A/N: 100 is such a big number. 100 of anything is kinda amazing, unless it's mosquitoes and then 100 is ... just awful. Everything else, though, is kinda impressive and I'm proud of us for getting this far. Because without every single one of you, I likely would not have the energy to do this. But I do. Because of you. So please carry that with you today - and every day. Without you, I just have voices inside my head and THAT is kinda crazy.
So, my loves. Enjoy. This one wasn't particularly saucy until the other day but now it is and I mean, why not.
-0-
The castle was so beautiful at night and as they slipped in the South Gate, Hermione turned a circle looking at the stars while Minerva chuckled and set the protections she needed to as Deputy Headmistress and last one in the gate.
She snagged Hermione's waist and rocked them gently while they watched the stars.
"Until we are space dust and magic, sweetheart," Minerva whispered.
Hermione closed her eyes and smiled.
"You are so fucking romantic."
Minerva laughed, disturbing the quiet night.
"That was your line, not mine," she argued. "Perhaps you are the romantic one." Their hands tangled together and swung between them as they wandered up to the Castle.
Just before they turned the last corner to approach the doors, Hermione pushed Minerva off the path, with sure hands that kept her steady.
"What are you -"
"Look where we are," Hermione said softly as she stepped away and looked around.
"Where are we?" Minerva frowned.
"Trust your eyes," Hermione muttered softly. "They can see in the dark."
"Some, but not -"
Hermione pressed up against her back and held her. She reached forward and held Minerva's chin.
"Look."
Hermione felt it when it happened. Minerva stilled and Hermione let her look around.
"Oh," she muttered. "I remember."
"You do?" Hermione whispered. "What do you remember?"
"You were here," Minerva muttered. "I was there. You had a new Patronus."
Hermione whipped her wand through the air and that little dragon appeared and frolicked around them happily.
"You try," Hermione whispered. "With me."
Minerva hesitated, and Hermione let her. She understood the potential that everything had changed and how terrifying that was. Minerva's Patronus had been hers for so long, and Hermione tried not to let guilt cloud this experience. Her's had changed and she didn't mind that it had but Minerva's was another thing entirely.
"Hush, Leannan," MInerva muttered.
Hermione held her breath and sought to quiet her thoughts until Minerva finally breathed out slowly and sliced her wand through the air with precision. They both breathed a sigh of relief when that little tabby cat that matched her Animagus so well appeared and ran around with Hermione's dragon.
"There," Hermione mumbled against her neck. "Crisis averted." Minerva chuckled. "Now. What do you recall about this moment in our lives?"
Minerva thought about it and Hermione was surprised at the things she thought about. She watched Minerva's memory of seeing her muscles beneath her skin, of feeling something perhaps not quite what she felt she should have.
"It was the first time I understood your transformation," Minerva muttered. "You looked so strong, so powerful."
"Was that why you were scared of me?"
"No," Minerva shook her head. "No matter my words at the time, I was never scared that you'd hurt me. I was scared of my feelings, of the way I was falling in love with what I viewed as a child at the time."
"And now?"
Minerva pulled away and turned.
"Now?" Minerva smirked.
She pressed Hermione back against the Castle and kissed her. The magic in the warm stones behind her made Hermione moan as Minerva hand slid over her thigh through the slit in her robes. She gasped in shock as Minerva's fingers traced her centre, swiping at her clit for just a moment, before she withdrew.
"I would not bed a child, Leannan." She smirked at Hermione but all Hermione could do was gape. "And I have done that quite a lot lately."
Hermione yanked her back in and pleaded with her between gasping breaths. Minerva hesitated for as long as she could before resuming her path between Hermione's strong thighs.
"Make new memories," Hermione breathed as Minerva held her there. "Make me yours, here, now."
"You are mine," Minerva drawled as she kissed from Hermione's shoulder, up to her ear. "You have always been mine."
Hermione moaned as Minerva's fingers slipped inside her.
"Quiet," Minerva muttered as she put her hand over Hermione's mouth. "You must be silent, my love."
Hermione tried, she really did. There were a few whimpers she could not contain and a litany of whispers as Minerva drew her fingers down the seam of the robes Hermione wore and ran her thumb over her nipple while she held her steady.
"Fuck," Hermione hissed.
She felt Minerva grin against her shoulder and slid her hand into Minerva's hair.
"Please, Min. Please."
A part of Minerva's mind wanted something more, just out of reach of Hermione's spinning brain. Her entire consciousness was devoted to Minerva's delight; whatever her woman wanted, she would give. Minerva groaned against her and picked up the pace.
Yes, yes, yes. Hermione thought, unable to say it out loud as Minerva's hand once again pressed over it as she understood how close Hermione was. I'm yours, Domina.
Minerva jerked forward and Hermione came with a gasp. Minerva lay her head on Hermione's shoulder and breathed just as hard as Hermione's body clenched around her fingers. They came down together, breathing quietly in the night air.
"We'll definitely," Hermione panted. "Investigate that one day." She breathed. "That was -"
Minerva slipped from her and fixed the skirt of her robes. Instead of resuming their walk home, Minerva wrapped her arms around Hermione and held on.
"You're thrown by that," Hermione whispered as she held her right back. "Why?"
"I do not know," Minerva muttered. "Perhaps because of the unmistakable fact that there is a difference between us, Leannan, even if we do not draw attention to it in ourselves."
"That would not be a power imbalance, if we do it right," Hermione muttered. "What if we do some reading about it? Would that maybe help?"
"Perhaps."
Hermione nodded and leaned, boneless, against the castle again.
"I love you, Minerva. Thank you for always being brave with me."
Minerva snorted and shook her head.
"You make it so easy to be brave with you."
Hermione smiled and reached for Minerva's hand. She stared at it for a moment and saw Minerva's unease.
"Is this uncomfortable for you?"
"I do not know."
"What about now?"
Hermione pulled Minerva's fingers to her mouth and paused.
"Her -"
Minerva's breath was the one to hitch as Hermione pulled those fingers into her mouth. There was something so overwhelming about the feeling of Minerva's interest and anxiety and pleasure as she wrapped her tongue around the fingers and cleaned them off.
"Fuck," Minerva muttered as she covered her eyes. She peeked through her fingers and made Hermione laugh as she kissed her palm and released her. "I -"
"You can think about how you feel about that while we go home," Hermione smirked.
"I -"
"Cat got your tongue?"
Minerva pressed her back against the wall and kissed her hard. Their tongues warred between them until she pulled away with a grunt.
"You are -" She sighed. "Cha bhi fios aig duine gu bràth dè cho milis 'sa tha thu a' blasad." [No one will ever know how sweet you taste.]
Hermione paused and waited for the translation to filter through Minerva's mind. She moaned again and kissed Minerva in payment.
"No one," she smiled. "I am all yours for the rest of eternity."
"Gus am bi sinn mar dhuslach fànais agus draoidheachd." [Until we are space dust and magic.]
Hermione grinned, feeling the words as much as hearing them and pecked Minerva's lips.
"We'd best go home, I suppose," she sighed. "We should come out here and make love more often."
Minerva stumbled as she turned away.
"HERMIONE!"
The walk back into the castle calmed their nerves and Hermione felt rather comforted by Minerva's hand in her's and the magic of Hogwarts surrounding her.
"You are confident of this plan to retrieve Lady Malfoy?" Minerva asked as they climbed the front steps.
"Of course I am," Hermione smirked. "I made it."
Minerva laughed again and kept chucking now and then as they stepped up to the doors. As before, they opened and closed without thought behind them.
"I do not think that will get old as long as I live," Minerva smiled as she glanced back.
"How do you feel about the plan?" Hermione asked. Truth be told, now that Minerva had brought it up, she needed to make sure her confidence had not skewed her own vision. She bit her thumb nail while she waited for Minerva to lock up the Castle.
"Sweetheart," Minerva smiled over her shoulder. "Don't fret. I just wondered whether we had achieved all you wanted. It is a solid plan. A careful one; you have done everything you can to pre-empt the issues we may face and come up with solutions for them before they arise."
"Doesn't cover everything, though, does it."
"No," Minerva admitted. "But you have done what you could with what you had to work with."
"You think it's a good plan?"
"I do, though you never have to ask. I will always do you the courtesy of telling you if I do not."
"I do love you," Hermione whispered in the quiet. "You know that, don't you?"
"Seadh, leannan, tha fios agam. Dìreach mar a tha gaol agam ort."
Yes, lover. I know. Just as I love you.
Hermione smiled as Minerva translated for her in her head.
"I need to sleep, I'm so tired suddenly."
"I am not at all surprised," Minerva teased. "And it is a fine change from the norm," Minerva chuckled as she slid her arm into Hermione's. "Let's get you to bed. I will not wake you in the morning. You should sleep for as long as you need. We have," she grinned. "Been busy."
"I told you I was going to peel you out of your beautiful robes," Hermione muttered petulantly. "Especially after all that, why do I have to get tired now?"
"You are so funny, darling," Minerva laughed. "Come along. There'll be time for all that, later."
They greeted Michael and Minerva helped her into the bedroom and helped her undress. She hung the robes on the back of the door and Hermione only found it out of the norm as Minerva kept talking.
"You should bring your things," Minerva said quietly as Hermione came back from the bathroom. "Before the end of the holidays." Hermione blinked and looked at her. "Unless you wish for us to have -"
"You want me to stay?"
"I thought that was a given, Leannan?"
Hermione smiled and then shrugged bashfully.
"I didn't want to presume."
"Hermione," Minerva chuckled as she pulled her to the bed. She spun her around and undid her hair. She fiddled with it for a while before Hermione realised she was plaiting it tightly to keep it from tangling.
"You didn't have to -"
"I know," Minerva whispered as she knelt on the bed and pushed Hermione back onto it. "I wanted to."
Hermione groaned as Minerva settled on top of her and snuggled into her chin.
"You aren't tired," she muttered. "You don't have to stay."
"I'm going to stay while you fall asleep and then I shall get up and work until I'm sleepy. Then, I will join you in your dreams."
Hermione smiled and tangled their fingers together so she could kiss her hands before she felt her mind give up completely and she fell into darkness.
-0-
Minerva stayed beside her lover much longer than she had planned. She felt Hermione's slumber take her and shifted off her so she could lean up on her elbow. Since the scant moments of reflection during their time away, those moments that hurt her now to think of, she felt like she's not had a moment to herself since.
She traced Hermione's hairline and sighed as she dropped back on the bed. She had no idea that people could feel this much for another person. Of course she had seen Poppy and Will for all their years together and just thought it was an oddity between them but otherwise, she had not really had the opportunity. Her various partners were few and far between and they had been safe and not at all exciting.
It had suited her at the time but now she had this woman in her life, she could not imagine that she had ever settled for that.
Being with Hermione, loving this young woman that had upended her world so spectacularly, it felt like riding lightning. She had never been so out of control and she could not help but love every minute.
The gentle love they made after their period of insanity and bonding had been so fulfilling, she could hardly breathe when she thought about it. Even now, visions of Hermione naked and glowing and breathing out her name had her all hot and bothered.
It had become the new normal for her; pining for the love of her partner.
Unheard of.
She huffed again in frustration at her merry-go-round thoughts as Hermione whimpered. Though their bond was different at night, giving each of them a version of being alone in one's thoughts, she still felt Hermione's nightmare coming. She had been afraid of this since the small breakdown at the Weasley's and she pressed her hand over Hermione's scars where her heart was picking up speed.
"Bi air do shocair, a ghaol. Tha mi an seo còmhla riut," she whispered. [Be at ease, my love. I am here with you.]
Hermione shivered and rolled towards Minerva but did not wake. Minerva waited as she settled and kissed her forehead. She lingered as she found the strength to do as she meant to before rolling out of the bed and going back to her desk.
Hermione's words from earlier had stuck with her; that it was unfair that she always got stuck with this. A part of it was her job; the requisitions, the budget, disciplinary matters, but some of these letters were requests for Albus' intellect, for new students. Even though she visited the Gryffindor students at the beginning of the year as the Head of House, inviting new students to the school was not her job.
She could not imagine what the next year would look like. They would get a clearer picture of what the enemy looked like soon, but that was only one part of it. She would be lying if she thought the mission was going to be easy. Hermione had done a great job in anticipating issues but she knew as well as any of them that missions did not follow scripts well. Her own body - and Hermione's - was clear evidence of that.
She signed her name on a few of the forms that required and started reading through letters. As she did so, thoughts of Albus soured her expression. She thought back to Hermione's off-hand comment about how it wasn't fair that it had been left for her to deal with and then his behaviour at the Weasley's as well. As she signed letter after letter, her ire built and built and by the time she was a third of the way through her pile she decided she'd had enough.
She sent all of Albus' mail to his desk with a wide slice of her wand and growled at the thought. She pulled on her cloak, knowing how the Castle was cool during the evening, and left her rooms. He no doubt knew that she intended to follow his correspondence to his desk and would either welcome her or not.
The Gargoyle bowed its head as she approached.
"My Lady, he is expecting you."
"I daresay he is," she muttered.
She couldn't be sure, but as she stepped past the guardian, she could have sworn she saw it smirk.
The stairs gave her time to calm before she stepped into his office.
"Minerva," he said quietly. "Your thoughts and wishes proceed you," he chuckled. "I apologise for not taking care of things while you were away."
"Al," she sighed as she dropped onto his sofa. "What are you doing?"
He paused and looked at her from behind his desk and nodded before he joined her.
"I know Hermione does not believe me, but I was merely trying to end the war while Tom was otherwise occupied with whatever you did to him as you removed Mr Malfoy from his clutches."
"Did you stop to think about what that would mean, Al?" she asked quietly. "What that would mean for Harry?"
He looked away and it was all the answer she needed. She sighed.
"You have to do better," she whispered. "I know that things are changing rapidly." She scoffed. "Believe me, I know it. But you are not on your own anymore. This has changed and you must bend, Al. If you stay rigid, this will break you and I do not want that for us. I love you Al. You know I do, but that boy is mine now and you cannot have him."
She sucked in a deep breath as she spoke all she needed to, without really even meaning to. He stared at her for a long time before throwing his glasses on the table.
"I misstepped," he acknowledged. "As I told Hermione, I do not believe it is in her to end the war. I am convinced it will take Harry to do so, as it is written, but I recognise that I have been replaced -"
"Oh don't be a sour puss," she groaned. "You are better than that. Despite your thoughts of her and despite her age and experience, her thoughts are clear and concise. Her plan is solid, Al. And it will work. As she has so painstakingly told me - all we must do is trust her. Believe in her, Al. Believe in me, if you cannot believe in her. That is all I am asking."
She let him consider it, and perhaps mourn his position at the head of the Order, but she allowed him that time. She knew how he worked and though he was not obnoxious, he was definitely very assured of himself. He scoffed and got up to pour them a drink.
"I know what you are thinking," he muttered.
"Do you?" She grinned as he passed her a tumbler of whisky.
"You think I'm being petulant. My ego is bruised."
"Oh?" Minerva mused.
"Don't play coy, Minerva," Albus grumbled. "You know as well as I do."
"You tell me," she offered. "Are you?"
"No," he snapped. She let him feel what he felt as she watched him sit down. He nursed his drink for a long time before he drained it. "Yes."
"I know," she said gently. "There's no need for it, you know that, don't you? If you had behaved appropriately, you would have been involved." He sneered. It bothered her that he was fighting so much. "Al," she scoffed. "Grow up. Get over yourself and join in." He huffed again and she realised they were getting nowhere. "Well," she said finally. "I need to sleep, I must rest, but I will no longer be doing the work that you should be. Our lives have changed, I can no longer do my work and yours, I do not have the room, Albus. I have other commitments now. But, if we work together," she said softly. "We should be able to conquer this better."
He tutted but did not comment. She drained her glass and stood. She made her way out of the room but he snagged her sleeve at the last moment and pulled her back.
"I am so happy for you, Minerva," Albus said genuinely. "So happy for you both. Please don't think that these things that I do have any bearing on you and your new happiness." She grasped his hands and he sighed. "You have inherited her gift."
"Perhaps just for those I love," she whispered. She kissed his forehead and squeezed his hand. "Don't make me hate you, Al. Don't break my heart."
He didn't answer and she left him in the quiet of his living room to stew over her words and her warning.
