"Are you morons still hoping for a way in?"
Draco looked down at the two older men sitting against the fresh wallpaper of the corridor. He quirked a silver brow at the two of them and continued to eat his bowl of cereal with the nonchalance and grace of a born aristocrat.
Remus sighed heavily into his arms, while Sirius glared at Draco.
"She hasn't come out in days, Malfoy. We're worried and hoping to find a way in." He gritted out, fixing the tightly shut library doors with his vicious yet exhausted gaze. Maybe if he got angry enough, he could melt the iron locks. If Superman could do it, why not him?
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please. We all know that the only way into that shrew's domain is by invitation. Granger is not sloppy. She'll come out when she's ready. Either that, or when some distant oppressed creature cries out for justice." He paused for another lengthy and audible crunch of cereal. "Besides, there's food and a bathroom in there." He muttered the last part to himself, but the canine ears of both roommates perked at that.
"Wait, what?" Remus' head shot up. "There's no bathroom or food in the library. I've been living here for years; I would have known!"
Draco shrugged and avoided eye contact, but the redness creeping up from his collar betrayed his disinterest.
"The bloody bookworm loses track of time. It only made sense to equip the room with the essentials. I swear; that woman would've starved months ago if I didn't hide some something edible every few shelves."
Sirius and Remus looked quite skeptical and amused.
"And the bathroom?"
Draco swirled his spoon in the pale bowl. "The witch smells bad enough as it is. I figured that increased proximity to a lavatory would remind her of basic human hygiene patterns."
Sirius bit back his smile, but his eyes crinkled with restrained mirth. "So shower or tub?"
Draco scoffed. "Obviously both. It's not as if one could take a proper shower in a tub with those ridiculous muggle water machines."
Remus smiled. "Muggle water machines?"
Draco sighed heavily. "Yes, Lupin. Water machines that muggles use to soothe their backs because they foolishly lack the normal ability to heal common aches and ailments. The machines stir the water and apply some sort of air pressure to ease discomfort." Draco continued, lost in thought. "The packaging labeled them 'jets,' but I'm unsure if that is what they really are called because I was under the impression that jets were used for air transportation of some sort."
Remus bit his lip to keep his smile from growing, as he did not want to embarrass the young man. Sirius had no such qualms.
"She's a lovely woman, isn't she?" He grinned, gleefully watching the Malfoy scion's ears turn Gryffindor red.
"Oh, bugger off." Draco growled, turning on a heel and leaving small drops of spilt milk in his haste.
"Oh God, I don't know if we should." She whispered shakily, looking up into dark stormy eyes. His gaze could only be compared to the moody navy of a looming downpour, drawing her in and threatening to drench her if she didn't seek cover.
She couldn't help but close her eyes as his large hand made its way up her smooth skin. His fingers traversed her sternum with purpose, his callouses offered just the right amount of roughness, and his blatant want burned her from the inside out. His hand slid along her soft neck with veneration before coming up to cup her cheek gently. She swayed easily in his embrace, tilting her head back to welcome his heated kiss.
Sirius used his free hand to grip her hip firmly and pull her in close. The heat from his body seeped through her thin satin shift, and she flushed when she felt her hardened nipples brush against his broad chest. She couldn't help but whimper from the deep need throbbing, desperate and overwhelming, in her breasts and between her thighs. She felt lost in the pleasure, untethered and vulnerable in the waves.
A new, yet seemingly ever-present, warmth pressed into her back. She felt his stubble rasp against the pale curve of her shoulder, stopping to drop soft, worshipping kisses on her clusters of freckles.
"Don't go too hard on her, Sirius." Remus' low voice rumbled deep in his chest and Hermione felt the vibrations of his smooth timbre resonate deep within herself. His heated palms curled around her front and the sensation of an additional set of hands caressing her added an entirely new, dizzying facet to the already devastating erotic tension.
Hermione moaned into Sirius' mouth as Remus' fingers lingered on the top of her thigh. He flirted with the slit of her slip and he dragged the thin strap clinging to her shoulder off with his teeth. He slowly made his way from shoulder to neck, pausing to lick and bite her prickling skin with the leisure of slow, Sunday morning love.
Her toes curled when fingers finally found her wet center.
"That's better, isn't it, love?" Remus' grip on her hip tightened when he realized exactly how wrecked she was. She nodded helplessly, still occupied by Sirius' possessive and all-encompassing kiss. She could only manage a muffled whimper, finally giving into the pleasure and dropping her head back on Remus' shoulder with a cry.
Sirius, not one to be outdone, ripped the surviving strap from her shoulder and leant down to take a sensitive bud in his mouth. He laved it with his hot tongue, pausing intermittently to allow the cool air of the room to increase the sensitivity. She felt her center throb with each unsympathetic pull of his mouth. Hermione's hips were undulating in rhythm with Remus' relentless firm circles on her clit, and she knew that she had reached the point of no return.
"How do his hands feel on you, kitten?" Sirius continued cupping her breasts distractingly, whispering harshly into her ear and breathing heavily in restraint. "Do you like feeling Remus play with your pussy while I worship your breasts?"
She nodded distractedly, trying to pull Sirius closer with frantic hands. He and Remus found their rhythm, pushing and pulling her between them to seek relief from the sweet friction. She melted against the resounding hardness and saw stars when Sirius bit deeply into her neck, and screamed soundlessly as Remus pulled her closer and closer to the edge of sanity.
"Hermione?"
Hermione's head shot up from its place on her desk. She turned sharply in her seat to see ruffled raven hair and circular glasses peaking out from her private fireplace.
She stood up suddenly, and immediately regretted that decision. The kinks in her neck and shoulders panged with anger. She paused, and then shook her head. Best not to thing about kinks after a dream like that. She ignored the discomfort and stepped closer to the cool flames.
"Good morning, Harry! What can I do for you?" She asked, taking pride in that her voice had not once wavered, and yet praying that her skin was not nearly as flushed as it felt. She pulled her plush robe tighter across the black shift (it felt impure from its previous appearance in her dream).
"Well," a portion of Harry's hand appeared mid-air, reaching out to scratch his head in awkwardness, "I have a favor to ask."
Hermione instantly perked up. Finally, a worthwhile distraction!
"Anything, Harry. You name it!" She hoped her eagerness to get out of the sexually charged house hopefully came across as genuine affection.
Harry brightened, heaving a sigh of relief. "Excellent! Could you possibly pack a bag for a few nights?"
Hermione hemmed and hawed for the sake of appearances, but knew that the small suitcase sitting open in the corner of the library would be well suited. She didn't stay in the same clothes all week, after all. Locking yourself away from lusty temptations takes careful and detailed packing.
"I'm sure that I can figure something out. Where do you need me to go?" She asked.
"Hogwarts, actually." Hermione blinked in response. "There has been some unusual activity throughout the castle, and I was hoping that you would be able to assess the issue before the students returned from holiday."
"Unusual activity?"
"Yes," Harry answered, "the wards in several key points of the castle seem to have weakened somehow, and I figured that you would have special insight, given that you were part of the original effort to reconstruct. I was hoping that you could leave the store to Lupin for just a day or two and join the small group of specialists examining the anomaly."
Hermione frowned, "Yes, of course I will. I have no idea what could affect wards of that magnitude, but I would be happy to assist. When should I be ready to leave?"
Harry's head turned to the side, and his forearm appeared suddenly in the smoke. "Would a few hours be alright? Students are taking the train in a week, so Neville and I were hoping to get the issue resolved by then."
Hermione nodded, keen to escape the intoxicating lure of her roommates. "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Just give me a moment to leave the boys a note."
"10 minutes? That's all you need to pack a bag?" Hermione ignored Harry's confusion, hastily sending a note of her whereabouts to the outside of the library door and rushing to the bathroom to brush her teeth and calm her hair.
The familiar fresh air ruffled her hair slightly, and she tucked a rebellious curl behind her ear. Her boots lightly treaded through the grass and her hand reached out to examine the wards.
Something didn't feel right.
While nothing was conspicuously amiss, she ran the pads of her fingers gently across the grooves of the stone. The rhythm of the castle's magic felt off-kilter.
She frowned to herself, retrieved the pencil from behind her ear and noted a few observations in her notepad. The ripples and ridges of magic felt almost like scar tissue, raised and ragged. Signs of dark magic had marred the grass like burns, and all animals were conspicuously absent from this swath of the grounds. She paused to listen for any sign of activity, but the silence hung firm.
She stepped closer to the trees, drawn by a powerful urge to walk with them. She swayed slightly, and took her first step, but was distracted by the sudden rustling of leaves from behind.
