Chapter 3: Married Life

Hermione slowly awoke in the last hour before dawn. She knew she was naked, lying there in the middle of the giant bed. She could feel someone spooning her from behind and twisted slightly to see that it was Harry. She lowered her head back down onto Ron's bare chest. A smile played at the corner of her lips as she observed her sleeping husbands.

Husbands. That seemed so surreal. And she felt so, too, flanked by her boys on either side of her in bed. She had not a care in the world, and did not mind what others thought of her unconventional position.

As sunlight began to stream in through the window, Hermione gently slipped out of bed and into the shower, wanting to clean up before leaving for work. The Ministry staff had granted them a full 10 days for their honeymoon at the end of the month of July, as compensation for a scheduling snafu during the wedding's preparations. So, for the next 2 weeks, the Golden Trio would be going in to work at the Ministry: Harry and Ron as Aurors and Hermione in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hermione was so engrossed in her shower, that she did not notice someone slip into the shower behind her.

She spun, startled, only to find Harry standing there in all his glory.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked coyly. Harry grinned.

"Nothing. Just it's gonna be a long day, and I thought I might need some loving to get me through." He pressed her up against the wall, hands groping, his lips kissing everywhere he could reach. Hermione tried to squirm away, playing hard to get.

"Harry, please…mmm…I can't…I have to get ready for work."

"So do I. But you know what they say: play hard, work hard, right?"

"I think it's the other way around, honey…gah, you're not making this easy," as Harry nibbled at her bare breast. Finally, she gave up and became puddy in his hands. The pair began to make out, the warm water cascading over their naked bodies. Suddenly, Hermione felt a hardness press into her thigh behind her and another pair of lips suck at her neck.

"Good…mmm…morning, love" she sighed as Ron's mouth found it's way to hers.

"Why'd you guys start without me?" she heard her other husband whine. She burst out laughing and melted, allowing both men to ravage her body and have sex with her simultaneously. It was the most blissful feeling in the world. Following the climax, all three cleaned, dressed and left for work.

Over those next two weeks, Hermione poured herself into her new job. Most of it was bearable and focused on things she was genuinely interested in doing, especially all the issues concerning magical creature rights.

The one thing that she could not find bearable was other women looking at her husbands with unmasked lust. Harry and Ron were rising rapidly through the Auror ranks, becoming some of the most powerful wizards in the world. Many of these women would give her dirty looks out of jealousy, and some had the audacity to come up to her and ask what it was like to have the Boy Who Lived and the Hot Weasley all to herself in bed. Hermione would field these questions like a pro, and took great satisfaction in angering her colleagues even more by casually divulging her romps with her husbands in great detail. This was what got her through those periods of feeling as though she was not good enough for her boys. Harry and Ron were neither oblivious to their wife's feelings nor the attention granted them by other girls and constantly reassured Hermione that she was the only woman they would ever love.

"Those girls are all the same: no substance. They don't mean anything to us," they would tell her.

Following their brief introduction to the Ministry, the Golden Trio was rewarded with a beautiful honeymoon in the States. They stayed in a different city along the East Coast every night, shagging together before they went to sleep. Hermione loved the hustle and bustle of New York, fascinated herself with the American concept of law in Washington D.C., and tanned on the beaches of Miami. It was heaven on earth.

Several months later, it was Christmastime. Hermione had been released for her break from work about a week before the 25th, but her husbands weren't getting out until the 22nd. So it was that on that night, Hermione had prepared an extra special meal for Harry and Ron when they came home. At the sound of that familiar POP! of Apparition, she spun around happily.

"Hello, hello, hello?" Harry called from the foyer. "'Mione? Sweetheart, we're home!"

"In here, boys!" she called. Harry and Ron trekked into the kitchen, discarding their coats and scarfs on nearby chairs.

"Happy Christmas, baby," they told her as they each kissed her.

"Happy Christmas, loves," she smiled. Hermione adored all the little pet names she and her husbands had for each other. There were all the usual ones like darling, love, honey, baby, dear, sweetheart. Then there were the more specific ones. Ron always called her My Little Bookworm. She would call him My Sexy Ginger. Harry would call her Miss Brilliant. She would call him My Hot Four-Eyes. Harry would call Ron My Partner in Crime. Ron would call Harry My Bloody Pain in the Ass.

A brilliant chicken and stuffing was quickly served, on the promise that a bigger and delicious turkey would be in store for the main event three days hence.

"So, how was work?" Hermione asked.

"Great," Harry offered, turning back quickly to his meal.

"But long, as always," Ron added. "Dawles kept us right up to the last minute. Extra training sessions, simulations, duel scrimmages. Very tedious."

"Hey, it'll be good prep for what we've got next," Harry reminded him.

"What have you got next?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other. Harry finally proceeded to explain.

"The Muggle Prime Minister was kidnapped. We believe old cronies of Voldemort are responsible. Dawles is sending Aurors out in waves with different tasks. He assigned Ron and I with the main job: going after the Minister and rescuing him."

"But won't that be very dangerous?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Well, yeah, but honey, all these tasks are dangerous," Ron said. He took her hand. "Originally, the entire operation was going to be done in reverse of what it is now. Harry and I were going to be shipped out on Boxing Day as the first phase, and the other phases incrementally following once we had neutralized the threat to the Minister." He got up and embraced Hermione as she began to cry. "Oh, don't cry, darling. We'll still have our holidays together. Harry and I had to practically bust Dawles' arm to get him to ship us out last. We said we wanted to have our holiday with our beautiful wife."

Hermione looked up into his eyes. "It's just that we've never been separated before." She sighed. "When do you leave?"

"3 days after New Years," Harry told her. "But don't worry-" and he got up and joined in the group hug, nuzzling the nape of Hermione's neck. "That means we get almost two whole weeks with you: presents, Christmas movies, sledding…"

"And shag fests every night!" Ron finished. Hermione laughed, hiccupping through her lingering tears.

"How long will you be gone?" she asked. Harry and Ron stole another glance at each other.

"We don't know," they chorused. Hermione looked like she was about to burst into tears again, so Harry quickly added. "It's just we have to locate the Minister first. And you know how Death Eaters work, they always operate in shadows, and underground now that Voldemort's gone. We don't know when we'll track him down, but when we do, we'll get him and bring him back as quick as we can."

Hermione nodded. She trusted her boys to be smart and safe, but the dangers involved with their jobs worried her nonetheless. She knew Harry and Ron were at the top of any Death Eater's Kill List, and all would jump at the chance to say they killed a member of the Golden Trio. The threesome disentangled themselves from each other and cleared the table. Ron called from the living room:

"Hey guys! Hurry up in there! Freezy the Snowman's on!"

"Frosty, Ronald," Hermione chuckled and she and Harry went in to join Ron on the couch.

The morning of January 4th dawned clear and peaceful. The sun was just peeking over the horizon when the alarm clock beside the giant bed went off. Harry quickly deactivated it and showered quietly. As he made to suit up for their mission, he gently roused Ron.

"C'mon mate. I let you sleep as long as I could. Shower's all yours. Quiet now, don't wake Hermione."

Ron prepared himself as softly as he could. The mates then checked to make sure they had everything.

"Got your wand?"

"Check."

"The Cloak?"

"Check."

"The Deluminator?"

"Double check."

"Alright: let's do this" Harry said.

They grabbed their overnight duffels and slipped to the door. Both paused to glance one last time at their wife's naked, sleeping form. There had been shag fests every night during the break, culminating the night before in the most passionate orgy since their wedding night. Harry and Ron had each made love to Hermione individually, and then had sex with her at the same time.

Harry bent over and kissed her cheek. Ron dared to softly kiss her lips. "We love you, little messenger," the latter whispered. That was the meaning of her name. Their wife stirred, but didn't wake. Harry and Ron quickly stole out the door and Disapparated into the early morning.