The door to Hermione's office at the Ministry of Magic swung wide and would have crashed into the wall were it not for George's hand on the doorknob. He swept into the room and shut the door behind him. He plopped down in one of the two chairs opposite her and propped his feet up on her desk, disregarding all the papers she had strewn about. Thankfully he didn't have mud on his boots.

"So... how did it go?" he asked with a casual air.

"Good afternoon to you too, George," she answered. Tucking her quill back in the top draw and stoppering her ink before he knocked it over. "How did what go?" She gathered up a stack of papers near his feet and tapped the edge against her desktop before she stood and went to the inter-department filing system along one wall. She opened the right drawer and the right folder and slid them in, confident that they would end up in the correct department. She turned around and cocked her hip against the edge of her desk, standing over him where he was slunk in his chair. She crossed her arms. "Did you know that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes might be breaking three laws concerning the sell of restrictable substances to minors?"

His jaw dropped and he brought his feet down to stand, taking away her position of power by towering over her. "I'll have you know that Angelina and I have filled out all the proper paperwork regarding restrictable substances and we have a separate section where we card customers before they can browse or purchase anything."

"Really?" she teased, she didn't realise they had an adults-only section of the store. "I'll have to go through the paperwork you've turned in with a fine-tooth comb, I'm sure I'll find something we can fine you for."

"Hermione," he wrapped his arms around her head in an awkward, overwhelming hug. "You're trying to distract me." He pulled back, "Did it not go well?"

She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. "I think you were right when you said I wouldn't be able to do this. He said red." She pouted, feeling frustrated with herself. She had wanted this to work for them. She loved TJ and wanted to help him. She might have also wanted this to work for her too, it'd been too long that she'd been intimate with someone other than herself and she hadn't realised how much she missed it. Taking care of him these past two weeks had been exhausting but fulfilling.

George looked confused. "Really? He said red? What happened?"

"I..." she flushed, embarrassed to be talking about this sort of thing with him. She searched her thoughts for a way to explain to him what had happened without having to actually talk about it. Her gaze caught on the pensieve in the corner of her office. "I could give you the memory? Let you view it in my pensieve?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable. It wasn't like George would be seeing her naked, why was this so embarrassing for her? She probably should have asked TJ how he felt about George seeing him naked before offering George to view the memory but it was out of her mouth now.

He looked contemplative. "I can do that." He moved over to the pensieve and waited for her. Hermione pulled her wand from the holster on her arm and put the tip to her temple, concentrating and casting the spell to pull the copy of the memory out of her mind. She settled it into the bowl and prodded it a little to get it to stop clinging to her wand tip. George wasted no time bending forward to touch his face to the effervescent-like substance. She returned to her desk to sign a few more things while she waited.

It didn't take long before he pulled back and nodded like he seemed to understand the problem immediately. "I have an idea on how to fix your problem," he said, confirming her thoughts, "but I have to talk to Angelina about it first. How about you have us over for dinner tonight?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer before he pointed at her and then turned on his heel to swing the door open to leave.

From where she was sitting, Hermione Vanished the copied memory. It wouldn't do to leave that around for just anyone to view it.

The first thing Hermione noticed when she came home was that something smelled wonderful. "Mmm," she said as she followed her nose into the kitchen to see TJ standing in front of the cooker. She couldn't help letting her gaze linger on his shoulders and the narrow tuck of his hips. He was fit. She felt awkward afterwards even though he didn't catch her ogling him. "Smells good, TJ," she said as she came up behind him. There was a lot of green vegetables that he kept moving around in the sizzling pan.

He looked up and smiled at her. "I took a walk and wandered into the store on the corner. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. In fact, I might have to multiply what's there. George and Angelina are coming over for dinner."

"Cool."

The Floo flared and Angelina's voice called out from the living room. "Hermione?"

"In the kitchen!" she called back. She flicked her wand into her hand and set the table with a spell even as George and Angelina came into the room. "What's the eta on dinner, by the way?" she asked TJ.

"About a minute."

"Nice," George said over her.

TJ turned around to look at them and smiled at Angelina, waving the spatula he was cooking with. "Hi! Did you bring your kids?"

Angelina offered him a wide smile in return but shook her head. "No, George thought the topic of conversation tonight might not be for little ears. What smells so good?"

"Just some chicken stir-fry. I marinated the chicken in teriyaki. It might have had peanut oil in it? Should I keep it separate?" he reached over to the bottle of sauce to inspect the ingredients list.

"No, we're good. Thanks for asking," Angelina answered.

TJ covered the handle of the pan with one of Hermione's dish towels and carried it to the table. She sent a trivet skittering along the table so he would have a place to set it. He grinned at her. "Thanks."

The four of them sat down and talked about trivial stuff for much of the meal. George promised to take to TJ to the shop and Angelina suggested they treat TJ to a game of pickup Quidditch in the field behind the Burrow later. Their guests then needed to explain the game to him and that took over the conversation for a while. Finally, as Hermione was about to send the dishes to the sink to soak George cleared his throat and drew her attention to him.

"So, I left your office earlier brainstorming ways to make your playtime work."

TJ was grinning at the mention of playtime and Hermione felt a spike of nerves tighten her stomach. With all the food she'd just put there she felt nauseous.

"What are your feelings on exhibition and voyeurism?" He asked, his gaze darting to Hermione with the first word and to TJ for the second. She felt her face flush and stuttered out, "I already showed you the memory of... our attempt, George. I'm sorry TJ, I should have asked your permission first but—"

Angelina shushed her with a quick, "Shh." Then she shared a glance with George. "What he's suggesting is that you and I play for a scene so you can get a better understanding of what TJ will need." Hermione was sure her background in politics had failed her; her eyes had gone wide and she knew she had to look terrified. "So you and I play and they watch. We don't have to do it that way if you don't want but I thought it might be more educational for TJ to watch and be able to ask another sub questions during it without interrupting our play."

Hermione's face and ears felt like they were on fire. "I, umm, I..." She glanced at TJ who looked like he was trying not to look too enthusiastic as he watched her. George had that mischievous grin he usually sported when she blushed and Angelina was looking at her with a calm neutral expression.

"We can keep it strictly to spanking and aftercare if you don't want to do anything sexual with me, I don't mind."

Hermione might have choked.

* . * . *

Hermione had excused herself from the table and hid inside her bathroom for a few minutes to escape her guests. She was feeling so many emotions she couldn't identify them all. She understood the reasoning behind the requests Angelina had made and she really did want to help TJ but asking to be spanked by her sister-in-law while TJ and George watched was a bit much to comprehend. In the end, it was TJ who came to talk to her through the door.

"You don't have to do it, Hermione. Don't do something you're not comfortable with. We discussed just having Angelina, you know, discipline me and that could work as a demonstration if you'd feel more comfortable doing that." She didn't answer for a long moment and she heard him put his back to the door and slide down it. Another moment separated them before he sighed. "Please, talk to me?"

Hermione had calmed down after her min-freak out. She'd compartmentalised and now she could look at things objectively. Experiencing it herself, meant she would have a frame of reference for how to handle TJ. Having TJ watch and be able to ask questions of George sounded like a good thing but she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She and TJ weren't intimate and she wasn't sure how she felt about George seeing her like that. She trusted him, she loved him, but he wasn't always the best person in whom to tell a secret.

"I'll do it," she said, though her voice came out breathy and probably unheard.

"Really?"

"There are caveats."

"I wouldn't expect you to be a politician without them," he teased.

They'd moved to the living room by the time she and TJ came back down the stairs. Angelina took charge of the conversation again as they sat down. "Have you given it some thought?"

Hermione still had to take a deep breath and release it before she felt okay to speak. "I'll do it but I have a few... caveats. I'd really like it if the viewing of the scene was done after the fact through a pensieve but I don't think that will work with TJ."

"So separate room with a Peeping Tom Spell or at the very least a Sound-Cancelling Spell between them on the other side of the room from us. That's feasible."

Hermione nodded, still feeling the tight tension of nerves in her stomach. "Signing a magical non-disclosure agreement."

George's shoulders slumped, "Really? It'll take over two weeks to work out all the kinks for something like that."

Angelina rolled her eyes, "George—"

"Pun was intended," he responded before looking back at Hermione. "Do you really think any of us would share this with other people? This is something that only two other people know about me and Angelina, all right? Harry and Ginny."

Hermione must have made a face at hearing their names.

"They have their own sort of playtime. It's not like we share any more than the basics. This sort of stuff is no one else's business but your own. I'm not going to share it. That's what you're worried about right? Me? I'm not going to tell anyone because it's my secret too." He held eye contact with her until she blinked and looked away. She nodded.

"Anything else?" Angelina asked.

"I don't think so."

"Are you comfortable playing tonight?"

Hermione had assumed they would do it tonight and had already prepped herself mentally for it, putting it off now wasn't something she was looking forward to. "Yes, tonight's fine."

Angelina stood and offered her hand to Hermione, "Is your bedroom okay? Would you rather use the spare room?"

Hermione took the proffered hand and stood. "The spare room's my office, so no, the bedroom's fine. I don't know where..." she glanced back at George and TJ.

"I can conjure chairs and we can sit in your closet if that's alright with you. We'll keep the room silenced and you won't see or hear us."

"Right, okay." Angelina continued to hold Hermione's hand as she led her upstairs to the bedroom. The boys followed behind. As George said, he pulled TJ into the closet and as he did TJ made a gay-in-the-closet joke. His voice cut off as George cast the Sound-Canceling Spell.

Angelina was busy casting something as well. She'd conjured a low, velvet-covered bench that had a thick rod along one side. The bench was parallel with the closet door. She sat down facing the closet and summoned each of the spanking toys that had been on the dresser to lay on the seat next to her under the rod. The way it was oriented would give the boys a view from the side.

"Have you discussed safewords with TJ yet?"

"We were going to use the stoplight system."

"Good. Would you like to strip completely, or just pull your trousers and knickers down?" Angelina asked.

Hermione was overwhelmed again with that cornucopia of emotions. Her mouth opened and closed twice before she came up with another alternative. "Can I wear a skirt or dress?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

Before Hermione could do much else, the closet door opened and TJ was holding out a yellow sundress that Luna had given her years ago. She didn't think she'd ever worn it. She summoned it and retreated to the bathroom to redress. She also went ahead and removed her knickers. When she stepped back into the room, the closet door was shut again and Angelina was waiting on her, watching.

"Come sit across my lap, Hermione. Put your hands on the bar here, it'll give you something to hold on to."

After another anxious exhale and Hermione complied. It was awkward but it wasn't physically uncomfortable. Her knees rested on the other side of the bench and she could rest her head on her arms. Angelina laid her hands on her, petting the back of her head and at the small of her back. She did that for a while and slowly, some of the tension slipped from Hermione's back.

"I'm going to lift your skirt now and warm you up with ten from my hand."

Hermione nodded and tightened her grip on the rod. She felt her skirt being pulled up and laid over her back. She already wanted to hide. Why was she doing this?

The first swat caught her unexpected across the left cheek and she gasped at the sensation. It stung more than it hurt and it didn't even sting that much. The second landed on the right cheek. Each pop was sharp and stinging but didn't last long. Angelina didn't let her hand linger and each swat was in a slightly different place. When she was done, Hermione's rump stung in an all over sort of way.

"Check in with me."

"Green," she said. It came out quicker than she expected, like now that she was in the middle of this, she was curious to see how far it would go. She watched as Angelina's fingers trailed over the three different toys under her face. She picked up the purple leather flogger first.

"Fifteen with this one, I think." Angelina didn't say anything before the first smack came. Hermione's breath hitched. She could feel many of the little tails as they hit all across the seat of her arse. The smack was somehow both softer and harder than it'd been with her hand. On the second one, Hermione whimpered. By the seventh, what had started as sharp heat and sting had started to fade into a constant burning across her backside. After the twelfth, Hermione lost count. One of the tails had landed very close to her vulva and she bucked. It startled her and it'd been a bit painful but it made her suddenly aware that she was feeling a bit aroused.

"Hermione? You've got three more with this one. Check in."

This time she actually thought about it before answering. Her arse was burning and it hurt but she was aroused and that confused her. "Green, still."

"I'm going to increase the intensity in the last three, all right?" She didn't wait before she brought the flogger down on Hermione's bum in three hard swats right in a row. Hermione's body twisted on Angelina's lap and she whined involuntarily. "Good girl, you did so well, sweetie. It's all right. Let's have a little break now." She laid her hand against Hermione's burning skin and it was blessedly cool. She massaged each cheek with soft, gentle circles.

Hermione hadn't realised how ragged her breathing had become and she focused on taking calming, deep inhales as Angelina soothed her tender skin.

"Your arse looks gorgeous, you know," Angelina said as she continued to touch, "you're all flushed and pink and the way the flogger leaves little white lines in the skin after each hit is beautiful. I'm going to turn this little arse red, though. What do you think?" she asked, drawing Hermione's attention to where her hand was hovering over the paddle and the crop. "Sharp or thumpy?"

Hermione vocalised something that sounded confused and Angelina chuckled. "Yes, thumpy sounds like a good choice. Tell me, darling, are you turned on?" When Hermione didn't answer immediately, too confused with all the emotions and thoughts and yearning that had flooded her at the sweet talk, Angelina said, "Check in, sweetie."

Garbled and unrecognisable to herself, Hermione answered, "Green."

"Good girl. I'm going to give you eight with the paddle. I want you to count for me. If you miss a count, we're starting over. Ready?"

She didn't wait for a response. The first swat with the paddle had Hermione rocking up off her lap and a startled yelp coming from her lips. It wasn't anything like she was expecting, instead of stinging it really was thumpy. She could feel it all the way through her bum and into her thighs. Her arousal amped up threefold.

"Hermione?"

"One!" It came out as a squeak.

The second hit came down on the other cheek and Hermione whimpered. "Two."

"Good girl," Angelina cooed.

Smacks three and four followed quickly and Hermione remembered to count each. She groaned loudly on smack four and she dropped her forehead to rest on the rod she was holding. She was having a hard time focusing. With each smack, the pain thudded across her seat and as it receded, arousal and hot want overwhelmed her. "Five... six... seven..." each wave crested higher and higher and on eight, her entire body seized up and instead of counting she shouted loudly. Pleasure flooded every limb and even the burning heat of her arse felt good.

As the orgasm faded, different sensations came to her. The coolness of Angelina's hand on her hot bum, her soft voice talking sweetly, her other hand petting her hair. Finally, the words started to make sense. "You did really well, Hermione, you were such a good girl. How do you feel, darling?"

"Mmm..."

Angelina giggled a little. "I know. Would you like me to put the cooling bruise paste on you now?"

"Kay..."

She felt her hands leave her for a moment and then the gentle scent of eucalyptus and lavender wafted to her nose. The cool gel felt nice on her bum and she moaned again, softer. "All right," Angelina said as she pulled Hermione's skirt back down over her bum. "Let's get you in bed." She felt another set of strong hands help roll her over and up into the air. TJ had picked her up and carried her to the bed. He set her down gently and climbed in the bed beside her. Angelina laid down on her other side and George laid at the foot of the bed.

Hermione's mind was still quiet and she felt like she was floating. She pressed her face into TJ's chest and breathed in the scent of his cologne and her laundry detergent. Everyone was quiet for a while. She didn't know how much time had passed before she felt more herself. Then suddenly she was very embarrassed. She hadn't expected... hadn't meant for the demonstration to turn sexual. Angelina hadn't even touched her like that. She buried her face further into TJ's shirt and groaned. "Oh god, I'm sorry."

"And what do you think you're apologising for?" Angelina asked from beside her. She leaned close and laid her hand on Hermione's waist.

"I didn't mean for it to... I didn't expect... I mean..."

"Are you apologising for having an orgasm?" TJ asked, sounding incredulous.

"It's been a while."

She felt him kiss her head even as Angelina squeezed her side. "No apologies. How are you feeling other than embarrassed? Hurting anywhere? Need to cry?"

Hermione took as deep a breath as she could with her nose buried in TJ's shirt. She exhaled and wrinkled her nose at the staleness. She pulled back and inhaled the cooler air. She blinked and thought about what she was feeling. While she was thinking, she finally made sense of what she was seeing. George was curled up and asleep at her feet. Had she been out of it that long?

She didn't feel pain anywhere. She reached back and touched her bum to see if there was a lingering soreness but she felt fine. She didn't need to cry. In fact, her head felt remarkably clearer than normal. "I'm good." She turned to look at Angelina who smiled at her.

"That's what I needed to hear. Now, I need to get sleepyhead there home; he's going to be spending time in the workshop tomorrow and if he doesn't get enough sleep there are more explosions than necessary. Fire-call me if you need anything, all right?" She set her hand on Hermione's upper arm and squeezed before climbing from the bed. "Come on, Georgie."

George woke up and looked around, confused. He gave her and TJ and a smile and a wave before he followed his wife, shuffling out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

"How do you feel?" TJ asked after they heard the Floo flare twice as their guests left.

"Calm," she answered and decided to be a bit more open. He'd seen her, watched her. "Still a bit blissed out from the orgasm. It's been... well..."

"You don't masturbate frequently, huh?"

She looked up at him feeling bashful but his smile eased the feeling of embarrassment from her. She had walked in on him pleasing himself, she supposed there was a modicum of equality to their intimacy now. "No, not really. Too much other stuff going on in my head."

"I guess you liked subbing a lot, huh? Do you think you'll be able to do that to me?"

She raised an eyebrow at the challenge. "I think so. Could you do it?"

"What? Spank you?" She nodded and he seemed to think about it for a few moments before he returned his gaze to her. "I'm willing to try." He smiled and then rolled away to strip down to his boxers. "But why don't we explore that some other time. It's late; let's sleep."