Chapter Sixteen

"Sweet Merlin, Harry! What happened to you?" Hermione exclaimed as he stepped out of Viktor's floo with Pansy.

"I'm fine, really," he brushed aside with a slight limp accompanying his walk as he tried to make his way out back.

"You are not fine. Look at you! Sit down, I'm going to look you over. I mean did you even see a healer?"

"No, I figured it would be more fun to show up here and let you and Pans tag team me with the nagging and lectures," he sneered. "Of course I saw a bloody healer. I'm stubborn not stupid."

"I told you, you looked a fright," Pansy jabbed. Waddling her way into the kitchen to snag one of the meringue dollops off a platter while Hermione summoned her medical bag from upstairs, she explained, "You know how from time to time Dolohov gets called upon to assist Gringotts and they just let him go because the Ministry seems to think they've neutered the puppy and made him into their little lapdog?"

"Oh no…"

"Oh yes. He tried to escape today. Probably would have succeeded too had Harry and Minister Shacklebolt not made a surprise visit to personally oversee the transfer."

Snatching the leather satchel from the air, she planted it on the ground and unlocked it. Sticking her arms in up to her elbows, she pulled out a work table along with several cases of tools, potions, and creams.

As she lined everything up and wrestled with a petulant Harry, Viktor came down the stairs freshly showered and only half dressed, trying not to laugh too hard as he asked, "What happened to you? Lose three rounds with a pair of bludgers that were on fire?"

Coughing to mask her own snicker, Hermione gave up on treating Harry willinging and banished his t-shirt and pajama bottoms over to Pansy.

"Oi! What happened to bedside manner?" He demanded, grabbing one of the throw blankets from under the side table to cover himself with.

"Awe, how cute; he's shy," Pansy giggled.

"I'm starkers in Vik's living room!"

"Oh suck it up, Chosen One. Do you know how many people have seen my fanny since you got me up the duff? At least Hermione's already seen the impressive equipment you're working with."

"Has she now?" Theo smirked, pulling out his own wand to assist Hermione as the fire roared to life behind them to allow Draco through as well.

"We lived in a tent together in the middle of the woods for nearly a year. There are no secrets between us anymore so get your mind out of the gutter. There's only one whore here Nott and we all know it's not me."

"Which is exactly why I hate playing, Never Have I Ever," Harry grumbled. "You and I are constantly racing to force the other out first and Theo's done and seen everything."

"Speaking of game night," Hermione said, pointing towards the kitchen where several bowls filled with scraps of paper were lined up on the counter. "We'll be playing, The Newlywed Game, just as soon as we set Harry to rights."

"Oh what fun!" Luna dreamily clapped, her too looking freshly emerged from a shower, wearing tiny sleep shorts and a sheer tank with Viktor's button down acting as a jacket. "Someone should go ask Marcus if he would like to join us. I'm sure he would love to know Hermione's favorite food or sex position."

"Don't you dare!" She exclaimed, turning away from where she was removing the dressing over one of Harry's burns to stop Pansy and Draco.

"Too late!" The duo gleefully called out before the front door slammed shut.

"Viktor, stop them!" She demanded, only for the crack of apparition to ring out from the front garden. "Bloody hell, we're going to lose," she whined.

"That's your biggest complaint? That's you're going to lose? Not that you live with your ex who you used to shag?" Harry asked incredulously before wincing and jerking away. "That hurts!"

"Well if you had received even an ounce of competent treatment, it wouldn't hurt as much," Theo retorted. "Merlin's hairy sac, it's like they just slapped a plaster on you and called it good." Digging into her bag for more supplies, he added, "And of course that's her complaint. She's terribly competitive. Don't you remember the three month ban we put her and Draco on after the Uno incident of Christmas '99?"

"One, Marcus already knows about my history with Viktor. I sort of word-vomited it to him after I spewed a bunch of shite with Ron onto him.

"Two, until the day I die, I will contest that he changed the house rules about stacking a Draw Four on top of a pile of Draw Twos. I went seventy-eight points in the bloody hole and ended up losing because of that!"

Ignoring the return of the nearly two years long debate, Harry craned his neck to check the windows on either side of Viktor's front door and said, "Good she's gone." Putting his hands out to stop their wands, he asked Theo, "You remember at her last appointment how you said Pansy's blood pressure has been elevated lately? That she needs to minimize stress otherwise you'll put her on bed rest until the baby comes?"

"Yeah, is she doing okay? Do you want us to check her vitals when she gets back?"

"No, not that. I lied about what happened today. I didn't want her to worry."

"Harry!" Hermione scolded. "She's going to find out and you've just made us culpable." Then as if his words were only just registering, she shook her head and asked, "Wait? What really happened?" Her concern over the state he was in doubling.

"There was an uprising at Azkaban early this morning when the shift change occurred. The prisoners overpowered the guards and got ahold of their wands. Kings, myself, and about two thirds of the department had to intervene to prevent the breakout and subdue them all. We succeeded but… it was bad, Hermione. About three dozen guards, Aurors, and prisoners had to be transferred to Saint Mungo's because the prison's healers weren't equipped to handle the multitude of curse injuries that occurred. I would have asked for you and Theo but I lost consciousness before even touching the Portkey." Gesturing to his injuries, he said, "This was after three hours of treatment by a team of several healers. They want me to convalesce for the next week before coming back to finish."

Throwing her arms around him, she hugged him tightly before grasping his shoulders and pulling back to look in his eyes. "Please take the desk job, they offered you. I know you love being in the field but your wife and baby need you, Harry."

Lifting his arm up as Theo massaged some of Professor Snape's modified burn cream into one of the blistered wounds before bandaging it back up, he said, "Actually… I quit."

Viktor's eyes went wide at the confession while Luna nodded her head sagely, humming her approval of his decision.

"I'm not seventeen anymore with nothing to lose. I have Pansy and our son on the way and I nearly died, again . I've cheated Death twice before and eventually he's going to stop giving me a pass. I honestly thought today he was going to finally pull my number. I always wanted to be an Auror and I love my job, but I love my family more. I can't risk leaving them."

Standing up, he summoned his clothes to him and began tugging his plaid sleep trousers on before pinning each of them with a hard glare. "None of you are to breathe a word of this to Pans," he ordered. "The story is contained with the report about Dolohov being our official cover. In a few days once I've finished up my reports on my open cases and get them passed off, I'm going to tell her I've decided to resign. If I tell her now, she'll stress herself straight into bed rest; and with another eight or so weeks until Jace - or Julian or whatever J name Pans has decided to name our son this week - is born, I want to keep her as relaxed as possible."

"Good luck with that," Theo said, clapping him on the back. "Pans is as tightly wound as Granger here."

"Hey! I'm getting better!" She pouted. "Just the other day I spent the whole morning in Marcus's jersey reading in his living room while eating pastries."

"My fantasy was brought to life in my own home and I missed it? Typical," Marcus quipped, carrying Darya in his arms as he entered the house behind Draco and Pansy. Opening her mouth to object to him carrying his heavy dog, he spoke up, "And before you say anything about me carrying too much weight, I'm just bringing her around back. Not everyone is as fond of scratch marks on their floors as I am."

Waving off his concern, Viktor said, "Put her down. The floors are tile designed to look like wood, she can't damage them."

"Don't let her hear you say that. She'll take it as a challenge," Marcus laughed as he lowered her to the ground. "So what's happening tonight? Draco and Parkinson - forgive me, Potter-"

"Flint, we went to school together and were in the same house. Call me Pansy like everyone else."

"She says as she uses his last name," Harry snorted, his face twitching as Hermione layered thinner versions of the glamours she wore to cover her scars to make his bruises look as though their healing was progressing.

"I think that'll help better sell your story," she muttered, packing up her satchel with a disgruntled look over being made an accomplice in her friend's lie.

Flicking her wand at the spread in the kitchen she had helped Viktor make while Hermione had opted for purchasing stuff that looked homemade from the grocer, Luna sent it outside and lightly answered, "Game night. Every few weeks we get together and test the foundation of our friendship by unleashing our cutthroat, competitive natures on each other."

"Sounds exciting," he laughed, offering Hermione his hands to help her up from the ground.

"No Draco, I'm good; you stay there," Theo said sarcastically, using the couch to hoist himself back up.

Standing on the tips of her toes, she kissed the slight protrusion of his neck and hugged his bare chest, humming, "I see they forced you to accept the, clothing is optional, part of the invitation."

"I had just taken Darya for a swim and was getting out of the shower when your friends showed up to abduct me. This however," he said, running his hands along her sides as he admired her wearing only his old school jersey that she had stolen after the last night she had spent with him, "Is a ringing endorsement for full dress to always be optional. Brings up lots of old fantasies of getting to snog a witch in Slytherin locker rooms after a match."

"Hmm…" she thought. "Not Slytherin but I rather enjoy getting to kiss you at work, so we may be able to bring that to life. In fact, I'll probably need it after we get our arses handed to us tonight."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they headed outside and down the deck towards the beach, Marcus put up a front of offense as he asked, "What? You think I'm dead weight or something?"

"We're playing The Newlywed Game. As the odd witch out, I was supposed to curate the questions and moderate. However, since you're now available - how is Graham by the way? Harry told us about what happened at Azkaban - we will be on a team and it's not an over exaggeration to say that we're going to get throttled."

"Oh fuck…"

"Exactly." Gesturing to the egg chair she had purchased while living with Theo, she said, "That's us," before snagging the footrest in front of Draco and transfiguring it into a dog bed for Darya.

"Graham's fine by the way. Probably wishing he was injured so he didn't have to do all the paperwork but so is the privilege of promotion."

"So how does this work?" Viktor asked, grabbing Luna around the hip and pulling her onto his lap as he sat down with a large plate of food and started to hand feed her.

Curling herself up between Marcus's spread legs and leaning into his chest as his arms wrapped around her, she explained, "There will be three rounds of questions. Pass of play goes to the witches first-"

Clearing his throat as he stretched out on the loveseat and pillowed his head on Draco's lap, Theo raised a chastising eyebrow at her.

Smirking as she shook her head, she corrected herself, "Pass of play will go to the witches and either Theo or Draco first. The wizards will have an Obscuro around their eyes and a Muffliato over their ears while we pull the first four questions from bowl one and lock our answers in. Once complete, the charms will be removed and each question will be read allowed whereupon they have to guess their significant other's answer. Each correct answer in Round One is worth one point, RouNd two is two points and Three, three. Then we will switch, the wizards will pull and answer four new questions, and at the end of the round whichever couple has the least amount of points-"

"You and Marcus," Harry coughed, making her throw a pillow at his bruised face.

"We haven't lost yet! Don't start throwing dirt on our grave," she snapped. "Anyways, the couple with the least amount of points will be eliminated. If there's a tie, a Round Two or Three question will be asked. And obviously each round the questions will grow harder and more… intimate."

"Oh bloody hell," Marcus swore behind her, his face hiding in her hair as he started to laugh. "We're fucked."

"Prepare to lose, Granger," Draco threatened, lacing his fingers together and stretching them out.

"We're married," Pansy countered, gesturing between herself and Harry. "We're going to wipe the floor with all of you."

"Nothing like a nice, quiet, wholesome evening spent with good friends," Luna smiled, happily wiggling over Viktor's lap as she nibbled on a piece of kiwi from between his fingers.

Reaching around Marcus who was still hunched over her with his chin on her shoulder, she scratched at the nape of his neck and said, "Okay you two, decision time. Who's with the witches and who's with the wizards?"

"Draco's with the lads, I'm with you ladies," Theo decided for the both of them. "Though the couples are teams and not the gender sides, he wants to compete against you."

"Fair enough," she shrugged. Pinning Draco with a smug smile, she warned, "But just so you know, Marcus notices everything ."

"That won't fucking help when asked if you prefer to take it up the bum or down your throat when on your monthly!"

"Ha! That's not in there! I struck all womanly related questions from the pool so you arseholes aren't given a free set of points! Remember ferret, it's my life's mission to destroy you during game night."

"Oi! Leave me out of your little rivalry, you two," Theo interjected.

"Why isn't menstrual sex an option? I find it quite enjoyable myself," Luna sighed, making Marcus choke on the beer he had just opened. "Shall we begin?"

Pulling out her wand, Hermione gently asked, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he responded, closing his eyes and relaxing back into the chair.

Once their four partners were blindfolded and their hearing obstructed, Hermione, Theo, Luna, and Pansy all dug through the first bowl in search of a question. Each with a slip of paper in hand they shared their questions and determined the order of ask as they wrote their answers down. Exchanging their whiteboards with each other so they could fairly administer the points, Pansy took charge of lifting the charms off the wizards while Hermione looked over her board of answers.

"Okay boys, I'll read the first question off and you say what you think your partner answered," Luna said. Glancing down at the board she held, she looked up at Marcus and commented, "I think you're going to do splendid this round."

"Uh, thanks," he awkwardly accepted, pulling Hermione up to sit beside him with her legs draped over his lap.

"Is your significant other a morning person or a night person? Draco, you're first."

"Too easy. Theo's whatever Saint Mungo's tells him he is."

"Marcus?"

After a moment of caressing the outside of her leg as he thought, he responded, "She could easily stay up all night reading, however she's always so sunny in the mornings, often getting up before her alarm goes off… Morning."

"Harry?"

"Before pregnancy or currently? Because these days Pansy's a, 'If I can't sleep, you can't sleep,' sort of person," Harry quipped, earning a slap to the chest as they laughed.

"You did this to me, you deal with the consequences," she sniffed, shrugging off his attempt to cuddle her.

Laughing as he rubbed the spot his wife had swatted at, he answered, "She's a night person."

"And what am I, Viktor?"

"A night person person, moeto malko zaĭche ."

With the next question getting passed off to him, Theo asked, "Who did your significant other say was the better duelist?"

Rolling his eyes, Marcus answered before he could be prompted, "Her. The better question is, which of you will be sleeping on the couch tonight after that kind of question."

"Theo," they unanimously answered, with him shrugging his shoulders as he didn't bother to fight them on it.

"I knew when Luna pulled this one, that regardless of my answer I would be damned. Potter?"

"Me."

"Me," Viktor parroted, kissing Luna's shoulder.

"No need to apologize, medeno meche . It's the truth. You know much more complex hexes and curses than I do and don't have that moment of hesitation I do about injuring someone, even when it's me or them."

"Draco, who did I say was the better duelist between us?"

Shoving his fiancé's head off his lap, he grumbled, "The answer is you, but you wrote me because you think I have a sensitive ego."

"You do!" Everyone shouted.

"Do not."

"Keep telling yourself that, love," Theo smirked, sitting up to plant a loud kiss on his cheek.

Speaking over the beginnings of their bickering, Hermione asked, "What was your significant other's favorite subject in school? Harry, you're first."

"Oh bloody hell, I don't know. We hardly ever spoke when we were in school," he complained. Obviously pulling the first answer that came to mind, he guessed, "Care of Magical Creatures?"

"I didn't even take Care of Magical Creatures!" Pansy squawked. "All that traipsing around in the mud and shoveling hippogriff dug, no thank you. I even dropped Herbology after fifth year so I didn't have to dig around in the dirt."

Covering her face with Pansy's board as she laughed, she pointed towards Viktor signaling him to answer.

"Charms."

"Draco," she wheezed, trying to get her guffaw under control as Pansy shoved Harry away from her again.

"Arithmancy."

" Taku toa ?"

"Unlike Potter, I actually remember regularly seeing you in the library during your third year. You always searched the Transfiguration stacks when you switched between subjects and had a knack for finding books that weighed more than you."

Beaming up at him, she surged forward and kissed him, murmuring, "I love you," while internally squealing over the irrational giddiness she felt at having stuck out to him back when they were in school.

Stealing another kiss, he responded, "I love you too."

Checking the last question, Pansy exclaimed, "Yes! We're going to tie the bottom with Granger and Marcus. No way he gets this one correct."

"I was supposed to be moderating," she huffed, crossing her arms as she was robbed of her buoyant mood. "Present company excluded, it's a bloody useless skill anyway."

Smiling with terrifying glee, Pansy asked, "What class did your significant other fail in school? Marcus, you can go first."

"No!" She objected, coming out of her pouting as she pointed a finger at her friend. "Answers go clockwise, start with Viktor!"

"But it's so much more fun this way."

"Pansy Ophelia Potter, follows the rules!"

"He's going to find out anyway. Might as well strike him dumb now."

"I hate you."

"Okay, I've got to know. What did you fail?" Marcus interceded, his green eyes dancing with poorly concealed excitement.

"It's not even a real class," she defended. "You only get one off two marks, pass or fail. It's not like there's OWLs and NEWTs for flying!"

"You don't know how to fly?" He asked incredulously. "You're joking right? You're a healer for a fucking professional quidditch team, have two friends who were starting seekers in school, and have dated multiple professional players. How can you not know how to fly? And how am I just now learning this?"

"Stop laughing!" She yelled at her friends who were enjoying Marcus's revelation about her far too much.

"She has a crippling fear of heights," Harry laughed, bending over his wife who had fallen over into his lap as she gasped for breath.

"Letting her near a broom is a safety hazard for everyone involved. I've never seen a broom react to anyone the way they do to her," Draco answered, forcing her to remember the previous summer when he had tried teaching her and his broom wouldn't even let her touch it. It had even gone as far as smacking her on the bum with its bristles when she had gotten too close.

Sounding just like the bear Luna called him as he roared with laughter, Viktor said, "When I was there for the tournament, I tried all year to teach moeto malko sŭkrovishte but she is not teachable. She touches off the ground and falls over. Like a penguin, she is ocharovatelen but not meant for flying. And if you value your hearing and being able to breathe, I would recommend not taking her up with you, moyat priyatel. "

"Everyone has a fear or a weakness, Hermione. It's nothing to be ashamed of," Luna soothed. "It humanizes you to have flaws. It's just funny that you left A and E to work with quidditch players when you don't even like the sport."

Turning her to face him, Marcus rubbed his rough hands up her thighs until they disappeared under the hem of his old jersey. Grasping her hips, he lifted her up and moved her to straddle his lap so her back was to her friends. With them sealed inside the shell of the egg chair, he moved his hands out from under the emerald green jersey and threaded them through her untamed curls.

Keeping her eyes focused on him, he offered, "If you wanted to learn, I could teach you. None of them know what it's like to not have a natural affinity for flying - all of them but Potter flying since they could walk. I mean to be fair, mum always said I learned to fly before I learned to walk. I've just been teaching children during the summers since I was in Hogwarts, so I have a better understanding of teaching someone without the affinity than they do.

"The school's brooms were shite and not conducive for teaching those who have never even seen one before, let alone gotten on one. We keep some really good ones that don't try to bond with their rider at the compound for the Mini Falcons though. So if you ever decide you want to try again, I promise that unlike those tossers, I won't let you fall off."

Tucking her face into the crook of his neck, she asked, "Don't you coach too?"

"Oh yeah, I teach flying and volunteer to coach Little Ones year round. I love kids. There's no one more pure and honest in this world than children. I could probably have an entire starting quidditch team of my own and not think it's too many kids. Not that I hope to have that many kids; just that if you wanted that many, I would be okay with it," he quickly tacked on as she pulled back to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ignoring his comment about how many kids she wanted to have with him for the time being in light of his flustered speech, she burrowed herself into him for a hug before shifting to stay in his lap but face everyone else so they could resume the game For the rest of the evening though it was a thought and vision that filled her mind. What would a future with Marcus look like? How would he be as a husband? As a father? The ideas intrigued her and filled her with a sort of bubbling elation she had never felt when the future had been brought up in tandem with Ron. Marcus was already set that she was it for him and the more she daydreamed on potential futures, the more she began to see what he saw and agree with him.

As predicted it didn't take long for them to be knocked out. They had barely squeaked into Round Two over Harry and Pansy but ended up getting decimated as the questions began to creep into more sexually intimate territory with them only getting the question about what physical feature they found the most alluring in their partner correct: the size difference between them. Her only consolation in losing was that Viktor and Luna had beaten Draco and Theo, taking the points for their year long tallie that would determine the ultimate winner on New Year's Eve. Then at the end of the night when Marcus had kissed her goodbye before walking home with Darya, she finally addressed his earlier comment about the number of children she would want to have with him, saying, "I'd like at least two, but no more than four and for at least one of them to be a boy who takes after you," before slipping back into Viktor's home preventing a slack jawed, starry eyed Marcus from replying to her statement.

AN:

I hope every one is doing well and gearing up for the summer.

If y'all follow the changes to the chapter count, you've not doubt seen it fluctuating over the last several updates but provided I don't get too wordy, thirty-nine chapters is the official count for this story. And with the exceptions of a few fest pieces with impending deadlines, Sidelined has my sole focus so hopefully y'all will continue to get fairly regular updates from now until it's completed.

Also, some you may have seen me talking about it on Facebook yesterday but I have officially begun the detailed, chapter by chapter outline of my next Flintmione work. Bellow you can find the synopsis as well as little sneak peek. If everything goes according to plan with Sidelined, I'll begin posting this new work in October.

The Fixer

Hermione Granger is in the business of fixing things. After the war she learned she has a mind uniquely suited to making other people's problems disappear. She's the best fixer in Britain, handling problems for everyone ranging from the Minister of Magic to bad boys of quidditch who are in desperate need of revamping their image.

There's one client she refuses to take on though, Marcus Flint.

Ten years ago, she was the brawling, bed hopping, camera smashing, star chaser for the Montrose Magpies first conquest. A mistake that taught her to harden her young and tender heart against all who whispered pretty promises about love.

But when Adrian Pucey calls in every favor he has between her and her business partner Blaise Zabini, she's forced back into the proximity of the wizard who ran away with her heart like a thief in the night. What's worse? The only way anyone is going to believe he's turned over a new leaf, is if they have proof.

Pretending to be his girlfriend is supposed to be a short term solution only to see him through the National Team selection process and contract negotiations. However Marcus Flint is giving the act his all and is determined to make her fall in love with him all over again because for him, Hermione Granger was the one who got away.

"You ready, angel?" Marcus crooned in her ear, his hand coming around her hip possessively.

"Call me that again and it'll be the last word you ever speak," she snarled shoving his hand off of her.

"Just playing my part. We're supposed to be madly in love, aren't we? Don't you remember what that was like? Back when I couldn't bear to separated from you and you couldn't resist my touch."

"Of course I remember. How could I forget? I look back on that time of my life about as fondly as when I think of being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange."

Running his fingers along her exposed spine, Hermione tried to not react to the teasing touch he had mastered ten years ago or the feeling of his warm breath on her skin as he purred, "Really? You're going to compare being my girlfriend again to getting tortured? Surely I wasn't that bad of a boyfriend."

Snatching his hand before it grazed her bum, she twisted his fingers around and back until he fell to one knee, hissing out a pained chuckle. Bending his fingers back just a bit more, she threatened, "Keep talking and I will break each one of your fingers. And won't that be a shame since you'll need your hands to play quidditch after we stop your career from going up in flames."

Letting go of his hand, her heels made an angry click on the marble tile of her office as she went over to the bar cart. Pouring herself a shot of whiskey, she threw it back without tasting the finely matured liquor before facing him again.

"Let's get a few things straight, Marcus. This is business, nothing more. You've all but managed to flush your career down the toilet and had Adrian not called in every favor he had between Blaise and myself, I wouldn't have taken you on as a client. I despise you and the idea of having to pretend to be your girlfriend makes my stomach roll with disgust.

"So with that in mind, your hands stay on my waist or between my shoulders. You stray even a centimeter in any direction and I'll break your fingers. You will call me Hermione and nothing else. This is fake; surely you know the meaning of the word. Therefore if you call me 'angel,' again or any other endearment, guess what? I'll break your bloody fingers. And under no circumstances will you for even a single minute think that this is anything more than a ruse to save your fucking reputation and thus your career. When this is over and done with, you will walk away from me and not look back. Should be easy enough, Merlin knows you've had plenty of practice. Are we clear?"

"Mostly; I just have one question..." Putting his hands perfectly at her waist, Marcus backed her into the bar cart and slowly dragged his lips up her neck, taking care to only create the sensation of touch without actually making contact with her skin and murmured, "What happens when you stop pretending you don't still love me, angel?"