Hermione had looked forward to her date with Marcus all week. She picked out a gorgeous red dress for the occasion and took the time to get all dolled up. After the talk during their last date, she had been buzzing over the possibilities. She now knew that Marcus was absolutely worth the issues that dating someone with a high profile would cause. If they could just endeavor not to keep things from each other, she knew the relationship could work out.

She had been surprised by some roses - red this time - on her desk at work and Hermione felt a bit giddy. She was just so pleased to be romanced by someone like Marcus.

When he finally showed up, he apparated her to a little Thai restaurant not far from her flat. She was pleased, as it wasn't the stereotypical night out that she imagined most girls would want to go on. "Did you get the book I sent over?" she asked him once they were finally seated.

"Yeah, I have read about the first chapter," Marcus told her. It was a great book, so far, he thought, and it was at a great level for his comprehensive level. "I had no idea that muggles knew so much. How did they figure everything out?"

Hermione smiled at him. "Well, they had centuries really, to figure things out without magic for an explanation. There are curious muggles, just like there are curious witches and wizards," she explained.

They chatted a bit more about her work, before discussing Marcus's February. He'd been called up to the England squad and would be playing on a three week international break. They were going to be playing countries all over Europe, starting out in Ukraine, then over to Croatia, followed by a last stop against Germany.

"Wow, I can only imagine how tough that will be, but how exciting to see all of those countries," she told him with a smile. She'd done a lot of traveling with her family when she was younger, but she hadn't gone much since the war ended.

"Well, if you want, the Croatia game is on a weekend, and we will have a day or two free...if you want to come with. I would love to go...exploring with you," he told her, looking down at his noodles, obviously nervous.

Hermione bit her lip, excitement at the prospect of taking a trip with Marcus. "That would be really nice, actually. I have tons of vacation stored up," she revealed, mentally adding things to her checklist - get a travel guide and a Croatian language book, for starters.

When their dinner was cleared, Marcus grabbed Hermione's hand over the table, causing her heart to skip a beat. "Listen...I have really enjoyed going on these dates with you, spending time with you...and I think we have an obvious, um...chemistry," Marcus told her, looking into her liquid brown eyes, rather proud of his muggle science reference. "I was wondering, if you wanted to be exclusive with me? You know, would you be my girlfriend?"

Hermione was so pleased to hear his words. "I would love to, Marcus," she answered, grabbing his hand across the table, squeezing it tightly. "Listen, how would you like to go back to mine? I have a bit of champagne chilling."

Marcus agreed and paid the bill and one short apparition later, they were standing in Hermione's living room. Seeing her in the dim light, especially after she agreed to be his, had him aching for her. Champagne forgotten, he dipped his head down so that he might kiss her, his tongue invading her mouth and curling against her own.

Hermione clung to him, enjoying the feel of his bunching muscles beneath her fingertips, and his hardened cock against her belly. Pulling him gently, she guided him to her bedroom, which she had tidied up that day, just in case something like this should happen.

She pushed him to the bed, before happily crawling so her body straddling his waist, her core pressed against his hardness. Unconsciously, she began to rock back and forth against him, wanting some further friction.

Marcus reached behind her, unzipping her dress, freeing her from it, and Hermione found herself working on the little buttons that held his shirt together. Soon, they were completely divested of clothing, and Hermione couldn't help mewling at the feeling of his naked body pressed up against hers.

He rolled on top of her, taking his time to caress every inch of her, even making her giggle when his hands ran over her feet, which were particularly ticklish. Her laughs were silenced when one of his long fingers ran along her seam, collecting the wetness that he found and dipped slowly into her, hissing at the silky feel of her.

Marcus climbed up over her body and grasping his cock, slowly entered her, watching her face light up with tenderness as they began the gentle, rocking motion that joined the two of them together. Soon, the gentleness was not enough for either of them and he began to thrust harder, more insistently faster, determined to bring Hermione over the edge with him.

Her jerky hip movements were enough to tell him she was close, so he slipped a hand between them to rub the little ball of nerves at the top of her sex, leaving her keening in pleasure, her walls clenching around him rhythmically. With just a handful more thrusts, he found he was unable to stop himself from coming too, the tightness of her sex was too overwhelming for him.

Settling down next to her, Marcus pulled Hermione close to him, so that he could spoon her. Hermione found that she rather liked the feel of his sparse chest hair on her back, his semi-hard cock against the curve of her arse, and his breath tickling the skin of her neck. He kept one arm around her waist, pulling her tight against him.

"Marcus?" she whispered.

"Hmm?" he asked her, sleepily.

"Promise you won't slip out in the morning, without saying goodbye?" she asked him quietly.

She could practically feel him smiling into her hair. "Why do you think I am holding onto you so tightly, witch? I am not letting you go anywhere."