Whisky poured, each made deliberate eye contact around the table before taking a hearty sip from their glass. "Blimey, that's good." Harry blurted.
"Aye, it is." Minerva agreed. Hermione just nodded with a wistful smile, thinking of the moment outside the Manor. What a day.
Each taking another sip, the mood shifted, and they all simultaneously leaned closer to the table. "I have loads of questions, but I figure you two should decide where we start?" Harry asked.
"Thank you, Harry. I know it's not easy to wait for news while others are out in the thick of things." Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, the time alone on the run still quite fresh.
"I'll start with what I know, and either of you may jump in at any time with questions or insights, alright?" Seeing both heads bob, Minerva continued. "The first thing, someone sent an owl which was able to be delivered to me while here, which means it was either written and sent by someone who's bound to Grimmauld's Fidelius charm, in which case we indeed have a mole; or the more ideal scenario of the note being passed off to someone bound who then sent the owl, in which case we need to tighten security protocols of the Order. Do either of you have a hunch on who would have done this?"
Both heads shook wordlessly before Harry spoke up. "After Hermione went after you, I reset the wards to just the three of us and had Kreacher report to me the whereabouts of everyone bound to Grimmauld. Most people are still helping at Hogwarts and the others weren't out of place or doing anything unusual, besides you two, of course." He pulled a parchment toward him from the other side of the table and slid it in front of the witches.
George / Ron - Joke shop
Percy / Arthur / Kingsley - Ministry
Molly - Burrow
Filius / Hagrid / Ginny / Neville / Luna / Angelina / Charlie / Fleur - Hogwarts
Minerva / Hermione - Fairy Forest
"Mm, very good thinking, Potter." Fairy Forest, eh? Interesting. " Now for the second thing I know; the party of four who so pleasantly greeted me at Hermione's childhood home with simultaneous killing curses, had all taken polyjuice potion."
"Wait, what?!" Hermione exclaimed. "How do you know that? And SIMULTANEOUS KILLING CURSES?! How did you dodge them?"
"I didn't recognize any of their faces, did you, Hermione?"
"No, but..." Minerva raised her hand and continued. "I recognized their scents. They were all former students of mine. Gemma Farley, Marcus Flint, Barnaby Lee, and... "She drained her glass. "Ernest MacMillan"
"Ernie?! Are you positive?" Harry leapt up from his chair, looking ready to muggle fight.
"Quite. But as Mister MacMillan isn't a member of the Order, nor bound to your home, we still have the first mystery on our hands."
Hermione was sitting stock still, emotions roiling at how close Minerva had come to crossing the Veil today. Minerva, having survived three wars, quickly recognized the signs of shock setting in and reached over to pull Hermione's hand toward her. "Hermione." Brown eyes still staring at a spot on the table, Minerva squeezed her hand in both of hers. "Lass, look at me." Eyes stayed fixed ahead but were now filling with tears. Bringing the warm hand to her lips, Minerva kissed her knuckles once, twice, before forcing the hand to cup her cheek. "I'm here, lass, I'm right here. Look at me. Please, Hermione, love." Her voice cracking a bit on the last word.
Honey flecked eyes snapped to emerald and blinked furiously to push the tears out of the way so she could focus. Love? I am cupping Minerva's cheek. Did she kiss me? Seeing Hermione begin to return to herself, she slowly brought the hand on her cheek back between her own upon the table. Glancing at Harry, who was still standing, now mouth agape and staring at his friend's hand intimately placed on his former professor's face. Minerva cleared her throat. Harry's mouth snapped shut and his eyes darted to hers, away and back again.
"Potter, would you please pour us all another round and then give me and Hermione the room for a moment?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course." Happy to have something to do, he quickly topped everyone up with a double pour, then, taking his glass and the bottle, left.
With her free hand, Hermione reached for her scotch and took a large swallow, enjoying the burn that followed the oaky amber liquid down her throat. It met the moment perfectly.
Setting the crystal down, she found Minerva's eyes once more. They were open and full of something that looked a lot like love. Brown eyes flecked with gold dropped their gaze to rosy lips and back to sparkling green irises. "I'm afraid my mind was elsewhere and I missed something I'd really rather remember. Would you kiss me again, please?"
Eyes not breaking contact, Minerva lifted Hermione's hand once more and softly kissed her knuckles once, twice, three times, the last one lingering a beat longer as she leaned her face until her nose brushed the surface and inhaled deeply, her eyes dropping shut and accompanying her exhale was a long gravelly moan. Fuck. Hermione's mouth dropped open, panting, her pulse beating wildly as Minerva's eyes recaptured hers, now fully dilated in arousal.
Reaching with her left hand, Hermione slipped her fingers through the still loose bun of silk black hair and pulled Minerva's face to hers. Lips and tongues met with a hunger neither one had ever experienced. Minerva scraped the sides of Hermione's tongue with her own and then captured it between her lips and sucked gently. Hermione felt herself release a pool of moisture coating her nether lips, causing her to realise how far apart they still were. Breaking the kiss, she got up and moved to straddle Minerva in her chair. Once upon her lap she brought her hand up to touch Minerva's face, tracing her eyebrows down her nose, cupping her cheek. Minerva leaned into it like a cat getting a scratch. The thought made Hermione's heart swell. She's adorable. "Can you smell what you're doing to me, love?" Eyes and nostrils flaring simultaneously, Minerva pulled Hermione flush against her. "Aye, I can, grādh" A low rumble like a purr vibrated the air around them. "You smell divine. And if we continue like this, I'm gunna be hard pressed not to take ya on Harry Potter's kitchen table." Oh my, her Scottish brogue is so sexy. Leaning forward so their foreheads touched, Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I want to etch every moment of this on my soul.
" Will you stay at the Manor with me tonight?" Minerva asked softly. A slow grin made its way across Hermione's face. Staying where she was, foreheads pressed, eyes closed, she returned her question with another, "And if I say yes, will we finish what we've started here?" She felt Minerva's head slide as she moved to capture Hermione's earlobe in her teeth, pulling gently before releasing then swiping the bitten flesh with her tongue. She murmured directly in her ear, "Aye, multiple times I imagine." Hermione threw her head back and laughed, grinding her hips into Minerva's abdomen, laughter turning to a moan as she felt her muscles contract against the pressure. "Yes," she uttered breathlessly.
Before she lost the last shred of her control, Minerva pulled the Manor wards to her and with a pop, Elspeth appeared next to their chair. Eyes widening at the sight of Hermione astride Minnie fully clothed but for all intents looking like she was mid-orgasm. "Els, would you please take Hermione to my bedchamber, the one in the library."
Clearing her throat, "Yous ready, Miss Mione?"
A burst of pure joyful laughter filled the kitchen as Hermione heard the innocently asked question that for her had layers of meaning. Bringing her hands back to Minerva's face, she chastely pecked swollen lips. Meeting emerald eyes that were filled with adoration and longing, she leaned in for a second kiss while making to stand on shaky legs. "Don't keep me waiting too long, love. And do go easy on Harry, will you?" And with that,t she turned to Elspeth and extended her hand. "I'm ready, Els, thank you." And they were gone.
Closing her eyes and bringing her fingers to her lips, Minerva took a moment to savour the last few minutes. Reaching for her glass, she drained the whisky in one go and stood to go find Potter and make her exit.
She found him on a lounger by the fire with a soft expression on his face and a nearly empty glass resting on his knee.
He glanced up, finished his scotch, placing the glass on the floor as he scooted to make room for her to sit on his left. She took a seat and reached out to pat his knee.
"You and Mione then, eh?" Eyes still gazing at the fire.
"Aye, lad. Does it bother you?"
Shaking his head, he turned to fully face his former professor, seeing her with fresh eyes. She is indeed a beautiful woman. He felt himself blush as he smiled "I haven't heard her laugh like that since before we took off, so no, I'm really and truly happy for you both."
An unexpected wave of emotion crashed over Minerva and she reached out to pull Harry into a hug as she blinked away a few tears. "Thank you, Harry."
Squeezing her back, he added. "I mean, that's what we're fighting for, right? So we can love one another, freely, in peace."
Smiling into his shoulder, Minerva felt pride bloom across her chest. Pulling back, she took in the man Harry had become. "You are a good man, Harry Potter, and I am so proud of you."
Beaming, he hugged her once more, whispering, "Thank you, Minerva." He extracted himself to stand. "I'm guessing you have somewhere to be now. Shall we all meet tomorrow for lunch to continue formulating a plan?"
Noting the use of her given name and the gracious time recommendation, she gave him one of her rare open smiles and nodded. "Sounds like a good plan, Harry. Rest well."
"Right, night then," and he moved toward the stairs. Once out of sight, she whispered, "Elspeth," and extended her hand. Before even fully appearing, Elspeth grasped the familiar hand and pulled Minerva home. To Hermione.
