Hi, guys!

I am so terribly sorry this chapter took me so long to finish - my third child, Alan (couldn't find him a better name!) was born on 27th of June. I love him dearly but it was all quite complicated and I wasn't feeling so well for some time - especially not good enough to write what needed to be written in this chapter as I was totally not in the right mood either. So try to forgive me, if you can.

This story definitely will be finished, as I promised.

Love to you all, hope you don't hate me that much!

Dedicated to all of you who cared enough to wait and wrote to me! It was your support that made me put myself back together as fast as I could.

CHAPTER 16

Granger had the craziest plan imaginable - freeing the world by poisoning it in its whole entirety - and he had only discovered the source of it in the Muggle hospital although she had been experimenting with it under his nose for several months.

What he considered even more insane was that her plan might actually work and be the best one available.

Radioactivity. That was what magic was susceptible to and what erased it completely and even permanently in certain concentrations. That was the only thing that stood any chance at cancelling the Prophecy, annulling the rituals that were keeping the Dark Lord alive and immortal, disabling the hidden Horcruxes and neutralizing the effects of the Unicorn blood.

She had confirmed it through her research - which he had mostly provided books and records for, not knowing what it was intended to be - discovering that no magical creatures or wizards ever came from places where nuclear accidents or attacks had happened and then experiencing it herself as the blast that had destroyed his lab had also stolen her magic from her, nearly taking her life too.

Now he was overlooking her as she was experimenting to discover the right concentration that would have to be put into the worldwide nuclear blasts and detonations so that it would be enough to erase the magic but not quite enough to destroy the life itself, not only turning the remaining wizards to Squibs so that they wouldn't be able - and hopefully no longer motivated enough - to kill all the Muggles but also making sure it wouldn't turn everyone to corpses instead.

Most likely, she was just plotting the biggest pogrom in the Wizarding history - and the end thereof - but both Hermione and him agreed that except from waiting for a miracle to suddenly just happen and letting the monster kill every Muggle and non-Death Eater in the next few weeks, it was the only viable option as for how to save most of the human beings in existence.

Muggles wouldn't even miss magic, not being aware of its real existence in the first place, and the few wizards who were left were better rid of it anyway to not cause harm. The resistance was nearly completely eradicated worldwide. The sooner they managed to do this, the more lives would be spared.

Still, there was nothing he could help her with except from keeping watch and Obliviating or Imperioing any Muggle that would happen to decide to check on the cause of the cameras and security system of the lab not working. He knew nothing about Muggle science, his education in that field hugely inadequate mostly due to his wrecked childhood and earlier belief in the supremacy of magic caused by his disgusting Muggle father.

He was so useless...

Looking down the darkened sterile corridor, he checked once more for any foreign presence. There was no one in the building except the guard, Imperioed to happily watch a Muggle TV show for the rest of the night.

Casting another tracking spell on the entrance door so that it would alert him in case it was opened, he glanced at the jet of light coming from the open door to his left and listened to Grangers fingers typing something loudly on the keyboard.

Maybe he could sneak in to watch her. She had never noticed him so far, too absorbed in her work, therefore he was rather sure he wouldn't bother her and seeing her would soothe his soul just enough so that he could endure another day in the service of the Dark Lord, committing atrocities and hurting innocent people.

She looked especially worried and tired that night though, pale and with dark circles under her eyes.

Fuck, saving the world wasn't as important as taking care of her. He should really try to do better when she insisted on neglecting herself.

So he addressed her, intentionally interrupting her night work for the first time in weeks.

He had never bargained for what came next.

He had never seen a memory of someone having sex; even when he came across one by accident, he never dwelled on it and moved on quickly, considering the act the height of one's personal affairs.

Yet now he was directly invited to see, to feel, to experience a woman of his life being brought to orgasm - by him, furthermore.

Maybe he wasn't so useless after all...

Oh, fuck, how could he not remember something like that?!

She was right; it had been consensual. He had been clumsy but still he had managed to bring her pleasure.

And then he had behaved like an ass to her.

Shit.

"I am sorry," he told her even as he had to be careful to not let her know how hard his cock got in only a few minutes.

Maybe it was the right thing to say because she kissed him then, stunning him momentarily.

Her lips were soft, tender and warm and she tasted of coffee and her own special flavour that he found peculiarly familiar. Obviously, he hadn't forgotten everything from that night.

She kept prodding gently, encouraging him to reciprocate, and he opened up to her, letting her explore his mouth and lips all she wanted and quickly getting absorbed in doing the same.

The next thing he realized was being tangled all around her, breathless, full of need and pressing her slim body to himself in a way that left no room for her to move or not to notice how aroused he was.

This was exactly why he had suspected himself to have raped her in the first place. He just kept losing his head whenever she was anywhere near.

Deeply ashamed of himself, he released her and tried to clear his mind.

She was not his to have and take. He can never force himself into her personal space like that. She didn't give him permission to do all this by just kissing him lightly...

Readying himself to apologize to her again and feeling his cheeks burn as much as his cock was, he searched her eyes out with his, finding them glazed and cloudy, her pupils dilated. She no longer looked tired or sleepy though.

"I am-" he began but she didn't let him finish.

"I am sure we should move this to our bedroom too. I'm certainly done working for today," she appealed breathily, evidently not perturbed by his recent trespassing at all.

Could it mean-?

Before he could fully wrap his mind around what was happening, she had her work saved and the lab was again dark and quiet as she snuggled her hands around his chest, obviously waiting to be Apparated away.

Did she really say bedroom?

He felt stupid and shy but still was praying that she would not make up her mind about this. He had too long a history of being rejected and scorned to constantly not expect that though, so when he got them safely to their quarters, he still let go of her the moment they entered, waiting for her to go to her room instead of following him.

"I thought we had a plan, didn't we?" she asked him, taking his hand again, and instead of waiting for an answer, she took the lead and headed to the darkened bedroom with him in tow.

She must think him totally dumb.

And he really was and felt dumb, not having a clue of what to do, standing there like a fool.

Everything was so easy when it was just his imagination and phantasies but all he could think of now - when he had her really there and obviously willing - suddenly appeared awkward, stupid or too daring in his mind.

Would she like him to undress himself or should he stay more or less clothed like he had when then had done it the first time so that she didn't have to see him? And what about the lights? Should he light them all or put all the candles out? And, most importantly, what would she like him to do to her? He could-

A pair of slim hands wrapped themselves around his torso and her soft lips found their way to his neck - the highest they could reach without his cooperation as he had discovered - and made him stop fretting at once.

"Don't worry. Just do what feels right," she whispered against his skin, melting his heart along with his insecurity. She knew him so well that no Occlumency was working on her any longer to hide his feelings. He looked down at her open face and reassuring smile. She wasn't admonishing or patronizing to make him feel somehow inferior. She was just there, reminding him what was important and trusting him that everything he would want would be good for her too.

Fuck, he was the luckiest bastard to have her there, the perfect woman. He really should stop thinking about rubbish and enjoy the moment.

Grateful and charged with love to her that felt so strong and overpowering, he bend down to kiss her, pouring all his emotions to her into the kiss instead of trying to form them with words.

Words meant nothing anyway. Actions were all that left any results, had any outcome.

Come, he had to make her come lest she found him inept.

Fuck, stop worrying for a while, he admonished himself again and focused fully on her, her lips and her taste again. He couldn't get enough of it.

Coffee that she had been drinking in gallons lately and her specific fruity flavour... Hmm, what was it? Peach and a hint of apricot too...

He loved it.

Deepening the kiss, he sensed her melting against him, her hands searching and exploring his skin. It felt nice.

He would love to do that to her too, touch her soft skin, make sure it was how he had always imagined it to be.

'Just do what feels right', that was what she had told him. Touching her was exactly what felt right at the moment. Who was he not to obey her?

He let his hands roam over her arms at first, then her neck, using them to hold her while he kissed her, careful not to use any force at all. She needed to know she can back out of this at any time without him thinking any less of her. He knew he would love her forever, no matter what would happen between them in the future; he discovered it the hard way that his heart was built like this - he could never make it cease to love someone once it starts. It was by far the worst personality trait he had and he tried to hide it as much as he could so that no one could exploit it.

But now it was him who was exploiting the access he had been given.

She was so soft and smooth and warm...

The urge to possess her, to make her his, was becoming stronger at any passing second. His cock was trying to free itself from his pants with all its power, volunteering to do the job and making him rather miserable, having to endure the building strain and pressure.

She moaned against his lips, a low, purring sound, and it was all he could do to not come right then and there.

His hands slipped under her shirt and found her bra. She obviously liked it as much as he did.

Encouraged, he pushed the fabric away, finding her nipples.

If her skin was smooth, her breasts were pure velvet.

Oh, fuck.

Not able to hold back any longer, he took her into his arms and carried her to his bed, still not breaking the kiss. He lay her in the middle of it and moved to take off her shirt.

He needed to see her.

He pulled off her shirt and groaned in approval as his hands could finally reach her soft skin with no obtrusions in their way.

But then he caught her eyes, an unsure and rather worried look in them, and froze immediately.

"Is everything alright?" he whispered, unsure as for what he had done wrong to cause this. She looked away, her eyes on her belly.

"I don't look... nice. You know, after the accident. My skin is..." she didn't finish, gesturing towards herself instead, obviously flustered. The scars she suffered through her experiment in his lab were still quite visible on her belly and arms but the did nothing to diminish her beauty in his eyes.

Hermione, who had seen HIS scars, was nervous about him not liking her?

That was simply absurd.

"You can never be anything but beautiful to me, no matter what. They are just scars, you are still you. Nothing changed," he reassured her in a low voice, giving her another kiss.

Fortunately, she seemed to relax, returning his kiss and losing the tense expression and stance.

So he had said the right thing to her at least once. Maybe she was right - it was enough to do what felt right with her. Perhaps he could pull through this without destroying everything after all.

Casting most of his worries away as well as her shirt and bra, he proceeded to kiss every bit of her revealed skin, enjoying the process nearly as much as her occasional little moans.

Her breasts were truly fascinating; her little nipples got as hard as his cock had when he caressed them and so fast that he had to force himself to not stare so he would not make her nervous again. She gained some weight since he had seen her last and it only made her even more beautiful - her breasts were full and lush and they fit into his hands perfectly. He had to fight with himself again to not come untimely when she gave a low and sexy moan while he sucked softly on her breasts, the flesh so soft in his mouth and hands that, combined with the sound, it shot so much pleasure through him that it was nearly enough to bring him there right then.

She seemed to sense his urgency for she began tugging on his clothes, trying to undress him. She had no magic and all spells had a tendency to come out wrong or not at all in his quarters after the radioactive explosion in the lab, so he helped her, pulling down his trousers and shirt.

Her hands immediately started roaming over his exposed skin, sending shivers everywhere - even more so as he was still rather unused to being touched at all. At any case, she didn't seem to mind his scars and pale, bony figure even while seeing and touching it.

He really was the luckiest fucker on Earth.

Returning back to kissing and caressing her, he soon felt her hands even on his dick, stroking and exploring and making him close his eyes to remind himself this was not a dream.

Damn, for her it wasn't their - or her - first time but for him it definitely was. There were times like this when he wasn't sure of what to do and how to react to her actions. Fortunately, up until now it was enough to do nothing and let her solve the situation to her satisfaction.

So he let her; he let her stroke him, he let her guide him inside her and then he was more than happy to let her ride him till they were both panting in exhaustion and pleasure. He vowed silently to himself to never forget the look of her while she climbed on top of him and then moaned and closed her eyes in delight as he sunk into her, immersing into her tight, wet heat. He would remember it forever to the tiniest detail - the way the strands of hair in her face twirled, the way she arched her back, the exact place her hands touched his chest. Everything.

She was everything to him - at that moment and from the moment on.

Always.

He wasn't sure how long he had last lasted before it all became too much to hold together and he came apart but he didn't mind that as long as he felt and heard her come too. It was even better than his own orgasm to see her reaching hers.

He held her, her head on his chest, and placed small kisses onto her hair, the only part of her he could reach without disturbing her as she came down from her bliss - obviously much slower than he had. He loved every part of her, even her hair deserved kissing. Finally, her lips found his again tiredly.

He should probably say something but nothing felt meaningful enough as he looked into her exhausted, content and relaxed eyes. Maybe an 'I love you'? But she knew that surely... 'You are fantastic'? It was more than obvious... Words were rubbish anyway. There were better thing to do than speak.

So he just smiled at her and held her tighter to himself, stroking her.

She didn't seem to mind, caressing him in return.

After a few more minutes of their tired cuddling, it was she who broke the easy silence, practical as ever.

"We have the meeting with Malfoy in the morning which is just two hours away. We should go to sleep," she reminded him, yawning, and he could only agree with her. Furthermore, he really was relaxed and sleepy, for the first time in what felt forever.

"Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Severus."

Severus finished buttoning his outer robes up - it was a pain to do so without magic - eyeing her as she was trying to clip her hair together, preparing to meet Draco. He really hoped she would be subtle and careful about what she would tell to the boy; he was definitely not to be trusted or to be played with. She gave him a shy smile which he returned.

They would be fine.

The knock on the door came precisely at 8 a.m.

"Hi, Granger. Hi, Severus," Draco said, nodding his head to them in greeting as he found himself an armchair to sit on in their Living room.

"Hi, Malfoy. We need you to kill your father, sell all your property when you'll inherit it and then give us all the money," Hermione announced offhandedly and sat down opposite the young man.

Oh shit.

An update will come as soon as I manage - I will do my best, I promise.

A bit of feedback would be most welcome!