Some time later, they get out of the bath, drying themselves off.
The slightly awkward air returns as they shift back to human. Hermione marvels at the difference. The transformation affects every part of her.
She'd been prepared for the physical effects. For having a tail, scales, and gills.
Changes to her emotional state were unexpected.
As her scales fade away, seeping back into her skin, she feels herself re-emerging. Hermione's mer-self had been frivolous and selfish. She'd forgotten about her friends. She'd forgotten she had more to discuss with Theo.
Hermione liked watching Theo get dressed, almost as much as she liked watching him strip off.
"Theo, we need to talk," Hermione says as she pulls the dress back on over her head.
"Hermione, I can't undo the bond if that's..."
"Okay. We don't need to talk. I need to talk and you need to listen," she huffs.
"Okay," he replies crossing his arms, lip quirking slightly.
"First of all, stop trying to get rid of me. I have no intention of going anywhere. I meant what I said. There is no downside to this for me. No, what I need to talk to you about is Draco. What are your feelings for him?" She asks.
Theo flinches. She watches as his face takes a deliberately neutral expression.
"Draco is my friend," Theo replies carefully, not quite meeting her eyes.
"You know he's in love with you, right?"
"How would you know?" Theo scoffs.
"I guessed, he confirmed."
"My, my, Draco was a chatty boy wasn't he. What else happened?"
"I... I kissed him," she blushes.
"You, what?" Theo asks darkly.
"He just... looked so sad," Hermione shuffles her feet.
"I need you to be very clear here Hermione. Why are you bringing this up now?"
"Because... well. There's no reason why you can't be with him too. If that's what you want. I'd be... okay with it."
"You want him too," Theo says dropping to the bench.
"Maybe but it's you he wants," Hermione shrugs.
"When you kissed him, did he kiss you back?"
Hermione nods.
"Then he pushed me away. He sent me to find you. He said I was meant for you."
Theo starts pacing, hands running through his hair.
"Where was he?"
"His rooms."
"He took you there?"
"He didn't want anyone to overhear us," Hermione says.
Theo grabs her hand, pulling her from the room.
She doesn't ask where they're going or why they're practically running through the castle. She understands. She feels the urge to get to him too. Theo stops them outside the tapestry, pale and shaking.
Hermione squeezes his hand, pushing the tapestry aside pulling him through.
She gently pushes open the door to Draco's suite.
Draco is face down on the sofa, sleeping. His mouth is open a little, drooling on the cushion. Even from her position by the door, she can see the sheen of tears on his cheek.
Hermione glares at the open bottle of firewhiskey on the floor beside him.
She kneels beside the sofa, looking back at Theo who has stayed back by the door, watching her.
She strokes the hair away from Draco's face as she gently calls his name.
He begins to stir, as he wakes he realises both of them are there. He jerks away from her, pulling himself across the sofa. He wipes his cheeks, turning his attention to his friend by the door.
"What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be off shagging or something? Don't you want control?" Draco rages, but it's empty. All his words have a slightly hollow ring to them.
Theo holds up a hand in front of his face, scales run up from his elbow, webbing appears between his fingers. Hermione is itching to try it out but knows now isn't the time.
Draco deflates.
"You did it then," he says quietly looking between them.
Hermione and Theo exchange a look. Apparently he's leaving this to her. She sits on the sofa beside Draco.
"Draco," she says softly.
"You have him. Are you here to rub it in my face?"
"No," she shrieks moving closer to him.
"Why does it have to be a choice? Why can't we have everything we want?"
Hermione glances back at Theo who nods.
"We talked about it and we don't want to choose," Hermione says staring back at Draco. She moves to straddle him. "What do you want Draco?"
He looks over her shoulder at Theo. Some communication happens that she misses most of. She watches as Draco's face softens.
His hands come to rest on her thighs, he leans in to kiss her, he's still not looking at her.
As Draco's lips touch hers, she feels the sofa beside them dip. Hermione pulls away from Draco's kiss, turning to look at Theo.
He's sat close to them, an arm spread across the back of the sofa. He's smiling at them.
"My turn," Theo says leaning towards them.
Draco leans back expecting Theo to kiss Hermione.
He freezes in surprise when Theo's lips meet his. Theo comes up onto his knees for a better angle to deepen the kiss.
"What do you want Draco?" Theo asks pulling away, panting a little.
"I want... I want us," Draco pleads.
Draco pulls Hermione closer to him, Theo grabs the hem of her dress pulling it up over her head, breaking their kiss.
"Not a lot of room here," Hermione reminds them.
Draco gathers her in his arms, getting up from the sofa, carrying her to his room. Theo is ahead of them, opening the door, throwing off his shirt.
Draco throws Hermione onto the bed, Theo comes up behind him, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist.
"We'll take us slow," Theo whispers in his ear. "We'll only do what we're comfortable with."
Draco nods, raising his arms over his head so Theo can remove his shirt for him. Theo's hands roam down Draco's body to his fastenings. He pushes them down to the floor.
"Hermione you're wearing too many clothes," Draco says gasping as Theo's hand wraps around his cock, beginning to slowly stroke him. "So are you." he adds looking over his shoulder at Theo.
Draco's hands reach behind him to fumble clumsily with the button on Theo's trousers. They both turn to watch Hermione strip off her underwear.
"On your back and spread your legs," Theo orders, "show Draco how wet you are for us."
Hermione looks up at him surprised. He hadn't been this forceful when it was just them. Was it the addition of Draco? The fact that he wasn't a virgin anymore? Or was there other changes to him after gaining control of his change.
She does as he asks, spreading her legs for them. She's dripping wet at the sight of them standing over her naked. She shivers in anticipation of what's to come. She watches as their hands explore each others bodies. Her fingers slip between her damp folds, drawing their attention. The men climb onto the bed. Theo settles between her legs, his mouth taking over from her fingers.
She can barely believe he hasn't done this before as his tongue explores her. Draco leans down over her to claim her mouth as his hands cup her breasts, fingers teasing her hardened nipples.
"Let's see if you're tongue can do more than spout insults at me," Draco says moving to line his cock up with her mouth. She opens her mouth to reply but before she can utter a word, he's sliding his swollen head into her mouth. She glares at him as she wraps her fist around him, holding him in place as she swipes her tongue across him while he's in the heat of her mouth.
The smug look fades, replaced by one of ecstasy as she works her mouth over him. Theo slips two fingers into her, making her moan around Draco's length. He gasps at the sensation.
"Swap places with me," Theo says to Draco. They both pull away from Hermione at the same time, trading places. Theo slips into cock into her mouth. Draco kneels between her legs, lifting them onto his shoulders. Theo pulls himself out of her mouth to make her watch as Draco lines himself up with her entrance.
Hermione nods at him as Draco holds himself still. It's not her he's looking at though. When Theo nods, Draco starts to push inside her, as though he was waiting for Theo's permission.
She throws her head back as Draco fills her with Theo watching on. Theo shifts back on the bed, leaving the other two to have their moment. He strokes himself as he watches his best friend pump in and out of his girl.
What Draco lacks in size, compared to Theo at least, he makes up for in technique. Setting a rhythm that has Hermione writhing below him, one that comes from practice and control. Draco pulls out and flips Hermione onto her stomach.
"Onto your knees," Draco tells her giving her arse a smack. She does as he asks, arching her body to give him easier access. Draco waves Theo over. "Open wide Granger, don't leave Theo feeling neglected."
Hermione opens her mouth for Theo as Draco enters her again at the new angle. Hermione wraps her lips around Theo, moving up and down him in time with Draco's thrusts. The boys lean across to kiss as they both use her. Draco reaches around to toy with her clit as he begins to lose his rhythm.
Theo breaks their kiss first, gripping Hermione's hair as he starts to spurt into her mouth. Hermione had been wondering how she'd been doing so well without breathing when Theo collapses to the side of them, laughing as he strokes her neck. As his fingers brush along her gills, she realises she formed them to breathe while Theo fucked her throat.
They disappear as she breathes through her mouth and nose again.
"That's definitely a useful trick," Theo chuckles as Draco spills himself inside her. A few more strokes of her clit and she's clenching around Draco's cock as she shakes, collapsing weak limbed onto the bed.
The three of them lay sprawled across the bed in a tangle of naked, sweaty limbs. Theo moves a little to be as wrapped around Draco as he is around Hermione.
"We need to talk," Draco says breaking the silence, making Theo sigh.
"I'm beginning to hate those words," Theo sits up, stretching. The other two watch the muscles of his chest move. "What is it you'd like to discuss, Draco?"
"This. Us. What are we exactly? I mean, I'm okay with however you guys want to do this. I mean, if you don't want an actual relationship with me…"
Hermione cuts him off with a kiss. When she pulls away Theo takes her place, stealing the last of Draco's breath.
"Whatever this is, it's about the three of us together," Hermione says linking her fingers with Draco. He snatches his hand away.
"You're both going to leave me. Neither of you are completely human anymore. You'll want the sea. You'll go where I can't follow," Draco says extracting himself from them.
"Which leaves us with two options? Either Hermione and I try to find some way to break our curse or we find some way to change you too," Theo suggests.
No one says anything.
"Break a centuries old curse or curse me? Those are your brilliant solutions," Draco scoffs.
Hermione gets up to go get her bag. The books Draco gave her earlier are in there. She brings them back to the bed.
"Why these two books?" she asks Draco.
"Because they're the best ones I've found," He replies sarcastically.
"So you looked at a lot of books? Did you make any notes?"
"It's hard to have this conversation with you naked," He deflects, trying to change the subject.
"Accio Draco's mermaid notes," Theo says using Draco's wand. A massive wad of parchment lands on the bed. The early notes are about if it's possible for the bonding to be between two men. When the conclusion of that is no, the notes spilt in two; one set focuses on breaking it completely, the other replicating it in a way to give a wizard control without having to bind.
"You'd have to bind to a witch?" Hermione asks, as her and Theo finish working through the notes. Draco nods. "Could you bind with me? Can I be bound to more than one partner?"
Draco looks up at her surprised.
"You'd do that?"
"Of course. I did say I want you both. We've got a lot more to look got a lot more to research first but what do you want Draco? Do you want to swim with us?" Hermione asks him.
Both Hermione and Theo look at Draco, waiting for his response.
Draco kneels on the bed looking between them. He knows his response. He's had it ready for years, ever since he found out what Theo was.
"I want to swim with you."