Chapter Nine

Possessive Beasts and Wizards


Her hips rocked over Severus's lap while his tongue traced up the side of her neck and his fingers rolled her taut nipples. Her legs were hooked over the outside of his knees which kept her on display as Evan's mouth sucked at her swollen clit. His fingers repeatedly curved and petted along her front wall with each thrust, driving her to clamp onto him and moan around Regulus. The blunt head of his cock rubbed against the back of her throat as Rabastan bobbed her head up and down. Hollowing her cheeks she sucked her way up his length before allowing it to fall from her mouth with an audible pop. Regulus's hand replaced Rabastan's in her knotted hair and shifted her focus to him guiding her mouth to his sac where her lips kissed and pulled at the loose skin.

Hermione whined and moaned as she felt the tension deep within her core grow tighter. Her hips began to lose their rhythm as she chased Evan's fluttering fingers and teasing mouth, growing desperate for the release he kept from her.

"That's it, show Evan how much you like his mouth on your cunt," Severus purred, moving his hands along the sides of her body to grip her hips and work them over himself and Evan's mouth.

"I do," she moaned, removing her mouth from Rabastan.

Her head fell back onto Severus's shoulder as she fisted Regulus and Rabastan, her palms gliding over their heads before coming down their lengths with a twist of her wrists.

"Make her come, Evan," Rabastan begged. "I want to hear her scream."

The pads of his fingers firmly pressed inside of her as his tongue went flat against her clit with a matching pressure forcing compliance from her. She choked on his name as she screamed her release, her hold on the others dropping in favor of threading her fingers through his blond hair to hold him in place while she bucked against him, riding his mouth in time with the pulses of her orgasm.

Hermione woke up with a start, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Her nipples were overly sensitive as they grazed along the pearlescent silk of her camisole, pulling a soft moan from her as she freed them from the slippery fabric. Between her legs, her core clenched repeatedly, soaking the fabric of her matching shorts.

Checking the silencing charm around the drapes of her bed, she gently thumbed at her nipples and slowly moved her hands down the planes of her stomach. Hooking the waistband of her sleep shorts, she pushed them down her legs and petted her inner thighs on her way back up to her center. She ran her middle finger up her wet slit and brought it to her distended clit where she gently circled around it, reveling in the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Hermione had become curious about her body several years ago and had begun to explore it, developing vague notions of things she thought would feel good if given enough time to become truly aroused. She knew she liked the feeling of rolling and tweaking her own nipples and had enjoyed petting her slit and the trickle of hot liquid that would sometimes come from it. Rubbing against and humping the mound of pillows that used to grace her bed would create a delicious tingle along her spine and she loved flicking her clit and desperately circling her fingers over the bundle of nerves. Toying with the space between her legs had been something she could do for hours while she read everything from her school books to her romance novels.

However, none of those actions had ever gotten her nipples as stiff and sensitive as they were now. Nor had a single one of them soaked her knickers to the point of making her clenching cunt suck at the fabric as it tried to fill itself. Never had she felt more than those faint tingles and moments of relaxation while she tried to pleasure herself; let alone come awake morning after morning with a racing heart and the feeling of orgasmic pleasure sending shockwaves through her body. And after trying and failing to bring forth the euphoric bliss she was now receiving courtesy of her illicit dreams, she had given up choosing to only engage with herself when a particularly naughty chapter would creep into her novels.

Feeling the last waves of her lingering orgasm recede, Hermione pulled her damp shorts back up and lowered her top into place. She looked at the fingers that had been spreading her arousal around her clit and recalled a particularly salacious dream from two mornings ago where Severus had been pumping his long fingers into her and after she had come, he pushed them into her mouth directing her to suck them clean. She continued to examine them, her tongue wetting her lips as she thought on whether or not the action would be as scorching to her in her conscious state as it had been in her dream.

She slowly brought her finger to her mouth, opening her lips so she could taste herself when the loud sleep mumblings of Constance startled her and made her jerk her hand away. Uncaring for her pajamas that were already in need of laundering, she hastily wiped her hand clean on the silk shorts and canceled the charm on her bed. Grabbing her clothes and school bag from her desk, she didn't even bother with her robe before quietly darting from her dorm to the girls' bathroom.

She padded down the hallway awkwardly trying to dislodge the crotch of her shorts with half squats and little shimmies as she went, thankful that no one ever seemed to be up in the early morning hours.

Except Severus, she thought, causing herself alarm.

She gave a paranoid look over her shoulder at the doors lining the right side of the hall that housed the seventh year boys and sighed in relief that each seemed to remain as still as before she unnecessarily scared herself. Looking back around, her relief left her unprepared for seeing the last door before the bathrooms open and a blurry eyed Severus stepping out of it.

"Oh for the love of Grandpa Salazar's snake," she whimpered, her mouth going dry as she shamefully ogled his exposed chest.

Her eyes were drawn across the smooth expanse of alabaster skin and over the soft definition of muscle that she fleetingly wished to run her tongue over as he stretched his back with a crack. His arms relaxed by his side briefly before taking her fixated gaze lower to his tented sleep bottoms. She felt her lips part as he adjusted himself, a needy squeak leaving her throat when she noticed the mess covering his flagging erection.

Hermione knew without a doubt that he had heard her, his hand freezing over himself as he pried his eyes open against the warm torch light of the hall.

Dropping her armload of clothes to cover her own dampened shorts, she looked up at the ceiling and greeted too cheerily, "Good morning."

"Nice pajamas," he drawled. "They make you look particularly... enticing."

The gravelly and seductive quality of his voice had her peeking at him from her vigil of the ceiling. Following the line that captivated his dark eyes, she looked down at herself and felt her eyes nearly bug out as she saw her nipples straining against the silk camisole, their rosey color shadowing against the white top. She hastily brought one of her arms back up to create a band over her chest to preserve her modesty despite not having given him the same courtesy earlier when he was unaware of her presence.

"It's a shame to cover such lovely tits," he bemoaned.

With a shrug he continued on his way to the bathroom, her gaze now held by the sight of his toned back and bum as he sauntered through the door.

"Good Merlin, it's hot," she panted, tugging on her top to create a draft along her chest as she hurried into the bathroom before anyone else could happen upon her.

After giving herself a stern talking to about reining in her newly developed and gluttonous sexual appetite while she showered and dressed, Hermione made her way to the Great Hall thankful for the absence of Severus or any of the other wizards who had begun to star in her dreams. She was more than mildly relieved that they were accepting of her seeing them each personally at the same time. Given the insufficient amount of time she had, she knew of no other way to go about making an informed decision on whom she should choose to marry and if left to her poorly neglected libido she would renege on her choice to only force one into an arranged marriage with her.

Already they were all so different from one another, each tempting her in ways that left them without compare to their counterparts. Rabastan was often quiet, filled with a mellow sort of patience that put her at ease and allowed her mind to relax as she basked in his calming aura. Of the four, he was the most expressive of his own emotions but also the most observant of the emotions belonging to those around him.

Evan was the most reserved in his affections and attentions having touched her no more than what she had bestowed upon him first. It spoke volumes to her about his reverence for witches, the way he effortlessly deferred to her and the speed at which she wanted to move. Then there was the way he loved and doted on his sister, acting as her fiercest protector that sent her mind spinning wildly down the path of what he would be like as a father.

Severus was intense. Everything about him was striking and imposing and challenging to her. Even now as she was only just beginning to wade into the water with him, he pushed her and forced her to dig deep within herself. He had a quiet confidence and air of control around him that made her all at once feel safe and dangerous, like he was a predatory beast that was undecided about her being his prey or his equal.

And rounding them out was Regulus. There wasn't a witch in the school he couldn't charm, a fair amount of wizards too Hermione was sure. He was the embodiment of everything the old money, pureblood world valued. His breeding was impeccable, if a little inbred, his face and entire body were stunning and worthy of a marble carving, his intellect superior to most and he was athletic and well liked. How he was still unattached she had no idea. Then again, given the way he took every opportunity to kiss her lips till they were swollen, she knew that once he was given something he took it for all he could. She could only imagine how such a quality made mothers everywhere wish to lock their daughters safely away from him.

The four of them fit together perfectly. The way they worked together and around each other so naturally had made them each stick out to her as the best candidates to make up her guard. They wouldn't have the growing pains of needing to learn how to work together or the feelings of resentment and disgruntlement that would inevitably come from any other makeup of wizards as a pecking order was established. Their group dynamic had already been perfected and she hoped she could seamlessly bleed into them despite the unavoidable upset that she would cause when she finally had to decide which of them would be the best fit for her.

Arriving in the Great Hall, Hermione slipped between the bench seat and the ancient gnarled table. She sidestepped her way between the two before taking her seat, to leave space at the end for whoever decided to take up the watch that morning. Placing a hand over the silver charger that appeared before her, she sent a gratified pulse of magic towards the school's elves before receiving the rest of her place setting.

Still feeling a little decadent after her early morning bliss, she filled the bowl with various cut fruits and liberally drizzled the sticky chocolate and hazelnut spread that sat out on the table overtop of it. Balancing out the sugar rush she was going to use to fuel her day, she took care in filling her plate with protein dense items to pick through, her mother's voice about proper nutrition nagging her in the back of her mind.

Popping a strawberry that held a large glob of the spread into her mouth, she rummaged through her purse for her stationary supplies so she could finish her fifth draft of a letter for Bellatrix. It had been hard to complete because she would take even the smallest of slights against Hermione as the most egregious of offenses, which had made it difficult to write to her with the candor she would have preferred. While she wasn't a fan of Lily Evans and found herself burning with an irrational jealousy and need to assert her possession every time the redhead so much as looked at Severus, she didn't want to accidentally unleash the raging insanity that was Bellatrix Lestrange on the poor muggle witch and her defenseless family. Nor did she want to turn her or her father against Severus by making them think he was complicit in Lily's behavior. So finally after days of wasted stationary and ink, she had settled on the age-old topic of wizards for her letter. She would be happily distracted by the recounting of all her details, especially the page long description of her first kiss, and with any luck she would be able to offer her some advice when it came time to make her selection because unlike Rodolphus, Bellatrix was surprisingly unbiased in her assessment of each suitor.

Finishing her letter with a mountain of love and a flourished scribble of her name, Hermione folded the thick stack of parchment together and sealed it to give to Sgàil for delivery after lunch when she would be on her way to the greenhouses. After tucking it back into her purse, she looked into her empty bowl and pursed her lips as she warred with herself over the leftover chocolate. Siding against her willpower, and in a move that would have had her mother scolding her, she ran her middle finger along the inside, collecting what remained and brought it to her mouth. Sucking the rich taste from her finger, her eyes closed and she involuntarily released a moan.

"Reg, I hope Kreacher knows how to make that stuff because it is going to be a household staple," Evan proclaimed, sliding into place beside Hermione on the open corner.

She curled her lips in against her guilty smile at having been caught and hastily rubbed her hands over the sweating goblet before drying them on her napkin.

"It's really good. I just couldn't help myself," she defended, when she found they were still watching her.

"Oh I don't doubt it. I just hope you find it tastes good on everything you put it on," Severus responded dismissively, prompting her to wonder if the comment was intended to be laced with innuendo or if her newly awakened sexual desires were overreacting.

Either way, she didn't want to miss his challenge, after having so clearly lost her composure in the dorms when she saw him shirtless and so she retorted, "I'm sure I will. After all, chocolate has been a long time accompaniment to not only other sweets but to things that lend themselves to a naturally salty and bitter taste."

From beside her, Rabastan choked on his tea, coughing and sputtering as it spilled from his mouth and across the table. Across fromthem, Regulus began to laugh, reaching over to slap his friend's back as he continued to hack.

"Sorry," he wheezed, sitting back down and vanishing the mess he had made.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, trying to smother her laugh.

While Severus irked her by still looking flippant, Rabastan's reaction made her internally shimmy with pride at having knocked at least one of them off balance as much as they all did her.

"I'm fine," he coughed, waving her concern away while Evan threw his head back in riotous laughter.

Noticing the girlish mate to Evan's guffaw was missing, she asked, "Where's Eloise? She usually comes up with one of you."

Evan's face scrunched up as he begrudgingly responded, "She went to see Madam Pomfrey for her contraceptive brew. She requires any witch who is taking it come receive it in person every ninety days so that she can discuss safe sex practices with them and administer a wellness exam. Though she's discreet with the information, her procedure still parades every witch's business around the entirety of the school."

"I've told you," Severus sighed in irritation. "I modified the brew I make for each of us from the one Pomfrey gives the witches. I can easily make El's when I make the rest of ours and then she doesn't have to keep going. Not to mention it'll be free of all those preservatives the Hospital Wing is forced to have added in to prolong the shelf life."

"I know but she won't fucking listen to me. She says since she needs her other exams and medical charms done seasonally as well, that she would just prefer to do the whole damn thing at once," he snapped, tossing his spoon back into his bowl of porridge as he pushed it away from himself. "For fuck's sake, one of you needs to change your career path and become a healer so she doesn't have to have this shite attended to in public hospitals. I tried offering to pay Madam Pomfrey to continue with it after Eloise graduates, but she said it would be unethical."

Hermione's attention was caught by the implications of Severus's mention of brewing a wizard's contraceptive for all four of them, but she filed it away to ask about later the moment Evan had mentioned his sister's need for continuous medical treatment.

"What does she seek medical attention for?" She quietly asked, moving closer to him and resting a hand on his forearm. "It costs several rather shiny galleons and is a legal grey area in Wizarding Britain but I have a concierge healer out of France that has seen after all of my medical needs my entire life. My mother put her on retainer when she found out she was pregnant with me. It's how the Ministry and Hogwarts didn't know of my existence all these years. I can write to her and see if she is equipped to handle whatever Eloise needs."

In a rare show of initiated affection, Evan swung his left leg over the bench so that he straddled it and grabbed onto Hermione's thigh, using it to pull her into the cradle he had created. His hand moved down to her knees to hook her legs over his thigh before coming to wrap around her hips. His other hand snaked above her waist to bring her against his chest as he first kissed the top of her head, then her temple, her cheek, and finally the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you, Hermione," he murmured into her neck, his lips brushing along the sensitive skin with each word. "We've known Rab and Reggie our whole lives and Severus is basically family after the last six years and she hasn't even told them but I'll try to talk her into telling you so that you can write to your medi-witch. I don't care about the cost, money isn't an issue, I just don't want her to have to go to Saint Mungos after we leave school. She won't be able to maintain her privacy there."

Hermione allowed herself to stay tucked against Evan as their group's conversation slowly began to resume, centering around Professor Slughorn's dinner party the following night.

"I'm surprised he hasn't sent you an invitation after Tuesday, Hermione," Severus said.

"Apparently he was rather disappointed in my father's lack of ambition initially following his graduation. He probably assumes I will follow the same lackluster career path," she said sardonically. "Because apparently massive governmental reform doesn't provide him with any payout unless it happens.

"What about you, Rabastan? Why aren't you a part of his illustrious little collection?"

From above, the screech of arriving post owls reverberated through the hall, cutting off whatever his answer would have been. Pulling up from where she was rested against Evan, Hermione searched the hoard of birds looking for Rodolphus's large grey owl, Thor, who had been named for the crackling echo his wings created upon taking off and landing.

"Expecting something?" Evan asked, the expanse of his large hand still holding onto her hip.

"More like hoping," she answered distractedly.

Spotting Thor amongst the chaos, she said a silent prayer that Roddy had come through and bought her affections with her coveted coffee beans. Her bubbling excitement though was short lived when she saw Sgàil swooping over him and a nondescript post owl, repeatedly attacking them both as they tried to make their way over to her.

"Shite on a biscuit," she swore, sitting up further.

Putting her thumb and middle fingers into her mouth, she blew out a short, high pitched whistle making the four wizards around her cringe. Hearing her disciplinary call, Sgàil stopped his jealous assault and swooped down for the table. He landed a short distance away from her and proceeded to waddle over with his head hung in a show of contrition she knew to be an act.

"Get your feathered little bum over here, you possessive beast," she scolded.

His wings gave a short flap that brought him the rest of the way as he quickly complied with her already tested patience.

"Yeah, you know what you did," she admonished, as he nuzzled her hand with his head. "How many times do I have to tell you, Sgàil? Other owls are allowed to deliver my post to me. It does not mean I favor them over you or that you're getting replaced. Simply that someone is sending me something that had to arrive before they saw you next. There is no other owl in my life. You're it for me, my love," she cooed, finally accepting his affection and kissing his beak.

"All I'm saying is I can see where he's coming from," Regulus defended. "I mean I don't particularly like other blokes trying to swoop in on our witch either."

"Whose witch?" Hermione absently asked, shooing Sgàil back as Thor hesitantly crossed over to her.

"Of course my brother's ruddy bird is here to see you," Rabastan grumbled.

"It looks like he brought a package. I'm sure there's something in there for you," she tried to soothe.

"Not bloody likely."

Untying the parcel, Thor quickly backed away, his eyes on Sgàil and took off with a thunder-like clap of his wings, not even waiting for a treat let alone a response missive in his haste to get away from Sgàil.

Waving her hand over the delivery, she resized it and was instantly assaulted with the smell of coffee beans and not just any beans, but the ones from the little shop she used to frequent with her mother.

With a squeal, she swung her legs off of Evan and tore into the paper, clapping her hands as she saw three bags of whole beans nestled inside, a hand crank grinder, a pour over set with kettle, and the large hand painted mug that the owner kept on reserve especially for her visits.

"Roddy, I fucking love you!" She exclaimed, enthusiastically kissing one of the bags as she held it in her hands.

"Is that a muggle coffee set?" Severus asked, leaning over the table as he glared at the contents of the box then at Rabastan.

"Yes, and none of you are to tell my father," she warned, sharply meeting each of their eyes before exchanging the beans for the mug. In a softer tone, she continued, "This was mine and my mum's secret. Dorian's too since he facilitated our little rebellions into the muggle world. Every week, he would set aside an official training session with the other Death Eaters and keep them occupied from lunch till well after dinner. While they dueled on the beach, mum and I would go out shopping and to the cinema and we would always take a power break at this little cafe that overlooked the Ionian Sea.

"She would always tell me that while the traditions and customs of our people were important and should always be practiced and never forgotten, that we needed to be willing to evolve with the times. That no race, be they muggle or wizard, could survive without adapting as the world changed."

She reverently nestled the mug back into place and picked up the sealed piece of parchment that she had cast aside. Recognizing Antonin's personal stamp, she groaned knowing he would have charmed the letter to speak to her and tell her something truly embarrassing.

With a fortifying breath she slid her finger through and popped it open, his Eastern European accented English greeting her.

"I hope the parcel made it to you intact, love. The little elderly muggle woman who packaged this for me, Bujare, sends you her love and condolences and asked how to reach you so she can send a recurring delivery for you. Not to worry, I got her set up with the service the little mud - I mean muggle - children who attended Hogwarts use to keep in contact with their parents.

"Now on to you and your spoiled little arse. We all know you have Rodolphus wrapped around your finger and that he would do anything for you, but I swear to Merlin witch, he should bend you over his knee and slap that pert arse of yours red for making us all complicit in your little muggle beverage fixation. In fact, when we come to see you, I'm going to make sure he does just that. It'll teach you a damn lesson about having us all by the bollocks and be a thoroughly erotic sight that I for one will enjoy for months to come.

"Take care of yourself, love. We'll see you soon."

Despite her laughter, her cheeks were burning with embarrassment as she folded the letter and tucked it back into the box, shaking her head at his antics. Shrinking the package back down, she banished it to her dorm and met several sets of seething eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked, feeling as though she had upset them in some way but wasn't sure what she could have done. Taking a guess at what it could be, she ventured with, "Is it about Antonin? I'm sorry I know he can be a bit obnoxious and rather embarrassing. If you want, when I write to him later I will ask to no longer send his charmed letters."

They didn't answer, making her nerves heighten as they turned their attention to Rabastan, clearly nominating him to be the one to speak.

"Hermione," he started, his voice hard though his hazel eyes softened when she met them. "How many wizards are you involved with?"

"What?" She questioned, not understanding. "I thought we talked about this already on Saturday..."

He looked at the other three for a moment before addressing her again.

"Yes we did, it's just that-"

"Just what?" She snapped, her concern over their feelings running out as she realized they didn't believe her. "That you all think I lied to you, is that it? That apparently when I said no one else could possibly hold my attention the way the four of you do that I was just prattling shite off? How dare you?" She nearly shrieked, shoving Evan's hands off of her as she went to stand up from the bench.

"None of you have any room to question me and my sincerity and devotion! Not when you all have been whoring around this school for Merlin only knows how long," she sobbed, hating that her tears were beginning to spill over for them to see.

Grabbing her purse and the rest of her mail, she stomped around the table, shoving Severus out of her way as he jumped up to stop her retreat.

Eloise, who had been halfway to their table when Hermione had exploded, had quickly run over to wrap an arm around her and usher her away from her brother and his friends.

Sending her several steps ahead, Eloise whirled on her brother and hissed, "Evan, I am going to beat your arse and curse you each into next week for whatever you pricks said to her."

Catching up, she linked their arms together as they walked out of the hall and said, "Before we begin bashing them and cursing wizards everywhere into pigs, I need to do my due diligence by each of them and say, you couldn't have chosen a better group of wizards and it is so obvious that they worship you. Each of them look at you like you're a goddess who has blessed them with your divine presence and already they look anguished at having hurt you. So make them beg and grovel a little for being complete dunderheads, but just remember they are all well and truly besotted with you."

"So am I," she confessed aloud, resting her head on Eloise's shoulder as she reluctantly cried.