Disclaimer: I don't own anything by J.K. Rowling, all the main Harry Potter characters are hers and hers alone. There may or may not be a few characters that I may add on my own. I won't be adding this disclaimer to all of my stories, I will be adding it to my profile too, so I can simply continue with my FF. I own only the plot!
A/N: I really apologise for the delay in posting this new story, folks! I have been working hard in my language course, and there have been instances where I have spent the entire day working on my assignments only! I also don't have anybody to correct my stories before I post them, so it's a slow process! I had planned on posting this in a week, since my last story, but just didn't have the time! I am finally posting this! I had planned it to be only a one-shot, but it seems it's going to be more, because I don't have the time nor the energy to think further! Thanks to my lovely sister, who has agreed to be my unofficial beta!
Here's the newly edited version, folks!
The Wolf-warrior and his Witch
Chapter 1:
HPoV
It was late in the evening, and I was getting ready to leave my office in Gringotts. I gathered my coat, purse, files, wand and locked up my office. I called out my address at the floo - "Hermione's Cottage", and was greeted by my cats, Cali and Bronc, at the fireplace itself. Petting them, I shed my coat and hung it up on its peg and made my way in, towards the bedroom. I planned to take a relaxing bath in the tub, with a glass of red wine, and a book to keep me company. I added Epsom salts and my favourite citrus essential oil to the tub, and let the bath water bubble up nicely! I turned back to my kitchen to set out food for my cats (else they would mewl outside my bathroom door, the entire time that I was in the bath!) and grabbed a glass of wine for myself.
Just as I turned back to my much awaited bath, humming along to the newest composition by Bruno Mars, my floo sounded, and, my hot-as-hell, sexy boss, William Weasley stepped through! I squealed, "Bill! What on earth do you think you're doing, scaring the beejesus out of me?!"
Naturally, being the typical nerd that I was famous for being, I realized belatedly that I was ONLY in my stockings, and lingerie! I felt a deep pink hue spreading all across my face, neck and chest! I had had a crush on Bill for as long as I could remember, and the fact that he was older to me, didn't seem to matter to my poor heart that was jumping all over itself, at the sight of that tempting man! I fumbled to get back to my room to at least get a robe on, but I tripped right over Cali, who was trotting his way over to his favourite Bill, (he seemed to like Bill more than he did most of my friends - traitor!) and landed RIGHT on my butt! To top it all, the wine in my glass, also upended itself all over me!
So, there I sat, with my previously pink coloured bra-and-panty set turning a deep magenta, the same colour as my face, facing my long-time crush. He was, obviously, trying to control his laughter, but looking at my appearance, he just couldn't hold it in any longer, and gave in to the urge to laugh out loud. I couldn't even fault him for that, it was actually a laughable matter, if I weren't the victim. Finally getting a hold on his laughter, he stepped forward, and helped me up from the floor into a sitting position, and then, he did the most shocking thing! He wove his fingers though my hair and kissed me on my mouth – like we were the last two people on the planet, and he couldn't get enough of me!
My hands came up of their own accord and intertwined themselves around his neck. Our kissing started growing urgent with every passing second and our soft lust-filled moans began to grow frantic and louder. All rational thoughts started leaving my body and I could feel my mind begging Bill to just take me then and there!
Almost as if he could hear me, Bill slid his hands down to my butt, and hoisted me up into his arms, wrapped my legs around his waist, in one swift moment! As he carried me to the bathroom, he pulled away from my mouth and gently bit me on my neck and I nearly came from the intensity of the hormonal upsurge! Sliding me down his tight, muscular body, in front of the mirror, he moved my hair over one shoulder and undid my bra like he knew what he was doing, followed by my stockings and my panties, all the while holding my gaze. As one of my bra straps slid down my shoulders, Bill seemed to have a fire ignited in his eyes, and he resolutely shut his eyes to regain control of himself. I was strung way too tightly by this point, and could feel my arousal pooling my nether regions, although I tried to maintain some semblance of sanity.
Checking the temperature of the bubble bath that had filled up by this time, Bill helped me lower myself into the tub. While my brain tried to come to terms with what had happened – the urgent kissing, followed by this caring act, Bill drew my attention to himself – ''Hermione, I'm sorry for behaving so oddly. I got carried away with your naïveté and innocence – and your delectable mouth on top of it, although that is no excuse for my aggression."
When I tried to say something, he just shushed me, while a soft grin played along his lips and continued washing me fully. He also took my shampoo, and lathering it up well, washed my curly hair. He followed it up with my own creation – my custom made version of conditioner, and I was left awe-struck! Nobody had ever taken such great care of me, not since my mother, when I was a young child.
Letting me relax in the rapidly cooling water for ten minutes more, he then rose and gathering my large bath-towel, and my fiery Dragoness bathrobe, he lifted me out of the tub, setting me down on the bath mat. He then rubbed me dry softly, getting to ALL places, and then wrapped me up in my robe tightly, and then took me to my bed, and lay me on it. Pulling the comforter up close to my shoulders, he bid me to catch a little nap, while he cleaned up behind us, and cooked us a good meal. I then spoke up, as he was leaving the room, that I couldn't sleep with my wet hair, otherwise they would be all tangled and matted when I woke. Shrugging, he turned to my dressing table, found my hair-brush, and then climbing up behind me on the bed, began to brush out my hair carefully. Soon the calm motion lulled me to sleep, and I felt rather than heard him leave the room quietly.
A while later, he came back to wake me up, and sitting me up against my pillows, laid a tray full of food across my lap, and began to feed me. I was unable to say a word. After our meal, when he finally returned by my side, I simply asked him," Why are you here Bill? You have taken care of me since you came here, but you haven't let me get a word in otherwise. What's going on so suddenly?"
Bill just smiled at me and said, "Hush, love. I'll tell you everything. Just tell me one thing – do you have feelings for me?" Gasping at this interpretation, coming from the man that I had held up a candle for, for such a long time, my eyes dropped by themselves, and I somehow said," Yes, Bill. I do like you. A lot, in fact, if I may so. But what I am curious about, is - how did you know? I hadn't told anyone. Not even Ginny. Oh, but wait a minute - you still haven't told me, why you are here!" My chin had come up, by this time, as my defence against coming on too strong on him. Smiling generously, while his eyes softened, Bill said, "Oh Hermione, how could I not notice you? You were always around me, being the angel, bringing that ray of hope and happiness in my bleak existence. For a long time, I consoled myself that I was too old for you and that you were too young for me. I even reasoned with myself that you would never be interested in a foul beast like me. After you graduated Hogwarts and went to Livermony, my feelings for you intensified. I was able to put a leash on myself while you were away, but when you'd visit mom in your vacations, the wolf in me would demand I tell you about how I felt. I wish that I had asked you out sooner. The man in me was too scared that you'd reject us. The man might've been able to face it somehow, but I knew the wolf wouldn't. He would've broken all barriers of sanity and gone after you to convince you to be mine. So I refrained from making any move. Today, when you left Gringotts, I called out to you, but you were probably so tired that you didn't hear me. I had thought I would surprise you by taking you out to a friendly dinner or that I'd cook for you, considering how tired you've been all this month, what with the dragon pox cases.
On hindsight, I should've called over the floo, before just dropping by, but I have grown so accustomed to using your floo for work emergencies, that my mind just didn't register to call you up, before asking you out on a date! I'd like to apologise for my indecent behaviour, though." At this, his eyes turned sheepish, with a hint of subdued interest and lust.
"I stepped through the floo, hoping to catch you making tea or sipping on a glass of wine, or playing with Cali and Bronc, unwinding after the day's stress. I had never in my wildest dreams, imagined you to be standing there – in your lingerie – looking like a siren, making my wolf think that you had done it only to rile him up, yet without a single clue as to what you had been doing all this while along!"
BPoV
I could see the gears turning in her beautiful, intelligent, bushy head. I waited patiently; I knew she was tired, yet she'd blushed, much to my delight, at my mention of what was now to us, 'the incident'!
She shook her head, as if to clear her mind and suddenly turned into the adorable nerd that I knew and said, "William - (I LOVED when she called me that, because my name coming out of her pouting lips did unmentionable things to the wolf inside me – nearly made him want to brush his fur with her, but I had to hold him back – at least for now!) – I am glad that we've got our initial apprehensions out of the way, but we have a long way to go and I was burnt badly in my last relationship, so I guess you could say that I have a few insecurities. I am not commitment phobic, but just too scared to let go of what I have with you, in lieu of taking the relationship ahead. Please don't misunderstand me. Do you think we could take it easy, at least initially, until I am able to come to terms that I have you here – in a relationship with me, for real?"
She took a deep breath and continued, "I know that you are made up of your wolf and I am neither repelled by him nor scared of him. Both of you can be yourselves around me. I would like to get to know him better, as well. Would you be able to bear with my insecurities until I grow into a woman befitting a wonderful man like you?"
Neither my wolf nor I could just let her get away with saying that she respected my wolf and that she was willing to see where this relationship went, so I did the thing that came naturally to me and simply swooped in for a kiss that ended up being so intense that it left us both breathless and reeling. Pulling back, I asked her," Was that proof enough? Or would you like more, to prove to you that my wolf and I are both, adore you deeply for who you are and we'd be more than glad to be able to make you stronger." Blushing, she replied," That was proof enough indeed, and I'm thankful that you see my point."
She then blushed some more, and said in a voice so low, I had trouble catching it at all, and my wolf heard it before I did, "I am not very experienced in these matters, I haven't done anything like this before, you know. I think you know I have had only one boyfriend so far - Robert, from when I was at Livermony School of Magic. He was a pleasing personality and we were good research partners. He made the first move of asking me out on a date and I thought I knew him well, so I agreed – thinking – Why not? He was quite pleasant for a few dates, but things soon turned sour. Once when he'd come to drop off some research files at my dorm, he tried to pressure me too much into getting physical with him. I may not have known much, but I had been alert to his weird signals all along, and I dumped him. He grew so livid at being denied a physical encounter that he even called me an Ice Queen!
I was shocked for a second, but he knew I was the dean's favourite student and that if he crossed any more lines, I'd only have to raise the alarm, without even having to draw my wand, for him to get expelled.
His allegation hurt for a few weeks, and more so when a few guys would pass snide comments about the Ice Queen that I was. I was lucky to have a few good friends that had my back in college and your family at home, here, but I had already decided that the next guy that I would be with, would be someone that respected me and loved me for who I was, nothing more and nothing less.
So, I just decided to immerse myself in my work, and hoped that I could find a man like you, who would love me, like you loved Fleur. I was saddened when the two of you broke up, but I couldn't approach you for fear that you still loved Fleur."
I simply pulled her close to me again, in my arms, where I could comfort her, without her trying to get away from me. I realised it would take us some time to get over our own insecurities, but I was prepared for the path ahead.
Since we were baring our hearts to each other, I decided to come clean and said, "Fleur and I had been in a relationship long enough for her to know that my feelings for her had changed. I loved her – but I wasn't 'in love' with her anymore. She was the only person who noticed that I would steal glances at you, at our family get-togethers and I'd try my best to hide it. She was a brave hearted, genuine, honest and generous woman – who noticed my struggle and once encountered me about it. She calmly told me that she knew I had feelings for you and that I should persuade them and that you were the right person for me. She held no grudges and she realized that if I wasn't happy with her and that my happiness lay with you, then she had to let me go for both of our sake. I respected her the most, that day and I am deeply grateful to her that I could move forward."
I then decided to tease her, saying, "Did no one, in our vast circle of family and friends, ever notice your feelings for me? Not even Mum, Ginny, my ever-nosy sister, or even Harry/Ron? Are you serious?"
She soothed me, saying, "Oh Bill, I didn't let anyone know. It was my secret. Harry and Ron have always considered me as a part of their trio and rarely notice such things anyway, and Ginny has been so occupied with her Quidditch games and her new, expanding family with Harry that they failed to notice what dear Fleur did! I think, your mum too, was more interested in her grandchildren, than in her adopted daughter's life. It actually felt nice to keep my secret close for so long!"
I decided not to broach the topic of this Robert guy who I'd hated from the first time that I'd heard about, from my dear sister, for now, as it seemed like a sensitive topic, but made a mental note to look him up.
I decided to bring up his topic with my father and with Charlie, both of whom were master strategists. I knew that if Robert had been shunned, he could be a potential threat to my Mia, (my wolf howled in appreciation at that) and that I had to gauge how far he was dangerous and what I'd do to protect her from him. Charlie had a global network of unmentionable spies and dad knew how to deal with such threats, while putting up his adorable fatherly appeal on, for the world.
Until I had more information on him, I decided to keep mum. I just leaned in for a chaste kiss and tipped her chin up, when her robe shifted, giving me a bird's eye view of her lovely, lush breasts. It was a wonderful view, but I just pulled the lapels closed, and kissed her long. However, I heard her sigh softly and when I pulled back, saw her blush against me – something that had started giving me hints into the dirty mind of my innocent Mia. When I asked her why she was blushing, when she was already crushing on me, she just mumbled – "You're way more attractive than I've dreamt about."
That had my wolf's ears popping up!
"I'm sorry – but did I just hear you say that you've been dreaming of me? What did your dreams comprise of, my love?"
She seemed to mull over her thoughts for a moment, and drawing courage from fumbling with the buttons on my shirt, she continued petulantly, "I had dreams about you yes, but, somehow, I was always covered in them." Shocked at her own boldness, she slapped a palm across her mouth and stammered, "I meant you were very attractive even in my dreams! I didn't mean to come onto you, after we just decided to take it slow!"
I couldn't control my outburst of laughter at that, so I just let my wolf assume, that I was the one unclothed. Accordingly, I just asked her if my assumptions were true. She refused to answer, only exclaiming a shocked, "William!" and burrowing deeper into my chest, blushing a violent shade of red. It was endearing to watch.
I just shifted to her side on the bed, and pulling her close, told her, "Come love, let's sleep. It's past your bedtime, I am sure." Glancing at her bedside clock, she replied, "Yes, it is, but only just. I usually don't sleep so early on Fridays. We could stay up for a while longer, you know? We could watch a movie, or you could read to me?" She looked so earnest, begging me to let her stay awake for some more time, but I had already decided that she would be sleeping early tonight.
I shook my head, and told her that I would read to her, but that she was sleeping after that. I knew that she had been working overtime for the past couple of weeks, since two of our colleagues were down with the Dragon pox, but I had already received word from our boss that we could take the next week off, and had decided now was the perfect time to approach Hermione as a woman that I would like to date, and show off to the world.
Naturally, my wolf was grumpy that I was taking it too slow, but he knew better than to end up hurting the woman that we both loved dearly. So it seemed that he had handed the reign to me, for now.
Thinking it through, I turned to her and decided that I wanted to introduce a little element of my love for her and asked her, "What book do you want me to read to you? You know Sweetheart, I'd rather you didn't stay up tonight, but if you are a good girl all day tomorrow, I'll take to the bookstore on Sunday, and you can browse and read books all morning through and we can follow it up a nice lunch by the lake. How's that? Are you going to be a good girl tomorrow?" I raised my brow, for good measure, while an inadvertent smile stayed on my face the entire while. She seemed to brighten at the mention of the bookstore – I knew I had hit the nail on its head, (I could also meet up with one of my old spies and gather information on Robert, for the sake of Mia's safety) and people rarely knew that I loved reading almost just as much as Hermione did. She narrowed her eyes at me, for forcing her to sleep early and then said, "Fine, I'll be good tomorrow. I'll be so good you won't know what hit you. Will you please read "Hogwarts: A History" to me? That book always calms me and soothes me." She then pointed to the book on her bedside table, where I could also see a pair of sexy-looking reading glasses. I teased her lightly, asking her, "Are those your glasses, Baby? Why have I never seen you wearing them in the office? Are you ashamed of those glasses, or how they make you look? Come on, tell me, don't you know, I am your warrior? A wolf in warrior's clothing, sure, but a warrior nonetheless." She blushed some more, and shyly replied, "Yes, I use those glasses, but I don't need them in the office; most of the times I cast a magnifying spell on our paperwork, which helps if I were avoiding my glasses. I don't like to use the glasses at work. Besides, I didn't want you to see me wearing them." I wondered why, and asked her so. She silently ignored my question, and snuggling in closer to my side, told me to read to her. I was confused, and I could not understand why she became so quiet suddenly.
Some deep part of me, probably the wolf in me, thought this had something to do with Robert and decided to bring it up later.
I started reading the history of Professor Binns to her in a gentle voice in the hope that it would calm her mind while keeping the mood light. As I had anticipated, her facial muscles relaxed and her eyes slowly started drooping though she was trying her best to stay awake to hear the end of the story. I muttered the spell to dim the lights in the room, and noticed her fall asleep with her back against my chest and clutching my other arm to her bosom as if she couldn't bear to let go.
I softly shut the book and bundled her in my arms at which, she let out a contended sigh and we both fell into a deep sleep – in a state that I had dreamt of, but never hoped to come true – just entwined around each other. We were together and that was all that mattered. I knew life had a lot in store for us, with how the world would see us and with what I would discover about Robert, but that could all wait until tomorrow. Today, my wolf and I were at peace, having our Mia in our arms, sleeping peacefully.