Hi everyone!

Smut at the end of this chapter, a very interesting phone call from a family member somewhere in the middle. Enjoy!

Thanks to each and everyone of you who comments, who likes, who reviews, who favorites, who follows. You are absolutely amazing and I hope you're all doing well 3

Love,

Flora

Chapter 15: How Hermione didn't want to marry but okay, maybe to Harry, she secretly did.

That could've been better.

Her meeting with the mediator went a lot worse than she expected. Of course, she knew that the fact that Ron, Harry and she broke into Gringotts would be a painful point during negotiation, but Bill's co-worker told her that there was no chance in hell any Goblin would ever want to do any deals with her. They had destroyed part of the building, of course, she remembered that, but the Ukrainian Ironbelly that they set free had unfortunately fried at least a dozen of their workers before escaping out into the open. Right, she thought, as the mediator spoke coyly, how could I have been so stupid as to forget about that?

She owled Bill, thanking him for the tip on the mediator, and immediately asked him whether he'd be interested in talking with the Goblins about the changing Wizarding Laws on her behalf. She knew Bill wanted to discontinue his job as a Curse Breaker for at least a few years until the kids were a little bigger because of the risk of him getting injured. Her supervisor, Alan Greengrass, was more than willing to involve him in the process, as his credentials spoke for themselves. The rest of her Wednesday was spent talking with Bill, who was very interested in the job, and when she got back to her office, Mimsy told her that she had heard "the Muggle phone ring a couple of times, Miss Granger".

Ah. Her parents, probably.

She called them back, but they didn't answer. After sifting through some paperwork about her upcoming meeting with Dobby's Institutionalized Memorial regarding Welfare, Integrity and Tolerance on the Topic of Elfish Development, her phone rang again.

'This is Hermione Granger.'

'Hermione, dear! It's your grandmother speaking. Your father was kind enough to give me the number to your landline. I sure hope you don't mind.'

'Oh, ehh, no, of course not, grandmama. Not at all. Did you have a nice Christmas?'

'I did my dear, thank you. And thank you for the Christmas Card, you and Harry both looked absolutely stunning.'

Hermione chuckled, thinking about how during one of their lunches, they decided to amp up their game for the whole engagement-ploy and made a very awkward personalized Muggle Christmas Card, with matching sweaters. They sent it out to Hermione's entire family.

'We hoped you'd like it,' she said truthfully.

'Well, cutting right to the chase, I always organize a little reception for the New Year. Just a little get together, mind you, nothing as extravagant as I've shown you for the past couple of events! I usually invite about twenty people, but Penelope's daughter, Gwendolyn, extended her stay in France with her family, so we've got some spots left and my sister explicitly asked me to send out an invitation to you and your husband-to-be.'

'Oh! That is most kind of you, grandma-...'

'Penelope told me how you worked through the night to remodel her kitchen. You and Harry truly are an amazing couple - it's a shame you deprived us of him for so long! Such a loving boy... Penelope told me you were very cozy together when staying over there, if you know what I mean. I could always do with a few extra great-grandchildren, you know...'

'Haha,' Hermione faked, 'yes, well, Harry and I should get married before we embark on that adventure, right grandmama?'

The fact Grandmother Eugenia made jokes about getting children out of wedlock while not 25 years ago it had been the reason for her to disown her own daughter, was beyond Hermione's comprehension.

'Of course dear!' her grandmother warbled, ignoring her slight stab. 'On the matter of that: Penelope and I have discussed this quite extensively, but we would be honored to contribute to your wedding in some shape or form. Have you visited venues already? I have some very influential acquaintances who can get you into almost any wedding location in London within a reasonable timeframe. And I would personally be honored to be invited to your dress appointment, dear. I have a very good taste, as I say so myself, and it would be an absolute shame if you'd show up into some attire that you usually thing is befitting of the occasion - fashion sense is not something you've inherited from our side of the family, but there's nothing your old grandmother can't fix for you!'

Oh no. They had created a monster.

Harry wasn't home yet when she crashed into the kitchen at half past six. Grandma Eugenia had been relentless - Hermione tried to cut her off a couple of times, but she kept on jabbering and jabbering so finally Hermione sat the phone down, and continued her work for DIMWITTED with interjecting the occasional "oh really?" and "sounds interesting!" and "I'll ask Harry". The call lasted an hour and a half. Her grandmother was determined to have her say in their fake ceremony and Hermione had gotten the feeling that Harry and herself had dug a hole for themselves that was impossible to escape from.

The feeling dawned on her that there were two options. Either go through with it fully - fake ceremony, fake friends, fake table pieces and refined china and silver cutlery - or come clean about their deceit. Neither options were attractive. Admitting to lying to her grandmother would surely cause her to break her contact with them again, and to think that Aunty Penelope would have to stomach their betrayal after celebration Christmas together was something she couldn't face. On the other hand - actually throwing a fake wedding ceremony was insane. There was no way they could pull that off without anyone from their world finding out, and if the Daily Prophet got wind of their marriage, they would have a field day. But Grandmother Eugenia wouldn't let Harry and Hermione get away with a small, quaint ceremony. It would be big, it would be extravagant and it would be unbearable, even with someone as sweet and understanding as Harry.

And, of course, there was another nagging feeling that Hermione had gotten during the conversation with her grandmother. A feeling that had been enhanced by the dream she had last night, obviously fueled by the satisfying feeling Harry had left in her belly after some good and thorough love-making. In her dream, she had worn a white gown, and Harry had worn the smoking he had bought for her grandmothers birthday, and they had been standing underneath a canopy in a beautiful forest clearing.

A part of her wanted to marry Harry. She had always been bonded to him, through love, through life-events, and she had always pictured her life with Harry somewhere in it. Hermione wasn't a girl who dreamed about her wedding day - but at the occasions where she had pictured it, usually because Parvati and Lavender couldn't stop gushing about it, she imagined Harry would be there to watch her get married to some anonymous bloke without a face - and he would be supportive and kind. Now their relationship took off as well as it had over the past couple of days, and they had called each other "fiance" by joke more and more each day, Hermione got the dreadful hunch that deep down, she was picturing her wedding day with Harry again. And now he wouldn't be supportive of her and some other guy, but he would be standing at the altar, dolled up and eager, and they would spend the rest of their life together. Hermione realized she wanted him to be with her for the rest of her life like that, not as a best friend, but as a husband. The fact that they were now fake-betrothed, and that there was a chance that her grandmother would taint her being together with Harry because of how impulsive the both of them had been, made her sad. She wanted a genuine start with Harry, not something fake. It would be ridiculous to attend a fake wedding and then repeat the whole thing in private a few years after, just because Harry hadn't been able to control his temper around her thickheaded cousin.

Aside from that, she didn't know what Harry wanted. How Harry felt. She knew he loved her, but this whole engagement-charade made things a lot more complicated. She would have discussed marriage with him in a few years, not within weeks of them getting together, but at their New Day's reception, they would both have to come up with excuses or they would have to agree to plans that others made for them. It saddened her, it angered her, and when she started cutting courgette for the lasagna, she couldn't help but scowl.

A noise in the fireplace alerted her to Harry's arrival and she straightened out her face. Now was not the time to be in a bad mood - she and Harry had been doing so great lately, and she didn't want to waste one second in his presence not being happy.

'Harry!' she called out, and when he turned the corner to her kitchen, her mouth fell open.

'What happened to you?!'

'What happened to me?' Harry replied, taking a few steps back and looking in the mirror that stood in the hallway. 'Oh, that. Wait. Scourgify. No harm done.'

'No harm done? No harm done?' Hermione repeated. 'You are bleeding.'

'Oh I'm not, it's just a-...'

She rushed past him to pick some bandages as Harry touched the side of his head.

'Oh damn, I am.'

'Yes, I know you are. Stay still.'

'Normally I go to the nurse after a raid, but-...'

'Then why haven't you?' Hermione asked, concerned. Harry looked moody - a look she had been all too familiar with in school.

'Because I didn't want to see anyone except for you for a while, to be really honest. And I thought I had been careful...'

'Yeah, super careful, with that gash in your head,' she said sarcastically. 'Sit on the table, I have something to ease the pain a bit.'

She cast some healing incantations, stemmed the bleeding and cleared the wound with a potion. Harry hissed when the cotton came in contact with his wound.

'I'm sorry, I didn't want to-...'

'Enough,' Harry snapped, swatting her hand away. 'This was a mistake. I should have gone to my own apartment.'

'And what makes you say that?' Hermione said, accusatory.

'I thought you would be nice to me, Hermione.'

'I am! I'm trying to, but I'm not really good at healing spells, you know that-...'

'I should have gone home,' Harry repeated, angry.

'Oh, well, listen, if you wanted to be babied, you should have gone to the nurse, as you should have anyway,' she heard herself say, way more harshly then she normally would, a sniff caught in her throat. 'I am actually trying to help here. What's wrong?'

'Wrong? Nothing's wrong.'

'Was this Nott's doing? Did you fight with him?'

'It doesn't matter, Hermione.'

'Was it Nott? Was it someone else?'

Harry glared at her, and sighed.

'What is wrong?' Hermione pressed. 'You haven't been sulking like this since our school days and as far as I know, you defeated Voldemort some time ago, so unless you have a very good reason for being so moody, I won't put up with it.'

She dampened a cloth and pushed it against Harry's flushed skin. He groaned, but didn't pull away. A few moments of silence passed and then Harry exhaled deeply.

'Can... Can you give me a kiss?'

He said it so softly, that she could have imagined it. She pressed her lips together and looked him in the eye, his green eyes big and remorseful.

'Please?'

She complied, placing her lips on his, pressing herself firmly against him. He caught Hermione's hands in his as he avoided her gaze and then gently placed his wounded head on her shoulder, hugging her tightly. The contact lasted longer than was usual for a hug and she petted his hair.

'I'm sorry, okay,' he said, when he pulled away. 'I had a row at work and I got so worked up... I know it triggers you when you see me like this, I know how much it hurts you, and-...'

'It's okay,' she replied. 'Really, Harry.'

'It's not. This case, it's just so...'

He sighed and looked at her directly, his eyes eliciting a fiery spark that spoke of his anger.

'They placed a memory charm on Lackey. Without my permission, but Eleonore went ahead with it anyway. The memory led us to a den, and a fight broke out, and... I was still so angry at Eleonore, that... Well, you're right. My temper got the better of me, yet again. I wasn't careful. Not one bit. One of the guys his Sectumsempra missed me by just an inch or so. Then another succeeded by hitting me with a cutting charm. We've arrested one or two blokes, and found a lot of evidence, but the majority escaped. I wasn't on top of my game, Hermione. I can't afford that.'

Hermione stroked her thumbs across his cheek and hated how the war had damaged him. Sometimes she thought that he shouldn't have joined the Auror Department - that more trauma was the least that Harry needed, but she understood that Harry had grown up with danger and that he craved it. He needed it, like an addict needing a fix, and on top of that he was bloody good at his job. The Wizarding World would be a worse place if it weren't for Harry working in the Auror Department. It was some hard work, reforming the ways of the Ministry, but together they could succeed.

'Your glasses are cracked again,' she noted. 'Occulus Reparo.'

'Thank you,' he replied. 'You are all I need right now.'

'Let's make you a hot bath,' Hermione coaxed and Harry pulled her face against his, to place a smoldering kiss on her lips.

'I have no idea what I'm doing to deserve you.'

She smiled faintly.

'Well, you proposed to me,' she said, squeezing his hand, walking to the bathroom. With an Aguamenti and a heating charm she began to fill the tub.

'You said yes,' Harry reminded her. 'If I recall correctly, you even said yes "a thousand times".'

'Oh look who's got his cockiness back,' Hermione grinned. She glanced sideways at Harry, who began to undress himself. It was weird with how casually he cast aside his clothes, especially considering she hadn't seen him naked until last week. It was even more private to see him when he was not aroused. She was used to his erect member by now, but she hadn't seen too much of Harry in a non-horny naked state. She didn't want to pry, but she couldn't help herself, and when he stepped into the water, resting his head against the back of the tub, she noticed how his penis bobbed against the water surface.

So penises float, she thought. That is... weird. And interesting.

'I'll go and make dinner,' she said. 'We're having lasagna.'

Harry closed his eyes, but extended his hand to her.

'What is it?'

'Join me?'

'Harry, I-... Dinner. And. You know. The bath is too small.'

Harry picked his wand from the side of the tub and extended the bath magically, without even opening his eyes. His open hand beckoned her again.

'Harry-...'

'Not even to be frisky or something,' he mumbled, 'but I just want to feel you against my skin. I just need a cuddle. A watery cuddle.'

'What about food?'

'I'll help you. Or we'll order something in.'

She thought for a moment, but then she felt her hands raise her jumper above her head. Her decision was made.

She didn't remember ever sharing a bath with someone. The water was nice and warm and she immediately sunk into Harry's arms. He laughed against her skin, placing soft kisses against her temple and blowing butterfly kisses on the back of her neck.

'Please forgive me for saying I should have gone to my place. You know I'm an idiot sometimes, right?'

'I've known you for twelve years, Harry.'

'That says it all, then. So, now you know how my day went. How was yours?'

Hermione exhaled deeply.

'Oh Merlin,' Harry replied. 'Not much better, I reckon?'

She told him about the mediator, about Bill, about her grandmother. Harry didn't interrupt her, but kept running his hands across her arms, along her sides, placing soft kisses on her shoulders and jawline.

'So, in other words, we're screwed. I know for certain grandmama wants to have a part in the ceremony and whatnot, and that's a huge problem as there won't be any. It's just such a mess.'

'We can just tell her that we're engaged,' he assured her, between kisses, 'but not getting married anytime soon because of the risk of my job. That would make sense, right?'

'Wouldn't that mean that we should be married more quickly? To make sure to spend the most time that we have married to each other?'

'I can tell them it's too risky right now for you to share my last name.'

'Oh come on, Harry. Your last name is Potter! Not that it's not a nice name, but there are thousands of Potters in the UK.'

'But it will link you directly to me, right? Some criminals could find out and use you as a pressure point, something like that...'

Hermione nodded, but knew that those reasons were not going to cut it. They had to think of something better. Something more convincing.

She shifted against Harry, resting her head against his chest, but then she felt him stirring and growing against her. She chuckled, as Harry didn't waver with his small kisses, his gentle touches.

'And I thought you said you just wanted watery cuddles!'

'I cannot be blamed,' Harry mumbled under his breath, his kisses becoming more demanding. 'You are way too delicious right now.'

She leaned against his arm, so Harry had access to her lips, and he swept his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her, tasting her deeply. He squeezed her breasts, kneading the flesh against the palms of his hands, and she could almost see the lust growing inside of him, the fire erupting from his lips, his fingers, his body, with his nibbles, his touches, his thrusts.

They touched each other, but decided quickly that water was actually not that great of a lubricant, and got out of the bath to retreat to the bedroom. They were still wet, but they really couldn't be bothered, as Harry hoisted Hermione onto the bed and jumped on top of her, leaving a red trail of small marks on her skin as he ravished her. He moved his mouth to her breasts, her nipples, her abdomen, and that's when Hermione stopped him.

'Oh, are you not-...'

'I am,' she clarified. 'But I want to try something different. I want to... Take you into my mouth as well. And, if that goes well, we might be able to... Ehm...'

She felt herself blushing and pursed her lips, but Harry's eyes were still clouded with lust.

'Sixty-nine?'

'I, well... Yes...' she answered, breathing heavily, remembering the position she had read about in one of her library books. She thought that he would decline, because he had never allowed her to orally please him, but to her surprise he nodded and licked his lips.

'That sounds incredibly hot, Hermione.'

'Really? You're okay with me doing that?'

'Yes, one hundred percent. Just don't do it when you don't want to, because-...'

'Don't worry, I want to,' she emphasized. Harry leaned back into the pillows, a nervous smile on his lips, watching how she got her passion-fruit lubricant out of her nightstand.

'It still smells like you're spreading a fruit cocktail on my dick,' Harry chuckled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, as her fingers started to spread the lubricant over his member. He quickly groaned, gripping the now soaked sheets in his hands. She looked at how his penis reacted to each feathery touch, enjoying the fact that everything she did made him produce a different sound, and when she was certain she coated him entirely, she moved her face closer to his erection.

What would she do? She was a bit hesitant, not knowing what to expect, and Merlin knew why, but she opted for the slow-burn, yet again. Gently she flicked her tongue across one of Harry's balls, and Harry guffawed in surprise.

'Oh, wow, you're... Okay.'

Hermione laughed as well, but was determined to not let his reaction distract her too much. She slowly used her mouth to kiss his scrotum, licking long strokes and Harry panted.

'Please, get on with it Hermione, I really-...'

'Sshh,' she soothed, continuing her ministrations. Harry groaned yet again, as she gently made her way to the base of his shaft. Harry had one quite protruding vein, that she followed with the tip of her tongue, lapping at the base and slowly sliding upwards. Hermione liked doing this to Harry, she realized, as she gently teased him by lapping and licking at every part of his base, very steadily moving upwards. Harry was kneading his knuckles against his head again and she had to stifle back a giggle. Her fingers cautiously fondled Harry's testicles, as she lapped upwards and upwards and upwards, and just when she reached the swell of his head, she felt her fingers push a testicle upwards and it disappeared.

'What?!' Hermione gasped, shocked, and she stopped immediately with what she was doing.

'What was that? What happened? Oh my God, are you in pain, Harry-...'

'It's fine,' Harry grumbled, getting off his high a bit, and she saw him pushing against his groin, causing his testicle to descend back into his sack.

'Holy-... Was it in there?'

'Yes, no biggie, please get on with it-...'

'I didn't hurt you? Is that normal?'

She looked at him with big, concerned eyes and Harry kissed her on the cheek.

'Very,' he said, trying hard not to laugh, 'I'll give you a complete 60-minute seminar with what's, if's and but's when we're finished, but please right now just... continue.'

Hermione was still kind of shocked, and she decided that she would keep off his testicles for the remainder of the evening at least. She began at the base again, taking her time to activate all of Harry's nerves, and he was panting and thrashing his legs a bit when she finally swirled her tongue across Harry's slit. She tasted him - it was a weird, kind of bitter taste, but mixed with the flavored lube she actually really enjoyed it. She loved that Harry's body reacted to her like that - to her, no one else, and she suckled softly on the exposed flesh, cautiously pulling his foreskin back, exposing more and more of him to her. She finally took him fully in his mouth, which caused Harry to make the most amazing sound she had ever heard in her entire life, and began bobbing up and down slightly. Being very careful not to brush her teeth against his skin, she managed to take him halfway in, using one hand to stroke the lower part of his genitals.

Oh, how powerful she felt, and how loving she felt, and how close they were. Hermione loved pleasuring Harry, especially since he had had such a bad day, and when she began to move her head with the same twist as her wrist had moved the other day, Harry absolutely lost it. He sputtered something that was probably meant as a "sorry", and tried to warn her, but then his orgasm hit the back of her throat and Harry just let out an amazingly deep grunt. She was taken by surprise by the fluid, coughing and spilling it on Harry's stomach, but he didn't care. He was panting heavily, eyes shut closed, hand pushed to his forehead, still shaking a little bit.

'I'm sorry, it just came over me and, I-... Too damn good,' he whispered and Hermione felt incredibly proud.

'I made a mess of you, though. And we should probably reschedule the sixty-nine-thing to a later date.'

Harry nodded, and then grinned, and wrapped his arms around her.

'I freaking love you, Hermione.'

They decided to order pizza and Harry claimed Hermione as his desert.