AN: I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated. This chapter was a slow one, but I made it extra long to make it up to you. Second last chapter, so tell me what you think! Enjoy!
December 24th—The Eleventh Day of Christmas
"Someone turn the music up!"
"And for zhe love of Merlin, not zhat Celestina Warbeck again!"
It was nearly nine o'clock on Christmas Eve, and the party was in full swing by this point. The children were still awake, now running a circuit through the house on their massive sugar highs; the Weasley twins were off Merlin knows where, probably setting up some booby-trapped mistletoe or something; Mrs. Weasley had inevitably ended up behind an oven, baking some cookies for the children before they went to bed upstairs; Bill and Charlie were drunkenly boasting to each other about all the dangers they had faced during their travels; the Hogwarts professors were grouped together, probably wondering where they went wrong with all their former students in the room.
As for Remus and Hermione, they were currently doing their best to eye fuck each other from across the room. They had started a sort of competition, really, to see who could be the most obvious in their flirting without anyone seeing. It was a dangerous game, but it was just too damn tempting to resist. Hermione was currently filling up her cup with some Christmas cocktail, pretending to not be affected by the look of pure sex that Remus was sending her over Harry's shoulder. Harry couldn't have been more oblivious.
Hermione squirmed in her spot, feeling that beautiful torture of horny tingles in her lady parts. It also probably wasn't helping that she was wearing the crotchless panties that Angelina had given her under a dress that was practically skin-tight and ended at about mid-thigh. It sufficiently covered all her parts so as to not be inappropriate, but was still quite sexy. Finding that dress in her closet, Remus had insisted that Hermione should wear it tonight as an early Christmas present to him. Hermione wore it on the condition that they escape from the party at some point in the evening to spend some time together. She hadn't specified whether or not the time should be used for anything sexual, but based on the way this evening was playing out, Hermione had a feeling they wouldn't be able to resist.
She was unfortunately broken out of her reverie by the sound of the front door opening again, which could only mean one thing: Ronald Weasley and his date had finally arrived. They were the only ones invited who weren't yet present, despite the fact that the party had started two hours ago. Hermione wasn't surprised in the least. Arse.
"Hey everyone! Merry Christmas!" he called from the entrance way as he was greeted by all his friends and family. Hermione was perfectly fine staying in the living room, rather than going out to greet him like many of the others. She would only speak to him if she had to.
She tried to avoid speaking to Ron by speaking with some of their former teachers; she knew that Ron's will to stay away from anything or anyone school-related would likely overpower his will to gloat about his girlfriend to Hermione.
And so she struck up a conversation with Professor McGonagall about the latest articles and breakthroughs in Transfiguration Today. Remus seemed to understand her frame of mind and gave her a small reassuring nod from across the room.
Sure enough, Ron walked in a few minutes later with—well, she honest to God looked like a whore hanging off of his arm like she was. Hermione didn't like labeling girls as sluts and whores, but this girl was practically the embodiment of the word. She looked as though she just walked out of a porn video. Her dress—if it could even be called that?—looked as though she just took a tube-top a size too big and pulled it down to cover her arse, causing the neckline to start just above her nipples. Her dark hair looked as though someone had been grabbing fistfuls of it in the throes of passion, and her red lipstick had smudged slightly under her lip, giving Hermione a good idea of why she and Ron had been late. Hermione shivered in disgust.
All of a sudden, Hermione found herself incapable of focusing on anything her former Head of House was saying. Ron and his girlfriend had approached Remus. Hermione found herself straining to hear their conversation, though there was no need to as Ron had always been incorrigibly loud.
"Professor Lupin! How've you been? It feels like ages since I've last seen you."
"It's nice to see you as well, Ronald. I've been quite well, thank you. How have you been?" he asked, courteous as ever, though Hermione could tell that he wasn't very interested in speaking with Ron at all, and was especially uncomfortable with the state of Ron's girlfriend.
"I'm great! Livin' the dream," he smirked cockily.
An awkward pause. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Remus Lupin, one of Ronald's former Hogwarts professors." Ron had never been one for manners, so again it was no surprise that he had made no move to introduce his guest like a gentleman.
"Oh wow, a professor! I'm Nikki," she gushed flirtatiously, as though the fact that he was a professor hadn't been revealed in Ron's greeting. "Ronnie, you didn't tell me how good-looking your professors are! First Gilderoy Lockhart and now this man? Hey, maybe we can do some teacher-student role play when we get home! All these men are giving the name Professor a really sexy vibe…"
Hermione was practically vibrating with suppressed rage. What the hell was Ron thinking, bringing this brainless sex-addict to a family-friendly party? Or perhaps he had held her up on purpose so that the children would be going to bed at about the same time as they arrived? It didn't matter because Hermione was still furious with him. How dare he let his girlfriend act so inappropriately in public? It was positively disgraceful!
"Come on, Nikki. I want to introduce you to everyone. Hey, 'Mione! Long time no see!" Ron waved from across the living room, and Hermione fought not to groan as he dragged his arm candy with him to where Hermione was standing.
McGonagall, who had stopped mid-conversation with Hermione to listen to the conversation between the happy couple and Remus, looked as though she was struggling not to smirk. She knew how torturous this was going to be, and she was pulling out her metaphorical popcorn for the show.
"Hello, Ron. This must be your girlfriend. I'm Hermione," she nodded politely, not wanting to extend her hand to shake the other girl's. Who knows what her paws have touched? Hermione had a few ideas and all of them made her feel a little sick to her stomach.
"Oh, you're Hermione," she said as though she had been told many stories. Ron's ears pinked slightly, as they often did when he was a little embarrassed or angry. Yep, he had definitely bitched to his girlfriend about her. "I'm Nikki. Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting the Hermione Granger! You're like, you know, a war hero, right? Like my Ronnie?"
Hermione fought not to roll her eyes. So that's how Ron had wooed her. He had played the War Hero card. What a pathetic arse. "The term 'war hero' isn't that special around here. You'll find that most people in this house right now are 'war heroes'. This is, after all, a party for the former Order of the Phoenix members."
"What's the Order of the Phoenix?"
Hermione very nearly smacked herself in the forehead. What a dummy.
"So how's life been, 'Mione? Still no men? I know I've been getting sex galore with Nikki here," Ron interjected, obviously wanting to change the subject to something that would make him feel superior again.
"Life's been good, and my love life is no longer any of your business if you hadn't noticed," Hermione spat. She could feel her temper rising like a thermometer placed in boiling water. "There is such a thing as privacy, you know, and I quite enjoy keeping mine. You and Nikki should give it a try sometime. Who knows, it might do you both some good," Hermione snapped savagely. She couldn't help it at this point. If nobody took Ron down a few pegs, this party would turn to absolute shit.
"Whoah, calm down, 'Mione! It was just a question. Just because you don't have a boyfriend, doesn't mean you have to get all defensive," he smirked, putting his hands up to show he meant no offense, which was a total lie.
Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself down before she exploded on him. It wouldn't do to make a scene. Instead, she plastered a challenging smirk on her face. "Who said I didn't have a boyfriend?" she asked mysteriously, before turning on her heel and sauntering out of the room. At this point, she wasn't sure she would last the night without making some very loud declaration of her love for Remus Lupin if only to put Ron back in his place.
Hermione entered the kitchen to see how Mrs. Weasley was doing. She was pulling a tray out of the oven while a spoon was magically scooping balls of batter onto another tray. The smell of chocolate chip cookies was thick in the air, and Hermione's head tingled with the nostalgia of her own childhood Christmas holidays.
"It smells absolutely delicious in here, Mrs. Weasley! Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Oh no, Hermione, dear. You go ahead and enjoy your party! I'm perfectly alright on my own," Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly.
"I think I'd better enjoy the party from a distance. I just met Ron's girlfriend, Nikki," Hermione huffed, giving Mrs. Weasley a weak smile.
The woman's head snapped up at the name, and Hermione noticed once again the look of intense dislike cross her face. "Oh, well I can understand that. Here, you can help me by setting the table with glasses and small plates for the children. Perhaps you could also pour some milk out for them?"
Hermione smiled and set to work, placing three small plates and glasses out for the three little girls who were currently playing a loud game of Ring Around the Rosy in the drawing room.
"So I take it you don't like Nikki very much as well? What has she done so far that has set you off, if you don't mind me asking?" Mrs. Weasley asked curiously, almost as if she were searching for more reasons to despise the girl. Hermione didn't mind at all, and she honestly felt bad for the woman, knowing how her son was so open about his relationship with the trollop.
"She made some crude comments about how good-looking m—Remus is and how she wouldn't be opposed to playing student-teacher with Ron after the party ends," Hermione blushed, luckily catching herself before she called Remus 'my boyfriend'.
Molly fumed. "What a—oh, I'm so disappointed in Ron. He could do so much better than that…that bimbo!"
"Yeah, I can't help but feel a little offended that he thinks her an upgrade from me…" Hermione chuckled lightly.
It was like Mrs. Weasley finally realized to whom she was ranting. She blushed furiously and took Hermione into an apologetic hug. "I'm so sorry Hermione. Trust me when I say that she is no upgrade. I'm only sorry that it didn't work out between you because I'd take you any day as a daughter-in-law over Nikki."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. I think I'd better get back to the party now before someone realizes the hostess is missing."
"Yes, of course, dear. You do that."
Hermione wandered back down the hall, wondering if she'd ever manage to catch Remus alone this evening, or if his promise to have a private moment with her at some point would go unfulfilled. Hermione hoped it wouldn't, as she had worn Angelina's lingerie as a special surprise for him if things did turn sexual.
All of a sudden, an arm swung around Hermione's waist and a hand clapped over her mouth to silence her squeak of surprise. She was tugged roughly to her left and into a small washroom. The door swung shut behind her, and all of a sudden Hermione was being pushed up against it.
There was no source of light in this bathroom with the door closed and all the candles extinguished, so Hermione had no clue who her attacker was. She tried to swing her fist around to hit her attacker, but the person—definitely a man—was quicker and pinned her wrists at her sides. He used his own body to push her into the door and ensure that she couldn't kick or knee him. She could feel his breath tickling her ear.
Just as she was about to scream bloody murderer, the man whispered in her ear in a familiar voice. "I've finally got you all alone. I've been looking forward to this all evening, what with all the teasing you've done. You've been a naughty girl, Miss Granger."
Hermione sighed in relief. It was just Remus. As her heart rate began to slow a little, Hermione decided she would play along. "I don't know what you're talking about. I have been teasing no one."
He chuckled darkly, his breath tickling her neck and causing her to squirm against his body. "Oh, yes you have, Hermione, and you know it. You've been teasing me ever since you slipped on that sexy little dress of yours, hoping to catch my attention. Well, guess what, my attention has been caught. I believe it is now your turn to be teased…"
Remus pulled Hermione's hands up above her head so that he could hold them with one hand, then dipped his newly-freed hand to the bottom of her thigh. Hermione shivered as he traced up the inside of her left thigh, pulling the hem of her slinky dress up with him as he neared her center.
With the last ounce of logic remaining in Hermione's increasingly fuzzy brain, she asked Remus if he had put a muffling charm up around them. She really wasn't in the mood to traumatize three little girls and greatly disturb the rest of the guests.
Hermione could hear Remus' smirk in his voice as he replied with an ambiguous "you'd better hope I did…"
Once Remus reached Hermione's panties, he let out a small gasp of shock. Hermione could feel herself blush, though more out of excitement and arousal than embarrassment.
"Hermione?" he began, using his teacher voice on her again, "are you wearing crotchless knickers?"
Hermione moaned in confirmation. The combination of his fingers lightly stroking her pussy and the sound of his teacher's voice was making her so insanely wet. She bucked her hips and thrust her chest towards Remus in the hopes of gaining some more friction for her lady parts.
Remus growled—actually growled—at her and quickly thrust two digits up her pussy. He pumped a few times before withdrawing to circle her clit for several seconds. He then repeated his actions over and over until Hermione was a panting, whimpering mess. She was constantly on the edge but was never able to achieve orgasm. He was torturing her on purpose, and it was absolutely delicious. She couldn't remember ever feeling hornier.
All of a sudden, Remus' hand disappeared. Hermione heard a wet sucking noise, then felt the hem of her dress being tugged back down into place. She realized with a shiver of arousal that the sucking noise had been Remus sucking her juices from his fingers.
All of a sudden, Hermione realized what was happening. He was leaving. "Hey wait, you can't do that!" she protested.
"I assure you, Hermione, that I can do what I want. And what I want right now is to return to the party we are supposed to be hosting. Now, be a good girl and move away from the door."
Hermione had never heard Remus speak to her like that, and it definitely wasn't helping with the horrible throb of pleasure in her pussy. He was taking charge of her, taking what was his without asking permission and it was really turning her on, despite how much it annoyed her.
When Hermione made no attempt to get out of his way, Remus grabbed her by the arms and moved her himself. He then opened the door and—without bothering to make sure the coast was clear—left the room looking completely unaffected by what had just transpired between them.
She was definitely going to get him back for that later.
She exited the bathroom and turned to go in the opposite direction of Remus, causing her to nearly run over Professor McGonagall who was standing right in the middle of the hall looking a horrible combination of unimpressed and amused.
"Professor! Sorry, I didn't see you there," Hermione gasped, feeling her cheeks burning hotter than flames. Busted.
McGonagall simply raised her eyebrows and smirked almost mockingly as if to say 'really? Lupin? Now?" and Hermione was positively mortified. Then McGonagall simply walked away with a big smirk as if nothing had ever happened. Well, at least she didn't disapprove.
Hermione took a moment to make sure her blush was under control before entering the library, where she found Harry and Ginny sitting together on a love seat. She pulled up a chair next to the couch so she could join them.
"Hey 'Mione, what's up? You look a little flushed," Harry said in concern.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just getting a little hot from being around so many people. I thought I'd chill out in here as it's a little less crowded," Hermione lied.
"So how are you liking your Christmas present from all of us? Are you enjoying using them as much as we expect you are?" Ginny asked vaguely. Hermione shot her a look but answered anyway.
"I just used the one from Angelina not five minutes ago," Hermione smirked evilly. Ginny burst out laughing and high-fived Hermione.
"Do I even want to know what's going on?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed in utter confusion.
"No," Ginny and Hermione said together.
"Alright, I'll take that as my cue to leave," Harry said, jumping to his feet awkwardly.
But at that exact moment, there was a large shriek that came from the living room. The three of them looked to each other before grabbing their wands as an old war habit and rushed to the room. Inside, they found Ron and Nikki on one side of the room and everyone else on the other, staring at the two of them with horrified expressions. Hermione noticed that Nikki seemed to be adjusting her pseudo-dress as if it had just come off.
"RONALD WEASLEY, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU RIGHT NOW! YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT INAPPROPRIATE EVERY TIME WE SEE YOU AND THIS IS THE FINAL STRAW! EITHER SHOW SOME RESPECT OR GET OUT!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed, her face redder than her hair.
Ron's ears were turning red as well, which was always a clear sign of his anger. "WE'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG! SO WHAT IF WE ENJOY PDA? IT'S NOT AS IF YOU AND DAD HAVE NEVER KISSED IN PUBLIC! EVERYONE DOES IT!"
"With all due respect, Ron, kissing is quite a bit different than having your girlfriend straddle your lap with her dress pulled up to her waist right in front of everyone else," Remus pointed out, speaking calmly to try and diffuse the tension. How he always managed to remain level-headed, Hermione would never know, but she definitely envied him it. Her heart swelled with admiration for him.
Ron's head snapped viciously towards Remus and spat "just because you're not getting any, Lupin, doesn't mean you have to spoil the fun for everyone else!"
Hermione saw red. That was the last straw. She furiously strode across the room and swiftly slapped him across the face. Last time she had done that to anyone, it had been to Malfoy in their third year. She was feeling similarly enraged right now.
"I'M SO DONE WITH ALL OF THIS! You know, I tried my best to prevent all the drama that I knew you'd cause at Christmas by keeping it a secret, but it's too late because you, Ronald Weasley, are unable to resist stirring the pot. No point in keeping it a secret now! I AM DATING REMUS LUPIN. That's right, you didn't mishear! I have been all holiday. But you see, I was decent enough to keep my personal life private and not rub the fact that I'm having mind-blowing sex in everyone's faces, unlike you, you arse! Now please, do us all a favour by taking your trollop and leaving RIGHT NOW before I make you!" Hermione screeched.
There was a long silence during which everyone goggled at Hermione. Everyone was kind of just speechless. Unfortunately, Ron was the first to recover.
"You're dating Professor Lupin? But he's like…twice your age!"
Hermione groaned—actually groaned—in frustration and annoyance. "Ron, just get out. We're done here. Just leave."
"You can't kick me out. This isn't your house," Ron pointed out childishly.
"Nah, but it's mine, and I agree with her," Sirius frowned. "I think you need to leave, mate. There's a line when it comes to PDA and straddling make out sessions when there are kids just in the next room is definitely crossing it."
Ron gaped for a minute, opening and closing his mouth as if searching for some way to retort. When he couldn't come up with one, he simply grabbed Nikki's hand and marched through the door. They heard the front door slam shut a few minutes later.
"Yikes, that was…" George began.
"Awfully frightening," Fred finished.
"Who knew our brother had a sex life?" George added.
And just like that, the intense atmosphere dispersed a little. Thank God for the Weasley twins.
After that incident, the rest of the evening went pretty smoothly. Conversation and music resumed, and everyone did their best to put Ron out of their minds. Now that their relationship was out in the open, Hermione and Remus were practically glued to each other's side for the rest of the evening. They had received a plethora of reactions to their relationship, as they had expected. Some, like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and some of the older members in the Order seemed a little disturbed by the age difference, some like McGonagall and Kingsley seemed silently amused, some like the younger Weasley wives and Hagrid were positively ecstatic for the pair, and then Mad-Eye Moody didn't seem to give a crap at all.
Hermione had mostly been worried about Harry's reaction, though. At first, he seemed really embarrassed and weirded out by the fact that Hermione was dating one of his dad's best friends. But after a little bit of explaining from Hermione about how truly happy she was, Harry broke out in a tentative smile and said "well, better him than Sirius" and they all burst out into laughter, even Sirius.
Once the clock had struck midnight, all the young parents in the room began to take their leave so they could finish setting out their gifts from Father Christmas for their children. Next, Angelina and George left, George saying that he didn't want to push Angelina too hard, what with the pregnancy and everything, though Angelina whispered to Hermione that George was just using her pregnancy as an excuse so that they could go home and have sex. Then the older people in attendance started getting tired and left. Soon enough, it was just Sirius, Remus and Hermione left.
"Well that was fun, but I'd better go now. I can tell Moony's been wanting to tear off that sexy dress of yours since that hilarious outburst of yours earlier. Good on you for that, by the way. Ron deserved it. I'll see you both on New Year's Eve! Oh, I did tell you I'd be coming over for that, didn't I?" Sirius asked, his face screwed up in his attempt to remember.
"No you didn't, but you're welcome to come over. I doubt we'll have any big plans," Hermione laughed.
Sirius set off, and Hermione and Remus were left all alone. "That was bloody brilliant, that outburst of yours, you know," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I thought you'd like it. I considered running over and making out with you to prove my point, but that may have been a little counter-productive for the point we were trying to make. Slightly hypocritical even…"
"I certainly wouldn't have minded," Remus smiled before dipping his head and kissing Hermione sweetly.
They shared a moment before Hermione ruined it. "Okay, I'm still horny as hell from earlier, so what do you say you now finish what you started?"
Remus smirked. "With pleasure."