AN: Sorry it's been so long, and it's likely to be a little bit of a wait again. Exams are upon me and so I'm pretty busy and don't have much time for writing. But have faith in me! I will not be dropping this story when it's so close to being finished. As always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
December 22nd—The Ninth Day of Christmas
With three days left before Christmas, Hermione and Remus decided it was about time that they decorated the house. All the details were set for a Christmas Eve party at Grimmauld Place, and so it now fell upon Hermione and Remus to set up the house, as it had been their idea.
And so, moving the box of leftover decorations into the hallway, Remus and Hermione got to work. Hermione had suggested that they do most of the work the Muggle way, as it was so much more fun that way. Remus agreed to the request, curious as to what could be so great about decorating without magic. It turned out to be hard work, but a wonderful type of work all the same. Christmas decorating alone was fun enough, but decorating with your lover was a total blast.
"Hermione! Watch for the—well, never mind," Remus laughed as Hermione tripped over a string of lights on the floor behind her. Hermione shot him a dirty look, but wasn't able to suppress her smile. Remus was just so happy and carefree today, and it made her heart warm. She made a mental note to give Remus blowjobs much more often if this was the result.
Together, Remus and Hermione had chosen some upbeat music from Sirius' collection to play on the music player, and they both goofed off dancing ridiculously as they wrapped extendable garlands around the banisters and lights around door frames. Remus couldn't help but watch, mesmerized, as his lady danced to the songs playing. The way she wiggled her hips and swayed to the beat of the music was unbearably sexy. Hermione had even caught him a few times staring at her, but something about their activities the previous night had made Remus so much more shameless around her. After how intimate they had been, Remus wasn't very nervous about always being a gentleman around Hermione anymore. He was beginning to understand why Sirius was…well, Sirius.
If Hermione was being honest with herself, she didn't mind Remus' staring as much as she made him think she did. It actually felt quite nice to be so obviously desired by her lover. It was a huge confidence booster.
Remus reached down into the box, pulling out a bough of mistletoe. He waggled his eyebrows at Hermione goofily at Hermione as he waved it above his head like a little bell.
"You wish," she laughed as she snatched it from his hand. Remus fake pouted.
"How the hell are we supposed to put that up without magic, anyways?" he pointed out, crossing his arms at her rejection.
"Easy. All you need is a chair and a spotter, and I have both right in front of me," Hermione explained, grabbing a wooden chair from the adjacent sitting room and pulling it to stand under the large doorframe to the living room. "Come spot me. Knowing my balance, there's a good chance that I fall while trying this."
Remus helped Hermione onto the chair and held her hips as she tied the bough to a nail sticking out of the door trim. A cheeky smirk grew on Remus' face as he realized that Hermione's arse was right in front of him. He couldn't help but admire it and just how lucky he was to not only have a witch with a personality, but also a sexy body.
"You do realize that I can feel your breath on my arse through my pants, right?" Hermione pointed out without even looking down at him.
"Well you weren't complaining about my breath being around there last night, were you?"
Hermione whipped her head around to smack him upside the head, almost losing her balance in the process. "Remus Lupin, you are positively terrible," she scolded, trying to hold back her laughter. Remus simply grinned unabashedly.
As Hermione finished securing the mistletoe, Remus had a wonderful realization. "Hermione Granger, I do believe that we are currently standing under the mistletoe. As is tradition, you are now obligated to give me a kiss."
Hermione rolled her eyes at his cheekiness, but was actually all too happy to comply. Still standing on the stool, she bent down to kiss him on the lips. It started off slow and romantic, but it soon began to heat up a little.
The chair had been kicked haphazardly to the side, and Hermione's legs were now wrapped around Remus' waist as they kissed hungrily. Just as Remus had pushed Hermione up against a wall and started fondling her arse, Hermione caught sight of something moving in her peripheral. She let out a squeak of horror and turned her head, only to see a gleeful looking Sirius Black. He was leaning against one of the newly-decorated door frames with what looked like a glass of firewhiskey in his hand, looking thoroughly amused. Hermione nearly died of embarrassment.
"Oh please, don't stop on my account. I'm quite fit to entertain myself with the booze cabinet while you two finish up," he smirked, swirling the contents of his glass before taking a large gulp of it.
Remus was so surprised that he actually dropped Hermione, causing her legs to flop to the ground and her knees to buckle ungracefully under her. She shot him a dirty look, which he only returned with a look of apology and extreme embarrassment. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. She didn't honestly care about Sirius knowing about their relationship, so she wasn't nearly as mortified as Remus was. Plus, she hadn't been the one fondling his arse, so she had much less to be embarrassed about.
After a moment of awkward silence, Hermione shrugged her shoulders and excused herself to go fix herself up a little. She was sure she was looking awfully dishevelled, and she knew that Sirius would soon begin asking really awkward and inappropriate questions and Hermione didn't want to be present for that. Best leave the two remaining Marauders alone for a little.
Once Hermione was out of earshot, Remus began to rant angrily to Sirius. "I can't believe you, Padfoot! You couldn't have knocked on the door before letting yourself in, rather than so blatantly disrespecting our privacy? Fuck! Nobody was supposed to know!"
"Whoah! Calm down, Moony! I won't tell anyone. I know how fun dirty little secrets can be, especially when they're that young. I won't spoil your fun," Sirius chuckled, giving Remus a knowing wink. "You've honestly surprised me, Moony. I would never have thought you the type to have a shag buddy, not to mention one half your age!"
"Wha—shag bud—OH MERLIN NO! Hermione is by no means just a dirty little secret or a shag buddy! Sirius, you sick motherfucker! Oh my God, what is wrong with you…"
As realization finally sunk into Sirius, he couldn't help but burst out into a boisterous fit of giggles. "Merlin, don't tell me you've fallen for little Hermione! Oh, this is just too rich! Not two weeks ago you were scolding me for even suggesting you date someone, and here you are with Harry's best friend, snogging her brains out and defending her honour. What a plot twist! It's positively brilliant!"
Remus was sure his cheeks were bright red by now. "Shut the hell up, Padfoot! She might hear you," Remus scolded as he ushered Sirius into the sitting room, turning off the record player and closing all the doors so that they could speak privately. Thank Merlin Hermione left, because he had a feeling that Sirius was going to begin asking some extremely inappropriate questions. Heck, even Remus didn't want to be here right now.
"So I take it this is a recent turn of events?" Sirius asked, settling himself down in an armchair and not bothering to hide his glee at Remus' utter discomfort and embarrassment.
"Yes. It only started only about a week ago. Living with each other in such close proximity all the time proved to be hard without developing any sort of feelings."
"If by feelings you mean sexual tension, then yeah, I'd bet it was tough!" Sirius guffawed.
Remus had to chuckle. Though horniness wasn't the biggest cause for his relationship with Hermione, it certainly had been a large factor.
"I bet she's a killer fuck. The bookworms and nice girls are always the best fucks. Is the sex great?"
"Sirius, I'm not—"
"HA! Look at that blush! She's bloody fantastic, isn't she? Hot damn, Moony! A blush of that intensity must mean she's brilliant. Though that really shouldn't surprise me. Little Hermione's always been pretty brilliant at everything…"
"Sirius, can you just shut the fuck up for a second? Stop calling her 'little Hermione' as if she's a small child, because she's not. She's a fully grown woman capable of making her own decisions, and this is more than just for sex. We're in an actual relationship. So please stop asking horribly perverted questions about our sex life! It's embarrassing and creepy," Remus scolded.
Sirius looked stunned. "Shit. You've really fallen for her, haven't you?" he asked, though it wasn't a question.
Remus nodded. There was an awkward silence as they both digested everything that just happened.
"So…" Sirius trailed off, trying to disturb the peace like only he could, "does this mean that you'd be opposed to a threesome?"
Remus opened his mouth to give Sirius another verbal lashing, but the door opened and Hermione walked in before he could. Remus was slightly relieved to see that she had changed out of her low-cut tank top and put on a proper t-shirt that covered all the areas that Sirius was liable to ogle.
"Sirius, there's no way in hell I'd ever participate in any sort of sexual activity with you," she laughed lightly, crossing the room to sit next to Remus on the love seat. "Who knows what sort of diseases you have from all those one-night stands?"
"I assure you, Hermione, that I am totally clean. That lovely bird I picked up from the bar last night can attest to that," he grinned devilishly.
"Incorrigible…" Hermione scolded, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Don't pretend it doesn't turn you on," Sirius winked.
"Who wants something to eat?" Remus interrupted quickly, standing up in front of Hermione almost territorially.
"Awe, ease up, Moony ol' pal! You know I'm only joking! I would never have a threesome with you guys. For all I know, your idea of dirty talk is probably discussing the twelve uses of Dragon's blood and reciting the ingredients to a Draught of Living Death. I would never be able to maintain an erection!" Sirius joked.
Hermione simply laughed and Remus gave Sirius the finger, causing them all to laugh as they made their way to the kitchen for a snack.
"So what brings you here today, anyways, Sirius?" Hermione asked before taking a bite of her biscuit.
Sirius sighed dramatically. "It was a horrible series of events that led me to your doorstep, the first being when that lovely bird I talked about earlier left my flat this morning, leaving me all alone…actually, come to think of it, it's not a very long series of events after all. She left and I was bored, so I decided to visit you guys. That's it," Sirius shrugged playfully.
"Wow, you must have been pretty bored to come hang out with two boring old swots like us…Remus, doesn't this conversation remind you of that which took place in France in 1752 after that one nasty rebellion of the goblins?"
"Fuck, I knew it! Moony's probably at half mast already. I'm outta here!" Sirius declared as he pretended to take his leave.
"Shut up, you two! Honestly, is it really that hard to move the conversation away from the topic of sex?" Remus laughed.
"Yes," Sirius and Hermione said at the same time, though Sirius' was goofier and Hermione's was dirtier.
Sirius snorted into his tea. "Like I said, Moony: it's always the good girls…"
The three of them spent the rest of the day finishing decorating the house, though this time Sirius insisted on using magic to accomplish the job. And so while Remus and Sirius worked together to set up the dining room, Hermione ran upstairs to go and find her book on useful household charms. There were several pages in the decor section of the book showing different charms for pretty Christmas decorations, and Hermione was keen to try them out.
Passing the book on to Remus and Sirius, they each chose their favourite charms and started trying them in various rooms all along the main and second floors. The charm Hermione had chosen was one similar to the charm used in the Great Hall of Hogwarts to make the ceiling look like the sky outside, only this charm was to cause glittery, little snowflakes to fall from the ceiling and disappear about a foot above everyone's head so that there would be no mess. It took a few tries, but Hermione managed to perform the spell in the sitting room and in the hallway.
The spell Sirius had chosen was one that Professor Flitwick often used on the Christmas trees in the great hall, causing little, golden bubbles to flow out of the wand and decorate the garlands and wreath on the door. Hermione thought they were so pretty.
Hermione thought Remus' choice of spell looked truly fantastic with hers, as his was a spell to make never-melting icicles hang off of any surface. And so Remus set to work hanging icicles from various bookshelves and tables, which looked truly fantastic when paired with her ceiling snowstorms. In a couple short hours, the interior of the house looked like a gorgeous winter wonderland.
When all the decorating was done, the three of them all sat down and poured themselves a drink. Hermione had offered Sirius to stay for dinner, but he politely declined, saying he was going to try out a new bar in Northern Ireland and would order himself some food there while trying to pick up some birds.
"So when were you planning to tell everyone?" Sirius asked.
Hermione and Remus looked at each other.
"We didn't really plan when. We just want to keep it a secret until we're sure that Ron won't flip out," Hermione explained. "You don't think that Harry will be too horrified, do you?"
"Nah, I imagine he'll be fine. Utterly grossed out to know that his best friend is fucking his dad's best friend, but fine," Sirius chuckled. Hermione's cheeks warmed at how wrong it sounded, but she couldn't bring herself to feel any guilt whatsoever.
"And you, Sirius? Will you be bringing a date to the party?" Remus asked with an eyebrow raised.
"No, I don't think I will. I'm hoping I'll be able to get into Hestia Jones' knickers at some point in the night. She's been on my Fuckit Bucket List for some time. All those years we worked together for the Order and I still never managed to get her into bed with me. It's agonizing!" Sirius complained.
Hermione laughed. "Fuckit Bucket List?"
"Of course! Doesn't everyone have one, even just in secret? A list of people—or creatures, if that's your thing—that you want to fuck. I can tell you, I've got an extensively long one," Sirius winked at Hermione, causing Remus to growl at Sirius.
"Watch your tongue, Sirius," Remus bit out possessively, causing Hermione's centre to tingle in utter arousal. Fuck, Remus is sexy when he's protective…
"Come on Moony, we've already been over this! I'm not interested in fucking Hermione—no offence, sweetheart," Sirius smirked.
"Right back at you, Sirius," Hermione rolled her eyes before turning to reassure her lover, who she could tell was becoming extremely agitated with his best friend. "Remus, you have nothing to worry about. Sirius is like an uncle to me…a crazy, super sexual uncle who flirts with everything standing on at least one leg, but an uncle nonetheless. I cringe to even think about any sort of intimate relationship with him," Hermione chuckled, causing Remus to lighten up a little.
Ever since Hermione had become of-age, Sirius had developed a habit of flirting with her. But she knew better than to take him seriously. She knew that he flirted with nearly all of-age women, and even several men, because he was Sirius Black and that's just what he did. Heck, Hermione had even witnessed him flirting with Tonks on more than one occasion, even though they're practically cousins. Remus knew this about Sirius, too, but he was still angry at how inappropriate he was being towards his girlfriend. He should learn some respect, for Merlin's sake.
"Well, I'd best be off and leave you lovebirds to the angry and possessive fucking that Moony's been looking forward to all evening. You can thank me later, Hermione. Don't forget to use protection!" Sirius winked at the pair before standing up and disapparating.
Hermione tried her best to stifle the smile trying to break its way through her disapproving facade, but she was failing miserably. Had Sirius been flirting with her so relentlessly all evening on purpose, just to create some overwhelming sexual tension between them? Hermione's lips twitched at the thought.
"Fuck. I am so, so sorry, Hermione. I swear, sometimes I consider actually getting Sirius a muzzle and leash just to keep him from behaving so horribly. I wanted to kick him out, but since this is his house I tho—oh wow, okay," Remus muttered as Hermione slipped onto his lap and began pulling off his clothes.
"I love it when you get protective of me…" Hermione purred as she kissed her way down his jaw. Once she reached the bottom of his neck, though, she stopped and pulled back to look him in the eye. "Just please don't ever feel the need to be jealous. Protective is hot, but jealous is just hurtful. I would never, ever cheat on you. Got that?"
Remus gulped and nodded, before crashing his lips onto hers.
As it turned out, protective sex with Remus was totally mind-blowing. Hermione made a mental note to not only thank Sirius next time she saw him, but to buy him a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card. It was that good.
AN: Thanks for reading! And just because I'm bored and need a distraction from studying, leave me a comment telling me your HP otp(s). As you can see, I'm a big fan of Remus/Hermione, but I also love Draco/Hermione if it's written properly (Draco can't just wake up one day and be alright with Mudbloods). Love you all and have a nice day!