Chapter 4: You're What You Earn
Neville could hear the hissing and snapping at his back and lengthened his stride. Pelting down the Grand Staircase and with Nagini literally nipping at their heels, he dared not think about what would happen if they tripped. Only a handful of years ago, his ungainliness would have made falling flat on his face a real fear, but this past term holding the line against the Death Eater insurgents had made him lean and trim. And quite coordinated.
Glancing to the beautiful young woman at his left, matching his pace stride for stride, he thought about throwing her ahead of him. She deserved more of a sporting chance.
Except that would mean letting go of her hand. And Neville couldn't bear that.
Still…. if this was the end…. He had vowed to himself that he would tell her, especially if they were probably going to be dead by dawn.
Well, dawn was almost here, and death might be upon them within moments, and by snake bite, of all things. There were ruddy far better ways to go.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?!"
"….. There's something I've got to tell you…."
He heard her breath hitch, and her pretty brown eyes widen. "…. I don't want you to say…. anything that you would say if we weren't being chased by a giant snake!..." Their feet hit the bottom landing and they broke into a mad sprint. "It'll just ruin it!" The way she huffed this last comment, almost sniffed it, would have been adorable if they literally weren't running for their lives.
She had a point. There was indeed a time and a place for moments like this. Sweeping, grand gestures. Still, her words gave him hope. It was almost like she knew what he was trying to say. Could it be that she felt…. the same….?
Hermione and Neville burst through the oaken double front doors of the castle and blasted into the courtyard and the early morning sunshine. There was Harry, dueling Voldemort only yards away.
Without once breaking stride, Neville threw Hermione ahead of him. They turned to the left, heading for the covered atrium corridor that rang the perimeter of this courtyard. Suddenly, Hermione let out something between a yelp and a shriek as she tripped on a piece of ruptured stone and her body fell to the left, landing hard against a small pile of rubble.
Neville could hear the coiling, the rattling, the snapping of jaws behind him, and he turned, hefting the Sword of Godric Gryffindor high. The blade flashed like so brightly in the early morning sunlight, it briefly appeared to be a sword of flames.
"Neville – NO!" Hermione wailed.
Nagini lunged. Neville swung almost desperately, and in a manner that probably wouldn't have been passable in the major leagues of Muggle baseball.
As a parry in fencing, however, it just did the job.
"ERRR-AHHHHH!"
The serpent's head was lopped off in one, clean stroke, the entire final Horcrux disintegrating into nothing but gray dust. Several hundred yards away, the Priori Incantatum between Harry and Voldemort's wands abruptly halted, and Voldemort let out a scream of rage, turning his sights on the Boy Who Had Grown Up.
Harry seized his chance, as Voldemort raised his wand and began to incant the Killing Curse.
He Disarmed the Dark Lord of the Elder Wand, which could never be turned against its one, true Master. The most powerful wand in existence levitated from Voldemort's hand and tumbled end over end in a high arc. Like the Seeker he was, Harry caught the stick in his free palm.
Voldemort collapsed to his knees. Panting, Neville watched as the man who had ordered his parents murdered faded away on the wind in little, white flakes.
Neville let out a shaky exhale of relief.
Suddenly, hands were grabbing him, a bit of bushy chestnut hair whacked him in the face. Throwing her arms around his neck, Hermione yanked Neville's face down to hers and, in utter relief, kissed him full on the mouth.
Neville felt the Sword of Gryffindor droop limpingly at his side at the same moment his eyes drooped shut and he curled his arms about Hermione's waist, pulling her closer. As the bookworm and the once-coward-turned-war-hero embraced and deepened the kiss, Neville actually lifted Hermione off her feet, enough that he had no choice but to drop the sword completely, where it clattered onto the cobblestones, forgotten.
Her chocolate orbs swooning shut, Hermione opened her willing lips to Neville's and hummed in delight. "Hmmmmm…. Mmmmhmmmmmmm…" Her fingers wove themselves into his dark hair, the digits tangling in the strands. Framing his face, she let out a gasp when Neville's lips parted under hers and their tongues touched, now indulging in a grappling dance.
She was beginning to lose circulation in her feet, from how Neville's strong arms were hefting her off the ground as they full-bore snogged, allowing the sexual tension over years of friendship to finally die at last.
Finally, Neville set Hermione down gently, gallantly. He was quite taller than her now, having spurted over the past couple of years and Hermione had to reach to keep her lips pressed to his. They eventually broke apart, though reluctantly, their lips separating with a sensuous POP! Hermione let out a shuddering exhale, her eyelids fluttering open.
She and Neville gaped at each other for a moment, stunned by what they had just done. Then they both broke into giggles, Hermione letting Neville know by her beaming smile that she didn't regret kissing him. Or that he had kissed her back.
Turning, the new couple saw Harry slowing out of a jog up to them. Both pink in the face and smiling shyly, Neville and Hermione shared one more side glance before she slipped her palm into his and squeezed it.
Harry glanced between two of his closest friends, and grinned tiredly. "About bloody time, you lot! Don't you think?"
Neville chuckled bashfully while awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand. "I was…. beginning to wonder…." Hermione beamed and curled into his side.
Harry clapped a hand onto Neville's shoulder. "I'm proud of you. You sacrificed a lot to keep this castle safe, but you did it anyway."
"How could I do anything else…. my friend?" Neville rumbled.
He shivered, startled, when Hermione swayed onto her tiptoes and kissed her new boyfriend on the cheek. "Come on, love. Let's go find Luna and get this one…." She jerked a thumb at Harry. "…. To bed…."
Luna….. Harry felt himself exhale as he thought of his lover, though he knew he wouldn't feel relief until he saw her with his own two eyes, unharmed. He drifted into Hermione and gave her a hug. "I'm happy for you…." he murmured into her brown curls, feeling her blush. "Now…." he drew back. "Where could my girl be?"
"I'm right here…."
Harry turned to see how the sun was backlighting Luna's blonde curls, her silvery eyes glowing at him with that same serene pride she had displayed when he had finally plucked up the courage to kiss her.
Beaming, Harry and Luna ran into each other's arms, the Boy Who Lived picking up his lover and swirling her around. Setting her back down again, the couple swept as one into a fierce embrace and shared a long, relieved kiss of their own.
When Harry and Luna broke apart, she smirked and fingered his lightning scar lightly.
"Ready to sleep?"
She said it so casually that Harry burst into hearty chortles. "Only if it's with you."
Luna beamed. "Come on, then…"
And holding out her hands to him, she led her lover with purpose back into the castle and up the Grand Staircase towards the Ravenclaw Common Room.
Neville and Hermione watched them go.
"Well…." Hermione prattled breathless, through a slight yawn. "I suppose we should take their advice…"
She sucked in a breath as Neville suddenly took her by her hips and yanked her close. When his lips descended on hers and he kissed her again, she gasped….. and then melted.
Arms winding about each other so that they clasped half-torn clothes and skin and tufts of hair tightly, Neville and Hermione embraced and lost themselves in the passionate kiss, swaying on the spot, the Sword of Gryffindor still laying forgotten at their feet – including the foot that Hermione now popped.
It was several days later that Harry knocked on the striker to the Rook. His girlfriend's childhood home still had remnants of rubble from the Death Eaters tearing the place apart while looking for him and Hermione some months earlier. When Xenophilius answered, Harry stood back and allowed father and daughter to have their tearful reunion. Watching the zany old man clutching at Luna's blonde curls and weeping, Harry forgave him for trying to bargain him in exchange for his daughter. He wagered that a father's love would make any parent do something desperate, to get their child back.
Stepping back from the hug, her silver eyes shining, Luna grinned softly and slipped her palm into Harry's. Clearly noticing the exchange, Xenophilius smiled almost knowingly, though he said nothing beyond:
"Apologies that the place is such a mess…."
"Not to worry, Papa. Harry and I can help. We'll start with the greenhouse," Luna floated dreamily. She tugged at Harry's hand. "Come on, love. There's a Mandrake specimen I've been meaning to show you…."
Luna led Harry with purpose to the back of the property, where a glass house loomed up before them. Stepping into the steamy environment and closing the door behind them, Luna suddenly threw her arms around Harry's neck and pulled him into a passionate snog.
Harry kissed her back, only jerking out of the embrace when he felt Luna's soft hands wander towards his belt buckle, even boldly daring to cup his burgeoning length in her fist, through his jeans.
"Lu…..? But what about….?"
Her kiss-swollen lips quirked into a smirk. "There is no Mandrake," she panted. "I just said that to buy us some time…." So saying, she managed to tug down his pants, before dropping to her knees. Her silvery eyes gleamed with almost child-like fascination at the sight of Harry's member. "I've always wanted to try this!" she bubbled.
Harry's chuckle turned into a choked gasp as, rearing forward, Luna solemnly puckered her lips around his foreskin and took him gently in her mouth.
It was several hours later when Harry and Luna Apparated back into Hampstead, stealing up the quiet street towards the nondescript brownstone.
Following the Battle, the Quartz Quartet had moved into Hermione's parents' vacated house. It seemed a logical place to hide out, and where the media wouldn't think to even surveillance. Hermione also found it a natural home base from which to plot her next steps in retrieving her parents in Australia and restoring their memories.
Harry and Luna let themselves in quietly. The house was silent.
Harry was about to call out a greeting when he heard what sounded like a thump coming from upstairs. He frowned.
"Stay here," he hissed to Luna, stealing up the steps to the second floor with cat-like tread.
The door to Hermione's childhood bedroom was slightly ajar. Peering through with one eye, Harry gaped at the sight before him:
Neville was now mounted over Hermione and mating with her, his engorged cock thrusting in and out of the space between her globed buttocks. On all fours beneath him, Hermione was moaning and grinding back in metronomic perfect time as Neville's one palm gripped her hip; with the other, he cupped the swell of her bare breast, fondling her tits, which bounced and swayed with each jerk of their passionate and earnest lovemaking.
"Hmmmmm… Mmmmmmm….. Mmmmhmmmmmm… HUHHHHHH! UHHHHHHH! Ne-Nev….." Hermione sighed, gasping almost in disbelief. Gone was the prim and proper witch who would have thought it quite mad to engage in sex or any intimate relations before she was legally wed.
Neville stroked her arse cheek lovingly as he bore down, jerking, pumping his hips into her anus again. "I've always loved this long bottom…." He rumbled, beginning to fuck Hermione faster.
Hermione's cry was alto and lowing as she jerked her hips back, the pair of lovers playing the Beast with Two Backs. "I'm…. beginning to…. adore your…. your long cock, love…."
Hermione and Neville rubbed against each other more furiously, the more desperately they shagged. Neither one of them noticed Harry watching them make love. The Chosen One drew back from the door, jerking sharply when he felt Luna's hand on his arm.
"Are…. Are they really….? – Mmmmph!"
He kissed her hard to silence her, steering her fiercely down the hall towards Mr. and Mrs. Granger's room…. Which in the last several weeks had become their room. Closing the door behind them, Harry threw Luna down on the bed and clambered on top of her.
They had sex.