Lucius awoke sometime later, with a sleeping Hermione upon him and a blanket on top of her. He lifted his hand and lightly brushed back her hair away from her face, which turned towards him as his fingertips lightly grazed her skin. Her movement caused him to pause. After he was assured that she would not wake, he continued clearing her face of the errant strands of hair. A soft smile found its way to his lips as her worry free face appeared to him.
"She is quite beautiful when her face isn't marred by worry and terror," Severus' voice startled him, Lucius had not been aware of his presence. "You look much the same when you sleep too, until the nightmares ruin it"
"What time is it," Lucius asked as he could not think of a response to Severus's observation.
"Just before seven," Severus replied. "I've kept some dinner for you both."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"And rob you of a nightmare free sleep for the first time in weeks?" Severus responded. Lucius was halted from responding with Hermione's stirring to wakefulness from the rumbling of Lucius' chest when he spoke to Severus.
"You're comfy," she spoke, unthinkingly," and warm."
Lucius and Severus laughed at her comment, jolting Hermione into awareness, causing her to blush and hide her face back in Lucius' chest.
"Come now, Hermione, you must admit, that even though you could not see your face, your statement was rather humorous," Lucius chuckled and Hermione peaked her head out, still blushing. "Are you hungry? Severus said he saved us some dinner."
"Oh, what time is it?" grateful to have something else to talk about other than her comment she had made in the delirium of sleep.
"Nearly seven," Severus replied, with a small smile still on his face. He had changed from his teaching robes, she noted, so she had assumed he was done with work for the day and had not planned to leave again.
"Oh! So late!" she rose from her position on the sofa, smiling apologetically when her actions caused Lucius to wince. When she had finally gotten up, she saw Severus helping Lucius up off the couch.
"Thanks, love, how was your day?" Lucius asked keeping Severus' hand within his as they al moved to the kitchen.
"Quite boring," he replied.
"Cauldrons?"
"In tact."
"Explosions?"
"None."
What a boring day, indeed," Lucius smirked as they sat down. Having already eaten, Severus merely drank tea, however he remained at the table.
"So, neither of you had any nightmares over the eight hours that you slept?" Severus asked casually.
"I didn't," Hermione admitted, "it was a rather restful sleep."
"I did not have any either, why?" Lucius looked across the small, round table in suspicion.
"Can I not enquire as to the quality of your sleep?" Severus asked evasively.
"Knock it off, Sev, we're not your students. Either you'll tell us now or you'll tell us later," Lucius stared at Severus piercingly for a moment, before returning to his dinner. He knew Severus was planning something, however what it was, Lucius was unsure. After dinner, the trio split up, Severus went to mark papers, Lucius cleaned up, and Hermione took a shower after her offer to help was denied.
The next few weeks followed in a similar pattern. Each weekday either Severus or Lucius would leave for work. Hermione would talk with whoever stayed and they would accomplish small tasks to keep Hermione busy. Hermione slowly told Severus her story and he shared some of his past like how hard it was growing up and being a spy. While Hermione started to ask about what had been happening in the Wizarding World since her unscheduled departure, Lucius and Severus had talked with her and they decided to wait until she had fully settled in their quarters and adjusted to life at Hogwarts; give her mind some time to relax. While the days seemed routine, at night, the nightmares remained, all three of them experiencing night terrors off and on. Hermione was experiencing them the most frequently. However, they had found, strangely, that when either Severus of Lucius napped with Hermione, they slept peacefully. It was this odd occurrence that had caused Severus to sit so deeply in thought that he failed to notice Lucius entering his office.
"Penny's got your thoughts?" Lucius asked trying out one of the new phrases that Hermione had been slowly bringing into their quarters.
"It's 'a penny for your thoughts,'" Severus corrected, grinning at his lover.
"Yes, well, what's on your mind?"
"I have an idea," Severus started.
"Tell me something new," Lucius interrupted.
"Hermione has had an entirely negative effect on you," he responded. Lucius only grinned at him.
"I believe our sleeping arrangements could be altered in such a way that would benefit all three of us," Severus started uncertainly, there was no telling how his idea would be received.
"Plain English, Sev. What are you talking about?" Lucius pushed.
"Well, you know our naps and how they have been nightmare free?"
"Yes, it seems like Hermione is a charm to keep these nightmares at bay."
"Exactly! I don't remember the last time I have any sort of bad image within any sort of dream I've had when napping with her. I've attempted sleep alone, yet the nightmares keep coming. But we can't just take naps forever. I was suggesting, perhaps, that we all share a bed," Severus rushed the last few words, looking at Lucius to judge his reaction.
"I see your logic and reasoning's but can we really do that?"
"I think we could try. We need to talk with her, see if she is experiencing the same as us and go from there," Severus suggested. Lucius nodded his agreement, he wasn't completely accepting of the idea. It would be rather strange, however all three of them would get a full night sleep, for once. He was willing to see if it would work. Severus was right, they couldn't keep relying on the naps, or the dose of Dreamless Sleep potion that he could have once a week.
When Hermione came out into the living room after her shower, to spend the evening with Lucius and Severus reading while they either read or graded papers. She enjoyed these quiet evenings, it was relaxing, yet stimulating. She would read or help them grade essays. However, this evening was different. Severus and Lucius were waiting for her on the sofa, sitting together and no books or papers were in sight.
"What's wrong?" she hesitantly asked.
"Nothing, we just have a proposition of sorts," Severus started while Lucius just shook his head at the poor choice of words.
"What Sev is trying to say is: Have you been having nightmares at night?" Lucius intruded on Severus' attempt at explaining the situation.
"Yes, you know I have. You and Severus have been having them too."
"Right. And any nightmares during naptime?" Lucius asked.
"Not really, no."
"Exactly," Lucius leaned back against the sofa and motioned for Severus to continue. Severus shot him a dirty look before taking over the conversation.
"Thank you, love. Anyway, we believe that when sleeping together, we don't have nightmares. Therefore, instead of taking a nap during the day, we were thinking maybe to sleep together, at night."
"Like, in the same bed," Lucius added to 'clarify' the situation.
"Thank you, Lucius," Severus rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, glaring at Lucius who was smirking. Quickly, however, they turned to gage Hermione's face for a reaction.
"Well, it makes sense. You two both make me feel safe, and well, it's worth a shot, don't you think?" Hermione responded with a confident face, although her voice was shaky at the start and her voice remained soft. It was awkward, she thought, yet a night of uninterrupted sleep may just be worth a little bit of awkwardness, she justified.
"Oh. Okay," Severus was a bit startled, he had expected a long discussion or accusations of being perverted. Even Lucius was a bit surprised, but he reasoned that it was the lack of sleep that was making her accept this arrangement so quickly.
It wasn't long before the awkward silence that had fallen upon them descended into a comfortable silence. Papers were brought out to grade and books were opened to read. It was only in the last half hour before they normally went to bed, that the atmosphere tensed.
"I'm going to go and get ready for bed," Hermione announced, getting up from her seat and shutting her book. She was tired enough and didn't want to deal with the tension any longer.
"Alright, just come in to our room when your ready, love," Lucius smiled at her. It wasn't the first time one of the men had called her by a pet name. She smiled at the pet name, it comforted her. Severus first started calling her "sweetheart" after she had baked him cookies one afternoon. Granted, he did so before he had tasted them, but he swore that they tasted okay. She knew she had messed up the recipe somehow when Lucius came home, tried one, and spit it out, asking Severus why he had made something so disgusting. He felt bad after he learned it was Hermione who made them, however she did not give up on her cooking. She continued, and improved greatly since that incidence.
The three had grown closer in the time since she had arrived in their quarters three weeks ago. They were becoming fast friends, spending every waking moment together. She hoped that they would remain such close friends after they started to spend every sleeping moment together as well.
"Alright, I shouldn't be more then 15 or so minutes," she replied with a smile and left the room to get ready for bed.
Moments after she left, Severus let out a long sigh, stood up, and stretched out. He put his papers into a neat stack before banishing them to his office. He then raised his hand out to help Lucius off the sofa and pulled him close.
"I really hope this helps," he said as he pressed a kiss to Lucius' lips.
"It will, it will," Lucius responded softly before turning and dragging his lover to their bedroom. They had a rather large bed, so space wouldn't be an issue, however they both knew that Lucius liked to cuddle, so did Severus, despite his insistence that that was not true. They both knew that Hermione cuddled, if their afternoon naps were anything to go by. They knew it was going to be awkward, but the also knew that if they didn't remedy the lack of sleep soon, Hermione's mind would never heal properly, nor would her body. Both of the men reasoned that they were doing this for Hermione, but if they were being really truthful, they would also admit that they were doing it for another reason as well. Somehow, Hermione had caused them both to mellow out significantly. She brought them a peace they never experienced and never knew was missing. Everyone knew that this was a turning point, they could not turn back from it. They each hoped that this would all work.
"So, are clothes still optional?" Lucius asked with a tight smile, trying to relax Severus.
"Sure, but you'll be on the couch," came a reply from the door. They left it open so Hermione wouldn't feel so much as an outsider, allowing her to be more comfortable.
"Full flannels, Sev! The lady demands it!" Lucius joked.
"Your bed is huge!" Hermione blurted out before blushing at said outburst.
"Yes, and it's rather fun to jump on!" Severus surprised her. They all started to laugh, there remained no more awkwardness. Turning down the bed, they found their first obstacle.
"Who's in the middle?" Lucius questioned, playing with he strings on the bottoms of his pajamas. Both he and Sev wore plain cotton pants. However, Lucius wore a shirt, while Severus didn't, he was convinced it would choke him in the night. It was ironic, as he wore high-collared shirts and robes for teaching.
"Well, does anyone overheat as they sleep?" Hermione approached the issue logically.
"No," Lucius replied, as Severus responded that Lucius overheated during the night.
"I do not!" Lucius retorted.
"You do! You kick off the covers nearly every night."
"Alright, so, Lucius, you are on the outside. Severus I think you should be in the middle, unless you want o be on the outside?" Hermione suggested, assuming that they would want to be close together. Severus agreed with her idea, trying to make everything as comfortable as possible, not wanting to overwhelm her. He suggested that they switch who was to be in the middle until they found a routine.
So they got in the bed for the night, Lucius and Hermione on each side of Severus. Severus and Lucius instantly spooned, Lucius joking that he was the "big spoon" and asked if Hermione wanted to make a "utensil drawer" with them. She giggled, but didn't move from her place five inches away from the two. It wasn't soon afterward that the three fell asleep.
That night, there were no nightmares. There was, however, a shift sometime soon after they fell asleep. Hermione ended up snuggling close to Severus, who ended up on his back. Her headed would be found in the morning on his shoulder and Lucius would be turned on his side, his arm flung over Severus, his hand laying on Hermione's arm. It seemed as if all was to work out and finally there would be time for Hermione to start healing and for both Lucius and Severus to finish healing.
A/N-Read. Review. You know the Drill.
Also, I've had a few PMs about this story. Let me be clear: THERE WILL BE NO EXPLICIT SEX SCENES! There will be indications and hints of sexual activities, they are adults in adult relationships, however there is no need to go into detail. Sorry if that's what you were hoping for.