A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! Apologies for the delay in getting this chapter out to y'all - I find myself doing that a lot lately :/ I try really hard to keep a regular update schedule, but basically, I've had a lot of things going on IRL lately, and it's been difficult to find the time to write. I will try to get back on schedule soon! I do have the whole story plotted out, so no worries about writer's block, here, it's just finding the time to sit down and focus. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten soon!
They hadn't been sure if Minerva McGonagall was going to show up, but they had sent the illegal portkey that Theo had created anyway. Hermione had fretted the whole time, worrying about what her former professor might do with all the information that they had given her.
"Maybe we should have glamoured ourselves," she said, waiting in the parlor with Theo for their guest, biting at her lower lip. It had only been a few days since the holiday party that Walburga had invited them to. They had rung in the New Year quietly with one another, but Hermione felt wildly out of balance. "Or given her fake names. Who knows what she's telling the Ministry, or even Dumbledore?"
Theo sat on the couch next to her and took his hand into his much larger ones, bringing it up to his lips to press a gentle kiss. Hermione didn't know what she would have done without Theo in this time with her, as he acted as such a stabilizing force. Otherwise, she was certain that she would have gone mad from the stress months ago. "We have to trust that the Minerva who sent us knows what she was doing," he said.
Hermione felt some of the tension she'd been holding in her shoulders melt away, enjoying the little bit of affection that Theo was giving her. It was nice to have someone to lean on. "I know, I just...I worry," she explained, knowing he would understand where she was coming from. "She has the unbreakable vow, too. It just feels like everything is so precarious right now. I'm always worried that someone is going to figure us out."
He gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, none of the people at the party were aware that there was a muggleborn in their midst," he teased.
She flushed under his praise, thinking it was rather an odd thing to be complimented on, but she was glad to have her efforts recognized nonetheless. Pureblood culture was a complicated tapestry of traditions and she was proud of the work she'd done to unravel it and learn it, especially considering that her life depended on it.
They didn't have much more time to discuss it as Minerva was popping into their parlor not a moment later, looking flustered and confused. Hermione stood to greet their guest. "Thank you for coming, Minerva," she said, before calling for their house elf. "Tilly, please bring us our tea service."
"I do not appreciate being brought to unknown locations," Minerva said with a frown, but happily taking an offered teacup when it was poured for her moments later.
"Apologies, but that is the way it has to be done," Theo explained, taking his own tea with one sugar. "If you don't know where we live, you can't accidentally give it away. I don't know if you understand the...difficult position that Hermione and I are in. If Dumbledore or any of the Death Eaters knew that we were speaking to one another, it would cause questions that we might not be able to answer. It's as much for your safety as it is for ours."
"It doesn't feel very safe to me to be meeting somewhere unknown with people I've only met once before without telling anyone where I'm going," MInerva said sternly, clearly not enjoying the way that they'd sort of commanded her presence.
"You didn't tell anyone you were meeting us?" Hermione practically demanded, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest at the thought that Dumbledore might try to interfere with their plans.
"No," Minerva reassured her, rolling her eyes nonetheless. "Though I had half a mind to after what you've dragged me into."
"It's for the good of the world," Hermione said, even though she knew that it was hard to believe that now. Not when they'd asked her to steal a previously lost piece of history. "Did you bring the Diadem?" she pressed, needing to know that it was safe. It wouldn't do to have a whole other horcrux to find.
Reaching into her pocket, Minerva pulled out the pretty tiara, using her wand to levitate it over onto the table in front of Hermione and Theo. "Yes, and I wouldn't recommend handling it too much. It is truly defiled with dark magic. It's like a snake trying to slither into you mind to whisper all sorts of horrid secrets to you."
Hermione knew the feeling all to well, remembering what it was like to have the locket around her neck for hours at a time when she was on the run with Harry and Ron the year before. The worst was knowing all the moments of weakness where she'd almost given in to the whispers. "We have somewhere to keep it safe," she told the other witch, thinking of the small charmed cabinet that she and Theo had worked on the in the basement. "Until it can be destroyed."
"And how will you destroy it?" Minerva questioned, her mouth in a tight line, clearly uncomfortable with handing over something so dangerous without a real solid plan.
Theo returned her look of concern. "That might be best to discuss over your summer break," he said, dismissing her concern. In reality, Theo and Hermione had not yet agreed on the best way to destroy the horcruxes. Hermione wanted to sneak a rooster into Hogwarts to kill the basilisk and harvest it's venom. Theo was skeptical of her ability to replicate the sounds of parseltongue and would rather put his efforts into learning fiendfyre as quickly as possibly. Additionally, they had no idea if Voldemort was capable of feeling when his horcruxes were destroyed.
Seeing the concerned look on Minerva's face, Hermione sought to reassure her. "Just know that we have a plan in place, and you will be consulted when we get further along," she promised, knowing that it would do little to assuage the other woman's curiosity. Taking a dainty sip from her tea cup, she pressed Minerva for more information. "So, what has Dumbledore been telling the Order? What plans are in place? We wouldn't want to interfere."
"There has been nothing, no plans, just an update from Alastor about the recent disappearances," Minerva said with a frown, thinking back through everything that had been discussed. "Everyone is concerned, of course, but no one seems to know what steps to take."
Hermione frowned hearing that. "There's been no increase in monitoring of the muggleborn students families? Or sympathizers?" she asked, knowing about the entire families that would be killed in the coming years.
"No, but if you know something that's going to happen, I must insist that you you tell me what it is, so that we can protect them," Minerva responded, looking furious.
"I'm sorry," Hermione told her shaking her head. "I'm afraid I don't know any specifics, just that muggleborn students and their families will be increasingly larger targets the longer this war goes on. The Order would do well to think about what needs to be done to protect them."
Perhaps sensing that this was as far as they were going to get in their conversation that day, Theo stood up quickly. "Well, I think that will be all for today, Minerva," he said diplomatically, before handing her an odd looking paperweight that would serve as her portkey back home. "We will be in touch for our next steps shortly."
Minerva looked as if she wanted to stay and argue for a bit longer, but she took the paperweight from Theo's outstretched hand and within seconds she was gone.
Before the couple could decompress about what had happened, Tilly was ushering them into the dining room for their dinners. Hermione happily took the poured wine, drinking half of her glass as soon as she sat down. "Well, that went well," she comment, feeling rather pessimistic.
"Look at the positives, Hermione. We got another horcrux," Theo said with a smirk. "Just because everything didn't go perfectly doesn't mean that it was a total failure. We should start making plans to go after the ring next. It's the last unattended horcrux."
Hermione made a small noise of agreement, knowing that Theo was right. It was a very big positive that they had secured the Diadem without fuss or notice. "It's just so like the Order," she said, unable to shake the frown from her face. "They think they are protecting people without even trying to do the most basic due diligence for them. Dumbledore was willing to sacrifice small people for the greater good."
Theo was quiet for a few beats while he thought over his words. "Perhaps if you compiled a list of what you knew, we could try to keep an eye on them?" he suggested gently, knowing that Hermione was obviously upset about it.
"No," Hermione decided, shaking her head. "We are only two people and it will be took much work for the two of us. Besides, we are really here to handle the horcruxes and Voldemort. Hopefully we can take care of all of … that before more people are killed."
She was not very hopeful. It wasn't as if they could prevent every death that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were responsible for. It just wasn't realistic, even if she would have memorized every single detail that she'd been able to. Instead, it was better for the two of them to discuss getting the ring - the last horcrux that could be seen as easy pickings. The Diary and the Cup would prove to be quite difficult.
They spent the remainder of their dinner discussing where it could possibly be. Hermione had no idea because Dumbledore had gotten it the first time, but Theo was full of information about the way that ancestral family homes worked, as it was unlikely the Gaunts would have strayed far from theirs. He explained to her how they would have held onto their home even over their last penny, due to the way the house would meld with the family's blood magic over the centuries.
The pair remained sitting at the table long after Tilly had cleared their plates, Theo playing with the rim of his glass. "You have something on your mind," she said, after a beat, sensing that he wasn't going to get there if she hadn't pushed him.
Theo cleared his throat, keeping his eyes down. A bit of pink began to form on his cheeks. "I think that we should...try to conceive an heir," he said, struggling to get the words out.
Out of everything that Hermione had expected to hear, that hadn't been it. "Conceive an heir? How sexy," she questioned with a snort. "Is that the kind of romancing that all pureblood women can expect?" she teased him further, thinking that he had made it sound as awkward and unappealing as possible.
His blue eyes snapped up to meet hers, looking aghast. "I'm being serious, Hermione. Any pureblood couple of our age would have one concern, and that would be securing the future of their family line. It's perfectly reasonable, and you promised that you would do everything you could to blend in," he said, his blush only growing darker under the scrutiny of her gaze. "And, it would probably help you have something to discuss with the other wives."
Hermione couldn't stop the smirk from showing on her face. "Well, when you make such a compelling argument, Theo, I can't really argue with you," she conceded, her mind churning over the possibilities. "Except..." she trailed off, knowing that she certainly hadn't grown immune to all the touches and light kisses that she shared with her husband. Was it as simple as Theo wanting more intimacy with her? "Except, if you just wanted to have sex again, you could have just asked."
"Hermione, I-" Theo sputtered at her forwardness. "It's not just...I still think that an heir is important," he explained, unsure of how best to broach the subject with her without offending her. He also seemed to be struggling to decide just how truthful to really be with her. "But I would be lying if I said that it wasn't a part of it, too."
"It's okay," she answered with a genuine smile. "I want to, too."
Neither one of them spoke for several beats, staring across the table, each one too afraid to move first. But finally, Hermione had to gather her Gryffindor courage and stand. She made her way around the table, until she was standing in front of Theo. Offering him her hand, she was glad that she only had to wait a few moments before he took it. He stood to face her, pushing his chair behind him, and suddenly Hermione was having to look up at him as usual.
It wasn't so much that one of them moved to kiss the other first; instead, they came together, meeting each other halfway in a kiss that quickly became more heated. Hermione felt herself melting against him, enjoying the press of his strong arms coming to hold her more tightly against him. But, things quickly grew out of control, and she was pulling away then, gasping for breath. "I think we should take this upstairs. I can't imagine how scandalized Tilly would be if she found you fucking me on the dining room table," she said, rubbing up against him, feeling the hardness of his cock pressing into her belly.
Theo practically choked at how forward her words were, but did not need to be told twice. Taking her by the hand once again, he lead her up the stairs to their room. Hermione giggled, following behind him eagerly, every time he grumbled about all the stories in their townhome.
By the time they had made it into the privacy of their own bedroom, it was Hermione's turn to grumble over how restrictive formal robes were. She might have been wearing them for several months, but the rows of buttons were still a source of annoyance when compared to how quickly you could pull a jumper over your head. Luckily, she had Theo's more practiced hands to assist her, and before long, she was down to just her underclothes.
They came together once again, Hermione loving the feel of his bare skin against hers. She kissed him again, letting him guide her back towards the bed, until she was tumbling backwards and bringing her husband with her. Pressed against the luxurious bedding, the mood shifted. She became less giddy and excited and more serious, feeling her heart stutter when Theo pulled back to stare at her body, memorize every dip with his lust-blown eyes, not bothering to hide how much he wanted her in that moment.
His hands were confident when he moved to cup her breast through the material of her bra, making her arch into him, letting his greedy kisses swallow up the moan that she didn't want to hide. Theo was certainly not immune to her either, his breathing speeding up when she wrapped a leg around his legs to hold him closer against her center.
It was different from the night that they had consummated their marriage. That night, Hermione had just wanted things to be over with as quickly as possible, certain that she was some kind of terrible burden on the quiet Slytherin who had agreed to come back in time with her. Now, it was clear that something more than just obligation had grown between the two of them. She didn't want things to be over as soon as they could, instead, she wanted to remain in his tender embrace the entire night, and then again the next day and the next.
When his hands slid down the planes of her body to remove her knickers, Hermione arched her back to free herself from her bra, wanting to feel absolutely nothing between them at all. Theo pressed hot kisses against the column of her neck, while his clever fingers found her center. Hermione did not need any coaxing, but he quickly worked her into a fever pitch, until she was moaning, rocking into him, desperate for more.
"Please, Theo," she said with a whine, seeming to snap him back into the purpose of their coupling. He freed himself, eagerly, hands nearly shaking when he grabbed hold of his cock and pressed it at her entrance. It had been so dark the last time they'd been together and Hermione hadn't been able to appreciate the good looks of the man she'd taken as her husband. Once again, she was left wondering how he'd hidden under the radar for so long.
It had been too long for both of them, that when he was finally inside her, neither one of them had the patience for a slow build up. Instead, they quickly found a rhythm with one another, working together to find ecstacy together. Hips pistoning together, Hermione could do little more than cling to him, feeling that familiar coil in her belly tighten with every thrust of his cock inside her - hitting her in just the right way.
When the coil finally snapped and Hermione was pushed over the edge into orgasm, she cried out his name, eyes shut tight so that she could just focus on the feeling. Feeling her coming around him, Theo's thrusts grew erratic and desperate, until he was following her over, his face pressed in the crook of her neck while he came back down.
Neither one of them spoke when they were finally recovered, and Theo rolled off of her, only to pull her against his chest once again. Hermione rested her hand on his chest, her fingers tracing lazy patterns against his cooling skin while his heart rate returned to normal. She wondered what took them so long to do that again, especially considering how lacklustre their first encounter had been. But, in the end, she supposed that didn't matter...she just hoped that he would want to do it again.