a week or in a day or in an hour…?"

Shrugging, she said, "I don't know?"

Picking his fork back up, he replied, "If you're in pain, it's too much. If you're swollen, it's too much. If you're unable to achieve orgasm from not having recovered, it's too much. There really isn't a set amount as it varies from person to person, from couple to couple. Are you worried that you've "prevailed" upon me too much today?"

A slow nod.

"Let me reiterate for you that you have the sexiest body I have ever seen and that your innocence is currently so attractive that nearly all I can think about is what other positions and debauched things I can introduce you to. You will never need to worry about wanting too much sex from me. It's been postulated that men are more hedonistic than women so it's a standard set by centuries of married couples to assume the woman's pace. I am the one who stands to really gain something from this relationship and it is my job to ensure I do not abuse you."

Setting his fork down, he stood and tugged her out of her chair.

"Would you like to continue our game? I was thinking we could take a bath and continue to get to know each other."

She smiled. She fucking smiled at him so brightly that Severus was unsure he'd ever seen the sun before until now.

He tugged her behind him to the bathroom. He ran the tap and began adding things to the water as she watched from behind him. He added in a healing potion that would ensure she was not feeling chaffed raw or swollen from overuse and then he added some of his eucalyptus bath oils.

In the bedroom he removed his boots and stripped down to his shorts before reentering the bathroom. Hermione was turning the taps off as the tub had filled. He could smell the mint mouth potion of hers and he located it and used it also while she watched.

Spitting in the sink, he called over his shoulder, "A bit less mint would do fine. It's a bit overwhelming. Would you mind brewing it with me sometime? I'm terribly curious."

Beaming, she pulled his shirt up and over her head. Severus was sure he'd never get used to the sight of her spectacular breasts. He crossed the room and toyed with the waistband of his boxer briefs on her. They weren't as fitting on her as they were on him so the elastic wasn't as snug as it could be allowing Severus to slip his hand over her bare hip easily.

Hotly, he murmured, "I didn't think anything could be sexier than the sight of you in your white nightgown and lace knickers on our wedding night but damn if you're not a fine sight in my shirt and shorts."

Pride flooded him when he made her blush at his complements. Her nipples puckered in the air and he pulled her to his chest.

"You should see the garter and stocking that came with it," she murmured daringly.

Indeed?

"How daring is our game going to be?"

She looked up at him from his chest. "All in?"

A feral smile graced his face. "All in."

He watched as she summoned a hair tie from somewhere and wadded up all of her curls on top of her head to keep them out of the bathwater.

He stripped his shorts off her perfect arse and guided her to sit in the water before stripping his own. He was at half mast already just from looking at her breasts the second his shirt was removed from her body moments ago. She watched it over her shoulder as he settled himself behind her in the tub.

It took a few moments to settle her back against him where his cock was comfortable and where she was resting nicely against him. He needed to have access to her for this game to work, after all.

Deciding to start the game with no preamble, Severus bluntly asked her, "How often have you touched yourself?" He'd seen brief glimpses of it in her mind but he had no way of knowing when those memories took place.

She didn't answer for a moment and Severus was doubting if she was going to answer this one when she replied.

"I don't, really. I always had my mind on something else and when I was interested, it didn't work so I gave up. I felt guilty when I had more important things to do, studies to apply myself to or research for Harry. What use was touching myself? Even if I had been able to... It was taking a lot of work to get there and I always gave up eventually. It seemed selfish and pointless."

His hands summoned a flannel and he lathered it in her body wash that was on the shelf nearby from his unpacking earlier. He started with her shoulders, rubbing the tension away.

"You realize that self-care is an important part of an individual's health and that as a healer you will need to come to understand the value of self-care in order to help your patients?"

She huffed. "I never said there was anything wrong with it for others. I just- I meant for me, it was selfish."

He sighed. How could no one else see the depths of her self-esteem issues but him? It was going to take years to undo all the bullying and gaslighting that had led her to these thoughts.

"It's not selfish to take care of yourself and had you been able to achieve an orgasm as easily as your peers, I doubt you would feel that way. As it is, I don't seem to have any issue making you come for me," he stated proudly.

Hermione laid her head back against his chest as his hands were washing and massaging down her arms, all the way to each finger. "I guess," she reluctantly agreed.

"More so, you seem to internalize stress and responsibility more deeply than others. Sex is a bit of a mental game before it ever becomes physical. Male genitalia is external which makes it easier to arouse by physical touch. Females need to rely on a strong internal arousal to kick start their bodies, usually. If you were truly innocent, it would be hard to come up with a mental image strong enough to arouse yourself. It's not something you did wrong."

Adding to his point, "If young men did not masterbate as often as they do, there would be a lot of physical fights and jealous and aggressive displays around the castle. I'm not female so I can't attest to it, but a release should also help with stress and I am sorry you didn't have that as an option in your youth."

She snorted inelegantly. "Ron and Harry were always making jokes when someone around us was being uptight about how they "needed a lay" to soften their attitude. I guess there's truth to that?"

He considered that she was trying to conceal who the person was that her friends had been discussing and knew it to be himself and he applauded her attempt to be Slytherin and save him face. "Possibly. Nothing would have been able to make me be nicer to the idiots, particularly while the Dark Lord was alive but who is to say that I wasn't "getting laid" and that attitude was me relaxed?"

Looking down as she craned her neck to see his face he allowed a small close lipped smile as she considered him.

"How often do you touch yourself?" she asked him.

"As a youth? Daily. Sometimes twice. As an adult? Only on occasion when stressed or when aroused and in need of release. Those occasions could be twice a week or once a month. It varies. Lately, I've no need to as I've somehow had the good fortune of a brilliant and beautiful wife who for some reason, is receptive to my advances."

She pulled his head to hers for a sweet kiss and he wondered if she was turning his game around on him. Pulling back he finished her other arm before washing her torso, saving her breasts for last.

"So to be clear, all of your orgasms have come from me?"

A pause. "Technically."

His hands paused. "Explain," he growled.

She squirmed and he had to plunge a hand into the water to force her still as his erection was stiffening further at the friction.

"I had a dream.." she muttered, face away from him.

Bringing a hand to a nipple, he tweaked it. "Yes?"

A gasp. "You were in it. I don't remember much of it now but I woke up when you made me…orgasm."

"Was it my hands, mouth, or my cock?" He was being a bit crass for this intimate setting of a nice bath together but he was really turned on by the thought of his wife having a sex dream about him.

The heat from her face could fry an egg. "You weren't touching me."

Interesting. He washed her breast, as he spoke in her ear. "Were you touching yourself in the memory?"

Her head shook in the negative.

"What could I have done to bring you off if I wasn't even touching you? Was I using an implement?"

Another head shake but she arched her back a bit.

"Give me a hint, sweetheart," he whispered and she gasped.

Thankfully her shields had slipped just enough that he was able to hear the answer. His voice was reverberting around her head. Different words and phrases he had ever said but the loudest was the endearment he'd just uttered.

Surprised, he murmured, "You like it when I talk to you? You love to listen to my voice?"

Nodding with a tinge of embarrassment she turned to tuck her head under his chin, her cheek flat against his chest. She nuzzled his chest hair.

"I can talk you into an orgasm?"

"Mmm, gods, yes. Did you not know? You have a very sinful voice, Severus."

It was the first time he'd heard her use his given name, he realized.

"What's wrong?" she asked, having felt him stiffen.

"I've never heard you say my name before," he admitted.

Shrugging awkwardly as she was pinned against him, she said, "You never gave me permission to do so. I got tired of waiting for it."

Feeling an increasing endearment towards the witch for respecting his privacy to the degree that she would marry him but refuse to call him by name without permission, he hugged her to him.

They sat that way in the warm water for a moment before Severus picked the washcloth up again and reached forward to pull her leg up into the air so he could wash her thigh. Then he pulled her knee back towards her chest so he could wash her calves and feet.

Game not to be forgotten, Severus asked, "What, if any, sexual experience are you eager to try next?"

She was still but not tense as Severus switched legs.

"I don't know. I...like the way things have been progressing and I like that you take the lead."

That was a very promising answer. One hand found her snatch and the other a breast.

"Did you know I was very surprised that a virgin was so perfectly groomed?"

She laughed a little. "I found myself emotional and without direction after I visited my parents in Australia. I wasn't ready to return home yet as it would mean leaving them, again, so I did a little shopping for clothes that fit and I allowed someone at a spa to guide me on what was expected in that...area. She laughed at me but she was helpful."

A small chuckle escaped him as well. "I did not expect anything from you, just so you know. I was surprised that you were so well-kept because I know you to be a witch who is the opposite of vapid or vain."

Rubbing small circles on her, she ground back into him. He slid a hand down to her hip to hold her still. He had plans for this evening and he wasn't blowing his load in the bath before he could make good on them. She groaned in complaint.

"You need to learn to let me take care of you," Severus said as he slipped a finger through her soft folds. "I'm a grown man, not a boy. I don't require anything for my services. A boy is concerned with his own pleasure but a man...a man gets his pleasure from giving pleasure. If you let me please you, I swear that it will please me."

She nodded a little quickly and he knew that she was eager for more so he sped up his hand up just a bit.

"If you like my voice, what would you like for me to say to you?" he asked.

She gasped as he inserted a finger and stilled as he waited for her answer.

"A-anything. You could read the dictionary for all I care," she panted.

"Do you like it when I tell you about your delicious body? Do you feel the wetness pooling between your thighs when I use crass vocabulary?"

The witch did not need to answer verbally. He could feel her body's reaction to his words in her ears. He wondered what else he could discover about his witch.

"How about I impart some knowledge about myself and you respond with how that makes you feel. Interested?" he whispered in one ear before switching over to her other ear.

"I am experienced and I am well-aware of my kinks. You have yet to discover yours and I will not force any of mine on you but I can't help but wonder how many of them will align," he hissed and he thrust his erection up between her thighs as he said the word "align." Shen moaned as his cock slid along her slit.

"For instance, I enjoy dirty talk. I find that my vocabulary gets very crude the more turned on I am and I very much enjoy not having to mind my words in the heat of the moment. Does that sound like something you can adopt into your own urges?"

"Mmm, yes," she groaned as he pumped a finger in and out of her slowly, tortuously slow.

"I also find," he continued, "that I relish having control. I don't like taking it, I like being given it. I want my partner to trust me and to give themselves over to me. Does that sound like something that you would find arousing?"

Another moan. She was losing her ability to respond to him, lost in pleasure and Severus was barely giving her anything to get off on. He slid the hand on her breast down to her hip as the other hand, one finger in her pussy stilled.

"Listen closely to this before you answer that last question: I like consent. Consent is arousing. Having my partner give me trust and control to do as I wish to them, knowing I would never do anything they would not enjoy or like and yet not knowing what I will do. That gets me off," he breathed.

To prove his point, he slid his cock along her folds a few strokes to show her how hard this conversation had him.

"You might find me wanting to tie you to my bed while I fuck your sweet cunt, filling you up with me over and over again until we're both spent," he sped his finger up as he spoke.

"Or," he purred in her ear as she arched back into him, "I might want to bend you over my desk again, this time with a classroom full of students next door unaware because of the wards keeping them from seeing their potions master fucking his wife into orgasm in his office."

Right on cue, she bucked into him and he flicked his thumb over her clit to help her over the edge. Her gasps and moans were so wanton and seductive as they echoed off the tiles in the bathroom. The splashing of the water as she rode out the waves of her ecstasy made the whole act seem more exotic than when he'd done this earlier on the swing.

As she became too sensitive for his touch, he removed his hand from between her thighs and took up the flannel again. He put more soap on it and snaked his hand beneath her back to wash his chest. He was washing up his arms when she turned around, carefully placing her knee on the tub and not his manhood, he noted.

"May I?" she asked, indicating the washcloth.

He relinquished control of it and she resumed washing him. She soaped up his neck and back and arms and then rinsed them off before she washed his feet, lower legs, knees, and thighs. When all that remained were his genitals, she very carefully fondled his sack as she washed it, eyes on him to note what was okay and what was not. He liked that she was looking to him for instruction but he'd been hard for a while now and he was looking forward to delving in deep to his wife.

He stood and helped her out of the bath. He summoned a towel and patted down her skin, making sure she was dry enough before using the same towel to dry off his own skin. He tossed the towel to it's hook before pulling Hermione into him and kissing her.

Walking backwards towards the bed, he encouraged her to follow as he traced her lips with his tongue. She fisted his cock with a bit too much pressure so he put his hand around hers and corrected her grip. She blushed and apologized but Severus didn't need it. He kissed her again as he reached behind him to pull down the bedding and then scooted backward onto it, pulling her with him. She weighed nothing so it was not hard to shift backwards with her weight upon him. He let go of her lips and feasted on her dusky nipples, groaning at how perfect her tits were.

Pulling his mouth away, he was out of breath a bit as he informed her, "You're going to ride my hard cock until you come again for me."

She moaned as he lifted her hips and held her over his length. He was so hard and she was so wet he didn't even need to stabilize himself. He slid right in and she threw her head back.

"Oh. It's so deep!" she gasped.

"Feel me. Feel all of me, sweetheart," he moaned as he thrust his hips up into her.

She leaned forward and he guided her hands to his arms to keep her steady and he guided her hips.

"Do what feels good to you. I recommend a little of this motion," he breathed as he leaned her almost parallel to his own body and glided her along his cock so that the head brushed the front of her walls.

Her moan was enough to know that he'd hit the spot for her. She found a rhythm after a few tries. Once she was going, though, Severus was playing a mean game of reciting the 12 uses of dragon's blood to stop from going off too soon.

He was on the 9th use when he felt her flutter so he brought his hand up to circle her a few times and she came.

Not even waiting for her orgasm to finish, he rolled her over, still buried in her deeply, and began pounding away.

"Where do you want it?" he huffed, mentally recalling the 10th use of dragon's blood.

"What?" she gasped, still fluttering around him.

"I'm coming, where can I come?"

"Anywhere," she panted.

He pulled out immediately and came in long spurts across her wonderful tits. Ropes of white semen streaked across her chest and she was wide eyed as she stared at his cock so close to her face as he released.

He sighed in relief and summoned the flannel from the bathroom and wiped his mess off of her. A spell would have taken care of it better but he liked the idea of her possibly still having some of his essence on her skin even after wiping her clean.

Banishing the washcloth to the laundry, he pulled the covers up and turned out the lights and set his wand on the nightstand.

She rolled over to lay her head in the hollow between his shoulder and his chest.

"Why did you ask where I wanted it?"

"Ladies choice," he mumbled, stroking her curly hair back off her face which was flushed.

When she still seemed puzzled, Severus expanded. "If I came inside you it would up our chances of getting pregnant. It's only been about a day since we really connected as people and I would not want to ruin that by impregnating you due to lack of foresight."

"Oh," she said simply.

"Did you not like where I chose?"

"Mmm, no. That was...fine," she whispered but Severus got the impression that she rather liked it.

Smirking in the dark, Severus asked, "Should I be presumptuous enough to ask now where you would like it next or wait until the heat of the moment to ask?"

She buried her face into his shoulder in embarrassment and it endeared him to know that she was still so shy with him about anything sexual in nature when it pertained to herself that she could hardly talk about it. A kiss was planted on his shoulder to hide her actions but he wasn't fooled.

"I trust you to choose somewhere appropriate next time. I...I liked your last choice," she admitted.

He pressed a kiss into her hair and stroked small circles on her neck like Potter had earlier. Her breathing slowed and her body relaxed instantly, surprising him.

"You know I'm still very upset that you hid the threats from me, right?"

Silence. Then a small "yes" came muffled from her mouth against his skin.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay," she said.

Severus summoned a dreamless sleep potion from his medicine cabinet and nudged her hand with it.

"You remember the compromise we made?" he asked her.

She did not answer but drank the potion anyway. He banished the vial and resumed stroking her neck as she fell asleep. He'd taken a nap today and should not be tired this early but he followed his wife to sleep, lulled by the beating of her heart against his own and the warmth of her skin on his.