Minister Riddle Will See You Now

Chapter 7: The Blood Diamond

Tom summoned the book from another room in the house and he left her on the couch to read the relevant parts of the text. Hermione wasn't sure where he disappeared to but it didn't take her long to finish the reading. She really wanted another book to cross reference but since she couldn't she settled for rereading and memorizing the incantation. The process was fairly simple, actually. A witch has sex for the first time (meaning penile penetration) willingly and following completion of the act, an incantation is said that expells the fluids from the witch's vagina and another incantation is used to form the blood diamond. By fluids, the ritual meant any combination of blood, semen and female arousal fluid, but blood does not have to be present for the ritual, only arousal fluid and semen. She wasn't sure how there could be a blood diamond without blood but the book was clear that only sexual fluids were necessary. She made a mental note to ask Tom why that was.

From what she read, the power exchange would be occurring during the time that she needed to do the incantation. She didn't have a reference on how the power exchange would affect them. She didn't know when it would hit, how long it would last, how it would feel or anything. She was sure Tom had taken a few virgins before so he might be able to answer her question. She assumed that the experience varied too much to really make a note in this particular text which focused on the actual ritual rather than noting its history or any personal notes.

Closing the book softly and placing it safely out of the way, Hermione admired the view from his window. She wasn't worried as much about the ritual. Tom was a capable wizard and would not allow her to do magic that would harm her nor would he encourage or condone her completing rituals that she could not handle. He didn't get to be Minister for magic at 28 by being brash with decisions concerning magical spells.

What she was worried about was the fact that she was an 18 year-old virgin and had never felt this level of attraction for another person. She'd never been touched in a way that made her knickers wet. She could feel arousal dampening her undergarments just from thoughts of Tom alone. If this didn't work out, what did that mean for her?

Also, she was worried about how much she really wanted Tom to be hers. He said he didn't do the boyfriend-girlfriend thing. He'd been very upfront about that but Hermione couldn't help but feel like she was going to be unhappy only having ssex with him and never having the other half of the relationship. Being monogamous was easy. She was not a cheater and would never be one. She could easily abstain from having anything to do with other wizards but when she was surrounded by her friends and their partners, what was she going to feel? Recently she'd felt lonely and annoyed by the constant shows of affection. When Tom wouldn't or couldn't attend functions with her as her boyfriend, how would she feel? Jealous? Resentful? Spiteful? She would internalize it all as being her fault that he didn't want an actual relationship and with a clear head, she knew this was going to be unhealthy for her.

One look at him and all her higher thinking skills went out the window. She would trade her soul to the devil for another taste of him on her lips and if that wasn't the most glaring sign that something was wrong, Hermione didn't know what was.

"You're thinking hard," Tom observed from behind her.

She looked at him over her shoulder and offered a weak smile.

He pushed her hair off her shoulder and rested his chin on it while wrapping his arms around her middle. The actions were so fluid and boyfriend-like that Hermione felt like she was getting whiplash from trying to figure him out.

She sighed, "I'm just trying to get a handle on my thoughts."

"Anything I should be worried about?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "I can't tell anyone anything and you're clearly stronger and more superior to me in strength, physical and magical. What would you be worried about?"

Fingers on her shoulder coaxed her to turn to face him. His face was furrowed in a serious frown. "There's a lot you could do, Hermione. You could change your mind on all of this and ask to leave. I want this with you, very much so. You may leave if you choose to but I'm not so closed off that I would lie and say it won't bother me."

That was exactly what she didn't understand. He didn't want a relationship, just sex. Why would the loss of her sexual willingness be a loss to him? He was handsome, powerful and rich. What witch could he not get? He must get plenty of offers, better offers than her.

She smiled at him but she knew it didn't reach her eyes. "I've agreed to tonight and a discussion later. Can we take it one step at a time?"

He searched her eyes for a moment before nodding.

"Why is blood not a necessity for the creation of a blood diamond using the ritual?" she asked.

Tom's face blanked out, his emotion no longer showing as he stood next to her, looking at the view she had been admiring. "That is because "blood diamond" is a misnomer. Because it's created with blood, sweat, and maybe tears, it was nicknamed that but blood isn't necessary. It's turning the secretions from your first sexual encounter into a diamond. Any other fluid mixed in with it will get added but the incantation focuses on the arousal fluid. The book states semen is needed but I often wonder if that's true. As long as your hymen has been broken, a male ejaculation is not really needed. Semen doesn't add to the ritual but it's been added to the incantation so it's necessary. A rewriting of the incantation without semen in it, and I think the ritual would probably function just fine for a woman."

Hermione smiled, "But when would a wizard ever take a witch's virginity and not take the opportunity to orgasm?"

Tom laughed a little as her face flamed from using the word "orgasm" in conversation. She knew it had because Tom stroked the back of his hand along her cheek after she said it.

Getting back to her questions, Hermione asked, "The power boost...what should I expect? The text didn't have any personal experiences listed for reference."

"You think I know from experience?"

She shrugged, chewing her lip. "Maybe."

He blew out a breath. "Other than my own virginity years ago, I don't have any experience with virgins. There are wizards out there who make it a goal to bed virgin witches. I didn't want that reputation. The wizards with those reputations aren't regarded as very respectable by society and I've never wanted my sexual history to be up for anyone's perusal."

"Doesn't the vow cover that?"

Tom glanced at her. "Yes, but there's always someone out there who is smarter and stronger than you are. I've worked hard to make it iron tight but desperate people are willing to go to any measures to get what they want. I'm not so arrogant as to think there could be no loophole."

Another glass of wine or champagne would be great but she didn't want to be drunk for the ritual.

"Besides," Tom continued, "virgins aren't ideal for my sexual preferences."

A wry smile crossed her face as she side eyed him. "Yet here I am."

"Here you are," Tom agreed, eyes smouldering.

The tension between them felt so tight it could snap. She turned to face him and waited, knowing that if he was possessive and a control freak, he would want to make the first move.

"You can back out of this at any time," Tom reminded her.

"I know," she breathed.

"Tonight...you're mine. You need to trust me. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."

Hermione licked her lip and nodded her head as he took a small step closer to her.

"I'll do the incantation to expel the fluids. You'll do the incantation to create the blood diamond," he informed her.

"Okay," she agreed breathlessly.

"Do you need to look at the spell again?"

She shook her head a little and said the spell aloud, "Conspisso pressura habuerit concitato fluidum in adamantem."

"Good girl," Tom praised before he bent at his waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put. Me. Down!" Hermione demanded, feeling demeaned by the fact that he was strong enough to pick her up and force her to go where he wanted her to. She could never physically manipulate his body that way.

He swatted her arse as he continued to walk. "Miss Granger, I'm very eager to proceed with my evening with you and I've about worn out all my patience answering your questions while staring at your gorgeous tits so I'm carrying you for expediency."

She huffed but stopped squirming.

"Good girl," he repeated as his hand stroked up her thigh underneath her dress.

Tom kicked his bedroom door closed and set her down on the floor next to his large bed. The room looked as it had this morning when she left it except that there were now tiny floating candles around the top of the room near the ceiling. The sheets on the bed were now stark white and pristine. The covers had been folded down to the foot, far out of the way.

"First things first, send your friend a patronus. Tell her you won't be coming back to your flat tonight and that she can expect to see you no sooner than noon tomorrow."

As Hermione raised an eyebrow at him for telling her what to do, he shook his head, and smiled. "Ah, ah, ah. This is me, Hermione. Possessive and a control freak. Get used to it. Besides, you know I'm right."

She did not answer him but instead sent her patronus to Ginny. "Ginny, I'm staying somewhere else tonight and I'll not be back to the flat until noon tomorrow at the earliest. I'm okay. Love you."

As soon as she lowered her wand from sending off her otter, Tom handed her a phial with a light pink liquid in it.

"Essence of Nirriti," he informed her. "I assume you're not already on one?"

She shook her head and accepted the potion. She'd not even considered this and she felt shame wash over her as she was supposed to be practical, level headed, and not prone to rash decisions. This should have been her first thought before jumping into bed with someone.

The glass of the phial was cool in her palm. She looked up from it to see him regarding her seriously.

"What's the date of your last menses?"

She gaped.

"I need to know, Hermione. You know how the potion works," Tom scolded her lightly.

Actually, she doesn't. Sex wasn't a concern for her and she didn't have a magical mother. Lily Potter would have given her the facts had she thought to ask. Molly Weasley would also have been happy to fill that role but she'd always figured that she'd research when sex became something that she was considering. Within a week or so, Tom Riddle had her in his bedroom and about to perform the act. That was a very short turnaround from sex never being an urge for her to being all she thought about. Perhaps she should have felt more sympathy for her classmates when their hormones were running rampant back at Hogwarts.

Doing the math fast, Hermione hurried to tell him, "The 26th of May," before he could notice her stall.

"Good," he said with a tight mouth. "At least you've ovulated already though you're due in a few days for the next one."

Hearing a man talk about her period so seriously, and intelligently, was a surprise. Men were notorious for being squeamish and leaving the room when the topic came up. Harry couldn't even hear Ginny say she was cramping without blushing and fumbling for a pain reliever before disappearing.

"Go ahead and take it, it'll last two month so before your August period, you need to retake it," Tom instructed, hand held out in wait for the empty phial.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him for his assumption that she would still be needing a contraceptive in August but she drank the grapefruit tasting potion with a slight face. It was very acidic with citrus but she supposed it would have to for it to work as intended. She handed back the phial and he levitated it to the nightstand.

She blinked and he was on her. His lips attacked her passionately and it was this juxtaposition to the controlled Tom he'd been just seconds before that had Hermione stunned. It was embarrassing to be taken so far off her guard but when she felt his hand sliding inside the slit in the skirt of her dress, caressing her thigh, she kissed back. She felt him smile into her mouth when she responded.

Tom's skill in kissing was very obvious. Hermione had only a handful of experiences and none of them were very mind blowing. If they had been, she probably wouldn't be here, after all. Tom knew the right amount of pressure to put into the kiss to convey his feelings and right now he was conveying attraction and desire. The way he was insistently smoothing his tongue across her bottom lip, willing her to open up fully, made Hermione feel like she had all of his attention.

Parting her lips, his tongue was on hers and she felt her knees weaken at the sensation that was wholly new to her. As soon as she chased his tongue with her own, he would retreat and nip at her bottom lip. His hand on her thigh would stroke just a bit higher and the back at the very small of her back would press her body into his, just a tiny bit closer. Hermione did not resist. Ever since their dance, she'd hungered to feel his body against hers without any restrictions.

His chest was hard with muscle, she felt with her hands as she brought them up and into the hair at the back of his head. His haircut was so neat with the back and sides short and the top longer. Her fingers carded through the locks at the top that he was so fond of threading his fingers through when she annoyed him or frustrated him.

Tom's hand on her thigh pulled it up until she could hook it around his hip which she did as without it, she'd fall off balance. His mouth slanted across hers and she couldn't help the gasp she let out as he kissed her with such passion. His fingers curled around her thigh as he pressed his pelvis into her. His erection was very obvious against her stomach and she felt her breathing hitch in his mouth. She'd felt it this morning but it hadn't been pressed against her as tightly as it was now. She felt moisture pooling in her knickers at the concept of a man as attractive as Tom wanting her. His hips twitched, urging it against her more and she was not in control of her body as she moaned, her leg squeezing his hip as she tried to pull him even further into her.

Then, his body heat was missing from hers and she was catching her balance from where her leg was dropping from his hip. Tom was backing away from her, leaning casually against the tall wooden post at the foot of the bed.

"Strip," he commanded, slowly undoing the buttons on his cuffs.

She swallowed and took a breath, her brains feeling a bit scattered. Her hands shook as she reached her wand to undo the zip on her dress. She slid it off and it slunk to the floor at her feet. Rather than bending over to pick it up, she simply stepped out and levitated the dress to the cushioned chair in the room.

When she braved a look at Tom, his eyes were impossibly dark as she drank in the sight of her. Hermione had never felt this exposed before. Not during muggle doctor exams before she knew she was a witch and had them yearly. Not when she had been naked in front of Ginny or Luna while changing, and not even when Harry walked in on her in the shower once. Tom wasn't hiding the fact that he was enjoying the sight of her nearly naked form and it frightened Hermione as much as it turned her on. The gushing between her thighs was a new concept for her and she couldn't help but squirm.

"Keep going," Tom reminded her. "Where's that Gryffindor bravery?"

It wasn't said as a taunt the way she was used to hearing a Slytherin say it but she still bristled a bit internally.

"I can't," Hermione admitted.

His hands paused with the buttons on his shirt. "Did you change your mind?"

Her face felt red again. "No, I just...I physically can't take this off myself," she told him as she tugged at the bottom of the mini corset-like brassier she was wearing.

Tom stepped towards her. "What do you mean?" he asked with a hint of curiosity and amusement.

She was going to kill Luna for this and Ginny for going along with it. "My roommates helped me dress. They added a charm…"

A smile broke out on his face and she was a little stunned by how much more handsome he was with delight showing through his stern exterior.

"They did, did they? How amusing. It's keyed to me specifically?"

She shook her head. "No, just against me. I admitted to them I had a date tonight. They assured me they would help remove it if my date went badly."

Tom snorted. "I know you well enough to know you'd have slept in it rather than find one of them to remove it."

Hermione didn't answer because he wasn't wrong. She wasn't quite sure if Luna came back to the flat or not and she knew for sure Harry and Ginny would probably be going at it well into the early hours of the next day and that was not something she needed to interrupt for something like unlacing her undergarment.

Circling behind her, Tom's fingers touched the laces holding her bra together lightly.

Firmly, he instructed. "Hold the bra to you in front and don't let it go until I tell you to."

She felt light tugging as he undid the laces and she felt the slack of her bra a moment before she felt the ribbons tickling down along her ribs as Tom released it.

He walked in front of her and resumed leaning against the post at the foot of the bed.

"Okay, Hermione. Remove it for me," Tom told her, his eyes locked on hers. The way he stared in her eyes, rather than focusing on her chest, was as much a dare as it was a show of respect. She pulled her hands away from her bra and let it drop. She counted the seconds before Tom looked down and the only sign of attraction he gave her was a very deep breath. The slow kind that speaks of steeling oneself to withstand what is to come. Hermione internally recorded a score in her column at having caused a physical reaction from him and used his reaction to stop herself from covering her breasts from scrutiny. She pointedly ignored the multiple tally marks denoting his side on her mental list.

He made a show of licking his lips as he still admired her breasts. "And the rest?"

Gulping, Hermione whispered, "What about you?"

He said nothing but finished unbuttoning his shirt and tossed it aside. His chest was firm and defined. For a wizard who, to her knowledge, was not a quidditch player, he was remarkably toned.

"He could model underwear in the muggle world, with those Vs," Hermione thought to herself as she noted his hip bones that were just visible above the low slung way of his trousers.

Not pausing, Tom flicked open the button on his pants and lowered the zip. Hermione noted the way he was careful with the zipper as his erection was straining against it. He let them drop and stepped on the ankles of each in turn to step out of them. He stared her in the eye as he reached down and pulled his socks off. With a flick of his wrist, he sent all his clothing to the chair, standing before her in just his boxer shorts, black, of course.

Hermione shivered but she wasn't really sure whether she was cold or nervous. Tom stalked forward a couple steps toward, much like a predator watching its prey.

When he was close enough for her to feel his body heat, he wrapped an arm around the small of her back. His wrist and forearm rested firmly at the top of her arse, his elbow curled around one hip and his palm was pressing against the other hip. She didn't know if he meant it as a show of how big and strong he was but she felt her blood rushing south at an increasingly fast pace.

His other hand was softer than the one pulling her into his body and locking her there. His fingertips were almost reverent as he slid them across her cheeks and into her hair. With no spell or motions that she could detect, he released her hair. Her curls tumbled down, spilling across her shoulders and down her back. She had the pleasure of seeing his pupils dilate further. Had she not been staring up into his eyes as he watched her hair fall out of it's style, she'd never have noticed it.

Threading through her curls and wrapping around the back of her head and neck, his thumb rubbed a small circle where her jaw met her ear. She was unsure what to do with her arms so she raised them up from where they were caught between their bodies. She looked down to see a smattering of soft black chest hair and she followed her wish to card her fingers through it. It was much softer than she expected it to feel. More coarse than the head on his head but still soft. She stroked up until her hands were on his shoulders before she looked up at him.

Tom's eyes were waiting for hers to meet them. She breathed in deeply and it was like slow motion when he leaned forward and caught her lips. She couldn't help but sigh into his mouth, his warm lip soft against hers but urgent.

Hermione had never been kissed like this and she'd never been naked with a man against her before. She wasn't really sure she had thought about how sex would start but she supposed she'd always imagined it to start slow. No sooner had she tasted his tongue brushing her top lip had he turned and leaned her backwards over the mattress. He hovered over her and as she grasped his shoulders in surprise.

Hermione was very quickly aware that Tom had somehow either vanished or banished her knickers and his shorts. The erection she'd felt earlier was hard, hot, and insistently pressing into her inner thigh. She leaned her head forward because she'd not even gotten to see it before it was so close to her sex.

Realizing what she wanted, Tom pushed up on his elbows which were supporting him on either side of her body. She looked down the length of her body to see his erection, dark, deep red and much larger than she had thought it would be.

Hermione Granger did not make it a habit to go around imagining what the males around her looked like under their robes but she didn't ever think a penis could be so large. She'd see Harry and Ginny once or twice and the flashes of Harry that she'd glimpsed did not seem to indicate that it would be this big. According to Ginny, Harry was the perfect size, whatever that meant. She never tried to stifle Ginny's oversharing tendencies because she wanted to be a good friend but she never really wanted to be told the things Ginny shared over the years. She'd blissfully blocked out the glimpses she'd seen but now she realized it was her only comparison and she desperately wanted to ask how that was supposed to fit inside her.

As if he was reading her mind, and perhaps he was, Tom coaxed her gently, "You'd expand too, baby. Don't worry about it. I promise I'm going to take care of you."

She didn't want to second guess herself again so she lunged up and clumsily attached her lips to his. He responded and just like that, she was lost in the scent of his soap, the sweet taste of his mouth, the sound of his breathing between kisses, the feel of his muscles under her fingertips, and the last vision she had of his dark eyes before she closed her eyes and surrendered.

His hands tweaked her nipples and her hips lunged off the bed of their own accord. He released her lips and chuckled as he bent his head and engulfed a nipple in his mouth. She moaned at the new sensation but he didn't give her long to appreciate it before the hand his mouth replaced was stroking down her body, heading south.

She gripped him a little in anticipation as she felt the pads of his fingers lightly skimming along the taut skin of her ribs and then her abdomen. Hermione had only a moment to panic over what he would think when he looked at her most private area before his index finger trailed through her little patch of pubic hair to her soft folds and then he was smiling at her.

"Why Miss Granger, you're absolutely drenched!"

The delight in his voice was apparent but Hermione still flushed with embarrassment at how much her body was attracted to him and betrayed her by telling him.

"Don't do that," he breathed against her sternum.

"Do what?"

"Be embarrassed at how much you desire me. It's very sexy how wet you are for me. I've known it for hours now but I didn't imagine you'd be this thoroughly ready for this quickly. I'm very pleased with you," Tom said between kisses and nips to her collarbone. "Your body is preparing itself for me. This is what it is supposed to do," he assured her as he stroked a finger the length of her slit.

She felt her body opening to him, her labia slipping aside to the softest touch of his finger. This feeling was heaven and she could see how it was addictive. Every stroke made her feel like she was ratcheting up higher and tighter. She didn't know where the point of release would be but each stroke made her desperate for just a bit more. Hermione bit her lip and arched her back, instinctively searching for that delicious friction that would release her from this torment.

"Hold still, love," Tom cautioned, his motions stalling.

The whine she let out was mortifying to hear but Tom smiled at her wickedly. He stared her in the eye as his tongue darted out and licked a nipple. His finger started back in its lazy path of stroking from one end to the other of her center. Hermione was having a hard time not bucking her hips into his touch. Tom was very carefully not pressing into her or going up far enough to reach the spot she most wanted him to touch.

"I think I can make you come just like this," Tom murmured, her nipple in his mouth.

She groaned at the sweet torture he was putting her through.

His strokes sped up a little but he didn't delve inside her nor did touch her at the top where she needed him.

This feeling of impending orgasm wasn't completely foreign to her, she'd touched herself a few times, but it was still new and foreign to her. She was solely focused on how every touch brought her higher than she thought she could go. Her body tightened up impossibly and when Tom leaned up to kiss her and bit her bottom lip and growled at her to "Come now."

Her release was much stronger than she'd ever experienced at her own hand. She gasped and forgot that she was supposed to stay still. She felt her back bow off the bed and her head tilted back with it. She slammed her eyes shut and sensations washed over her.

When she came back down, she noticed Tom's hand had stopped stroking and that he was hovering over her, watching her, his face intense.

What did you say to your partner after that?

"Remember the incantation?"

Hermione nodded her head as she floundered to recall it. Her brain felt like it was scattered all over the place. "Conspisso pressura habuerit concitato fluidum in adamantem," she panted.

"Good girl," Tom praised and then, he was impaling himself inside her.

She felt her face fall open in shock at the unexpected pain and discomfort but Tom was whispering in her ear and talking her through it.

"-you're doing so good, you feel amazing. Just a moment and it will pass and then it will feel wonderful, I promise," he breathed in her ear.

His hands were stroking her damp curls away from her temple as the other was sliding underneath her back, pulling her to him and changing the angle. He slowly pulled back out of her a small amount and then pushed back in. He did this slowly while increasing the amount he pulled out each time. Hermione could feel her discomfort lessening with each stroke and she took a deep breath and felt much calmer when Tom pressed an open mouth kiss to the comun of her neck.

Her legs felt a little stiff so she pulled them up. Tom's pace picked up a bit when he noticed she was moving underneath him and Hermione felt encouraged to keep her knees up. It was only a few more seconds later that she realized holding her knees up like that would get tiring. She wrapped one leg around Tom's waist and he moaned, low and deep.

The pain she felt was mostly gone and she now felt herself building again. Her mind imagined this feeling like a line chart. She could imagine the horizontal line to say "Tom" and the vertical line to be labeled with "touch" and "kiss" and "penetration." The line displayed would be her impending orgasm. She could almost see the line skyrocketing with each touch of his lips, each sound that escaped his mouth, and each time his erection caressed her deep inside.

Hermione knew the female body was capable of multiple orgasms back to back but she'd only ever masterbated a few times. Mostly just to see what it felt like. She'd never felt sexually frustrated enough to play with herself long enough to experiment with that fact. It took her long enough to get herself off the few times she'd done it that she was very taken aback at how quickly her body was rebounding.

Tom's back was getting slick under her hands as she grasped at it, pressing her breasts into his chest. He was as close as he could be and yet she was trying to find a way to get him closer. The hand under her pressed her up and Tom was now hitting a spot inside her that made stars appear and before she could realize what was happening, she was coming again. She felt her head fall forward this time, her forehead on Tom's shoulder. She squeezed his back to her tightly as she heard herself moan in delicious paradise as it washed over her.

"Ah, fuck, Hermione!" Tom gritted his teeth as he pumped away through her bliss. "Too tight, sweet Salazar!"

A warmth flooded her as his motions stilled. His grip was now on her hips as he held her still around him.

For a long moment there was no sound except for their breathing and a crackling of the fire. Wait. Fire? Tom didn't have a fireplace in his bedroom. She opened her eyes to see the curtains of his window going up in a blaze.

"There's a fire," Hermione gasped.

"Your pussy is definitely fire," Tom smiled at her lazily through closed eyes.

"Actual fire, Tom," Hermione warned him with a slight shake of his shoulder.

Tom opened an eye and followed her gaze to the fire. His face displayed shock for a moment before he waved his hand and water fell over the fire, dousing it. The curtains were still intact but they were ruined beyond magical repair, most likely.

He kissed her sweetly, the urgency gone and only an overwhelming fondness was shared between them.

"Remember your incantation?" Tom reminded her.

"Yes," she said, reaching a hand out and calling her wand to her.

Tom did the same and he looked at her to be sure she was ready. She could feel him softening inside her and knew that it was time to perform the spell.

As he eased out of her, he whispered the charm that would expel their fluids from her vaginal cavity. She saw it was tinged pink with some blood and knew that all three fluids were present.

"Ok," Tom told her as he kept the fluid floating in the air, untouched by anything.

"Conspisso pressura habuerit concitato fluidum in adamantem," Hermione whispered and she watched as the fluid became smaller and smaller. A more spherical shape took place as the spell pressed it all into itself and compounded. With a barely audible 'pop' a diamond was formed. Tom released his spell and the newly created blood diamond fell and landed on her abdomen near her navel.

Tom set his wand on the nightstand with a bit of a stretch but he was careful to keep his body where it was.

He gestured for her to take it, refusing to touch it first. She reached down and pinched it between her thumb and index finger. She held it up where they could both look at it.

It was quite literally a diamond. It was brilliantly clear and bright and was the shape of a diamond as well. She was not the kind of girl who knew much about jewelry or gems or the type of cuts that existed but she knew this diamond was exquisite.

"I'd guess that's at least 3 karats," Tom said softly, awed.

Embarrassed at her lack of knowledge on how big a karat is, Hermione asked quietly, "Is that a normal size?"

Easing himself from hovering over her, Tom laid down next to her on his side. He was gentle with his movements so that he didn't jostle her as she held the diamond up.

"Well, I can't tell you the average size of a blood diamond as it isn't really recorded. Most people keep that information private. I guess the size might vary by how innocent the fluid was and by the power of the witch casting."

She rotated the diamond around to look at it from a different angle. The candles that were floating on the side of the room that hadn't caught fire were barely enough for her to see that the diamond was nearly symmetrical on all sides.

With a clearing of his throat, Tom continued, "What I can tell you is that most wedding rings are only 1 or 2 karats so if you wear this as jewelry, and I suggest that you do, you'll have people admiring it."

She looked over at Tom to see he wasn't looking at the diamond but at her. His fingers wrapped around hers, enclosing the diamond into her fist. He leaned over a little and kissed her, leaving their lips locked for a moment before he pulled away from her.

"You set my fucking curtains on fire," Tom said seriously, with a quirk of his lips giving away his amusement.

"We," Hermione corrected.

"We? How do you figure that? I wasn't the virgin and I wasn't the one providing the power for the exchange," Tom argued playfully.

Wryly, Hermione teased, "Yes, because I am capable of doing that to myself to evoke such a response."

His fingers were feeling the skin of her cheek. "Okay then, we set the fucking curtains on fire," he revised.

She couldn't help but giggle at his cursing because it seemed so out of place.

He laughed as well and Hermione wanted to bottle this moment here with him, naked but not caring about her nudity. Bodies pressed together, gazes locked on each other, and a smile between them.

"Sorry about that," Hermione grinned. "I'll try to replace them for you as soon as I can afford to."

His smile slowly slipped off his face. He didn't seem upset but his smile was gone. Hermione was sure she'd never known someone whose moods could change so quickly.

"I'm the Minister of Magic. I can afford to replace the curtains," he told her firmly.

She gasped at the realization that hit her full force. She brought her empty hand up to cover her eyes as she blushed.

She felt him prying her hand away from her face and when she cracked an eye open to look at him, he was simply watching her patiently, with that eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I just realized I slept with the Minister of Magic," Hermione admitted.

A soft chuckle in her ear had her smiling at her own silliness. He pressed a kiss below her ear.

"Don't worry, by the time morning hits, I'll have a whole list of other debauched acts to add to that list of what you've done with the Minister of Magic."

"You like this," Hermione guessed.

Pretending to be obtuse, Tom asked, "I like what? This?"

He pulled her body to him and she felt his erection, renewed, on her hip. She looked him in the eye to see his arrogant smirk as she was surprised that he wanted her again, so soon. Weren't guys notorious for only having one go in them at a time?

Tom's laugh made her realize he'd read the thought in her mind.

"Lesser men, yes. Me? No, I'm well trained in the ways of sex. I have a very firm command on my body but I've no reason to reign it in right now," Tom told her.

He summoned a box from his chest of drawers and when it touched his palm, he flicked it open. It appeared to be a black velvet lined box for a ring. He offered the box to her and she placed her new blood diamond into it before letting the lid snap closed. Tom took it and set it to the side table for safe keeping.

"Now, where was I?" he asked rhetorically as he started kissing down her neck.