The shock that had rooted him to the spot released him just as suddenly as it had come, and he took three quick strides into her room, vaguely aware that he had slammed the door shut behind him without touching it. It felt good to feel his raw power course through him in that second, to feel the spark light as excitement coursed through his body. Another two large steps and he was pressing his body against Hermione's from behind, one hand pressing against her lower abdomen to keep her against him, the other sliding up her soft skin, running between her breasts, following the lines of her neck, until he could push her face to meet his, and she started to kiss him again.

Too long. It had been too long since he had felt the kind of rush he was feeling just then, all excitement, nerves, and anticipation without the resignation he had felt for... he couldn't really remember the last time there wasn't that feeling of emotional surrender. He could feel Hermione responding to his touches, felt her own excitement, the lust coursing through her. She was watonly pressing herself against him, her hips moving back and forth as she could feel him growing behind her, her hand wound firmly into his hair. Her other hand reached behind her and, in a practiced motion she unclasped her bra and let go of him long enough to slide the straps from her arms and toss the garment aside. He stopped kissing her to look down, a groan escaping his lips. His fingers traced over the mounds with a feather-light touch, her nipples beginning to harden with just a brush of his digits.

"They're not breakable, you know," she murmured.

He responded by rolling one of her peaks between a thumb and forefinger, and she hissed her pleasure in response. He traced her neck with his lips as he moved his other hand so he could play with both breasts, inwardly smiling as the lust radiating from her surged.

She let him go on for a few minutes before muttering, "You are entirely over-dressed for this." Before he could say anything she turned, tugging his tunic up and over his head and letting it fall behind him. Her eyes ran slowly over his body, a smile running over her lips, though she paused when she saw the large, jagged scar in his side.

"Is that where...?" she started, but she didn't finish.

"Yes," he replied, concerned.

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"Good," she smiled up at him. "I don't want to do something that would hurt you."

Something shifted behind his eyes, and he lifted her face to kiss her again, feeling his power wrap around her and pull her to him, though if she objected to his shows of force she didn't say anything. Rather her hands went to his waist, tugging at at his belt and pushing his pants down so she could take him in her hand. He let off a growl, and she broke off their kiss with a chuckle.

"Been a while?" she asked

His eyes narrowed but a smirk played across his lips.

She started to kiss lower, down his chest, as she lowered herself to her knees. For a long moment she knelt there, looking up at him, as his body grew more tense in anticipation. Still looking up at him she slowly moved forward, and he hissed in appreciation as her tongue darted out and ran over his tip. Then she licked her lips and moved forward again, taking him as far into her mouth as possible. He swore in several languages and his hands flew behind him to steady himself on her night table, and he could feel her chuckle in the back of her throat. She quickly set herself into a slow but steady rhythm, his eyes watching her every move hungrily, as though he were certain there wouldn't be another time.

"Enough," he said finally, pulling her off him by gently pulling her hair back. She stood, a satisfied smile playing across her face, and slowly removed her skirt and knickers. She pushed him gently onto the bed, and motioned for him to lean back against the pillows. Then she climbed atop him, positioning herself over his straining cock. She took his hand and guided it between her legs, using her fingers on top of his to show him how she liked to be touched. He moved his fingers, circling her nub a few times before probing her entrance, finding her wet and ready for him. As he circled her nub once more she took a hold of his erection and lowered herself onto him.

He groaned as her heat wrapped around him, and she closed her eyes and let her head fall back as she took all of him in. His hands slid up her sides and pulled her down as she started moving slowly atop him, sliding herself back and forth along his length. He kissed whatever skin he could reach, his hands running up and down her back, holding her to him. When she fell into a rhythm he started lifting his hips to meet hers, earning him a hiss of satisfaction before she started kissing him again. At one point she sat up, placing her hands on his chest as she started to ride him faster, bouncing more than sliding, and his hands came around to play with her breasts as he watched her face in fascination. Time was meaningless, he wasn't sure if she had been on top of him for hours or mere minutes when her body began to shake and she began to tighten. He pulled her back to him, holding her hips as he thrust up into her as her breathing became uneven, her head fell back, and she clenched around him. Seconds later her body released with a moan, her inner walls pulsing against him, bringing him to his own climax. Her movements slowed until the last vestiges of her orgasm were gone completely, at which point she found herself looking down at him, biting her lip as she smiled. His hand wound into her hair as he pulled her down to kiss her, and she threw herself into the kiss until she became acutely aware of the ache in her arms. She slid herself off him and laid next to him, kissing him again before resting her head against his chest.

"Thank you," she murmured. "That was..." she trailed off with a sigh.

"Long needed," he replied.

"Mm-hmm," she purred in tired agreement.

He held her for several quiet minutes, fingers softly tracing along the skin of her back.

"Hermione?" he asked as her breathing started to slow.

"Yes?" she replied softly.

"If we're trying to keep it from Hux..." he started, but she cut him off with a sigh.

"I know," she lifted herself to look at him. "It's just hard to want to end this right now. Hold me a couple more minutes?"

He couldn't help but comply.

XXXXXXX

Hux hadn't gotten to where he had been by being unobservant. With so many under his command and a planet-sized operation to run he had to be able to scan his surroundings constantly and notice things that might have been out of place. So when he walked into the room after his evening run he immediately noticed something was amiss. Hermione's teaching robe was discarded haphazardly on the chair. Hermione was meticulous in her care of her things. She always hung her robes up outside her room, where the elves could launder it and keep it looking neat. For her to toss it on the chair meant that she was in a hurry for some reason. There were several reasons why that might be, but her door was closed, which meant she wanted privacy and his query would have to wait until morning. He picked up the robe, intending to hang it for her, when he noticed what lie beneath it.

"Damn," he muttered, a surge of anger flashing over him but ebbing quickly. Ren was meticulous about putting that damn helmet and saber away in their room when he was out, which meant that he was in the quarters, but a quick glance confirmed it wasn't their room Ren was in. Hux looked up at Hermione's closed door, and tried not to imagine what was going on behind it. He carefully placed the robe back where he found it so it looked close enough to the manner in which he found it, then strode across the room, paused long enough in his room to grab his night clothes, then went in to shower. He was sure that Hermione or Ren could keep from hearing him, but he still made a point to knock things around a bit more than usual. When he was finished he dressed for bed and took a seat in the sitting room, reading a book Hermione said she recommended for young Muggle-borns that gave an introduction to life as a witch or wizard. To his chagrin it took Ren nearly two hours to emerge from Hermione's room, at which point exhaustion was threatening to take over and he could not recall the many snide comments he had planned to say.

"So much for keeping it secret," Ren grumbled, closing the door but not moving away from it.

"You did this on purpose," Hux accused.

Ren glared at him for a moment and Hux briefly regretted not hiding the saber. "If I thought there was something I could say to convince you otherwise, I'd bother, but since I doubt there is..." Ren trailed off without finishing.

"How long?" he asked.

"Today," he admitted.

"Why?"

"I don't need to justify anything to you," Ren snapped.

"You knew I was interested in her."

"She's not a piece of property, and you did not have a claim."

Hux's eyes narrowed. "Did you do anything to help... persuade her?"

Immediately after saying it he knew it was the wrong thing. A sudden cold swept the room, and he had to fight his instinct to run.

"What is going on in here?" Hermione shouted, wrenching the door open while wearing nothing but her robe pulled tight around her. She took a second to appraise the situation as the cold retreated, and her eyes met Hux's. He could see a love-bite on her collarbone and he felt his resolve deflate. He put the book face-down on the arm of the chair and stood.

"My apologies, Miss Granger," he murmured before turning and striding into his bedroom and closing the door.

"What was that?" she asked Ren.

"He knows," he replied.

"And you fought?" she raised an eyebrow.

His eyes flicked to his bedroom door. "We... exchanged words."

She looked skeptical and sighed. "I'm going to make myself some tea. Why don't you go to bed?"

Realizing she needed a moment alone Ren nodded, and started towards his room.

"No..." she stopped him. "Not that room."

He looked at her and she flashed him a half-smile.

"The last thing I need is you two... exchanging words again. Go ahead, I'll be in soon."

He touched her face lightly before following directions, and she closed the door behind him. She took a few seconds to assess the situation, then moved to the small kitchen where she put a kettle on to boil. After setting everything else out to make her tea she moved into the sitting area, where she picked up the book Hux had left, picking up a bookmark off the coffee table and preparing to mark it when she glanced at the page. What Hux had been reading about stopped her in her tracks. Frowning, she sat on the arm of the chair and started reading herself, biting her lip and reading the three-page passage twice before furrowing her brow in thought.

"Miss Granger?" Hux's voice made her jump and slam the book closed, and she turned to look at him, fighting a blush.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Is everything alright? Your teapot has been whistling for a while..."

"Damn," she grumbled, hurrying over to take it off the burner and pour into her cup. "And I'm fine," she added as she poured.

"Okay," he nodded, though his tone made it clear he didn't believe her. "Good night, Miss Granger."

"Since when am I 'Miss Granger'?" she asked.

"I thought, perhaps, a more formal title..."

"Please don't give me that cock-and-bull story," she shook her head. "You had no problem calling me by my name before, what changed?"

He was silent for a moment before he replied, softly, "I meant no offense. I know... circumstances have changed recently."

"What happened between Ren and I shouldn't have to change things between us," she interrupted.

"If only things were that simple. Good night... Hermione."

She bit her lip and turned back to her tea, not noticing his glance toward the book before he retired again.

XXXXXXXXX

"Good-bye, Mrs. Lehry, I look forward to corresponding with you again next term," Hermione forced a smile as she ushered the older woman from her classroom after what had felt like two hours of inane chatter.

"I'll write as soon as term starts!" the woman smiled jovially.

"Have a good summer!" Martha Lehry called as she nearly skipped down the hall.

"Tell Alex congratulations again!" Hermione called before shutting the door, then sighing and leaning against it.

"Long day?" Ren's voice preceded him into the room as he strode in from hiding in her office.

"Graduation always is," she replied, walking to him and leaning against his chest. "Everything having to look perfect, and then the ceremony takes so long, and after families always seem to want to talk..."

"I notice whoever Alex is, he didn't want to talk."

"Alex is celebrating graduation with Miss Bauner in greenhouse three, but I'm not about to tell Mrs. Lehry that," she smirked. "There's a good chance Neville has chased them out already anyways. As long as they're not trying to hide in my room they're no longer my concern." She waved her wand around, causing what was left of the room to pack itself up and neatly put itself into a closet. "There," she smiled as she waved her wand, locking the closet door. "All I have to do is finish all my grading and go to a half dozen staff meetings and I'm free until the end of August."

"Do you have a staff meeting now?" he asked.

"Not yet, not until the last straggling families leave," she sighed, starting towards the door. "But I should probably go out and see if they need help putting things away outside..."

She was tugged back by an invisible force, and had just enough time to send a quick spell to lock her door before finding herself in Ren's arms again. He didn't waste any time, ripping her robe from her and tossing it behind him. Without a word he pulled the zipper of her dress down in the back, pulling one of the straps down so he could attack the bared skin with kisses and nips. She let her head fall back onto his shoulder and she brought her hand up to run through his hair, smiling as he let off a soft noise as she gently tugged his strands. His lips explored every inch of her exposed skin as one hand played with her breasts through the fabric of her dress, and she involuntarily bucked her hips against his, feeling him growing against her backside. He occasionally pushed her face towards his so their mouths could meet, tongues running against each others, before he'd stray away again, tongue running the length of her neck before leaving a love bite above her collarbone.

"Bedroom?" she practically begged, writhing against his cock.

"I have no intentions of walking that far," he chuckled against her skin, and his hand found the hem of her dress, pulling it quickly up around her waist as his other hand pushed her forward. Her hands flew in front of her, coming down hard on one of the desks and resting on her forearms, and she spread her legs slightly to steady herself. She wasn't sure if it was his hands or magic that pulled her knickers down, and she was sure the next sensation would be him pushing into her, but instead she felt his tongue slide along her folds.

"Bloody hell," she hissed, her eyes closing and her forehead resting against the cool wood of the desk as he tongue explored her, circling her nub before probing her entrance, then repeating. When she started pushing back against him as she started to feel her orgasm coming on he slipped two fingers into her, circling her nub with his thumb as he kissed and nipped at her thighs and arse. She gripped the edge of the desk as her body tensed, clenching around his fingers as they moved inside her, before she let off a loud cry as her climax crashed over her. Ren's kept moving until she finally slumped against the desk, unsure of her own strength.

"Please," she murmured, reaching back for him as she heard him fumbling to remove enough of his clothing to release himself, and she felt him slide into her as his arm circled her waist and gently pulled her up toward him. He pulled the dress over her head as he moved in her, and he returned to kissing whatever part of her skin he could reach, bending and twisting her body to give him access as his lips and tongue ran over her. One of his hands played with her breasts as the other rested on her hip, pulling her back with each thrust, and she held one hand on the desk and the other on his thigh to steady herself and keep up with his increasing pace, her moans echoing softly off the stone walls of her room.

"Ren," she whispered as, once again, she felt the familiar coiling in her lower abdomen. His pace increased slightly as the hand that was on her hip slid around to play with her clit as her fingers dug into his flesh. Her second orgasm came just as explosively as the first, and it was all she could do to support herself on shaky arms against the desk as he pushed deep into her, letting off a soft growl as he came. He leaned forward against her, chest heaving, as they both took a moment to recover. Then he kissed her shoulder, neck, and finally mouth before sliding from her.

"That was needed," she sighed as her dress flew from where he had flung it to his open hand and he held it to her. He chuckled at something on the ground as he fastened his pants once more and she slid the dress over her head.

"I'm going to have to apologize for these," he said, holding his hand out again as her knickers came to him. She could tell they had been torn in at least two places.

"That's nothing that can't be fixed or replaced," she shrugged.

Suddenly a cat patronus burst into the room, sitting on the desk Hermione had just been leaning against.

"Professor Granger," McGonagall's voice sounded sharply. "If you don't mind joining our staff meeting..."

"Damn," Hermione hissed, already moving. "We must have been at it longer than I thought! I'll be back late, don't wait up for me!" she called as she hurried out the door.

Ren looked at the knickers still in his hand and smirked, shoving them into his pocket. He decided to head to London through the vanishing cabinet Hermione had to get Hux to the library. Neither Hux nor Hermione knew that he also used the thing, because he didn't want them to know and was more than happy to have them think he was destroying things in the forest. He didn't go to the city to find books, or visit shops, or get something to eat, skills Hux was quickly learning. Rather he visited to watch the people. His whole life had been about something bigger than himself, with no time to show concern for individuals or small groups, and now that he occasionally had some time he enjoyed just watching and comparing it to what he had known. One of his favorite moments was watching a couple argue while sitting in a park. When his mother and father had argued there was always restraint on her mind and escape on his, so things were short, terse, and they would separate from each other before anything got very heated, though he could always sense that things were would grow and explode when he wasn't in the vicinity. And, really, Han and Leia were the only two people he could really base a relationship on, since he didn't really have exposure to any other couples. Watching the random couple argue, though, was so much different. The woman was emotional, almost to the point where Ren was sure she was playing some of her emotions up, and the man seemed to thrive on the reactions she would give. He found the whole thing ridiculous and hilarious, but it got him thinking about Hermione, and whatever relationship they had. Around here they would be deemed lovers, two people who had sex and some level of emotional connection, though no true formal relationship. Hermione seemed overly cautious about putting labels on what was between them. Labels meant something. They were an announcement to others. So far only Hux knew, and he didn't seem particularly eager to tell any of the other people he occasionally spoke to about what was happening in their private quarters.

He didn't return to their quarters until after dark, stalking through the now empty corridors with a certainty that only came from spending enough time to learn the secrets of the place. Hermione's doors opened before him, the wards so attuned to his comings and goings that the minute amount of effort it took to open them without touch hardly registered anymore. Hux barely looked up from a journal he was writing in, and Ren didn't hesitate as he walked into Hermione's room. She was asleep on the bed, fingers curled around a book. He carefully moved the book away from her, marking it and setting it on the table and climbed into bed next to her. He was about to extinguish the lamps when it happened.

Ren... her voice was soft and sensual, coming in the kind of low moan she usually gave when he was buried inside her. He propped himself up on one elbow and watched her, but she hadn't appeared to move .

Ren... it came again, a little louder and in a tone that immediately sent a jolt through his body to rest in his groin. Hermione had never made that noise outside the bedroom, he was sure of it, and her lips hadn't moved at all. It was then he realized she was projecting, the sound was inside her mind and he could hear it as clearly as if she were speaking it. His brow furrowed and he frowned. Hermione never projected, her mental wards were nearly perfect, but still, as the sound of his name came through his mind a third time he was sure she was calling for him. His fingers trembled slightly as he held them above her temple, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

The gate was open. The gate was never opened, not once in the times he had tried to probe her mind, but there it was, opened just enough for him to slip inside. The castle above was dark, save for a very faint glow, almost like a single torch he could just see flickering inside the door. A few steps, too few, took him across the grounds and up the steps into the entrance hall. All the figures he had once seen were barely recognizable in the dark, save for two faces near the front that seemed to have the faintest of light on them. The red hair and carefully crafted features of Hux were recognizable at a distance, but the figure next to him... it took Ren a moment to recognize himself. Or, at least, the version of himself in Hermione's mind. He was different, standing tall and confident despite being as motionless as a mannequin. The scar still crossed his face, but it looked diminished, as though Hermione barely took notice of it. An odd smile played across his lips, and it was only when he attempted to mimic the feature that he realized it was the look he gave Hermione whenever she smiled at him. Involuntarily his fingers started to move towards her mind's version of him, curious to see what happened when the figure sprang to life...

Ren! her voice cried out, this time making him instantly hard. That was the cry Hermione gave as she came apart in his arms, her core fluttering around him, her eyes closed in ecstasy. He turned, and saw the strange glow disappearing down a flight of stairs that was never part of the castle, and he made the immediate decision to run after it. Down, down it went, the stairs seemingly endless, the occasional moan, hiss, or giggle that was so deliciously Hermione sounding through the stone corridors.

He emerged in what must be the dungeon area of the castle, a place he rarely saw but one he suddenly felt intimately familiar with. The glow was coming steadily from a room on his left, and he could hear the sounds of Hermione's pleasure coming from inside.

"Come, Ren!" she called, and he didn't need to take a step before he was standing in the open door. He saw Hermione riding a figure, body dancing slowly over her lover's as she took her time, and all Ren could see of her lover was his hands clutching at her sides. She looked up at Ren and smiled.

"Come, Ren," she beckoned, crooking her finger as well. "Join us."

Ren took a couple steps into the room and saw it wasn't himself who was under Hermione, but Hux, his eyes hungrily roaming Hermione's body as his chest glistened with sweat. They had obviously been in this dream-like place for a while, as a number of love bites adorned her body and he had several scratches down his chest and arms.

"Join you?" Ren asked, surprised that he didn't feel any anger at that moment. He moved so he was next to the pair, kneeling down to look into Hermione's face. She leaned forward and gave him a slow, passionate kiss.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips. "I want to taste you, feel you..."

"Both of us?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Together?"

"Yes," she hissed, running her fingers down his chest as his clothes disappeared under her touch. He moved back, confused, but noticed his image remained there, kissing him, touching him, running one hand over his chest and the other over Hux's. He watched as she kissed them both, took Ren into her mouth, bent over so he could slide himself into her arse...

He left the room, and walked though the castle and across the grounds in a daze.

When he exited her mind he stared down at her, but nothing had changed. She was still sleeping in the same position she had been before, though, was he imagining it? Was that a tiny, satisfied smile playing on her lips?

He lowered himself onto the bed, extinguishing the lamps before taking her in his arms. Sleep would not come easily that night, he had too much to think about.