Hermione continued pulling Minerva in the hallway that would lead them to her bedroom. Suddenly midway, Minerva jerked back and dislodged the young woman's hold on her as she came into realization of their destination and what was implied of such course.
"Hermione, I have no idea what… why I came here… I… I should…" Minerva wrapped her arms around herself in scuffle for preservation "…Should go back to Hogwarts."
Hermione watched Minerva slowly backtracked to leave…
Year 1999 | 2nd Seventh of May
Chapter 6
Still the same evening | The Second One (Part 2)
"Minerva…"
Hermione softly interrupted and watched Minerva paused in her retreat. And watched emerald eyes refused to meet hers...
With formed decision to take what she could, what Minerva would extend to her, she delicately imparted a daring confrontation…
"We both know why you've allowed yourself to come here Minerva. Why you've let me take you from all of them."
"Hermione… I've… I've…."
Hermione cut the short distance between them and observed the almost panicked emerald eyes struggled then failed to maintain eye contact with hers. She gently dislodged the pale hands from self-embrace and clasped them with hers. She patiently waited for green eyes to meet her brown ones and when Minerva maintained them down casted, she softly tugged at their hands to communicate her desire to get her undivided attention. When finally Minerva lifted her emeralds, Hermione went ahead and plunged…
"Minerva I want you, and YOU KNOW it. Just as you want me, and I KNOW it."
She heard the unmistakable gasp from Minerva and watched emerald eyes attempted to gather her scattered control… or how to hide the desire in them… But Hermione pushed forward the proposition…
"How about we take what we want tonight?"
"Hermione…?"
She heard Minerva breathlessly and questioningly uttered her name. The woman also untangled their hands, possibly in an effort to free herself from conflicting emotions. She watched Minerva lifted one hand to the wall beside them to seemingly find leverage. The other went back to clutch herself across the stomach.
Hermione made quick calculation of Minerva's actions… That despite being so unsure at the moment, the woman will not anymore run off. This made Hermione firmer of her decision and so she unreservedly expelled vagueness.
"Yes. I want to be with you Minerva. Tonight."
"Hermione you canna possibly say that! Because…because tomorrow would come… And then I… You… We…"
The last little space between the two women vanished when Hermione pressed closer. She lifted her hands to the older woman's pale neck and clasped them behind it. Meanwhile, Minerva's hand that was earlier fixed on the wall moved to one of Hermione's arms so uncertain to hold or push away, but ended up clutching the arm. The other hand that was earlier hugging her own stomach involuntarily went to Hermione's hip.
"Minerva, that's precisely what I'm saying. Just tonight, we can have it." Hermione softly spoke these words with right amount of emphasis on the word 'tonight. Then she inwardly smiled when she felt Minerva clutched her hip tighter, telltale of her assent.
"What happens tomorrow?" Minerva inquired just as softly even with creased forehead in apprehension.
"You return to Hogwarts. I return to my flat. But tonight, you are just Minerva, spending the night with Hermione." She replied assuredly and waited for the older woman to come to terms to what they both knew already…
Mentally, Hermione added— Tomorrow I return you to the entire wizarding world, as they would need their venerated leader... As for me, I'll have another memory to torment and console me through my days and nights. But I'll take tonight if that's all you could give…
Hermione gave Minerva one last window to back out by not advancing for as long as she could hold on. But when emerald eyes unmistakably turned into openly yearning ones, she reached for Minerva's two hands and resumed towards her bedroom.
When they shut the doors after they've entered, she sat Minerva on the edge of the bed without breaking eye contact and then straddled the woman. She returned her hands around Minerva's neck and she happily sighed when simultaneously two hands enveloped her waist. For long several minutes they seemed to be so content to gaze at each other…
"May I?" Hermione asked for permission to free luxurious black hair from its confinement. When Minerva nodded, she waved her hand to magically banish all pins. Then she relished running her fingers through them and wondered when was the last time the woman voluntarily worn it freely in public.
After awhile, she asked another question, "Will you?" She knew Minerva understood that she had asked her to drop her de-glamour charm. She knew that somehow, Minerva is also remembering how devoid her face had been the last time they held each other this way.
"Will you?" Minerva asked back.
"You will let me?" She asked in surprised that Minerva would want her to literally be the one to strip off her 'mask'. Minerva nodded, and before she could ask the technical magic it entailed, she received the information.
"You have to take down the Stabile charm before lacing Revelio over De-Glamour. Then cast a second but this time, lace De-glamour over Revelio."
Hermione palmed her wand but before she did the spell on Minerva, she first casted one on herself to remove her own glamour that hid the evidence of her sleep deprivation and other distress— including the concealment on all of her scars.
Their eyes bore at each other as she proceeded to softly say the necessary incantation to drop Minerva's. When she was done, she can also see how tired the woman is. Nonetheless, she was still thunderstruck at the overwhelming beauty in front of her…
Hermione's brain says that even in their magical world, at Minerva's current age, the woman should not really look someone in mid-thirties? The woman should at least look 1 decade older. It got to have a link to the woman's magical core that is unknown or too rare with wizards and witches. Perhaps that is precisely the reason why Minerva resorted to constant concealment.
A tremor ran through her spine at the thought of how Minerva let her see her true appearance… The raw beautiful face of Minerva and the notion of how possibly long ago the woman had shown this to anyone else had driven her hopeless heart into deeper breadth.
"Very brilliant." She said, but she really meant very beautiful. "Communal charms are more than twice as effective and undetected but not as common because of the perceived difficulty to cast."
Hermione deliberately disguise her admiration as she remembered how Minerva dismissed her attribution on her physical appearance when she remarked on it last year. She already guessed how Minerva would rather not talk about it, so she went and be a nerd.
"But casting communal charms is not really complicated and could be quite simple if one is aware which ones are permitted for permutation. But I understand why most would just make subsequent charms."
"Thank you Charms Master." Minerva grinningly responded.
"As if you don't have mastery in Charms." Hermione grinned back in her counter.
Hermione could see the surprise at Minerva's expression of how she knew. During her apprenticeship with Filius, the good professor revealed to her that powerful wizards and witches usually have multiple mastery but would really just carry the title of one field they are most proficient— like Minerva. The woman has Charms and Runes but both titles are unknown as the woman was far content with one. Who wouldn't when you hold the top spot in that field?
"I did not go further than level one AND I do not hold the number one spot. A brilliant young lady does."
"Not in Charms, true. But in Transfiguration you do. And they say yours as top rank overshadows all top ranks of other fields."
"That's unwarranted and unmerited correlation. Besides, people just like to exaggerate."
"I don't think so. Tell me, how many challenges you took after the standard exams?" I took more than tenfold the volume, which had me exhausted at the end of the third examination day. I was surprised the result overpassed Dumbledore's, but I am much certain that it was way below yours."
"I just took two additional challenges to get level 1, I needed it for the Ministry job transfer I wanted."
"That's your Charms and you know I was asking your Transfiguration."
When Hermione was studying for her final examinations, she had wondered about Minerva's in Transfiguration. The fact that Dumbledore's held the number 1 record for so long obviously meant how remarkable they were, but Minerva had overtaken them. If she would be honest, her studying so hard had something to do with how she wanted to make Minerva proud. She knew she was going to pass but she wanted to at least attempt to get into the top rank list.
At onset, Klyde and Filius explained how the first part of the final exam is the standard one, wherein no less than exceeds expectation mark is required to pass the mastery. Then the examinee will proceed to the additional challenges/exercises where the results determine the ranking.
Official records of the exercises and the raw score are sealed as the examinee only get a pass or fail result. But if one made the list of top ranks, the Department Record releases your rank… When she landed on top in Charms, she was genuinely surprised… When she overtook Dumbledore's, she was extremely beyond surprised…
"So how many did you do Minerva at your Transfiguration challenges?" Hermione asked again.
"I took as many as I could, same as you did…"
"I told you, I did a little more than 10 times equivalent of the standard exam. How about you Transfiguration Master of all? Will you tell me?"
She was too curious about Minerva's Mastery Exam. She knew asking Minerva the volume is not in violation of the rule of confidentiality vow. But she could see that Minerva is debating hard internally…
Now she is not only interested to know how many Minerva did, but very curious why Minerva is obviously hesitant to reveal them. But since she would never force the woman for something like this, she decided to let go. "Minerva, you don't have to tell me. It was just plain curiosity on my part."
"I want to tell you Hermione… But no one else to know, alright?"
"Nobody knows?"
"Albus knew, so as Griphook and Ollivander. Merlin knows how. I was just glad that they kept quiet and knew I didn't want anyone else to know.
"I won't tell a soul. Cross my heart."
"You know how International Wizarding Education Board construct these exams right?
"Yes, via the mastery chest of trial. A box that stores the thousands of questions and practical exercises from various schools and nameless masters that laced with ancient magic guard for confidentiality and anti-fraud. As none really knows how it started because it predates all writings, I supposed the creator or creators had used similar magic of the sorting hat of Hogwarts. But Klyde refers to it as chest of old doom."
She heard Minerva chuckled and she herself chuckled when she heard Minerva say, "Chest of Old Doom is the name I invented when I was Albus' apprentice. I told him I would call it Chest of Old Doom as homage to him and his ever apocalypse association to me. Albus simply adapted the name and started referring to it as such with his later apprentices."
"Right, so how many?" Hermione returned to the question.
"There's really no going around your brilliant mind." Minerva playfully rubbed their noses. "Right then… Well, the three-day examination afforded me quite some time to do a lot of the exercises that the chest of trial would give me."
"How many Minerva?"
"It— ran out of exercises."
"What…?"
"I did everything the chest of trial asked just as the morning session of the third day ended."
"YOU DID ALL OF THEM AND STILL HAVE THE AFTERNOON SESSION FREE!"
"I already told you that at 14, I could wandlessly make myself into obscurus in mere seconds. Do you really think there's something I would not know how to transfigure with a wand on hand? And coming from several months of studying and practicing?"
"Wow. Yeah, wow."
Hermione knew that Minerva is the most exceptional Transfiguration Master. But she could not believe how much masterful the woman is at such field. She was utterly amazed at this woman's prowess. Utterly amazed!
Then she felt Minerva's lips on hers, softly grazing hers. When it lifted from hers, she was left to whisper again, "Wow."
They both chuckled and when it died down, they moved to meet for another tender kiss. Just plush lips lightly touching thin lips. "I really miss your lips on mine." Hermione murmured and she finally pressed her mouth harder and opened them in time to let Minerva's tongue enter.
They spent undetermined time just kissing each other like they were doing a long slow dance. After they paused kissing, in order to have better look at each other's faces, Minerva magically banished Hermione's clothes… almost half a second before Hermione banished hers…
Their actions had them laughed aloud. And they laughed even more after they saw that they both neatly placed each other's clothes on the armchair located at one corner of the room, including their shoes that landed side by side.
When that laughter also died down, Hermione whispered, "I really miss your naked body against mine."
At hearing this, Minerva stood up after she made sure that Hermione was secured in her arms, and then got them properly into bed.
Hermione felt her naked back touched the mattress and Minerva's equally naked body pressed on top of her and she moaned or they both moaned at the exquisite sensation.
Hermione knew that she lost all her faculties except the feel of Minerva's lips, tongue, hands, and body on hers…
She equally responded with her lips, tongue, hands and body while underneath Minerva…
When Minerva started travelling down her body, she knew she flushed furthermore. Delightful bumps appeared on every inch of her skin as Minerva's hands and lips passed them in adulation.
When Minerva settled between her legs and ran her tongue on the insides of her thigh, moans tore out from her throat… And shortly, her supplications followed, "Minerva, please… Minerva…"
"Yes, darling." She heard the answer in much low Scottish brogue before Minerva's mouth started descending on her for a taste…
The combination of yearlong craving for Minerva, the warm sensation of Minerva's mouth, and the mere notion that Minerva is feasting on her is more than Hermione can take… Very, very quickly it pushed her to the brink and the deliciousness of it all had her exploded…
When the blinding light eased a bit, Minerva's hand started to knead her most sensitive area, and she felt her left thigh caressed by Minerva's lips in an almost idolizing manner… She wanted to pull Minerva up to kiss her but massive tremors cascaded on her and she lost control of her body when long fingers entered her… A couple of ins and outs and she was back at moaning and begging for release… And in response to her entreaty, Minerva's mouth joined the fingers at its marvelous onslaught and this proved to be enough and threw her over the edge for the second time...
Panting and trying not to die from lack of oxygen, Hermione regulated her breathing as she comes down from such high. She dragged her eyes open and reached for Minerva's shoulder before the woman could start transporting her into a third splendid tide.
"Minerva, come up here." Hoarse voice from Hermione's lips requested to the woman who was still nestled between her legs with head pressed into one of her thigh. "I want to touch you." She tugged a little bit harder at Minerva's upper arms when the woman did not immediately move.
For couple of seconds more, Minerva just nuzzled her thigh. But on her next tugging, Minerva glided up her body with grace of her animal form, and kissed her way up, and then crashed their lips together. But second before they did, Hermione caught aroused glassy emerald eyes fighting back something else. She pulled back a little and knew that definitely there was something in there apart from desire.
"Minerva, are you—?"
"Just kiss me…" Minerva cut off her sentence and once again captured her lips in a slow but deeply absorbing kiss. Hermione attempted to pull back again as she wanted to check Minerva but the woman intruded with a plea, "I just need you to kiss me darling…"
When Minerva's appeal laced with heavy tenderness as such, Hermione could do nothing else but acquiesced and kissed back with all her passion.
The initially slow kissing had turned relentless and Minerva's tongue ardently engaged with hers, not giving a millimeter of space or a second of respite, thus swallowing her every moan. Hermione tried to roam her hands on Minerva's but one of the woman's hand had them clasped above her head.
Not long, Hermione felt Minerva's legs pushed open hers and she finally tore her mouth away when Minerva's fingers entered her once again.
"Minerva, I don't think I can anymore…" Hermione exclaimed as Minerva pushed inside her and swiped a thumb over her sensitive bud.
"Ye can… I want to make love to you again darling…" Minerva whispered in her rich brogue and then slowly ran her tongue at Hermione's jaw up to the ear.
Hermione felt her muscles jerked at Minerva's words and ministrations. And then when the woman licked and nibbled on that spot behind her ear, she felt her body set ablaze. But somehow, she fought not to be swept right away.
"I want… I want to touch you Minerva..." Hermione managed to speak her need as she tried to free her hands from the older woman's grasp. She was itching to claw and skim Minerva's smooth skin and feel the crave she knew that's present at the woman's centre. But Minerva would not yield. For several more moments, Minerva just continued on her luscious assault on Hermione's body.
"Please I need... I need to love you Minerva..." Unbidden words blathered from Hermione's fully aroused self and Minerva shifted one leg and ultimately gave Hermione a room to touch her too. The instant she did, Hermione's fingers slipped inside her and the rest of the world vanished for the two of them. Together they moaned and pushed each other into utter rapture as they called each other's names…
Hermione did not know how long she was suspended in that moment of consummation but when she came into some manner of consciousness, she felt boneless and entirely short-winded, and very close to falling asleep.
Hermione was mindless of anything else except the feeling of gratification swirling around her brought by the fact that currently she is with the woman who had captivated her body, heart and soul... The woman she is completely in love with— who had snuggled under her chin and currently running one hand on her thigh…
Hermione yawned in wonderful fatigue and instinctively moved her hand that was resting from above her head to run through Minerva's hair. On the third stroke, Hermione frowned at the quiver she thought she felt.
"Minerva, you're shaking…?" Hermione asked in confusion after she brought both her hands on Minerva's back and indeed confirmed the quiver. "Tell me what's wrong…"
"Just hold me please… hold me…" After hearing such supplication, the sleepiness caused by their lovemaking activities vanished as concern for the woman increased a thousand times. Hermione wrapped her arms tighter around the woman she loves and began a soothing caress on the smooth skin of Minerva's back.
But somewhere in Hermione's guts, a dreadful feeling also flared up at Minerva's pained and torn voice. Nevertheless, Hermione shelved it and focused on Minerva, as nothing is first before the woman in her arms.
Minerva's trembling and her firm clutching of herself to Hermione got more pronounced as seconds drummed by. Hermione's worry rose integrally as she realized that whatever's plaguing Minerva had apparently made her abandoned her world-renowned self-sufficiency. The most alarming thought brought Hermione to an internal promise to give Minerva deliverance from whatever it is.
"Minerva… Just tell me…" She softly asked and ran her fingers through the woman's luxurious hair and brushed her lips on its crown.
At first, the only response Hermione received is the intensified hold of Minerva on her. Clutching to her body even more if that was possible… Then she felt splash of tears on her chest, evidence that Minerva failed to hold them anymore.
It dawned on Hermione that for all the power and brilliance of Minerva McGonagall, the woman is most likely confounded on how to ask for what she desperately needed. The woman probably never asked anything from anyone, much more on grave matters that had her trembling… If her inference is accurate, she knew she needed to be the one to provide the delicate stepping slabs for the woman, as Minerva would never just come forth.
"Minerva… Darling, allow me to make it alright… Tell me… Please darling…"
For undetermined minutes, severe silence dominated the room except the sound from her stroking of the woman's hair and back, and of their breathing. Hers in suspension type and Minerva's in an almost strangled one…
And then she heard Minerva's tormented murmur. Her brows knitted to decipher what it was, as she dare not ask Minerva to repeat; the woman may suddenly withdraw and completely shut down. The very last thing Hermione wanted to happen.
"Fault on what darling?" Hermione tenderly asked after she was sure that 'my fault' were Minerva's murmured two words.
Once again, Minerva met her with silence and she patiently waited for the answer. At the same time, her mind started conducting a hunt for relevant details for such two-word concession, but the doorways presented are far too many.
'Is Minerva blaming herself for Albus death? And Amelia? And Severus? And others?'
'Is Minerva sentencing herself for the entirety of the war?'
'Is the burden of war aftermath too heavy now? Unlike before she didn't have to carry it all by herself…?
'Is this about them?'
The last thought led Hermione to what she knew she saw that accompanied Minerva's aroused glassy emerald eyes. Something was there that the woman was fighting back…
Hermione rapidly made a mental cross-examination of several matters she knew and she saw… She discarded details and expanded details... Then her reliable logic pierced together some of it…
Her own heart almost stopped at the realization and all the implications that came with it…
She momentarily took hold of her own control before she began in her most tender voice she could muster, so as to not panic Minerva… and perhaps herself…
"You knew I splinched that night…?"
Hermione herself did not know if she was really asking, as she already knew that that was it. But she felt Minerva violently jerked, then after a while nodded her head in response…
She waited if the woman would lift her head to look at her but instead, Minerva buried further into her chest. Then the increased tremors told Hermione that Minerva just let out more tears. Tears in silent cries in attempt to shroud it, but the trembling betrayed the woman. Once again, she placed a soft kiss on Minerva's crown to give the woman some sense of assurance.
"Harry told you?"
"No."
Hermione thought back on that day and deduced on possible ways that Minerva would know…
"Dolly realised I splinched and told you?"
"Yes."
"You followed me here?"
"No."
"You thought I went to Grimmauld?"
"Yes."
"You gave Kreacher the Dittany to give to Harry?"
"Yes.
"Why didn't you bring it here?"
"I froze at Grimmauld— saw bloodied note— Harry left it… I— knew 'twas yer blood… I just knew… Then my magic… I canna… I couldna— apparate back— ta the Manor… I summoned Dolly ta get me... My magic— never failed me— 'till that... I— I realized how I canna be there for ye…"
Despite the broken sentences in too heavy accent, Hermione understood the disclosure of the events… Minerva knew. Followed her with remedy. But mistakably to Grimmauld. Found her note. Then the woman froze.
Now, to understand what it meant for her…? For Minerva…? For her and Minerva…? She'll sort them out a bit later because right now, Minerva needs her, needs her assurance…
"It's okay. I'm okay darling."
"You could have died."
"I didn't."
"You could have died and it was entirely my fault."
"Minerva, look at me." Hermione waited until Minerva lifted her head and had welled up emerald eyes focused on her brown ones. Then she reached down and placed a tender kiss on Minerva's lips before she stated, "We just made love darling. I'm okay. I'm here. I did not die, obviously."
Hermione staggered a bit when emerald eyes hardened before it welled up once again as the woman gritted her teeth in torn anger and misery. "It was my fault darling and I do not know how to forgive myself for that. I drove you away. And intoxicated your mind that you splinched. It was my fault."
Hermione paused as she did not want to further aggravate the situation. She flipped in her head the scenario if she was Minerva. Certainly she would be coursing the same tune. And how something that already happened cannot be discounted by assurance of today because that would be a colossal bullshit. That acceptance of truth is about acceptance of what happened in the past. No less, no more.
"Minerva, it was not entirely your fault. We jumped on unfamiliar plane before we realised that we both had no idea how to handle it. Then we had different ideas of where the destination should be. And when we can't deal with it, we found out we did not know how to land without crashing. It was your fault and it was mine. It was truly both of ours…"
Hermione sighed, so much for sorting things later when right now they have all descended on her.
"I could have asked you to stay…"
Hermione thought about this supposition and the answer is quite easy to determine on how and where it would really lead them.
"Minerva… If tonight is last year, will you still send me away tomorrow?"
"Yes… I canna not to… I… I had to darling… Ye wouldna listen... But now ye know why…"
There. The truth of the past is still the truth today.
"I know... I know you'd be gone by tomorrow's sunrise…"
"Tomorrow… I need to be… You need to be…"
"I know…"
"I canna Hermione… You've stated the reasons yeself before this…"
Minerva made a helpless sweeping gesture of them in bed and of course Hermione understood. Her heart achingly throbbed, as ambiguities have been officially removed.
"I know Minerva…"
Hermione earlier thoughts paraded her mind—
'Tomorrow I return you to the entire wizarding world… They would need their venerated leader... As for me, I'll have another memory to torment and console me through my days and nights… But I'll take tonight if that's all you could give…'
Hermione wrapped her arms tighter on Minerva and told herself that tomorrow is still not right now. She still has tonight… She still has Minerva.
End of Chapter 6 | Year 1999 | The Second One (Part2)
A/N:
- What do you think? Did they just make another mistake?
- I totally invented the charms: Stabile (almost permanent), Revelio (Reveal), De-Glamour (aging or lessen the attractiveness) and Communal (combination of charms). If they are actually used in HP then they are JK's as well. Also I just invented the Chest of Trial and the mechanics of Mastery exams.
- I really like the idea that Minerva is really, really, REALLY superb in Transfiguration.
- I don't know if it works for you, but I believed that Minerva and Hermione are the kind of people that intellectual stimulation is a very, very, very appealing foreplay for foreplay :)
- I have one more chapter for this year to close some of the open details of this night and to open more for the following years set-up. Then I promise it gets really complicated...
- Again, thank you for STILL reading! :)
- As usual, these are all JK Rowling's and I'm just borrowing and spinning them to my liking.