Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, I don't own the song, it's 'Always', by Bon Jovi.

Chapter 37

-o-O-o-

They had to break apart, of course; otherwise both of them would have ended up dead with asphyxia. In any case, when they did, five people were clapping, although only two were doing so very enthusiastically, Dumbledore and Lily.

Severus was doing his best not to look too bored, and, although he was very happy for his friend, he didn't think it was that big of a deal. Remus was happy for Hermione, but he was still slightly bitter that she had ditched Sirius, much like James thought. Only, James was also annoyed at Lily for making him wait so long.

In any case, the happy couple now headed towards the teacher's table, ready to have their wedding feast. Once their stomachs were partly full, the boys began to have a brightening mood, which would have suited Hermione just fine, if it weren't for all the jokes.

"... and that's when the goblin goes 'That sounds very queer!'" James declared, chortling with laughter.

Dumbledore chuckled slightly and Remus smiled, but nobody else laughed at the joke.

James seemed to realise that and quickly became serious... no pun intended. He pouted. "This wedding would be much more fun if Sirius was here." he mumbled. Then his face lit up. "I know, I'm going to do what Sirius would have done!"

Lily looked worried. "James, honey, I'm not sure-" she started, but her husband cut her.

"Sirius would have done two things, the first one being a speech." he said. Half the people in the room mentally face-palmed themselves. "So, Regulus and Hermione." he started. "I guess you guys make a good couple. Not as good as Lily and I, mind you, but still..."

Hermione glared at him.

"I always knew Lily was crazy, but she definitely scared me when she told me she was sure Stella was actually Hermione in disguise... I was on the brink of driving her to St. Mungo's."

Lily glared at him.

He continued nonetheless. "Then when I learnt that it was true, I almost died!"

"Too bad you didn't." Severus mumbled.

"But then again, I guess that could have been expected." he said. "After all, Hermione is completely crazy, and Regulus is even more bonkers than his brother!"

Regulus glared at him.

"But, then again, this is like chemistry! You take one crazy boy and one crazy girl, and then this crazy thing happens and this crazy thing is called-"

"Love." Lily finished for him, a small smile on her lips.

James shrugged. "I was going to say 'crazy sex', but love works just fine." he admitted. He raised his glass. "To love!" he declared.

"To love!" the others chorused, and the rest of the feast went without any hitch.

That was, at least, until James remembered why he had made the speech in the first place.

"The second thing Sirius would have done," he declared after a couple glasses of champagne. "Is sing some stupid Bon Jovi love song and declared that all of you must dance!"

Before anyone could protest, he stood up and, pulling his wand out, muttered a Sonorus charm and summoned enchanted musical instruments. At first, there was only a piano playing, and then James started singing:

"This Romeo is bleeding, but you can't see his blood."

Hermione wanted to die, right now, at this very moment.

"It's nothing but some feelings that this old dog kicked up."

It was so humiliating. She looked around, and noticed, relieved, that Remus and Lily sported a look that was similar to the one that must have been plastered on her face.

"It's been raining since you left me, now I'm drowning, in the flood.

You see I've always been a fighter, but without you, I give up."

He had a nice voice, she could give him that, and that song was beautiful, but still. Regulus leaned in and whispered in her ear: "Care to dance, Mrs. Black?"

She shivered as she heard her new name come from his mouth. It felt strange, but it was still pleasant. She turned to face him. "Really?" she asked.

He smiled and James continued singing: "Now I can't sing a love song, like the way it's meant to be,

Well I guess I'm not that good anymore, but baby that's just me."

Regulus stood up and took his wife's hand, pulling her up with him, and they started dancing, just as the chorus began.

"And I will love you, baby, always," James sang passionately, while Lily's eyes softened.

Regulus placed his head above Hermione's hair and she leaned into his chest, breathing deeply. "I will, you know." he whispered.

"You'll what?" she asked, listening to his heartbeat.

She felt him smile against her hair. "Love you always, baby." he declared.

She looked up to him. "So will I, I promise."

He leaned down and kissed her softly, just a small peck, and James continued: "Now your picture's there, you left behind

All these memories, from a different life,

Some that made us laugh, some that made us cry,

One that made you, have to say goodbye."

"Yeah," Regulus gave a short laugh, without humour. "That sounds like us."

"None of it matters now." Hermione told him. "I love you, we're together, and I don't care about anything."

"I've made mistakes, I'm just a man."

"This song is depressive." Regulus moaned.

Hermione smiled. "I like it."

His eyes narrowed. "Aren't you a little bit sadistic?" he asked.

She still smiled. "Maybe."

He pressed her tighter to his chest. "I should teach you a lesson."

She bit her lip. "You probably should, Professor."

"And I will love you, baby, always,"

He kissed her again. This time, it wasn't a short kiss. It was something lasting, one that lingered on while their bodies stopped dancing and their lips moulded into the others', full of promise of the night to come. Hermione's hands found their way up and knotted into Regulus' silky hair, while his massaged the small of her back, and she moaned.

They didn't know how long they stayed that way, but soon enough, James was singing after a guitar solo:

"We could pack our bottle dreams and our own lives,

We'll find a place, where the sun still shines."

"We should go." Regulus told her when they finally broke apart. Hermione, rather breathless, could only nod in agreement.

"I'll be there 'til the stars don't shine,

'Til the heavens burst, and the words don't rhyme"

Then, as if deciding something out of nowhere, he pulled her against him as hard as he could, and sang the last few lines in her ear.

"Although when I die, you'll be on my mind and I'll love you always.

Always."

She felt something wet in her hair line and, when he let her go, he noticed that a single tear had fallen from his marvellous grey eyes.

Lily had walked over to then, brandishing an ancient-looking camera. "I took a couple of pictures while you weren't looking." she said, sounding proud with herself.

"Lily!" Hermione scolded her gently.

"I don't want to hear about it!" she said. "Anyway, now's the time for the really big picture."

Brandishing her camera, she began to one of the things she did best: order people around.

"Remus, why don't you stand there... on Severus' left... That's right. Now, James, why don't you go on Hermione's right... uh huh... Professor, could you stand next to James please? Leaving some space so that I can be in the middle... Thank you. Now," she said, and started fiddling with her camera. "Okay!" she said suddenly. "We have ten seconds!" she said, placed it on a table and ran to the group of friends, waiting.

She placed herself between Dumbledore and James, leaning on the latter, and everybody smiled. The camera flashed and Regulus bent down to peck Hermione on the lips, while Lily went to retrieve the camera.

She walked over to where the newlywed couple was standing and handed them the camera. "Here." she said. "I took the film out, but you can have it. Think of it as a wedding gift." The red-head smiled.

Hermione gulped, tears starting to brim her eyes. She quickly rubbed them off, and took the camera from Lily's delicate hands. "Thanks you." she said, although her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Lily gave her a watery smile, and then flung herself in only remaining female friend's arms. "Don't forget us, okay?" she pleaded.

Hermione hugged her back, tightly. "I won't. I promise. Besides," she said, pulling away. "We won't be gone for long."

Lily sobbed. "You don't know what can happen in such a short period of time." she said. And Hermione could only agree.

-o-O-o-

Hermione and Regulus stood in the Headmaster's office, waving their friends goodbye as green flames sprouted up in the chimney. They stepped inside and Regulus called out "Napoleon hotel, Paris, France".

As Hermione and Regulus stepped out from the grand chimney of the arrival room, they were not, as the former had expected, covered in soot. In fact, they were as clean when they arrived as when they had left.

They stepped out and were met with a witch wearing a very formal-looking deep purple cloak, who asked them: "Mr. and Mrs. Black, I assume."

Regulus nodded. "You assume correctly." he told her.

She spun around and stalked out of the room, with a little: "Follow me."

The happy couple did as they were told, and soon found themselves in an elevator, while the woman gave them a golden key.

"Your suite is on the 53rd floor." she told them. "Just turn your key into the place where your level is written and twist, and the elevator will immediately take you there."

"Thank you." Hermione said warmly.

The old woman's mouth went up a little in a corner, but quickly went back to its usual stiff line. The elevator door closed in front of her, and soon, Hermione was swept up by a pair of strong arms.

"Oh!" she said in surprise. Regulus was smiling. "What are you doing?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Isn't it what newlyweds are supposed to do?" he asked. "The man carrying the woman through the threshold?"

Hermione blushed. She hadn't thought of that. Seeing that she wasn't going to answer, Regulus put the key in the lock and twisted. Immediately, the elevator started moving, at a slow pace. A much too slow pace for both of them.

Hermione stared at the indicator which showed the different stories they were passing, wishing she could make the red numbers move faster.

23... 24... 25...

Regulus' heartbeat was accelerating, going so fast that the only thing he could hear was his blood pounding in his temples.

30... 31... 32...

A thrill went through Hermione's body, like some electric shock that made her burn with need. Need for him... And he was so close.

37... 38... 39...

Regulus couldn't take it anymore. It was pure torture to have her body so close and wanting, needing, him like he needed her.

44... 45... 46...

They were both there, almost whimpering with all these sensations they felt, these strings that pulled them together. Sweat beaded on their foreheads, but neither wanted to look at the other so as not to break.

51... 52... 53.

A small ding went off and the elevator door opened. Barely taking the time to remove the key from the keyhole, Regulus nearly hopped over the small golden bar that separated the suite from the elevator and kissed his wife as enthusiastically as he could.

She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck in a desperate attempt to pull him closer. He started walking, then, but she didn't care about where he was taking her. Suddenly her back was against something hard and cold, and she realised it was a wall.

Regulus pulled away, taking in one gasping breath, and said: "Take you clothes off."

His tone was so commanding that she did as she was told, kicking off her shoes and stepping down onto the floor. She reached behind her back to undo the zipper, but it turned out to be stuck. "Ugh!" she groaned, frustrated. "I can't undo this!"

Wordlessly, he spun her around so that her face was against the wall and took hold of the tiny metal piece, giving it a hard tug. There was a loud ripping sound and cold air hit Hermione squarely in the back, making her shiver. She was about to complain but Regulus spun her around again, brushing her shoulders so that the remains of her dress pooled don at her feet.

He pulled her close to him so that she was once more warm, and bent in for another kiss. During this kiss, she managed to undo the buttons of his shirt and push it off his shoulders as he took his own shoes and socks off. He reached out a hand to grab her buttocks and slip her stockings off, making her feel even warmer. Regulus' belt and pants soon followed, along with Hermione's bra and underwear.

He pulled her up so that she could hook her legs around his waist, and bent down to kiss her collarbone. She gave a moan and he smiled against her creamy skin, his hands splaying against her stomach. "Wait!" she called out, breathless. He ignored her and shrugged out of his boxers.

With one hand under her buttocks to stop her from falling and the other against the wall, by her head, he pressed his length against her core. Stroking her with one hand as if to warn her about what was going to happen, he entered her in one swift stroke.

She gasped, but it quickly turned into a moan and he took that as his leave to continue. Her arms were wrapped tightly behind his back and she gasped out: "Must... get to... bed..."

Regulus gave a short laugh. "I told you I'd teach you a lesson, didn't I?" he asked her.

"Yes..." she sighed, but probably not as an answer to his rhetorical question. She dug her mails into his shoulders and gasped with every thrust, while he grit his teeth together at the mixture of pleasure and pain he was feeling.

She could hear his heavy pants in her left ear as he bucked restlessly against her, and that was enough to make her throw herself over the edge. She gasped and called out his name, again and again, while she clung on to him like a shellfish to a rock. He, too, gave a loud groan as he whispered her name into her ear and spent himself inside of her.

Exhausted, they slumped down onto the ground in a mess of sweaty and tangled limbs, both of them panting. Regulus tried to kiss Hermione's cheek, but she turned away, biting her lips as if trying not to cry. "Hermione?" he asked, confused.

She gave a short sob. "Why did you do that, Regulus?" she asked.

He was seriously puzzled now. "What?"

She sniffed a bit. "When I came, I screamed it out to the world, and you... You just whispered." she explained.

He gave her a sweet smile as he understood and tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear. "I did scream it out to the world." he told her.

She shook her head. "You just whispered it to me." she contradicted him. "As if you didn't want anyone else to know."

"Hermione baby," he confessed. "You are my world."

And nothing more needed to be said.

-o-O-o-

Yay! I kept my promise! Please tell me how you feel about this, because I wasn't sure about how to write it... Anyway, feedback is just totally awesome anyway, so, please review! :)