Chapter 1

The room, with its low ceiling and damp walls, was dark and ominous. It bespoke the haunted soul of its occupant. A wide canopied bed lay in the corner. It was wooden and bare. A single worn out mattress rested limply on it. The bed sheet was grey and tattered. No welcoming blankets graced the foot of the bed. A single lamp perched on the bedside table shed light on the ghastly interior. The floor, barely scrubbed, creaked at the slightest movement. The walls were scarcely decorated, and they hid in shadows for want of light. Overall, the room gave one an impression of a prison cell: a cold, dark and forlorn prison cell.

Hermione shuddered and hugged herself as she surveyed the empty room. She was dressed in casual jeans and a sweat shirt, her unruly hair tied behind her. She clutched hard at the beaded bag in her hand and crossed the threshold. The floorboard squeaked under her weight as she took a step. She looked around once more and then, coming to a decision, chose to stay standing where she was. There was no place to sit or rest anyway. She scratched the skin on her arm, the word 'Mudblood' was etched quite deeply in it. She looked away from the red scar that was a perpetual reminder of the horrifying war.

The war.

Had it really ended?

She knew it hadn't.

It wouldn't end. Not for her.

Nor for them, either.

The survivors...

She sighed as her foot traced a circular pattern in the dusty floor. Any moment now, he would arrive. Her, she swallowed a small lump in her throat, husband. She had escaped from the gruelling realities of a brutal war only to be caught in this trap set up by the well meaning Ministry: the Marriage Law. All choices had been taken from them, the heroic survivors, and the Ministry had suddenly deemed it fit to inflict this banality on them. No one had any choice. Every one over the age of nineteen had to be married to Ministry appointed suitors. Well, at least her friends had temporary reprieve for another year, while she, already nineteen due to her excessive use of the Time Turner, was condemned. Oh well, one cannot win every battle. She looked at the diamond ring on her left hand. It was quite charming, she had to admit. The runes on the underside of the band were written in some olden language that she could not decipher. She would have access to the Hogwarts library soon and seek out a requisite book, the bookworm in her supplied slyly. She wiped away the moisture that began to gather in her eyes. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

She heard the soft sound of his footsteps as he entered the room. Her heart beat loudly in her chest. She felt the hair on her arms and legs stand up as he neared her. Would he hurt her, she wondered.

"Turn around."

She turned to face him. She had always feared him as a teacher. His very presence was foreboding and filled her with apprehension. But tonight was different. It wasn't a class room. No, it was supposed to be their… wedding night. A binding ceremony in the Wizarding world was never complete without consummation. Fuck, she had tried so hard to not let that thought cross her mind. It was done now. She bit her lip as she gazed at him. The dim light shrouded a part of his face and the rest of it was hidden by his long, dark hair. He was dressed in black, as always, and his face was unreadable. The sallow, pale skin made his appearance look eerie and phantom like. She was about a head shorter than him and could see the faint remnants of a scar on his neck. His thin lips were pressed shut and his obsidian eyes glittered as he looked at her.

"You are too young," he said as he brought up a hand to touch her cheek. Hermione shivered slightly and her eyes widened in shock. Perhaps her surprise registered in her face and she saw him withdraw immediately. In one quick billow, he turned his back to her and waved his wand, thereby extinguishing the lamp. They were shrouded in darkness now.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, are you uninitiated?" his silky voice reached her from some place to her right. It sounded far off and she wondered if he had sat down. Uninitiated? What did that mean…? She furrowed her brows in thought and then it hit her. He was probably enquiring about whether she was a… virgin. She gulped and felt cold sweat form in her palm. She was filled with dread. She could feel the noise of a strange wind whistle in her ears. Her heart beat escalated further and she wondered if she could stand on her legs any longer.

"I… I'm… that is, I don't…" she stuttered, her voice abysmally squeaky even to her own ears. She shut up after this first try. She really couldn't speak. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had meant to say that she was a virgin; it wasn't something she'd be able to hide anyway, but that she had tried to… Oh, well. The chance was gone now.

The dark silence was so palpable that she could taste it on her tongue. Suddenly, she felt the gentle grip of a hand on her wrist and felt herself being pulled towards something. She flinched but did not resist. The backside of her knee hit the wooden bed and, unseeing still, she lost her balance and sat down on it to avoid falling onto the floor. That would have been worse.

She felt the soft rustle of a fabric near her and caught a strange scent. She bit her lip and tried to pierce the darkness with her wearied eyes but to no avail.

"Take off your clothes, Miss Granger, and lie down on your stomach." She heard his deep baritone voice command her. Her hands shook as she tried to open the front buttons on her sweatshirt but she remained resolute. If she had to go through it, she would do this bravely. She took in another breath and tugged her arms out of her sleeves. She held the cloth in one hand and the beaded bag in another as she felt the chill in the room prick her skin. Her silk camisole was covered in cold sweat and she shuddered once more as she took it off. The unzipping of her pants created the loudest noise she had ever heard in her life. She felt jittery and her stomach rolled inwards as she eased out of her jeans. She let it fall to the ground and felt the hard bed with her hands. Having located the spread, she bent her knees and lay face down on the bed and waited.

For whatever was to come next.

The pillow was thin and she could smell the dust lodged in it. She waited. Each second stretched to eternity and she felt a clock tick the milliseconds in her head. She felt quite stupid actually, lying as she did there, and she wondered if she should make a sound to… tell him what? Her cheeks burned in humiliation and she was thankful for the darkness.

She almost jumped in surprise when unfamiliar fingers touched her back. Sharp and unanticipated tingles ran up her spine as her shoulder blades drew closer together. She hadn't heard him move at all. She closed her eyes and steeled herself. She felt his fingers work on her muscles and a soft whimper escaped her mouth. This time she heard him. The mattress squelched under his weight and she felt his proximity. She still had her arms wound around the pillow and felt a strange sensation cross her belly. She had let herself block most thoughts that ran through her mind up to this point to be able to get through the night. But this she hadn't expected. She buried her face in the pillow and bit back another moan as his deft fingers found each knot under her skin and unravelled them. He did not speak, no; he hadn't spoken more than a handful of words ever since she had found out that they were to be tied together.

Irrevocably.

She felt his palms trace the spread of her back and stop at the middle to undo the clasp of her brassiere. She felt them trail along the length of her spine and bit back another groan as her breasts tingled. Fuck, she was enjoying this. She had steeled herself to get through this night. A duty, she had called it, to console herself and ease her pain. But she hadn't expected to like it. No, she hadn't expected to feel… this. He moved to her legs, his thin fingers gently unravelling the stiffness in her calves and thighs. She clutched harder at the cushion this time. Her back still tingled from the erratic waves of a remembered touch.

She had never been with a man before. She had never had the time to. Ron was the only steady boyfriend she had had and they too had broken up over summer. A few quick fumbles in the driveway were the only shreds of intimacy she had been acquainted to in the past. This was new. This wasn't something she had felt before. Was it him? Her teacher whom she dreaded or was it her? Was she going insane? Why did she not feel hysterical? Why…?

And still his hands kept exploring her skin. She felt them brush her behind, momentarily, but they did not stop and travelled along her length and then back again. He eased forwards and she felt the bed bend a little more towards him, beckoning her slight figure to the depression that his weight had created. She could tell that he was reclined on one side now. She raised her head to try and see but the darkness was as ubiquitous as ever.

"Roll over."

Her throat constricted as she complied with his commanding voice and rolled over on her back. She let him take control and direct her because the alternative was too embarrassing. She still couldn't see anything.

She felt his warm breath travel over her curls as he took one in his fingers and caressed it. He touched her collar bone and his hands trailed gently down her mounds, passing without stopping down to her belly where they rested for a moment before beginning to trail small circles around her belly button, the circumference of which increased with each passing moment. She felt a sudden heat build up in her abdomen and her toes curled slightly. Was this natural?

She wondered at the lack of shame she felt. It was partially due to the lingering darkness around them, she thought, that she hadn't broken down in fear yet. But… These thoughts left the window of her mind as she felt his hands brush against a particularly sensitive spot on her neck.

"Oh…" she moaned and her back arched a bit upwards. She felt him remove the unclasped upper covering on her chest. Her breasts tingled once more and she felt them harden in anticipation. She felt incensed. What was wrong with her?

The soft, sensitive sides of her breasts felt the flaming pressure of his hands far more than they had ever felt the skin themselves. His palms brushed the sides softly, experimenting and she could feel the calluses on his hands. They were rough and nimble, she had expected that, but now that she felt them… The fire swirled in her chest and travelled down to her belly and any moment she felt like she would crack… break apart…

The back of her knuckles brushed the underside of one of her breasts and she shivered. She tried not to moan in pleasure but the sound escaped her nevertheless. She felt his palms tenderly trace and cup the fullness, but only for a few seconds before he let go of them them. Instead, his fingertips began to swirl over both the areolas of her nipples, never touching the aching centres, and leaving her in agony. Hermione felt the length of her legs spasm and she found it hard not to writhe under his ministrations.

"Ah…" an alien sound escaped her throat and she bit her lip in mortification. How would she face him in days to come, knowing as she did now, the inflaming touch of his fingers and not think of this dark pleasure? How would she face him the classroom… Oh…

She felt herself crack and felt like she was going to sob. Was this what desire felt like? If so, then she had never felt it before… A dam burst inside her body and she let a full throated moan escape her.

"More…"

"What?"

"More… Please…" she cried. She would go insane if the heat building within her wasn't sated soon.

His fingers took control but were still not violent - instead they simply increased their pressure. He rolled both of her nipples between his fingertips and she let out a tiny cry of conclusion. But still it wasn't enough and somehow he seemed to know it - his mouth placing a kiss under her chin, along the column of her neck and down again to the juncture where her neck met her shoulder…but this time his mouth opened and she felt the wet slickness of his tongue. He tasted one and then the other, once more taking his time and her hands somehow had latched onto his back, digging in piercingly as she clawed. She felt it as his teeth nicked down on one of her nipples. Not enough to be a vicious bite - but enough for her to feel it and that feeling shot straight to the centre between her thighs, making her hips rock up. Her eyes rolled in her head and she whimpered. Oh god - what was she doing? He merely grunted mutely.

What was happening to make her so wanton…

She felt his fingers skim down to where her damp knickers began and felt him remove them. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she realised that she was completely naked beneath her Professor- now her husband, but she pushed that thought away. In the frenzy of activity that had followed, his larger body had completely covered hers. Only now did she realise that he had removed his upper clothing as well. She trembled beneath him, in desire and insanity, and a another moan escaped her as she felt his chest collide against her naked breasts.

His hands slid down to run over the tops of her thighs, her knees and lower, then up to clasp around her hips, squeezing delicately, sensuously.

She shivered and squirmed beneath him.

Smoky laughter issued from above her as her hand reached for his pants but he drew back, his hand dancing up her soft inner thighs. She swallowed convulsively as his hand drew closer to her moist heat and then, at last, his touch was there and she felt as if she would explode. But not yet, he traced the silky inner folds and then one finger drove inside.

Her throat tore open with noise.

The finger withdrew then plunged in again and then again, picking up speed, and then there was a second, a third…stretching, filling, widening, sating…

Her trembling was out of control, she shook violently and then his thumb sought out and circled the nub where all the sensations had been flooding. He caressed it languidly.

Her hips jolted up and her entire body lit up like a Christmas tree as she felt an orgasm build within her. Her fingers had found his shoulders, her nails bit down deep as she responded to the thrust of his fingers, to the movement of her his hand against her and then, to her amazement, she felt something building in her again…

She crested a second time.

Her voice was sobbing over and over as the lights in her limbs grew brighter in force. And still he kept on with his fingers until she felt she would either explode for an impossible third time or die. Pleasure had enveloped her completely and she realized she wanted more…

She was too far gone to be afraid of the painful experience next. All she knew was what she wanted and she could dimly hear her voice asking for it. Oh god, begging…

She could feel him remove the rest of his clothing. They were both naked, as nature had intended them to be –

She felt him move a bit and suddenly, without warning, a blinding pain shot through her as he entered her. She cried out and a few tears escaped her eyelids. The pain abated, in a few seconds, and she quietened. She still felt desire and she still made wild noise, not remembering, forgetting…

He began to surge inside. He was so big, too much and pain was running right alongside ecstasy but they were so intermingled that she could only thrash wildly, her sounds no longer human. Once he was in her, he didn't move. Instead, he seemed to wait for her to adjust and what's more, drew her close…

He hugged her. His hand running smoothly over her hair - petting again and then his face was buried in the crook of her neck…was he nuzzling? Did he think she was someone else? His nose parted her hair; his mouth kissed the side of her neck. Her lips had an insane moment of jealousy and then he drew back stealthily to only enter again.

He moved again, just as sluggishly, his fingertips cradled around her hips and sinking in as he moved her along with him, as if teaching her the movements, the rhythm. She began to answer his thrusts, a pant escaping.

They squirmed against one another futilely; the pace agonizingly slow and she felt a steady pulse rise within her. Again, her throat was a full nest of noisy delight but what was different was that now, he was no longer silent.

And then, he kissed her. He invaded her mouth and she met his lips with a delighted noise of her own as she arched towards him, all manner of identity forgotten…

He broke the kiss, his lips against hers as he moaned and came. She followed suit, breath bathing his mouth as another tremor rocked her form. They both felt sparks sizzling through them, between them and then they were floating down to the mattresses…

She felt him draw her in his arms and hug her. Her drooping eyelids registered the darkness around them once more and she thought she heard him say something in his silky voice before she passed into the realm of sleep.

"Lily…"