So this is it, my friends! The end of this fic of mine. It's the first HP multi-chap slash fic I've ever done, and I'm quite proud of it. I hope you enjoy, and I apologize for the immense wait.
This chapter contains solo and slash sexual situations and language. Feedback is, as ever, appreciated!
In you and I there's a new land
Angel's in flight
My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah
Where fears and lies melt away
I watch you fast asleep
All I fear means nothing
My heart's a battleground
You show me how to see
That nothing is whole and nothing is broken
In you and I there's a new land
Angel's in flight
My fears and lies
Melt away
"You're barking!" Ginny said, staring at Harry in disbelief. "I thought we just agreed we weren't getting married?"
"Of course we aren't," Harry said, standing up. "But it's not like we have to barge out the door and rush to the Prophet about it."
"I don't understand what you're trying to say, Harry. It's going to be impossible to keep Molly at bay, especially with two weddings on her hands." Hermione said, running her fingers through her hair.
"It's simple," Ron said, draining his glass. "We just tell them--everyone--that we've got too much going on right now. It'll be easy enough to make up some cock-and-bull story about the Ministry needing Harry and I full-time somewhere, and Ginny, you need to train, and Hermione, you want to study at Oxford, don't you?"
Hermione and Ginny nodded. Ginny would need some time set aside in the near future for the Quidditch season. The League would be having their annual try-outs soon. Hermione was hoping to make it into the next semester at Oxford, the university she'd wanted to study at since she was a little girl.
"Well then, we'll say that we don't want to start off marraiges like this, always away from each other. They'll understand, they want us to succeed, after all." Ron finished, and the others knew it was true.
"It's a great plan Ron, but what happens when, in a few years, when Gin's on a team and I've got my degree and you and Harry have saved the entire world, and we're still not married?"
"This isn't a long-term solution," Harry broke in, "but it will buy us some time to figure out what to do next."
"And while I'm training and Hermione's studying, what will we do about---you know, money?" Ginny asked. Surely Harry and Ron wouldn't leave them out to dry.
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll keep the money the way it is now--with Bill working at Gringotts and the Ministry monitoring the muggle accounts, we don't want to tip them off to anything. Besides, we're all best mates, and we'd never leave you two out in the cold." Harry said, and Hermione and Ginny each breathed a silent sigh of relief. Until Ginny was officially a member of a Quidditch team, they would have zero income. Hermione's career would depend on her degree, and who knew how long that could take?
"Well, it seems like a good plan, at least for now." Hermione said, shrugging. "About some other things...our rings, for example...would you like them back?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron.
They shook their heads. "No...you can sell them or return them, if you like. Keep the money. It doesn't matter to us." Harry answered. "They don't mean anything, do they? To any of us."
Ginny shook her head in unison with Hermione.
"I just can't believe it." Ron said after a long moment of silence. Kreacher had retrieved another bottle of wine, and had passed its contents around.
"I know," Hermione agreed. "It's a bit surreal, isn't it?"
"Well I dunno about you lot, but I'd better be getting off to bed soon..." Harry gave a meaningful look at Ron, who gave a huge, fake yawn.
"Indeed. Where shall we sleep?"
"Well," Ginny said, folding her feet under her legs, "it doesn't matter. Erm...'Mione and I sort of have our own spot, so..."
Harry laughed. "I should've known. Well, good night ladies, see you in the morning."
And with that, Harry and Ron all but ran from the room, leaving little doubt in Hermione and Ginny's minds just what, exactly, they were going to do.
---
It didn't take the girls long to finish their wine and wander to their bedroom. Both were in a cloud of bliss, and even though the faint moans of Harry and Ron a few floors away confirmed that they were, in fact, not dreaming, it was still hard to not think this would slip away as they came to consciousness.
"I'm going to marry you," Hermione whispered to Ginny, as they sat on the edge of the bed and slowly began undressing. Each knew tonight would be different than any other, better than any other. There would be no hiding, no lying, no guilt.
Ginny giggled. "I know! It's almost too good to be true, but it just has to be real."
"I was thinking," Hermione said, climbing under the sheets, "that we could return or sell the rings the boys gave us and put the money into our own joint account. That way we'll at least have some money, maybe we can start saving for our own wedding. I doubt when, everything is out in the open, we'll have the unwavering support of our families, and I don't think our dads will want to pay for us to...you know what I mean."
Ginny nodded. "I hope you're wrong, but I think when it's out that Harry and Ron are bumping uglies and I've got a ring on your finger, we're going to have only each other...not that that's a bad thing, of course."
Hermione reached over, draping her arm across Ginny's bare shoulders. Her stomach was churning with excitement, with giddiness, and it was almost like it was their first time all over again. Hermione danced her fingers across Ginny's collar bones, up and down her neck, dipping lower and lower, but still never quite touching Ginny's breasts.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Ginny asked, a wetness between her legs that always came with Hermione's touch, no matter where on her body.
"Quite...although, I would enjoy this," Hermione took Ginny's hand and pressed it to her own breast, Ginny slightly gasping at finally having contact on her nipples, even if it was her own hand.
"So you want a show, then, Professor?" Ginny purred, biting her lip. It always got both of them a bit hotter when Hermione was referred to as Professor. Their forbidden affair as teacher and student, while at Hogwarts, had been quite exhilarating in the aspect that it was just that--forbidden.
Hermione turned and ducked to the side of the bed, pulling a box out that they kept a few various items in, toys and love letters and lube amongst other things, and when she had sat upright again, she was wearing glasses, had pulled her hair up into a bun, and had her wand between her fingers, held like a pointer.
"The extra credit for today, class, will be to see who can go the longest without cumming."
"Merlin," Ginny breathed, as Hermione, who was only wearing her black bra, undid it and tossed it away, cupping her breasts, slowly, and not just for Ginny's benefit, rolling her nipples between her thumb and index finger.
"Please," Hermione said, leaning forward to kiss Ginny softly--teasing her, of course, licking her bottom lip, slowly sucking on her top one. Ginny could actually feel herself get wetter, and was sure the sheets were going to be ruined by the time tonight was over. "Do as you're told, and there will be no need for punishment."
Ginny tipped her head back, allowing Hermione access to her throat and neck, but Hermione shook her head, a smirk on her face. "Class is beginning, Ms. Weasley, I suggest you take your seat."
Hermione gestured towards the foot of the bed where, directly in front of it, a desk had appeared. The normal, every-day type that Hogwarts had been using for hundreds of years--hard, wooden torture machines that made it impossible to get comfortable or doze off in. But that didn't matter to Ginny, not right now.
"Surely points will be taken from my house for showing up to class naked?" Ginny asked, waving her own wand and around her neck appeared a somewhat tattered, but still recognizable, Gryffindor tie.
Hermione swallowed loudly. "Yes, of course. Now come here." Ginny, already off the bed, obediently walked around to Hermione.
"Bend over." Hermione commanded, her voice crisp but full of arousal.
Ginny did so, arching her back as the palm of Hermione's smacked just at the top of her thigh. "Now," Hermione said, tracing the slightly red mark with her index finger, "take. your. seat."
"Yes, Professor." Ginny said, but instead of sitting in the desk she climbed on top of it, her arms behind her for support, her legs crossed.
"That won't do at all, Ms. Weasley," Hermione said, "open your legs. Now."
Ginny grinned and slowly uncrossed her legs, her toned muscles flexing as she did so. Finally when she was spread enough for Hermione to see everything, Hermione slid off the bed, Ginny marveling at how somebody could be so graceful completely naked, and came to stand in front of Ginny.
"Touch yourself, Ginerva." Hermione ordered, and Ginny, sensing she would be rewarded if she followed directions, brought her hand down to her pussy.
"Show me how," Ginny, breathless, asked, and Hermione leaned back, scooting herself on the edge of the bed. "Do as I do." She said, circling her index finger over her clit.
Ginny mimicked this, moaning when she applied pressure.
"Now this." Hermione said, her breathing becoming ragged. She slowly entered herself with her middle finger, pushing in, pulling it back out slightly, then in again.
The only thing Ginny wanted to do was run at Hermione and fuck her senseless, but this night needed to last, needed to be special, and a little bit of restraint was just the way for them to go.
"Does that feel good, pet?" Hermione asked, and Ginny growled in reply, trying to keep her movements steady, and not rushed, though she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out; the heat in the pit of her belly was growing and spreading and her core was begging for release.
"Now, let's move to lesson two," Hermione said, unable to resist any longer. Ginny's pussy was glistening with arousal, her red curls almost artistic against the pale creaminess of her thighs. Her mouth ached for her.
Hermione knelt before the desk, wrapping her hands around Ginny's thighs. The desk was at a perfect level for her. "I think you may want to hold onto something," Hermione said, the air of confidence about her that Ginny adored.
"Think you're that good, Professor?"
Hermione glared up at Ginny. "You'll be begging for it to be over in a second, because, my pet, you're going to lose."
Ginny cocked her brow, accepting Hermione's challenge.
---
"Merlin," Ron said, sitting up in bed, shaking his head at the ceiling above them. "They're what, three floors above us? And we can still hear them! That's it, we have to have a talk with them."
Harry grinned, propping himself up on his elbow to look at Ron. "Now might not be the best time, darling."
Ron shrugged, reaching over the edge of the bed to search for his clothes. "Look, I'm all for them being happy and whatever, but I don't think Ginny has thought about how psychologically damaging it is to hear her org--to hear her cu--well, just to hear her. Hermione I'm used to, but my baby sister? A man has his bloody limits."
Harry laughed. "Leave it until morning. Anyway, we've got to think about next week. You do remember what it is, right?"
Ron sighed, flinging the shirt he had balled up in his grip back to the floor. "Of course I do," He said, wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulders. "It's our anniversary."
The following week was, indeed, the anniversary of their first time making love to each other. It was, to them, the consummation of their love, and when they truly considered themselves to be a couple. "I didn't even feel bad," Ron mused, "cheating on Hermione. I loved you--do love you--too much. Being with you was all that mattered."
"Mmm." Harry agreed, closing his eyes as Ron began to trace his collar bone. "I can hardly believe it's real, that we don't have to hide from them anymore."
"Do you think--I mean, do you wonder, now that we know everything, when exactly Hermione and Gin got together? I mean, how long they've been like that," Ron said, glaring up as another loud moan traveled through the floors.
"I think I have a shrewd idea, actually." Harry said, realizing for the first time that he'd known, on some level, that Ginny's heart didn't, and never had, belonged to him. "That holiday was such a big point for us, I think we missed everything else that was going on."
"So you think they did it, too?"
Harry laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised. It seems we're all more alike than we guessed."
"So we should make it special."
Harry tipped his head to kiss his love, his true love, his only love. "You read my mind, darling."
---
The week passed in a haze for the occupants of Grimmauld Palce. No longer having to hide and lie, the four were able to reconnect to the friendship they all had missed. It was a sight, then, to see, the four of them gathered around in the large living room on the ground floor, toasting each other with eggnog while admiring the Christmas tree that Harry and Ron had gone hunting for the previous day.
"Mum's owl," Ginny sighed, standing from the sofa where she and Hermione had been sitting, when a tapping noise had broken their conversation. Ginny opened the window to the room, and the owl, jet-black and very official looking, stuck out its leg.
"She and dad have gone off to Romania again," Ginny said, a smile on her face, "Charlie couldn't get the time off work...and apparently he's got a little tart down there they want to meet."
"Well it's about time," Ron, who had been standing behind Ginny, reading the letter over her shoulder, said. "He's been single long enough. Maybe now mum will leave us alone and bug Charlie about getting married."
"That leaves us with Christmas free, you know." Hermione said. The prospect of being able to have her love and her two best friends with her during the holidays was almost too good to be true.
"Speaking of which," Harry said, winking at Ron, "We figured we could all use a...getaway."
"A getaway." Ginny repeated, her eyebrow cocked suspiciously. Harry and Ron plotting anything, even something supposedly as innocent as a getaway, was never a good sign.
"See, we know that, when it comes down to it...well, not everybody will be chuffed about us." Ron traced a rectangle with his finger, point to each person in the room.
"So we thought that before the dung hits the fan," Harry broke in, pulling from his back pocket a somewhat crumpled yellow envelope, "we should enjoy just being us."
"And where do you propose we do such a thing?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"There's this place my aunt and uncle used to go to," Harry said, opening the envelope, "and the pictures they'd bring back were incredible. I always wanted to visit, though of course they stuck me with batty old Figg while they adventured across the world." Harry took out brochure and handed it to Hermione.
"Turtle Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.." Hermione read the printed letters across the top border. Below the words was a lovely picture of a sandy beach surrounded by clear turquoise water. A woman in a bikini was walking just among the waves, looking nothing short of blissful to be in this paradise.
"We're going to Hawaii? As in the state?" Ginny asked, looking up.
Harry nodded. "These," he took the brochure from Hermione and flipped it open, "are our rooms. And see down here? That's the private beach of the resort."
"This is incredible, honestly...but why now?" Hermione asked, handing the brochure to Ginny.
"Well it's in time for Christmas, for one." Ron said, shrugging, as helped himself to more eggnog.
"And it's sort of a special time for us. All of us." Harry said, and though he didn't say the words (because he didn't have to) they all knew what he was talking about.
This was a celebration of not only their love, their first times expressing that love, but their friendship. They were finally wholly with the ones they really needed, the ones they really wanted, and it was entirely possible that, when things really did come out to their families and the rest of the world, they would be left just the way they were now--just the four of them.
But, Hermione thought, as she squeezed Ginny's hand and Ron gave Harry a soft kiss under the mistletoe, that would still make her the luckiest girl in the world.
Song snippets from Utada's Sanctuary. Turtle Bay is incredible. One of the best places to vacation in the world, I say this from personal experience. Some pictures of said paradise are found in my profile, under fic pics. You'll also find there a few other pics from this fic as well as others.
Thanks for sticking with me.