Hello All!

This chapter should have been up a long time ago, but I seriously wrote it about five different ways before I was truly happy with it.

I'd like to thank all of the people who read, comment, follow, and favorite this story. It means the world to me and the support is always appreciated.

A quick thank you goes out to my beta, firefly81, who does a tremendous job of helping me correct all of my mistakes.

I own nothing.

Chapter Twenty

Hermione woke up in muted daylight, the gray curtains doing their best to filter out the harsh morning sun. Looking to her bedside clock, she saw it was ten in the morning, but still felt a tad bit exhausted. Abraxas was pressed up against her back with his nose buried in her hair and his arm wrapped around her. He was also snoring, but not in an obnoxious way like her father tended to when he fell asleep on the couch in front of the television. No, his snoring was quiet and rhythmic.

Yawning, she mentally took stock. Aside from being fatigued, she felt wonderful, given her current situation. There was a little soreness on her part in areas that had never been sore before, but the pain was manageable. She also was in desperate need of the loo, a shower, and a good teeth brushing. However, those things would require getting up so she decided that she would stick it out. Hermione didn't want to wake the dark haired man and would have been delighted if she would never have to move from the spot at all.

As if he had heard her thinking about him, he shifted slightly, pulling her closer to him while mumbling before his snores returned. She smiled, wondering if he knew how cute he was when he was sleeping.

Eventually, she lost the battle with her pressing bladder and reluctantly tried to pry her way out of his arms while trying not to wake him. Her efforts were futile when almost instantly his snoring stopped and the strong-arm around her waist tightened. A second later, he relaxed and moaned what sounded faintly like her name in a questioning tone, and she grinned. The man really was adorable when he was half asleep. "I need to use the loo," she murmured softly. "Please let me go."

Abraxas barely registered her request and made a sleepy sound of protest, but retracted his arm so that the witch would not wet the bed. When he felt the loss of her heat, he burrowed himself deeper into the blankets. Hermione watched on fondly while padding naked across the room to the bathroom. Quickly, she relieved herself and then set about cleaning up. She wasn't surprised to find a smear of dried blood on the inside of her thighs along with the rest of the mess and it only took a few minutes for her to clean up. She also brushed her teeth before deciding that her hair was a lost cause and headed back to the bedroom.

Abraxas had woken up in her absence and when she came back in the room he rolled over onto his back with his eyes open. "Don't close the door. I need to get up too," he mumbled, while yawning widely. However, the man made no attempt to leave his warm cocoon other than to lift his head to watch her. His sleepy mercury eyes glittered and the expression on his face made her smile for the thousandth time that morning.

Once he finally forced himself out of bed, she quickly took his warm spot and burrowed herself in the blankets much like he had, while idly watching his arse as he left the room. She was sure she saw nail marks on his shoulders, but hoped that there was some chance she was just seeing things. Inhaling his intoxicating scent, she vaguely wondered what was going to happen now. She really did not want any awkwardness between them to soil her good mood, but she really hadn't a clue to how things would go.

Her inner musings were disrupted by Abraxas' return into the bedroom. He looked more awake with his now clean and shaven face. If he felt self-conscious at all, he didn't show it. She continued to stare at him as he closed the door and pivoted back towards the bed. His body was all muscle, lean and smooth lines that were hard at the touch. Her eyes moved downward and she caught a glimpse of his impressive erection before forcing herself to look back up towards his face.

Smirking, he leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed at his chest and when her brown eyes finally came back to his, he cocked an eyebrow. "Like what you see?" he asked huskily. She vaguely remembered him asking her the same question on the night of her birthday while they were dancing.

"Yes." Her answer the same as it was then and was pleased when his eyes glittered with love and flickered with lust. Grinning mischievously at him, she scooted over and yanked the blankets down. "What are you waiting for? Get over here already."

Chuckling, he slid back into bed and snaked an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. Abraxas was perfectly happy lying in bed with her. He had no regrets about last night and was over the moon with their newly found intimacy. He smiled when she snuggled closer to him and lifted her face to his for a kiss. Both of their mouths tasted of toothpaste and it took a few languid kisses for them to taste each other once again.

Her arms came up to twine around his neck and she lifted her leg to wrap around his waist. He groaned in pleasure as he nipped at the contour of her neck, his hands sliding over her soft skin. Caressing the arch of her thigh and hip, he nuzzled the indention where her neck met her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

She ran her fingers through his messy hair. "Wonderful. But if you're talking about soreness then I'm fine, really."

"Good," he purred and moved lower on her body. He kissed her breasts as his long fingers circled and teased the inside of her thigh slowly before taking one of her nipples into his mouth. After a beat, he gently slipped one finger and then another inside her, and his cock grew painfully hard when he heard her whimper in need.

Eventually, Abraxas moved away, shifting to hold himself above her. She reached up to push his messy hair away from his face. He smiled down at her, his eyes soft and warm as he lowered his body down onto hers and his lips met hers. Shutting her eyes, she moaned into his mouth and lifted her hips to meet his. Taking the hint, he entered her with a groan, finding it so much easier than the night before.

Hermione was grateful that she did not have to suffer through the sharp piercing she had felt last night. The slight burn and stretch of being penetrated only lasted for less than a minute before her hips began moving of their own accord to match his gentle thrusts.

"All right?" She heard him ask, his hips rocking against hers.

"Yes," she all but moaned in response, moving her arms up to latch onto his neck.

Abraxas took her with slow and gentle strokes, enjoying the feeling of being inside her. Her warm depth welcomed him while they moaned and groaned with every thrust. Both found an easy rhythm and like the night before, they had never experienced anything like they were now.

Their pleasure continued to grow more and more, tenderly calling out to each other as they continued to get lost in pleasure. Together, they increased their pace, both seeking out their release.

"Abraxas, harder, please…"

Doing as she requested, he lifted her by the hips and slammed into her harder and harder, giving her what she wanted. Hermione screamed when the new angle brushed inside and against her in a way that set every nerve ending aflame. It only took a few more deep strokes before their intimate rhythm became too overwhelming.

Gripping his hair tightly, Hermione let out a guttural moan as her body twitched and jerked wildly against his. Abraxas never noticed the tugging of his hair as he exploded into Hermione's body, feeling her walls tightening and contracting around his cock.

Trying to catch her breath as she snuggled against him, she smiled against his sweaty chest and relaxed while her nerves still hummed from aftershocks. "Can we please just lie in bed for the rest of the day?" she asked lazily.

"We could, but eventually we would have to get up for trivial things like food, water, the loo, the shower…" he drifted off, his fingers combing gently through her unruly hair.

"Spoilsport," she huffed and smiled when he chuckled.

"Hey, someone here has to be realistic." He stretched sluggishly, making his body into one long line, and held it for a second before relaxing lazily with a deep sigh. "Besides, I think Jack is going to stop by sometime today and I do not relish the idea of having him in bed with us as well."

Giggling, she settled closer into the comfort of his arms. "Why is he going to stop by?"

"Because he mentioned something about furniture shopping for the new house yesterday and wants me to go with him," he replied. "Merlin forbid we just take a bunch of boxes and transfigure them into what we need."

Hermione laughed. "Maybe you could talk him into just doing that."

"Not bloody likely, but please, be my guest," he commented blandly, turning more onto his side so that he could rest his cheek against her hair. "Knowing him, he'd probably agree if someone else suggested it other than me."

Letting her eyes close, she listened to the thumping rhythm of his heartbeat. She was tired enough that she could have easily fallen back to sleep, but her brain refused to shut down. "Abraxas?"

"Mmm…" he responded sleepily, too lazy to form words at the moment.

"Is sex always like that?" she asked abashedly, burying her face into his chest, trying not to blush at her question.

"No, it's never been like that for me," he replied honestly.

"Then how can you be... I mean… I know that I couldn't have been that good…" she whispered, nuzzling her face farther into his chest.

"What?" Abraxas asked moving so that he could try to see her face. He gingerly tried to move some of her tangled hair out of the way. "Hermione, are you asking me if I enjoyed myself?"

"I guess I am," she murmured, desperately trying to keep the blush off of her face.

Abraxas couldn't believe what the little witch next to him was asking. He couldn't even begin to describe how wonderful it had been with her and the absurdity of her question made laughter bubble up in his chest. However, he kept it at bay, knowing that she would mistake his laughter as an insult. "Do you have any idea of how bloody stupid that question is?" he purred, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Believe me when I say that I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. Why, in the name of Merlin, are you even asking?"

She paused for a moment, but finally conceded that she needed the extra reassurance. He hadn't been reluctant to have a repeat performance this morning, yet that didn't stop her from having her doubts. "I…"

"Go on."

Sighing, she told him softly, "I guess I was wondering if it was as good for you as it was for me."

"You have no reason to worry. In fact, if either of us should be fretting, it should be me. I was terrified of having you wake up in the morning and regret what we had done," he whispered anxiously.

"I don't," she said, answering his unasked question.

"That's good to hear," he said yawning and nuzzled closer to her. "Last night was one of the best nights of my life, excluding the fact that I had to duel two moronic twits, and this morning was equally fantastic. I have no clue as to what makes our couplings so intense, but I've learned not to look a gifted horse in the mouth. Have I sated your doubts?"

"You have, thank you," she answered before propping herself up on her elbow. She reached out and touched his face gently, tracing the arch of his eyebrows down to his cheekbone and raked her hand through his tousled hair. She noted that her own hair was probably not much better, but tried not to worry about it too much.

Noticing that his gaze had drifted downward, she chuckled, and slipped her fingers under his chin. "My eyes are up here."

Abraxas smirked at her unapologetically as his hands started to wander underneath the tangled bedding. "You cannot blame me for being the tiniest bit distracted," he murmured, his hand gliding lower as he leaned forward to kiss her softly.

Hermione pulled back after several minutes with a breathless laugh. "Again?" She had no idea how long it took for men to recover, but apparently it didn't take him very long.

"Oh, Poppet. You have so much to learn," he purred, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer once again.

The rest of their morning passed by slowly in a post-coital daze filled with snuggling, snoozing, and sharing things with each other that they hadn't discussed before. It was one of the best mornings either could ever remember having, but like all good things, it eventually came to an end. Reluctantly, both eventually dragged themselves out of bed for a shower and a late lunch, they climbed down the stairs and into their old routine.

When the front door opened and closed with a slam a few hours later, they were in the kitchen; Abraxas' eyes were glued to a book that he had found lying on the counter while Hermione put away the leftovers from their meal. They both shared a look of confusion as to who could have entered the house, but the person made himself known before either could whip out their wands.

"ABRAXAS LUCIUS MALFOY!" Jack Hawthorne yelled, his words echoing throughout the house.

Shit. What did I do? "In the kitchen!" Abraxas yelled back and wanted to laugh at the expression of worry on Hermione's face.

The angry blonde strode into the room and Hermione could practically feel the anger rolling off him in waves. She had seen him upset before, but this was entirely different. She caught his gaze for a second before he turned to face Abraxas.

"You! Do you have any idea what I've been through this morning?" Jack accused, with a menacing finger pointing in his direction.

Abraxas shook his head as he stared at his oldest friend, cocking his head to the side when he noticed a flicker of relief in his green eyes. "Jack, what the devil are you talking about?"

"I sent an owl to your house this morning about meeting in Diagon Alley so we could go shopping. I waited for you to show up for an hour before I started to worry. I've been just about everywhere looking for you and for once in my life, I can actually claim myself an idiot because I should have just come here first. It's obvious you've been shacked up here since I dropped you off yesterday. Merlin, why didn't I just come here first?" Jack said with a sigh and scrubbed a hand through his shaggy hair while his anger slowly faded away.

"What?" Abraxas choked out and he exchanged another look with Hermione; her face was flushed, but her eyes were smiling, dazzling him from a distance. He maintained eye contact with her for a few more seconds before diverting his attention back to Jack. "How is it obvious?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You both are sporting matching love bites, Hermione is wearing a man's t-shirt tucked into her jeans that looks suspiciously like your size, and your hair isn't done to its usual standard so you must not have had your hair products handy when you woke up this morning. Need I go on?"

"No, you do not," Hermione answered, rubbing her neck abashedly. Was it really that transparent?

"Hermione," Jack said softly, coming to stand in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She looked up into his eyes and was shocked to see them shining with glee. "I didn't mean to offend you. I am honestly happy for the both of you. You two obviously care about each other very much and I, for one, am glad you found one another."

"Thank you, Jack," she replied warmly and before she could stop herself, she wrapped both arms around Jack's waist and pulled him in for a hug.

Abraxas chuckled at the sight before him and watched as his friend stiffened before returning her hug awkwardly.

"Okay, that's enough soppiness for one day," Jack said sarcastically a few minutes later as he detangled himself from the curly haired witch and gave her a small smile.

"If you say so," Hermione said cheekily and looked to Abraxas, who was also smiling at the two of them. Remembering what they had discussed earlier that morning, Hermione asked Jack, "Furniture shopping, eh? Wouldn't it just be cheaper and easier to transfigure boxes or something into what you needed?

Jack shifted his head back and forth as if he was having an internal debate with himself while Abraxas watched him with narrowed eyes in anticipation of hearing his answer.

"You know, brother, she does have a point," Jack said with confusion written all over his face when Hermione began to laugh and Abraxas looked furious.

Hermione wasn't sure what would happen that night, the boys had left the house to run some errands, and she hadn't had any time to discuss it with Abraxas. As the day progressed into night, she had slowly started to over think things and became more worked up by the minute. Being alone with only her mind for company was a dangerous thing for her and it didn't help that her situation had become so precarious. Her mind played out all kinds of scenarios for her and she was sure that it would be the death of her. Just when she had finally managed to convince herself that everything was fine and to go to sleep, she heard the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs. She couldn't keep the smile off of her face as the door opened and her wizard stepped in, tossing a bag near the bed as he closed the door quietly.

"Hello to you too," she said softy, and heard him chuckle as he ambled across the room to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What are you still doing up? I thought you'd be asleep by now," he murmured playfully, shifting to look at her before dragging his shirt over his head.

Abraxas had spent the rest of his day arguing with Jack over pointless things, ranging from china patterns to hand towels. Though Hermione had talked his friend out of furniture shopping, she did not talk him out of shopping for the other things they needed. He agreed that they couldn't just transfigure everything that they needed, but a man could dream. He had expected Hermione to be asleep by the time he came back to her, but was pleasantly surprised when she wasn't.

He was brought back to the present when he felt Hermione's small hand touch his back, she had ignored his question and he vaguely wondered why as a finger slid down his spine. He shivered at her gentle exploration and frowned when her touching stopped as she came to the waistband of his dark jeans. "What's in the bag?" He heard her ask softly, his erection hardening in the confines of his pants.

"Clothes, shoes, and other toiletries. I can't keep transfiguring what I need so I just popped over to the Manor and packed a bag," he said absentmindedly, leaning back to undo his belt before standing to remove his jeans. By the tone of his voice, she could tell that his mind was elsewhere, which she could empathize with since her own thoughts had begun to wander as well. Biting her lower lip anxiously, she fought the need to fidget before shifting so that she could give him space to slide into bed beside her.

"I haven't been able to focus on anything else all day. And it's all your fault, Abraxas," she murmured between kisses.

"Guilty as charged," he replied huskily against her skin, before putting an end to all further attempts at conversation with exceptional expertise.

Aren't they cute? Please Review.