AN: I am sorry this chapter took so long to write. It was difficult to strike the right chord…I wanted to wrap it up so that you could just read this story and be perfectly satisfied with the ending, but I'm not satisfied with ending it here, so the task was impossible. This does wrap things up a bit while setting things up for the next bit…I don't have a title or a timeline yet. What I do have is a little birthday fic to write for another friend and Champion to finish. Once those are done, I'll start the sequel to this. One last 'happy birthday' to my darling Dragoon, and I'll bid all of you a fond farewell; until we meet again!

Severus couldn't get her out of the room quickly enough. He might have cursed some hapless fool who didn't move quickly enough as he rushed his witch to the apparition point.

All he knew, all that mattered, was that now he had her here, in his home. After that all that concerned him was how quickly he could get the gorgeous dress off her body to reveal the perfection beneath.

"Circe." He breathed the oath as his lips traced the delicate lace covering her breast. She giggled irreverently. "Are you already whispering another woman's name in bed?"

He pushed her to the side long enough to playfully swat her rounded behind. "Minx." She held back a slight moan and he made a mental note to swat her again on another night. Having a woman across his knees didn't normally appeal, but anything that made her moan like that was fair game.

For now, he ghosted his fingertips across her skin in concentric circles and followed with his mouth and teeth. His tongue dipped and traced as he sucked her tender flesh, enjoying the taste of her skin.

He could have spent days with her breasts alone. The woman was delectable. All the while, her warm fingers were exploring his body in a way that made him fear for his reputation when he finally entered her warm body intimately. He could feel the sticky pre-cum leaking inside his boxers as she teased the head through the black fabric.

He retaliated by stroking the slick petals of her sex with teasing touches until she shuddered in his arms. Only then did he move lower, remove her lacy green knickers, and taste her.

"Severus!" She whimpered and thrashed above him but her hands were gentle. She didn't scratch him or pummel his back for the torture he committed on her sweet body. He pushed her legs further apart and allowed his long tongue to enter her with a sure stroke. She was mewling her pleasure now as he fucked her with his tongue. In and out, as quickly as he could manage. He inserted his thumb and applied steady pressure while his other fingers held the plump folds at bay so he could angle his probing tongue as deep as he could go. She screamed his name. He moved directly to the sensitive bud and licked it before sucking it into his mouth and closing, so very lightly, with his teeth.

Fluid gushed from her and the scent of her sex perfumed his bedroom. His bedroom. His witch. Screaming his name.

He positioned his cock in front of her slick entrance looking into her eyes for permission. Hermione gave him a brilliant, satisfied smile.

He rubbed the sensitive glands along her flesh as she moaned and wrapped her lithe legs around his waist. She pulled him forward and impaled herself on his turgid member. He gave a strangled gasp to feel all that warm, slick heat around it.

"Hermione." He kissed every part of her body he could reach as he moved in the age-old dance, sweat glistening on his frame, uncaring of his sodden hair and face. He licked her skin and tasted the sweat that was beginning to form between her breasts. He sped his rhythm as his balls began to tighten…it made them slap against her anatomy in the most pleasurable way imaginable.

He pinched a nipple roughly and her inner muscles clamped down on him, and unthinking, he allowed himself the release he'd been longing for but never hoped he'd find with her.

He shuddered, spent, on top of her body for some time after that, only moving when she moved slightly. She was a tiny thing; he was afraid he might crush her.

She spoke first, voice husky. "If I'd know what would set that off, I would have done it sooner."

He cradled her face in both of his hands, running his thumb over her kiss-swollen mouth. "If you had given me any indication that you felt anything more than friendship for me…"

"You weren't paying attention."

"I always wanted you. But I didn't want to make a fool of myself. A dirty old man lusting after a girl he taught, a woman who worked with him every day."

"Do you have any idea what it did to me every day when you used those long clever fingers on my neck to pull my hair back? I had to start bringing change of knickers to work."

Severus felt on particular part of himself show interest at that idea, and he told that part to settle down. Her sex was red and swollen still from his mouth and his cock. She might be sore. Of course, he had a cream that would take care of that…

He ran his fingers over an erect nipple.

She moaned and her lips found his. All thoughts of creams or potions flew from his mind when her fevered flesh found his. He didn't even bother to clean the dripping white seed from her body before he entered her again. From the way she thrust back toward him every time he re-entered her, he could tell she didn't mind a bit.

HGSSHGSSHGSS

Draco poured three drinks and downed the first one in one gulp. Theo walked up behind him and took the second mournfully.

Blaise wandered in with a resentful look on his face.

"I see you heard."

"Yes. If I ever find out who gave my mother that old clipping from the Daily Prophet from fourth year I will bloody Avada him. The woman dosed me with potions tonight to keep me away from the ball." He glared at Theo who raised his hands.

"Don't look at me. Sounds more like Draco."

Draco shook his head. "I'm assuming it was Severus then. And now I see why he was both reluctant and strangely anxious to help me." His laugh had a bitter edge, but the drinking soothed it. He knew what was in this cup would soon dampen much of what he felt.

He handed Zabini the last glass. "Drink it. It will help."

Theo toasted them as he poured his second. "No better medicine for a broken heart."

Draco took a deep breath as Blasé downed his drink in one gulp.

"You're right. But not for the reason you think."

Theo's eyes narrowed, catching on quickly. "What did you do?"

Draco went to his favorite spot in the library and sank into his leather chair. "Where to start? First, I dosed a large portion of the wizarding world with an interest solution. Well, mostly just people who were at the first ball, but I managed to pour a bit in the punch at the book drive as well. Makes whatever your pour it into too sweet, but most people won't stop drinking at a public function. One needs to moisten the lips to talk after all, so most of them got at least a bit."

"What, exactly, is an interest solution?"

"An experimental potion I made." Zabini reached for his wand and Draco held up a hand. "I dosed myself as well. It is harmless…it just lowers your inhibitions toward the object of your desire. In this case, I added one of Granger's hairs and it only worked on those who were interested in her or could become interested in her. Unfortunately, that turned out to be half the bloody wizarding world."

"And why the hell did you do that?"

"When I started my research, I realized that I could alter an infatuation potion slightly and get this little brew. Don't worry; I just gave both of you the antidote. I'll let the rest of the wankers stew a bit over Granger and my Godfather. It will wear off eventually."

"I swear to Merlin Malfoy, I'm going to…"

He smirked at Blaise. "You and Severus didn't even get any the first night. You were both drinking from your own personal bottles."

Blaise blushed.

Draco nodded. "Yep. You just saw a hot witch and you stole the march on all of us while Theo and I were still plotting. You did get some in your system the night of the book auction. I was terrified your mother would figure out what I'd done, but I suppose the compound was individual enough that it didn't register with her detection spells. It shouldn't even still be active according to my calculations, but I gave you the antidote just in case."

Blaise opened his mouth, but Draco held up a hand. "Before you embarrass yourself with idle threats of violence, can I point out that we all gained through my use of the potion?"

"I can't see how you would think so."

"You have convinced your mother that she isn't quite ready for her baby boy to settle down, and don't lie: you know she was beginning to nag about grandchildren. You have about six months before it recommences, and all you have to do to get a temporary reprieve is mention Granger." The Italian wizard looked thoughtful, and significantly less vengeful…and just a bit mournful. Draco knew the feeling. He didn't like losing a witch; much less one that had all the qualities that he'd decided he wanted in his wife. Blaise hadn't had as long to consider it, but he was coming to the same conclusion.

He turned to Theo. "And our little Lioness is now practically engaged to my godfather. She thinks well of you and she'll willingly invite you to all kinds of dinners and functions where you can geek out with her to your heart's content."

"Bloody lot of good that does me Drake. Marrying you was one thing. Snape won't be happy to share her company." Theo's tone was harsh.

Draco nodded. "She won't be happy without company, and Severus trusts us more than wankers like George Weasley and Longbottom." Draco saw that Theo was far from mollified. He supposed he had a right to be. "I didn't realize the effect of the potion as worse when you already had a crush on her." He did now of course, once it was too late. The antidote was taking away some of the pressure to see her, but the lonely ache remained.

Theo's eyes shot up. "Ah. So that's why your reaction was so…marked."

He nodded, unwilling to admit what everyone knew out loud. "I have to marry, but I wanted to feel like this, at least once, even if it was temporary. I hoped she and I would…well, we had a decent time together while plotting and I hoped that she would accept the engagement and it would naturally lead to a marriage, since I have to marry anyway. Being engaged to her for even two years wouldn't be a fate worse than death." Who was he kidding? He would have talked his way into her knickers, and then put his ring on her finger if she'd gotten that close to him. He didn't doubt it. He was happy for Severus…actually very happy for the man who was probably making Granger scream his name by this time…

"I have six months to find a bride. I'll just have to do my best." He took a long drink. His friends knew the odds that he would find anything more than a hastily arranged match that would save his life, and those odds weren't good.

Blaise rolled his eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "Prat. We'll help of course, though it's going to break some witch's heart to have to give up all this." He pointed at himself with a cocky grin.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Don't think I'll forget this. Payback is coming my friend, when you least expect it. But I suppose you have to be alive for me to have my revenge." The dark-haired man smiled, and suddenly, Draco found himself feeling better about the life-altering proposition before him.

He toasted his glass at his friends. "To the future then."

Blaise and Theo clinked their glasses against his. "To the future."