Wedlocked
Chapter 21: Tactless

Lying beside Sirius, Hermione waited for the awkwardness to begin. She was certain it would arrive soon. They had just had sex while fully clothed on top of the duvet of his bed in the Three Broomsticks. Of all the things that had passed between them, that was bound to be the most awkward-making. Surely, the comfort she felt would pass, leaving embarrassment in its place.

"So," Sirius said, "it's after midnight."

"What's the time matter now that the deadline has passed?" she asked.

"You act like we only had the one," he smiled. "We have to worry about the deadline coming around again in two weeks, pet."

She frowned. "So what does it being midnight now matter to a deadline that isn't for another fourteen days?"

The man rolled over so he was pressing her down into the mattress. "It's after midnight thus making it the first of November. We are officially into our next two weeks… If we had another go we would be fulfilling our next obligation."

"Oh," she said.

He bent his head and started trailing open-mouth kisses down her neck, following the gentle curve, pulling the shirt and jumper away to continue as far along her shoulder as he could while still letting her keep her clothes on. It felt so good she momentarily forgot to process what he had just said. Awareness came on quickly and she took away a great compliment. He wanted to sleep with her again, right then, right there and with minimal waiting.

"Come on," he grinned. "What do you say we get a head start for next time?" Sirius suggested as he ground his hips against hers.

She bit her lip to keep from giggling at the childlike excitement in his eyes. "Well, one or two of those illustrations in my Hogwarts: A History book did look interesting," she admitted very slowly. "I wouldn't mind trying them out if you're not too tired."

Ignoring the jibe at his stamina, he stared at her. "You actually read that?"

"It's a book…" she said as if that was all the explanation that was necessary.

He dropped his head and laughed quietly. "I should have expected that," he said. His eyebrow came up as he met her eye again. "So what else did you read? Did you by chance read my improvements to Ingenious Pursuits? Because there are one or two chapters in that book that I would find extremely diverting…"

Hermione was sure she was blushing again. "I might have skimmed it through."

"I'm guessing you more than just skimmed it," he grinned. "That book is a personal favourite of mine. I know it by heart. What do you say I start with chapter one and keep going until I figure out where you got so embarrassed that you threw it back onto your shelf? 'Chapter One'," he quoted from memory without waiting for her compliance, "'On the Benefits of Kissing by Mouth'…"

He quoted and paraphrased his way through chapters one through five, all of which involved kissing various body parts. She particularly enjoyed chapter five, 'On the Benefits of Kissing the Inner Thigh'. Chapters six, seven, eight and nine weren't half bad, either, concerning various methods of massage. It was around chapter ten's vigorous massaging of the buttocks that she descended into giggles.

"Ah, so that's where you got embarrassed?" Sirius grinned. "I thought for sure you would have given up around chapter five. You are full of surprises."

She could only giggle in reply.

"I once was with a bird who couldn't make it past chapter two, kept elbowing me every time I kissed her behind the ear. I avoided the ticklish ones after that," he cringed at the memory.

Hermione's laughter petered out, "You know, I might be new at this but I'm quite sure you shouldn't be talking about some other woman while in bed with me."

"Relax," he said dismissively. "That was ages ago. I haven't been with anyone since Harry's first birthday. I almost forgot how wonderful a woman felt."

She wanted to be indifferent about Sirius' sex life before marrying her. She wanted to be the bigger person and remember that their marriage had been forced, that Sirius was just doing his duty in keeping her safe and out of the hands of Death Eaters, Dementors and Dark Lords. But she couldn't. For hours, she has ridden a glorious high of euphoria that not only was she not weird or mediocre in bed, she was so good that Sirius didn't want to stop. His confession of a fifteen-year abstinence, however, was a slap in the face. His desire for continued encores had nothing to do with her ability. He was simply making up for nearly two decades of lost time. The only thing he required a warm, willing body.

"I'm getting tired," she said flatly. "I'd like to head back to the castle."

"Now?" he asked, disappointment clear on his face. "It's four in the morning, no one will be awake to let you in the gate."

"I can take the passage through Honeyduke's," replied the girl with cold practicality as she stood and started collecting her clothes from around the bed, too angry with him to care what he thought of her naked form.

"Filch will catch you."

Avoiding his eye as she fastened the buttons of her blouse, she said, "I'm a Prefect. I'm allowed to be out of bed after curfew."

Silence followed during which Hermione finished gathering her far-flung bits of clothes. She was unaware of what Sirius was doing, and that was how she wanted to keep it.

"Fine, I'll make sure you get there safe," he agreed. He dressed, his shoulders drooping with dejection. No, it was probably just exhaustion catching up to him.

"You don't have to," she said. "It's been a long day and you look tired."

His reaction was almost comical. No sooner had the word 'tired' passed her lips had his posture become that of a Grenadier – spine rigid, shoulders squared, head high. He snapped to attention so quickly, she was concerned he might have hurt himself in the process, but his eyes burned with indignation.

"I'm not that old yet, thank you," he replied through clenched teeth.

She threw on her school robes and knew they would be insufficient against the early morning cold. A spell could easily protect her from the chill, if she had her wand. "Where's my wand?"

Without a word, he unlocked the desk drawer and gestured for her to take the wand he had hidden there.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Sirius nodded curtly and led the way from the third floor room. Once they reached the door that would lead them into the dark village, his soldiering posture only intensified. With his back pressed firmly to the wall, he peered around corners and kept to the dark shadows thrown by the torches and streetlamps. She had not wanted his company, but watching his paranoid movements she felt somehow grateful for his concern and effort, obligatory as they might have been.

Easily lowering the wards and picking the lock on the sweets shop, Sirius led her silently down to the basement and all the way through the black passage to the castle. He kept by her side through the corridors and secret passages of Hogwarts until she was safely inside the portrait hole of Gryffindor Tower.

"Goodnight," she said and turned away quickly. His work in bringing her all the way to the tower was unnecessary and she did not want to feel anything resembling kindness toward him after he had used her so appallingly; making her feel so beautiful and special only to inform her that it was all a matter of being willing. She had been right when she called him a pig.

"Good morning, actually," the Fat Lady corrected irritably. "Of all the hours to bring a young lady home!" She scolded and slammed her frame shut before Sirius might consider following the girl in.

Hermione climbed the stairs slowly, painfully. Sex required so many more muscles than she had anticipated, and nearly all of them were screaming at her now. A soothing bath would serve her just as well as a few hours' sleep, she decided, and she trudged back down the stairs and out to the Prefect's washroom.

"Goodness, girl! Show some propriety," the Fat Lady balked. "Give the man time to miss you or he will soon grow tired and cast you aside… I speak from experience, you know."

"I'm just going to take a bath," Hermione snapped and stomped off.

Cast her aside, indeed. She would like to see him try. He had said cheating would cause him physical pain. Perhaps she could find someone to flirt with him, make him suffer a bit.

'Oh, now you're just being stupid,' she rolled her eyes and dove into the scented bath water. It was heaven to her aching and, quite frankly, filthy body. She luxuriated in the glorious bath, sleeping lightly as she floated in the sudsy waters. Only when the sun rose high enough to shine through the window of the washroom did she finally step from the massive bathtub.

Clean body. Clean clothes. A new day. What more could she want for?

'Protection,' she groaned internally as she saw Ginny and Lavender descending on her in the Great Hall.

"And where were you during class? And lunch? And dinner? And All. Night. Long?" Lavender practically sang with rabid excitement.

Hermione wanted to flee. She wasn't proud of it, being a brave Gryffindor and all, but she would sooner face off with half a dozen Death Eaters than rehash her time with Sirius. "None of your business," she replied with as much haughtiness as she could manage.

"Oh, but it is," Ginny disagreed. "We are your friends. We were worried about you."

"You know very well where I was and with whom," Hermione bit out the words with surprising calm.

"I knew it!" Lavender squealed. "He couldn't stay away, could he? I saw him waiting for you, but to steal you away for twenty-four hours of passionate love making… oh, that is so romantic."

Hermione laughed scornfully. "Ever so romantic."

"Hermione," Ginny hedged. "If you aren't in Azkaban right now, then you must've done it."

"No, we did," she admitted indifferently.

"Was he no good?"

"Impossible. That man is sex on legs," Lavender disagreed wholeheartedly. Just across the table, Harry choked on his eggs and ran to a seat as far from them as was possible. Lavender giggled and continued, "But what's all this about Azkaban?"

Ginny glanced quickly at her friend. Lavender might not have fought with them at the Department of Mysteries, but she had defied Umbridge and been in Dumbledore's Army. Still, given her big mouth and far-reaching information network, it might be too dangerous for her to know about the arrangement Hermione had with Sirius, so Ginny stuck to the bare minimum of truth. "You read the Prophet a few weeks back, right? The new amendment? Well, they had a deadline of midnight last night to 'fulfil their obligation' or go to Azkaban."

"I don't see the fuss," the girl said with a deep frown. "You're married. You're in love. So what?"

"Uh… he was being a gentleman and waiting until I was out of school rather than risk accidental pregnancy," Hermione improvised quickly.

"So considerate," she swooned. "I have to tell Parvati, she'll be so jealous." The girl ran to her friend and sat discussing how lucky Hermione was for the remainder of breakfast.

As soon as she had gone, Ginny's disturbingly realistic smile fell. "Truth. Now."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Clearly there is when you've been gone nearly twenty-four hours and you are looking rather annoyed about that fact," she pointed to her friend's face, but dropped her hand as Hermione continued to scowl. "Did he make you do it?"

"No!" Hermione cried, appalled. "Although he did bring that up as his last resort to avoid Azkaban."

Ginny paled. "I'm glad it didn't come to that," she agreed. "But why are you so unhappy. I thought for sure you two would be in love after a night together."

"Ginny," Hermione sighed, not sure how best to let the girl down. "I'm not foolish enough to mistake sex for love. It was good – better than good – but it doesn't mean we love each other; it just means we did what we had to do to keep out of jail." She was tempted to tell her the full truth of Sirius's admission, how she was little more than a vessel, but the girl had a ridiculously romantic idea in her mind that Hermione hated to fully destroy.

Ginny grumbled disappointedly. "I thought for sure it would work."

"Why are you so determined that we fall in love?"

"Because you're perfect for each other," Ginny insisted. "And you're also stuck with each other until one of you dies, so you might as well enjoy being stuck."

Now that was a fair point, Hermione had to admit. With the unbreakable binding, they really were linked for life. A lifetime of argument and misunderstanding was hardly what she wanted, but it seemed that's all she would be getting with Sirius. For a man of his age and experience, he could be as tactless as Ron; he always managed to say exactly the wrong thing to make her angry or send her running. He knew it, too. He had refused to make the promise to her mother that he would never hurt her. If he had, he would have broken it at least twice by now and they had only been married forty-two days.

"We'll find our way. It might take a while and it certainly won't be love, but it will work," sighed Hermione. "It'll have to."

A/N: I have to drive 3 frickin' hours to training that starts at 8-fricking-30 in the frickin' morning. Figured I might as well do something productive before the mind-numbing boredom of I-16.