Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

Step Nine

By the end of the meal Sorcha had managed through sheer Slytherin will to forget that Hugo had managed to disarm, and Alexei wanted her gone so he didn't rub her face in it. He would at the next available opportunity, preferable around their family or her friends, but for now he was content to simply enjoy watching her work desperately to repress the memories of how this dinner had started.

And one of the ways she tried to distract them all was to ask Alexei what he was going to do to the healer who was responsible for his present circumstances, this ploy working very well as the two siblings were always happy to discuss ways to get payback, and Hugo naturally didn't want to contribute which made Sorcha happy because then she could easily ignore his presence.

Trying to be philosophical about it Hugo figured that sibling bonding was sibling bonding.

They were almost done their meal when Alexei had another memory slip, the Slytherin suddenly setting his chopsticks aside to study his surroundings with tense confusion, his eyes landing and holding on Hugo in a demand for answers.

'It's okay, Alexei' Hugo's eyes said back, holding Alexei's gaze steady. 'I've got this, and I'll explain after she's gone'.

Trust had Alexei nodding and returning his attention to his food, Sorcha none the wiser. Which was a good thing since he hated to appear weak and at a disadvantage in front of anyone. Hugo was here though so he could count on the other man to run interference as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on here. The last thing he remembered was sex-really hot and dirty sex and a house elf dropping off-wait…practice. He'd had Quidditch practice and something had gone wrong. It had screwed with his short term memory and that was why the other two people were here. Hugo was looking after him and his annoying sister had dropped in to check on him and bitch about the fact that he'd picked the Gryffindor over her as his contact person.

Okay, the memories were there which meant whatever lame brain spell his team's healer had used on him must be wearing off, thank Merlin. He could remember his immediate past, it was just a little jumbled up and out of order.

"So are you a sure you don't want me to stick around and send Weasley home?" In some small recess of her Slytherin heart Sorcha did love her brother, and the idea of leaving him behind to be looked after by Hugo Weasley struck her as wrong. Not that she thought this Gryffindor would hurt Alexei, he definitely wouldn't, but what if he used her brother's weakened state to brainwash him for Alexei's 'own good'. Alexei's head was thicker than most, but still…

"The only one leaving is you." Was said brother's blunt response to her concern for his wellbeing. "And you're keeping us from retiring for the evening."

Opening her mouth to point out that it was far too early to go to bed just yet Sorcha caught herself just in time, paling at just the thought of how traumatizing it would have been if she hadn't stopped herself in time. The mental images her brother would have put in her head-she felt nauseated.

"I'm going now."

"About time."

Shaking his head at the two of them, Hugo accompanied Sorcha to the door despite her protests that she was perfectly capable of leaving on her own, Alexei remaining behind after giving his sister an offhanded good bye. Ignoring her less than kind good bye Hugo said goodbye and then locked the door behind her for good measure. It would be best if she didn't wander in unannounced given the hot looks Alexei had been giving him earlier, though that might have just been his way of getting her to leave faster.

Returning to the parlor to help clean up the two soon had everything put away for the night and now had nothing that needed doing except each other.

"How bad was the memory blimp, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not too bad. Or at least it won't require me to draw and quarter Winters."

"Alexei…"

The look Alexei gave him made it clear that Hugo was out of his genius mind if he thought that he was going to let the healer off with something wimpy like a warning. Warnings after a transgression this big would be something a Hufflepuff would do. Even a Gryffindor wouldn't take this sort of thing lying down unless you were talking about the one in front of him.

"I take it a counter offer is necessary to save the healer then?"

"What?"

"I have to go get something from my place but I won't be more than a few minutes. I'll hurry back as quickly as I can."

Stealing a quick kiss Hugo grinned and was out of the room before Alexei could demand a better explanation.

)

Needless to say this was not the way to go about convincing him not to maim Winters, Alexei thought bad temperedly as he headed for the parlor, stretching out on the couch with his arms crossed pensively. Not to mention it was just damn annoying that Hugo seemed to care so much about the stupid healer when the person the Gryffindor should be lavishing all his attention on was him. If some idiot had dared to harm a hair on Hugo's curly head you could bet he'd be out for blood, not telling the man's family to show mercy. It went without saying that the world was more likely to end than Hugo Weasley go after someone for harming him, especially accidentally. Just look at the way the silly git tried so hard to get along with Sorcha even though it was a lost cause. Probably, anyway. The man's cuteness powers defied even his understanding sometimes.

Mulling over that, and how those powers had gotten to him over the years without Hugo hopefully ever realizing the affect he'd had, Alexei was just starting to get antsy when the knock came, the Slytherin mentally embarrassed at how quickly he got to his feet as he hurried to the door to answer it.

"You know, you should really always check who it is before you open a door. There are a lot of people who don't like you."

"Get your arse in here, Weasley."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you." Hugo pointed out as he lowered his head to steal a quick kiss before doing as ordered, putting away his jacket and footwear again before following Alexei into the man's front parlor with a book in his hand.

Snatching the book out of Hugo's hand Alexei waved it in front of the man's face without bothering to glance at the title as he demanded to know why Hugo had just had to retrieve the bloody thing, especially when he intended to keep the Gryffindor plenty busy with no time to read.

Hugo's angelic smile in response immediately tipped Alexei off that the curly haired menace was up to something.

"Well I thought we could work out a deal. I don't want you to do all those terrible things you and Sorcha were discussing to your team healer, but I know you won't just leave him alone because I asked you to. So I thought maybe a trade could be worked out instead." Hugo pointed to the book in Alexei's hand. "I've been saving that book in the hopes that I'd eventually run across a guy like you-"

Alexei scowl was formidable as he interrupted. "There are no other men like me."

"I haven't meant one who can compare yet." Hugo assured him. "But what I mean is that I've been saving this for a guy who treats me the way you do in bed, and that hasn't happened yet, so I haven't had the chance to put what I've learned in that book into practice. But you are you and if you're willing to promise me on your honor that you won't hurt your healer for what happened, well than I'd be willing to attempt anything visible in that book for as long as we're pretending to date each other."

Understanding dawning Alexei quit waving the book around and instead turned his attention to opening it and seeing what was inside. And as he flipped from page to page, his gaze lingering and eyes going bigger with every new set of detailed instructions and diagrams, Alexei had to work very hard not to blush or squirm.

He also had to clear his throat before he could ask why some of the pages were blank.

"Oh, I used magic to do that. I couldn't tear out the pages or vandalize the book, you know how I feel about that, so I just came up with a spell that prevents a reader from being able to see what was on the pages I wanted to block out. Those pages suggest doing things I'm not comfortable with, or refuse to do for moral reasons."

"Ah." Given some of the other pages he'd just read Alexei wasn't sure he wanted to know what the very adventurous and curious Gryffindor wasn't comfortable with.

"So do we have a deal?"

Flipping through a few more pages just for form, Alexei's lips curved into a seductively evil smile as he drawled out that Hugo could be as cunning as a Slytherin when he wanted to be.

Beaming at what he knew to be serious praise from Alexei, Hugo was decidedly not Slytherin as he flashed his dimples and asked if that was a yes."

"That's a hell yes." Wrapping one hand around the man's neck, Alexei pulled Hugo's head down for a heated kiss that left little to the imagination concerning his interest in trying out every available suggestion and position the book had to offer.

After snogging the hell out of his man, he hated to leave anything half done, Alexei pulled away and turned his attention back to the book, starting from the beginning as he started to evaluate what was there in order to decide what he wanted to do first.

Amused, Hugo moved to stand behind the Slytherin with his arms wrapped around the smaller man's waist, enjoying how their final heights made them fit together so nicely. Not that he would ever bring that up of course, but he let himself slide his hands under the thin shirt Alexei was wearing and started stroking his fingers over the man's taut stomach muscles in loving circles of encouragement.

Leaning back against Hugo naturally, knowing that he would be supported and kept upright if necessary, Alexei remembered page numbers as he went along until he decided that the rest could be looked over at his leisure. "Okay, first page ten, then fourteen, seventeen and twenty one for tonight."

Mentally reviewing those pages in his head Hugo smiled. "All that? We're not seventeen anymore, you know."

Eyes narrowing Alexei moved out of Hugo's grasp so that he could look up at the man who was apparently daring to suggest that he wasn't up to going all night if he wanted to. He'd damn well been able to do that when they were teenagers, and that hadn't changed, the Slytherin informed him in a voice that broke no argument.

"But we never went all night when we were students." Hugo pointed out automatically. "We never got off more than twice in each other's company, and even that wouldn't have been possible if not for the short refractory period of the average teenage boy."

"Are you questioning my ability to keep it up, Weasley?!"

"No." Hugo couldn't say that fast enough. "Of course not."

Punctuating every word with a finger poke to Hugo's chest Alexei ordered the man to get his pale arse into his bed right this instant. He'd show him just what kind of staying power he had.

Thinking to himself that this was either going to end really well or really badly for him and his pale arse, Hugo nodded in agreement and moved away to head for the bedroom, well aware of the fact that Alexei was on his heels and would no doubt give him a shove if he were to stop or question the Slytherin's edict.

Thankfully he had no intention of doing so.

)

They started stripping down to their skins as soon as they reached Alexei's bedroom, now not being the time for strip teases since Alexei's ego was smarting and the Slytherin felt he had something to prove. And boy did Hugo love it when his favorite badass felt like he had something to prove when it came to their sex life. He liked it even better when he was getting pushed onto a bed and straddled, Alexei looking particularly hot and predatory as he loomed over him before lowering his head for some serious snogging of the wet and dirty sort.

Not holding back a single whimper or groan, Alexei loved to hear what he did to him, Hugo didn't bother to even try to give as good as he was getting, surrendering instead to feed the flames and turn his man on that much harder. That he'd let Alexei do whatever he wanted to him was the clear message he was sending.

Pulling back once he'd reduced Hugo's intelligence to mere double digits, which naturally took some doing, Alexei smiled at the dazed look on the other man's face before asking if the Gryffindor was ready to give number ten a go.

It took Hugo longer than normal to process the simple question, but once he did he nodded and asked if they were keeping their current positions or moving to their sides.

"Stay where you are."

There was no graceful way to do this, so Alexei simply gave Hugo another hard kiss and then stood up, turned in one smooth motion, and then got back down on his knees and lowered his head.

Reaching out to wrap his fingers around Alexei's erection Hugo allowed himself a moment to appreciate the angle his own erection was being licked at before balancing his weight on one bent arm, turning his attention to returning the favor.

Once they both had their mouths very full the two men very quickly figured out that they weren't going to last long in this new position. Every sound of pleasure the one made was felt along the length of the other's erection, doubling the sensations and eroticism of what they were doing to each other. And they were both quick studies, adapting to their present positions and learning all over again how to best use the suction of their mouths, the swipe of their tongues, and the pain/pleasure of scraping teeth.

The greater the pleasure the more mindless they became to everything else, their hips naturally moving to try and thrust deeper into the wet heat of the other's mouths. His control not nearly as good as Alexei's at the moment Hugo started to thrust a little too deep, Alexei's hands immediately digging in and pinning them down to control the Gryffindor's movements, driving the man unexpectedly crazy in the process as Hugo made his pleasure in being held down known quite vocally, which felt amazing on Alexei's end.

Realizing in some corner of his still working brain what he'd done, Hugo made a mental note to apologize later and then moved his hands to Alexei's hips as well as a safety measure. Not that it would be long now, he could feel the coils of lust winding around and around, tighter and tighter, just waiting to snap and blow the world they were in together to kingdom come.

It was no surprise to either of them when Hugo came first, the Gryffindor automatically lowering his head so that he didn't choke as he orgasmed.

Alexei swallowing as much as he could, not caring about the mess they were making. There was still the matter of his own climax, but the man shuddering underneath him, moaning his name over and over in breathless, pleasure filled sighs had never left him hanging for long.

And indeed, Hugo's brain started firing on all thrusters pretty fast, the Gryffindor immediately turning his attention to taking Alexei back into his mouth and returning the favor, not having Alexei's mouth to distract him this time. And not having to worry about anything but concentrating on what Hugo was doing to him suited Alexei just fine, as did giving instructions as to exactly what he wanted and how he wanted it.

Needless to say the Slytherin's orgasm wasn't long coming.

And it would be a while before they considered number fourteen, but they did get to it. And seventeen…though they passed out after that.

But there was also tomorrow.

)

Looking at Hugo the next morning, the other man's face buried in his pillow the way it had been for quite a while, Alexei lay on his back and reaching out stroked his hand up and down the man's back with a very pleased look on his face. Last night had been…there just were no words. The only negative aspect had been the realization that they could have been having nights like they'd just had for years if things had been different. It was one more nail in his coffin so to speak, but Alexei couldn't be bothered to bring himself to care about that as he shifted over to place his lips against the spot just under the curls that brushed against his lover's neck.

On a sound of pleasure Hugo rolled over to his side, holding out his arms in a beseeching manner as he opened his eyes to half mast, a soft smile on his face.

Giving a sigh just for effect Alexei let himself be drawn in, his voice barely above a murmur as he stated that for the record he was only allowing this because of all the sex.

Rubbing his jaw over the Slytherin's fine black hair as they cuddled, Hugo made another content sound before assuring Alexei that he understood perfectly.