A Different Kind of Epilogue

Chapter Six – The Payment Plan

Harry found himself standing out Ron and Hermione's house again, this time with a little less trepidation, with a bottle of red wine and a bottle Ogden's Finest in hand instead of his heart.
It had been three weeks since Harry and Hermione had agreed to the dinner, however Hermione had trouble convincing Ron to agree to attend the dinner, as it turns out withholding food from a man some had nicknamed "The Mouth" was the correct negotiation tactic.

Harry hadn't seen Ron since the revelation about the potions, so he wasn't sure how Ron was going to react. He was still hoping Ron wasn't participating in the whole conspiracy and since both Harry and Hermione had agreed to confront him together, Hermione hadn't said a word to her husband about the potions. The debt on the other hand she'd pushed on until he buckled and once she had what she thought was all the details, she'd locked in the dinner.

Harry knocked on the door and waited. After a minute the door swung open and the sight that greeted Harry left him stunned. Hermione was standing there is a form fitting set of robes that strategically showed skin to accentuate her figure. Harry only coming to his senses when Hermione's voice finally reached his short-circuiting brain.

"Harry, I said are you going to come in?" Hermione said with a light laugh, realizing she'd broken Harry.

"Oh! Yes, sorry I was lost in my own little world there…" He said, passing the bottle of red and then reaching out to hug her, she smelt of vanilla and ink. Hermione took the bottle and wrapped her arms around Harry, he felt her squeeze him tight. Not Hermione Granger hug tight, but enough to say she didn't want to let go.

They broke apart and Harry followed Hermione in.

"How have you been Harry, I was very excited to hear about Lily's sudden spike in grades. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd stolen a mini me given her scores now." She said laughing as they walked towards the kitchen.

Harry knew at that point he was in trouble. Her laugh was music to his ears and watching her saunter into the kitchen in those dress robes was making his brain short circuit again… He'd need to watch his alcohol consumption tonight or mistakes would be made…

"Uh, yeah, she's doing really well. If I hadn't been at her birth in the first place, I might be asking the same question. You should have seen her reaction when she saw the library at Grimmauld Place…" Harry replied, having trouble coming up with a response. It must have worked as Hermione just giggled.

"Now, Ron was meant to be home before you got here, however I've not seen him, and it's turned out to be a blessing as I hadn't finished cooking yet…" Hermione said absentmindedly.

"Oh, did you want me to help out, maybe we can get it done before Ron gets here" Harry said, putting the bottle of Ogden's on the table and moving towards the cottages kitchen.

"I'd love the help Harry; it's going to be a little tight though…" Hermione said mischievously as she stood near the fridge.

"Oh, please Hermione, after all the hugs you've given me, plus the nights we shared in the tent during the hunt. I'm sure occasionally bump in the kitchen isn't going to set off alarm bells" Harry replied, hoping beyond anything that there'd be more than bumps.

"I'm good if you are." Replied Hermione, as she reached over Harry for a knife, giving him an eyeful of her bountiful cleavage. Harry took a short sharp breath and then began concentrating intently on the vegetables in the sink "I'll just wash these then!" He said suddenly, sounding a lot less confident than he'd intended.

"Yes please, and then cut the potatoes and carrots into quarters as we're going to roast them, don't worry about peeling" Hermione said, Harry thought he saw a cheeky grin on her face….

"Oh Harry, please thank Andi and Teddy for me by the way. I don't think I've seen Hugo that excited about visiting someone but when I said it was Uncle Harry's son Teddy, he almost lost his mind." Hermione said with a smile on her face. "I used to tell him stories based on our adventures in the past, leaving names out since I didn't want to give him ideas for when he goes to Hogwarts, and when I told him you'd been the hero in those stories recently he has been dying for any kind of connection with you."

Harry blushed "I hope you pointed out that his mother was by my side for all those adventures and deserved equal if not more credit for our successes."

"What do you mean Harry, I didn't defeat Quirrell, I didn't slay a basilisk, I didn't banish over 100 dementors or out fly a dragon and I certainly didn't dual Voldemort repeatedly and inevitably beat him." Replied Hermione, heaping praise upon Harry as they were both busy in the kitchen.

"Hermione, I could never have done any of those things without you or Ron… you especially. Your brains got us through most of the traps in first year, you did the research to determine it was a basilisk in second year, you had the time turner in third year that enables us to save Sirius and I, and you were the only person in the entire castle in fourth year that openly supported and helped train me and last but certainly not least, do you think I would have survived the Horcrux Hunt without you Hermione? Merlin the number of times I wanted to just quit but we'd look at each other and I'd realise I needed to keep going. Please don't sell yourself short Hermione…" Harry said, biting the inside of his check to keep a rein on his emotions. He'd hated when Hermione spoke down about herself in school and he still hated it now.

They spent the next 15 minutes just quietly working away in the kitchen getting everything ready. After getting all the prep work done and food cooking away, they both retired to the dining room to talk again.

"So, were you able to find out exactly how much debt Ron has racked up?" Harry asked, wanting to get onto a topic that wasn't as emotionally charged for him at least.

"Mostly, though I still think there is more, there is the 150,000G that we owe Gringotts, then there is the "non-bank" debts that he has incurred. These range from loan sharks to bookies, he apparently started out just trying to invest the money he borrowed but when the loan sharks wouldn't give him anymore the bookies stepped up. Obviously, they refused to finance anything but Quidditch and Broom Racing, so he just started betting and losing…" Hermione trailed off her explanation. "The "non-bank" amount is significantly less but the interest rates they are charging are ridiculous which is why we've not been able to pay Gringotts."

Harry was shocked, Ron had always been Quidditch obsessed but the problem was that he followed the worst team in the league and refused to bet on anyone else, Harry hoped his betting habits had gotten a little better. Though the inferred loss rate didn't bode well for that being the case…

"I'm not sure whether to be grateful or not, but apparently even the bookies have started cutting him off. So at least that avenue is gone." Hermione paused only to take a deep breath "The total amount we owe the non-bank lenders is approximately 7,000G and to be honest if you only cleared that our life would improve dramatically."

"No Hermione, I said I'd get you out from under this debt load and I meant it. I'll buy out the Gringotts debt legitimately so there are no questions and I'll pay off the various loan sharks and bookies, in addition to asking them to no longer lend to Ron, so that you only need to work with me on any payment challenges you have. As I said, I'd be happy to have you back as my best friend for the next 30 years as repayment if it didn't make things weird." Harry said with some force "Now we just need to wait for Ron to get here, so we can finalise the amounts."

As if by command they both heard the door slam open "Alright, let's get this over with 'Mione!" Hermione cringed as Ron shouted across the house, mouthing 'I'm sorry' to Harry. Ron then walked into the dining area to see Harry and Hermione sitting having a drink.

"Oh, you're already here Potter. 'Mione, how far off is dinner, I'm starving." Ron slurred.

"Ron, have you been drinking?" Hermione asked, as Harry just shook his head in shock. He hadn't realised how far his first friends manners had deteriorated.

"Of course, I took my team out for some drinks to celebrate a safe game last weekend." Ron said as he slightly stumbled towards the table to sit down. "Now, where is dinner?"

"Harry and I finished getting everything ready a little while ago, it should be about 15 minutes away. I'll go check on the roast vegetables to make sure nothing is burning." Hermione said, sounding a little irritated, as she stood and walked back towards the kitchen.

Ron mostly ignored her and sat down heavily on one of the chairs "Can you grab me a drink while you're in there?" He half yelled in Hermione's direction "Gosh, roast and good booze, tonight must be some kind of celebration! I shouldn't have pushed back so hard; I've been surviving on porridge and vegetables this week."

Harry was confused, but then remembered Hermione saying something about Ron being on a diet. Before he could comment on this however Ron continued.

"Though Potter, I don't know why you had to involve us in your break-up with Ginny. Just cause she didn't want to keep things going, doesn't mean all of us did" Ron said casually. "I can't even get mum to give me the recipe for the potions she was making… Though if you remember our time with Snape it's likely for the best eh?" Ron said without pausing.

Harry just sat there stunned, had Ron just confessed to everything? Just to make sure, Harry followed up.

"Oh, what kind of potions were they? I can't imagine it'd be too complicated to make some nutrient potions…" Harry trailed off, the vestiges of his hopes of Ron's innocence hinging on his response to this last sentence.

"Nutrient? I'm talking about Love Potions and shit like that. They're really hard to brew and it took Ginny AGES to get it right, almost killed you a few times the first year she took over".

Harry just sat there, lost for words. His first friend, the man he'd called best mate for almost his entire life knew what was going on and was an active participant in it all… Harry clamped down his occlumency to try and reign in his emotional reaction to this bombshell. He assumed the alcohol was lubricating Ron's responses and he hoped it wasn't just his lack of emotional intelligence…

"So Ron, who were you using the potions on?" Harry asked, trying to sound innocent while a storm of emotions raged behind his occlumency shields.

"Who do you think Potter, I've had Hermione dosed up to the gills since fifth year. It's the only way I could get into those knickers." Ron said with a laugh. At this stage Hermione walked back into the dining area balancing three plates on her hands, not having heard the confession. Ron sat back and looked directly at Hermione.

"Where is my drink?!" Ron asked rudely.

"I don't think you need another right now, you can eat your dinner first and then we'll all sit down in the study and have a drink while we talk." Ron just grunted an affirmative response and started devouring the plate in front of him, not even waiting for Hermione to take a seat.

The dinner was a strange one, it was almost like there were two conversations going on. One between Harry and Hermione, where they discussed their younger children and some developments in the Muggle world. While the second conversation was between Harry and Ron, where Ron kept trying to push the topics of Quidditch, specifically the Canons and his inflated expectations of results next year.

Once dinner was finished and Hermione was about to begin clearing the table, Harry stopped her. "Tipsy!" He said suddenly, as a house elf appeared in Potter colours.

"Mast...Harry has called?" The elf said, looking a little abashed that it had almost called Harry master. As with Dobby, Harry had asked the small number of Potter elves to simply call him Harry or Harry Potter once the potions and charms had warn off. This in addition to the pay and Harry's use of manners with the elves had left them a little offside when dealing with their master.

"I did Tipsy, thank you for coming. Could I ask you to clear the table and clean up the kitchen and dishes for us please? I'd like to speak with both Hermione and Ron, and it would be really helpful if we didn't have to wait until we'd done the cleanup." Harry asked Tipsy.

"OF COURSE MASTER!" The elf responded excitedly, forgetting not to use that word with Harry while vanishing from view. The trio then watched the plates and cutlery float off the table towards the kitchen.

"Harry! I thought you were better than this, why do you have house elves?" Hermione said, some of the old "Teacher Hermione" sternness seeping into her voice.

"Stop please Hermione, although they are bound to me, they get paid well for house elves and I even convinced them to take time off. Why don't we stay on topic tonight and I'll be more than happy to come round, or have you around, to discuss house elves. It's not as black and white as you thought back in Hogwarts." Harry said, putting a stop to the incoming tirade.

"Fine, but don't think this topic is put to bed!" Hermione huffed, as she started directing Harry and Ron towards the study. "You two head in, I'll grab the bottles so we don't need to leave until everything is settled."

Harry followed Ron the rest of the way to the study, where Harry found a cozy study with a few bookcases, a medium sized desk with a comfortable looking leather-bound chair and two armchairs off to the side. Harry sat down in one of the armchairs, while Ron sat at the desk and looked over the papers sitting on top. His eyes going wide as he suddenly realized what was going on.

"So this is why she was asking all those nosy questions…" Harry heard Ron mutter to himself. Not making any effort to engage Harry in conversation while they waited.

Hermione walked in with the red wine and whiskey in hand, placing them on a side table in between the two armchairs, taking the armchair next to Harry, she began speaking.

"Now Ron, as I'm sure you've seen from the documents on the desk, I've been made aware of our dire financial position. This is why I was asking you about how much debt you had incurred." Hermione fleshed out for him. "I will ask one last time, before we continue, are there any other debts outside of the ones you've told me about?"

"Just one, I got a good tip that the Canons were in for a big win on the weekend and a new bookie I was introduced to gave me fantastic odds, 120:1!" Ron said excitedly "Just imagine 'Mione, debt free with money to spend..." Ron trailed off as he daydreamed about spending the money.

"Ron, I spoke to all your bookies, they all refused to give you anymore credit and promised if I could pay them that they'd never lend to you again. Who on earth lent you money?" Hermione asked.

"I know, do you know how annoying that was. Don't they know who I am!?" Ron said incredulously. "But this nice guy I met at the bar tonight, Thomas Jefferies, introduced me to a bookie who was willing to lend me WAY more than any of the others ever had."

Hermione suddenly stood up, quite agitated. "GANGSTERS RON, YOU BORROWED MONEY FROM GANGSTERS?!" Hermione suddenly burst out.

"Well we were already so far in debt and Gringotts wouldn't give me money for the bet!" Ron responded defensively.

"Ron, Gringotts repossesses a house when you can't pay your debt, do you know what gangsters do?" Hermione said somewhere between yelling and talking down to him "They take YOU! They might kill you Ron, or me, or the kids. Worse, they might decide they can use Rose and I to get the money back and we'll find ourselves permanent fixtures of a whore house in Knockturn Alley, is that what you want?!"

"I know…but…the bet was meant to work out. They said it was all but guaranteed." Ron responded, trying to take control of the conversation again.

"Ron" growled Hermione "Who told you it was a guaranteed thing?!"

"Thomas, he said it was all but guaranteed and that he knew the bookie that would lend me as much as I wanted." Ron said.

Hermione's response chilled Harry to the bones. "So Ron, what you're telling me is that the man who introduced you to the bookie also gave you the tip. Did he make a bet?" Hermione quietly asked.

"No" Ron responded, not realizing how close to the edge he was walking.

"RON THAT BOOKIE PROBABLY WORKS FOR THOMAS JEFFERIES" Hermione yelled again, not able to keep her emotions in check. "HOW MUCH DID HE LEND YOU?!"

"Only 7,000G. Nothing compared to how much we owe Gringotts." Ron responded, having the audacity to sound offended.

"So you owe bookies and gangsters 14,000G…" Hermione said, falling back into the armchair behind her.

Everything that had been said suddenly caught up with Harry, he decided Hermione had run out of steam and that he'd explain the plan to Ron and it would defuse the situation given no one would be at risk of cement shoes or whorehouses… but before he could say anything Hermione sprang up.

"Incarcerous!" Hermione suddenly yelled, as ropes launched from her wand directly at Ron, tying him to the desk chair he was sitting in.

"What the FU…" Ron started to yell before Hermione began dressing him down.

"Don't you dare suddenly act all aggrieved, you who has stolen EVERYTHING from me! You and that stupid family of yours dose me with potions and cart me off to be a breeding mare for you. YES, I KNOW ALL ABOUT IT!" Hermione getting really worked up at this point "So potioned out of my brain that I stop being me, you took my identity from me! TWENTY YEARS OF MY LIFE RON! Well, that stops now, I might not be able to divorce you because of these archaic laws, but that doesn't mean I'm powerless." Saying this, she suddenly storms out of the study.

"Mind helping a guy out Potter?" Ron askes Harry.

Harry just looks at him in shock "After making it clear that you knew full well I was being controlled by your mother and sister and that you've been dosing my best friend into loving you and avoiding me. Do you really think I'm going to help you? No I'm not risking Hermione's wrath for your comfort." After saying this, Harry simply takes another sip of his drink and stares out the window.

After about five minutes Harry hears Ron gasp and looks over to see what had surprised him, almost spitting firewhisky all over the room.

Standing in the doorway was, as far as Harry was concerned, a barely clad goddess. Hermione had spent the time getting changed, gone was the skintight slightly revealing dress robes and now she was simply in some Gryffindor red, practically see through, negligée.

"Oh, Harry, do you see something you like~" Hermione purred at her best friend. She began strutting towards Harry as if on a catwalk.

"I….uh…" Harry tried to say something but his brain was failing him.

"Has Crookshanks got your tongue Harry? What a shame, I was really hoping to put it too some use tonight. I've heard Parselmouths are quite skilled~" Hermione follows up, continuing to flirt with abandon.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Ron yells, suddenly rebooting his mind enough to respond to the events of the last 45 seconds.

"Well husband" Hermione says the last word with distain "The wonderfully handsome Mr. Potter here has offered to assist us with our financial difficulties and since we've got no way in hell of actually paying him back. I figured we could come to an…alternative….arrangement" Hermione finishes the sentence punctuating the final two words as she places each hand on the back of Harry's chair, leaning in towards him. Not once looking at her husband. "and since you've been kind enough to completely destroy mine and Harry's lives, I thought I'd destroy yours by having you watch."

Harry, himself only realizing what is going on suddenly looks into Hermione's eyes, expecting to see fear or resentment or even a sense of soullessness, instead he sees pure lust. "Hermione, you don't need to do this. I told you, you don't need to pay me back, it's fine." The words leave his mouth but he means none of them, he wants nothing more than to hold her down and show her how much he wants this.

"Oh Harry, you think I feel a need to do this?" Hermione continues to stare longingly in Harry's emerald eyes. "No, this is simply a really good reason to do something I've wanted to do since the end of third year." And without letting Harry respond, she lunges forward driving her lips into his.

Harry, stunned only for a second begins to kiss back. He can't believe this is happening however not one to look a gift horse in the mouth decides to make the most of it. As Hermione and Harry begin to get more and more lost in their make out session, Hermione's hands roam around Harry's body and begin undressing him. The shirt is gone quickly and as Hermione begins fighting with his belt buckle Harry stands up, gently pushing Hermione back and vanishes the last of his clothes. This leaves Hermione gob smacked. The first shock was seeing Harry do wandless and silent casting and vanishing his clothes takes precision that not all witches and wizards could do. The second shock, and likely the most reasonable for her silence, was the absolute basilisk that hung between Harry's legs.

As Hermione continued to stare at Harry's cock, he reached out a stroked her face. "Hermione, I've wanted to be with you since fourth year, so I'm certainly not going to say no. But I just want to be sure you want to do this." Hermione looks up at Harry and simply pushes him against the wall, dropping to her knees. "Let me show you how sure I am!" as she gives his cock a few quick pumps before taking the head of it in her mouth and begins bobbing her head at a steady rhythm.

Harry is in heaven; the feeling of Hermione's warm mouth is amazing and he runs his hands through her hair as she works him. He can tell this is something she doesn't do very often, however enthusiasm was making up for a lack of skill and Harry for one was certainly not complaining. So lost in this situation was he, that he completely forgot Ron was still tied to the desk chair watching the entire situation play out.

After a minute or two of 'absolute heaven' as Harry would dub it in the future, suddenly releases Harry's cock from her mouth and stands up. "Take me Harry, I can't stand it anymore, I need you inside me." Being lost in lust and not enjoying the feel of cold air on his thoroughly drenched member, Harry spins Hermione around, bends her over one of the armchairs and banishes her knickers.

Harry takes a moment to admire the absolute beauty before him. Hermione was completely hairless, and her lips looked perfect…. And dripping wet. Harry lined the head of his cock up with her entrance and began tracing it up her slit.

"Oh please don't tease me, just FUCK ME!" Hermione suddenly screamed.

Leant over, careful not to enter her yet "As my lady wishes." Harry whispers in her ear and then thrusts about half his member in her.

Hermione suddenly arches against the armchair and screams out in ecstasy "Oh god yes, this thing is amazing!"

Harry pulls back, leaving on the head of his cock inside her and says "Oh, that's only half of it." Suddenly pushing balls deep inside of her.
Hermione had obviously had sex before, but she had never felt this full before. It felt to her as if Harry was currently rammed right up against her cervix and at the same time filling every inch of her aching pussy. As Harry pulled back she suddenly had a feeling of emptiness, one that she never wanted to feel again.

As Hermione and Harry got lost in each other as they rutted like animals. Ron finally found his voice again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you whore. How dare you do this in front of.." but he never got to finish the sentence as Hermione wandless and silently cast a silencing charm over him.

"Oh shut up Ron, you're ruining this for m…OH GOD" Hermione tried to berate her husband but got lost in the orgasm that overtook her body, as she squirted all over the floor.

As Hermione was orgasming uncontrollably, Harry was doing his best to stay in control. He didn't want this to end, but he could feel his balls constrict as they threatened to paint Hermione's insides the pearlescent white of his virulent seed.

"Oh Merlin Hermione, I'm so close" Harry said as he picked up speed. Thoughts of little bushy haired green eyed brainiacs entered his mind and he began to pull out.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, DON'T YOU DARE PULL OUT. I WANT IT ALL!" Hermione screamed out riding a second orgasm as she pushed back against Harry.

Getting the green light, Harry picked up the pace and began railing Hermione with abandon. Experiencing this whole new level, Hermione's eyes began to roll up in the back of her head and Harry finally lost control "Oh FUCK!" he grunts as he slams the head of his cock against the walls of her cervix, painting her white from the inside. As this is happening, Hermione loses control of the silencing charm and it is released from Ron.

As Ron watches his wife almost pass out from pleasure and be filled up with his 'best mates' seed, he suddenly speaks up. "But Hermione, you're not on the potion…"

Hermione not even looking up from her little slice of heaven just says "I'm well aware RONALD, however I simply don't care. I would bear as many children as Harry asked of me." Harry realizing the implications of what he'd just done.

"I hope this isn't a once off thing Hermione, I was serious about wanting you for so long. I dreamt of this before coming around for dinner but didn't think it would actually happen."

"Yes Harry, I never want this to stop, of course if anyone askes, I'm paying back the debts my husband has incurred. That way neither of us are at risk of negative outcomes" Hermione says, finally standing up from her bent over position.

"Do you not consider pregnancy as a negative outcome?" Harry askes, hopeful for a certain outcome.

"No, it's a bonus and I hope you spend the rest of tonight trying for it as a goal." Hermione says seductively as she struts out of the study. "Now come, as an added bonus I want you to try and break my marital bed." Harry followed along on cloud nine.

Ron meanwhile, was left sitting tied to the desk chair raging. Unsure whether his anger is due to the extramarital affair his wife was unashamedly involved in or that he had done this to himself.

Author Notes

Wow, smut is hard… I was sorely tempted to turn Ron into a cuck, see Cucking the Weasleys another good read however not as good as Payment Plan, however it clashed with my story board so changed it back.

Interested to hear if, now that the smut has begun, you want more of it or if 25% of a chapter is a suitable amount.

Also, any other writers have any idea when stats are meant to be available on a story? I can see follows, favourites and reviews but I've no idea how many people are reading this… Would be nice to know, a nice line graph or round number always acts as a nice motivator :D.