A/N: As with all emotions, they are difficult to bear. But they are real, so please allow Min just a little more time to figure them out.
I really would like a little time to figure out when and how Vouldy is gonna get his, but I suppose we'll figure that out as we go. Just roll with it lol
-0-
It turned out that it wasn't so much morning as afternoon. Hermione blinked as she stepped out of the house with her key in hand. The sun, though obscured by heavy clouds, was well into the sky and she rubbed her eyes at the first bit of sunlight she'd seen in what felt like forever. She chuckled sadly as she crossed the country lane and slipped into the deserted field they'd once Apparated to before they'd bought the house.
She paused at the tree where they'd lost themselves. It felt like ages ago now and she traced the bark with her fingers as she replayed those memories. They'd spent so long waiting for this moment that now it was here, it almost felt wrong. Minerva wasn't supposed to be sad, it was supposed to have fixed everything.
She sighed and continued down to the shore.
It only occurred to her afterwards that her thoughts were no longer her own and she thought an apology just in case Minerva was listening. She got no reply or indication of any kind, so she slumped down between the damp rocks above the tide line and curled her arms around her knees.
The sea matched her mood. Reflected greys and greens and endless, chaotic waves pounded the shores. She tied her hair up with a flick of her wrist and leaned against the cold rock. She tried to keep her thoughts light but the mood all around her felt grim. She could understand Minerva's reticence, to a point, except again where Minerva was concerned, she was absolutely assured.
She loved Minerva in a way that she could not explain with words. Everything she did was for Minerva. Every breath, every heartbeat. So while she understood it was difficult, she also struggled to figure out what exactly the woman was struggling with and that hurt a little. It hurt that Minerva simply could not trust her. That she couldn't give up that control she needed, in order to love her.
She sighed against her knees. She hadn't thought it would be like this. She'd assumed it would just be easy.
"Calm, little one." Lucia sat beside her with a grace Hermione wished she had. "Be calm." To be honest, she wished Lucia would hold her or something. "Come 'ere."
Lucia wrapped an arm around her shoulder but it wasn't the same. Hermione cried, just a little, and then wiped away her tears with a sad chuckle.
"She's scared," Hermione offered. "Even though -"
"She cannot yet discern between the noise of emotions we feel all the time and your emotions and all that comes with the bond. You have had much longer to cope with some of that." She made a face. "And are perhaps a little more equipped to deal with things you do not know."
"She is sad."
"Now you are reading too much into her thoughts. Even if she is sad, she is allowed to be so," Lucia counselled gently. "She is allowed to mourn for her own thoughts. As I told her earlier, this will be difficult for someone who is -" She winced and dropped her voice. "So much older."
Hermione snorted but didn't reply. She supposed that would be true; Minerva's thoughts had been her own for so long, to have them suddenly shared against your will would be terrifying.
"I think that is definitely a factor," Hermione whispered. "But I think, more than that, she feels like she's not in control of this. I think her -" She considered her words. "Level of need, her want, scares her."
"Did she tell you what we spoke of?"
"I saw most of it," Hermione muttered. "And she gave me a version," She blushed. "Then we got carried away, which led us here. She felt like she was out of control." Hermione blushed. "I loved it, I don't know how to explain it to her better."
"Well, if you saw what she and I spoke of, then you at least know what I told her. The bond will likely demand more of you, because you have waited so long and perhaps that is feeding into her physicality."
"To be clear," Hermione muttered. "I am not upset about it. At all."
Lucia chuckled and tangled their fingers together.
"What else troubles you, little one?"
"We both -" Hermione blushed deeply. "Have had thoughts, maybe visions, of things," She swallowed. "That I didn't really understand, or perhaps didn't considered was possible." She met Lucia's eyes. "Is this a mating ritual?"
Lucia hesitated but Hermione didn't interrupt. She let the woman consider before answering.
"It is very similar perhaps. Neither Amalle or myself have ever wanted children." She paused again and then hummed. "Perhaps that is not entirely accurate; neither of us ever saw an opportunity. Our magic is not as your magic, after all." Hermione smiled sadly. "But because of that, we did not have those visions, nor did we feel like we needed that as part of our bond. We also did not know each other like you and Minerva know each other. Because of that, I have not asked it of the others. Though, yes, perhaps for some it is like that; our traditional mates did go on to have babies but the first months are so heady, I did not make note of it. I am sorry, Hermione, what are your thoughts on it?"
Hermione sighed and pulled at a piece of seaweed.
"I don't think I've ever cared, no, perhaps that isn't right. I don't think I ever considered it. I don't know any babies, honestly, so it wasn't ever something I thought about. I also want, wanted, to do so much research and school work and I -" She shrugged. "Honestly, I just never considered it."
"Minerva?"
"She married late, much too late for that. And now," Hermione blushed. "She has a lover who is young enough to have babies and she has the skill and power to make it happen. I think so, anyway. We haven't specifically discussed it. I think that is part of what is going on as well. I think perhaps she's always wanted them and just never had an opportunity. And now it's here, and she's had these visions - or, we have, I suppose - that's scared her too."
"She has a powerful mind," Lucia mused. "It is possible you're picking up her wants without realising. Both of you, perhaps. It would make sense that in her freest moments, her mind is reaching for what it wants without impunity."
"I'm not opposed to it in the slightest. I'm just not for it right now. There's a war on and I'm trying to make sure my people aren't dying."
"Some may," Lucia said softly. "You know that, don't you?"
"I'm going to do my best to keep that number as close to zero as I can, though," Hermione growled. Lucia hummed and squeezed her shoulder. Hermione let that air for a moment before an idea came to her. Perhaps they could go and visit Poppy. "Do you think we could visit people?"
"I do not think that is wise, just yet. You have only been in this a day. Ours lasted 4 days and we began our bond a week after meeting."
"What was that like?" Hermione blinked.
"Confronting," Lucia chuckled. "Illuminating. We grew together knowing each other's thoughts. It was easier in moments and yet harder in others."
"It's Amalle a good lover?" Hermione asked cheekily.
Lucia chuckled at the bravery and looked over.
"Yes they are, actually. The very best. I am rarely left wanting." She paused. "Unless that is their design."
Hermione snorted and grinned before she sobered a little.
"I want to be that, for Min. All of it. I want to rock her world."
Lucia considered her and Hermione blushed under the scrutiny.
"I believe you might already be that, which also may be part of what is confronting her. I can only speak of myself but when Amalle and I were joined, they did things to me that I could not ever have imagined and I returned things that I had not either. Like your love, I had only sporadic male partners prior to them and nothing could have prepared me for their stamina or the adventurous wonder mea Amalle found in my body." A look crossed the woman's face that made Hermione grin and nudge her shoulder.
"You don't tell Min this, do you?"
"She would not hear it, even if I did."
Hermione laughed.
"So, I'm more adventurous, or something? Than she's ever had, seen or been with?"
"You tell me, based on everything you have learned about her in this day or so."
"I think, mostly, some of her previous," She sneered. "Lovers were boring. Some even hurt her; perhaps without meaning to, but -"
"Sometimes, it is like that," Lucia nodded knowingly. "It is often the way of things for subsequent generations to learn from their elders. You, for instance, perhaps would not allow a male lover to be concerned with nothing but his own pleasure." Hermione made a face that made Lucia laugh. "Likewise you would likely want to ensure Minerva's pleasure is as all encompassing as it could be." Hermione nodded and Lucia nudged her shoulder. "That can be terrifying for a lover who has only ever had the other. Imagine living a life where love, physical love, is not that exciting except in moments, or perhaps where it is exciting but it isn't that focussed on you. Then imagine finding a lover that seems to be able to anticipate every feeling you might have and exploit it. More so when that lover develops the ability to actually read your mind."
"Why do people even sleep with men," Hermione turned up her nose and Lucia laughed musically. It was the one thing that she and Minerva didn't share. Lucia's laugh was like a trickling stream and Minerva's was broader somehow. "I understand though, that must be, at the very least, overwhelming - terrifying even."
"I fear I have been too harsh on our opposite sex," she chuckled. "Some men are fantastic lovers. Others are not. I imagine it is the same for the fairer sex; I am being quite unfair."
"Unlikely," Hermione muttered, which made Lucia laugh again.
"The thing to remember is that love, that feeling of everything all at once contained in someone else's hands, is terrifying in the beginning. You are giving yourself away completely and it is especially terrifying if you have been hurt before in that same instance. What you must cling to, while she works through it, is that you would not ever hurt her, so hold onto that truth." Hermione nodded and sighed. "She is coming down to you, so I will take my leave," Lucia said softly.
"Have you noticed you can come here and be mostly physical these days?" Hermione asked before she left.
"I have," Lucia smiled, kissing Hermione's forehead. "I am choosing to enjoy it rather than questions it."
"Fair enough," Hermione nodded. "Come back, okay?"
"Help her through this," Lucia counselled. "She can overcome this. She is braver than most. She just needs to stop thinking and start feeling. When she does that, I'm sure that she will, like I did, figure out the rest."
Hermione smiled in thanks and Lucia disappeared as Minerva rounded the rocky outcrop and dropped onto the sand. She glanced down the beach and then sat beside Hermione, cross-legged, without hesitation.
"Lucia again?"
"Mhmm," Hermione nodded without argument.
Minerva held still for a while before she sighed. Hermione realised she was seeing a little of what she and Lucia had spoken about. Not all of it, but the tail end, while it was fresh in Hermione's mind.
"She's right, of course." She picked up a pebble and turned it in her hands before she threw it towards the sea. "This is a terrifying experience. An illuminating one. A heady thing, she told me. But I am afraid, Hermione."
"I know you are, but you don't have to be," she said softly.
"And yet," Minerva's hands trembled. "I have feelings that -"
"Minerva, look at me."
Their eyes met and Minerva's widened as she saw image after image of them together. Every snippet of reading material she'd ever come across fuelled Hermione's imagination and memory and before long Minerva had a tear rolling down her face as Hermione ended the impromptu slideshow.
"Some of that, I would never want us to experience, separately or together. I have felt enough, heard enough from you, heard what you don't say, to know that I don't want to truly take your liberty from you, Min. Not ever." Minerva chin wobbled. "I don't ever want to hurt you, I don't ever want some of that, with you. But," she said softly as their hands met. Both of them sighed as the edge came off their turmoil. "I feel all of it, I think about all of it. And I am allowed to. That doesn't have any bearing on what we do, together. Those decisions we make together. I would gladly give myself to you, if it would make you feel better. I would do pretty much anything to make this easier for you. Every time you have touched me since," she shrugged. "The very first moment, when I was wrapped around you and we nearly burnt down the Hospital Wing, I have wanted you. I have wanted your hands on my body, breaking me apart and putting me back together. You cannot hurt me," Hermione insisted as their foreheads came to rest against each other. "And nothing will ever drive me from your arms and you will never, ever, give me cause to stop loving you."
Minerva shuddered and Hermione eased herself back against the big rock she'd been sheltering behind and pulled Minerva between her thighs. She crossed her legs around Minerva's arse and wrapped her arms around Minerva's chest and kissed the bruise on her neck that was already fading.
"I love you," Hermione whispered. "Does not mean I love you now. Or I love you for a while. Or I love you when we make love. When I say I love you it means that I have loved you from my first breath and I will love you to my last and beyond it as well." She pointed ahead of them to the pale moon and a single faded star beside it. "'I love you' means that I will be by your side beyond the end of time. When we are nothing more than space dust and magic."
Minerva shuddered and gripped Hermione's forearms tightly as they held her.
"I love you," Minerva whispered as she stared up at the star and the moon.
"I know you do," Hermione soothed. "Do you want to tell me what's hurting the most?"
"You could -"
"Speak it," Hermione coaxed. "Speak it into existence so we can deal with it and it can stop being so scary."
"My feelings," she started hesitantly, "In moments, are -" She swallowed. "Animalistic."
"You want to claim me," Hermione breathed. "Take me?"
"Yes!" Minerva wailed. "With every fibre of my being. Before -" She bit the rest of her sentence off but Hermione nuzzled her throat.
"Speak. Let our bond handle the fear."
"Before this," she whispered, only barely audible over the ocean. "Before this I wanted to hold you and kiss you and make love to you." She trembled. "I did, I dreamed about it, I could taste you in my dreams." She leaned away and turned her sad eyes to Hermione. "Despite my better judgement and the way I fought, I wanted that. Once we had worked through the first parts, when I was angry and hateful, all I wanted was you." Hermione sighed and tightened her arms. "But, it wasn't this!" She sobbed. "I feel the need to possess you, somehow. Like I want to -"
"Fuck me and then have babies with me."
Minerva sobbed wretchedly and pressed her face into their joined arms. Hermione soothed her for a long while until she slid her hand into Minerva's hair and tipped her head back. Minerva gasped and then moaned. She blushed deeply as their eyes met.
"I want to possess you too," she said gently, emphasising her words with her actions as she tightened her grip in Minerva's hair. The woman stared at her with that fire dancing in her eyes. "And while the concept of that is foreign to me, I feel -" She blushed. "In my naivety perhaps, that is something that we might enjoy exploring."
"But I want to -" An image flashed across Minerva's mind and Hermione breathed out slowly as her desire spiked.
"And I will let you, because I want you to," Hermione breathed. Minerva sobbed again, this time with a shudder that ran through her body and mind. "But I cannot let you do that yet. We cannot; I will not bring a baby into this until we finish it. I do not begrudge Tonks her happiness but I am younger than her and you," she whispered gently. "Seem to be getting younger every day or at least your joints are."
Minerva snorted and nodded.
"That is part of my struggle," she acknowledged quietly. "I feel great," she settled back, finally, against Hermione's chest. "I feel so free with you, Leannan. But if I cannot control my emotions when this fucking war threatens Harry, how on earth would I do so over -" Her voice cracked and Hermione kissed her hair while she waited. "Our child. And yet at every moment I look at you, I see you, swollen with my -"
"We have time, Min," Hermione breathed around her body clenching. "We have so much time. A lifetime to do those things, have as many babies as we can, if that is your wish, but the time is just not now."
"The most ridiculous thing," Minerva muttered. "Is that I completely agree, but my thoughts are being taken over -"
"Your thoughts are thoughts you've always had, but without your usual ironclad grip on them, they're allowed to run riot on you." Hermione said gently. "And I am not afraid of them, either. Lucia reminded me that you have been alone with those thoughts for a hell of a lot longer than I have been with mine so the adjustment period will be a difficult one, perhaps, but this is also me we're talking about. This whole journey has been about trusting each other and you've been doing that. Admirably. Now we just have to put it into practice. We know how to do this, babe." Minerva laughed between a cry but didn't interrupt. "That is all that I'm asking of you, Min." Hermione breathed. "Just your trust."
"Hermione," Minerva's quiet voice wobbled and an unbeatable wave of sadness washed over her. "I feel like I am letting you down in every way," she practically sobbed as she tried to pull away. "In every moment I have done wrong and been wrong -"
"Whoa whoa whoa," Hermione protested quickly. She pulled Minerva back into her arms and leaned back against the rocks so she could meet the woman's eyes. "No you haven't, absolutely not!"
"But I -"
"Stop," Hermione whispered. "Stop and breathe for a moment."
Minerva did as she asked and Hermione slid her hand under Minerva's shirt and over her stomach. The familiar action jogged something in Minerva's brain and she linked their fingers together under her shirt.
"Can you hear what I'm about to say?" Hermione asked. "Truly?"
"Yes," Minerva nodded.
"At no point have I felt like you've let me down -"
"That's -"
"At no point."
Minerva stopped protesting and looked over her shoulder at her. The confusion in her eyes was almost cute and at that thought, she huffed.
"I'm sorry," Hermione chuckled. "But truly," she pressed a kiss against the back of Minerva's neck in apology. "Why don't we go home and sit in bed and you can look, if you like?"
"At what?"
"Every single moment, from the minute I realised I was in love with you until now. No matter how hard you look, you will never find a moment when I felt like you let me down."
Minerva relaxed and Hermione smiled against her temple.
"Not once?" she asked. "Not even when -"
"Not even at our lowest," Hermione sighed. "I was sad, I missed you and I hurt for you." She acknowledged their history. "And perhaps, at times, I hurt because of you." She paused and the memory of watching Minerva rail and cry and argue and fight this tooth and nail caused a tear to run down her face. "But I trust you with every part of me. I never, not once, felt like this was your fault, or on you to solve. This happened because of me. You didn't choose this, and I know that you never even wanted it "
"Hermione," Minerva interrupted. "That's not -"
"Min," Hermione chastised gently. "Come on. We all know you would never have chosen this and it's okay that you wouldn't have. I am too young, you are too old -" Minerva made a noise but Hermione did not let her interrupt. "For me!" She continued with a grin. "But, we have conquered those things. And we're in this together now; we've chosen this. So -" She took a deep breath and let it out over the two of them. Minerva snuggled back harder, into her body. "Tell me what you want. Really and truly. Right this minute. Anything at all and I will give it to you."
A flash of something, just outside her comprehension, whipped across her brain and she felt Minerva still.
"One more time," Hermione coaxed. "Slower. Let me see."
A memory played, slower now, of Minerva walking up in Hermione's arms, tucked under her body. Hermione felt the desperation in Minerva's want and kissed her temple.
"Come on, let's get you home."
They trudged back across the road and into the house. Hermione toed her boots off then helped Minerva with hers. She stopped in the kitchen to boil the kettle then walked Minerva back to their bedroom.
"Now we're here for a while, maybe we ought to put a kettle in here so we don't have to hike back and forth to the kitchen."
It worked as intended and Minerva cracked just a little smile but that was enough for Hermione.
"Come 'ere, beautiful," she whispered.
She unbuttoned Minerva's coat and threw it over the back of the chair on the corner.
"No, I -"
"We'll get it later," she muttered. "Not everything needs to be done right now. Relax a bit, we'll tidy up after we feel a bit better, okay?"
"No," Minerva stood up to her full height. "I'd like to do it now."
Hermione hadn't anticipated the swerve and she stepped back to let Minerva do it while she tamped down hard on the little frisson of hurt that snuck in her chest.
"Hermione -"
"It's fine, do what you need to do," she said as evenly as she could. "I'll meet you in bed with tea."
She didn't give Minerva a moment more to argue and she turned back to the kitchen. She leaned on the sink and stared out over the front lawn. The weather finally followed through on the threat and broken into rain. It matched her mood and the droplets made beautiful little trails down the glass. She leaned on the sink and took a series of deep breaths. Her heart hurt for Minerva but it also hurt for herself. Just a little. She also knew she had been stupid; her heart hurt for herself too but that was her own fault, she supposed.
She'd fallen in love with the most independent woman in the universe. Her daydreams of taking care of Minerva should not have looked different after the bond than before, she knew that now. She sighed as the kettle clicked off. She poured the water and watched the stream rise.
In a fit of apathy, she twisted her fingers around in the steam and watched it bend to her will.
She always had more questions to be answered.
She carried the tea back to their room and put them on the bedside table. She shucked her clothes and paused. She was completely unsure whether Minerva wanted her to wear pyjamas or not and she didn't want to misstep.
She tried asking the question through the closed bathroom door but Minerva only gave her a mental shrug. Hermione took it as it was given and threw a robe close but got into bed as she was. She curled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Her chest felt a bit like the angry, chaotic ocean but she, again, tried not to dwell on it. The door cracked open and Minerva came through it cautiously but Hermione smiled, and meant it, as she got in as well.
"Tea," Hermione said as she passed it over.
They sat in silence for a long while before Hermione heard a sniffle. She glanced over and watched a tear roll down Minerva's beautifully high cheekbone and hover daintily on her chin.
"I'm bloody pathetic," Minerva muttered as she wiped away her tear angrily.
"I do not think so," Hermione reminded her needlessly.
"We have pined for each other for so long. We have looked forward to this for so long and now we're here, I am ruining it. I couldn't even let you leave my coat on a fucking chair. Our bedroom chair."
"Min -"
"I am, there is no point telling me otherwise."
"Stop," Hermione pleaded softly, but with purpose. "Listen to me. You," she said gently. "Are scared. And worried. And needy. And confused. And ridiculously independent. And you are allowed to be. Minerva McGonagall hates being confused, is not used to being needy and let's be honest, you aren't really great with fear and worry either." Minerva snorted but didn't argue. She couldn't really and her withering look made Hermione smile when she accidentally thought it. "You have two options right now," Hermione continued. "You can be worried and scared and everything else and still trust me, still give those things over to me, to hold for you until you right yourself again OR you can be maudlin about it." Minerva looked at her sharply. "You get to decide how this goes Min. You get to choose how you deal with this. We can do it separately, that's okay, but this is our bond time and that's gonna make it a bit weird too," she winced. "To, well, you know." Minerva didn't know so Hermione did her best. "A bit weird if you're just sitting by yourself and feeling sad and then bam, want to come and get me."
Minerva blushed deeply and sighed.
"I'm hurting you," she whispered.
"Only because I hate seeing you hurt," Hermione said softly. "You haven't hurt me otherwise?"
"You were -"
Hermione waited and Minerva rolled her eyes as a flash of their bath together entered her mind.
"Do you think I lied to you?" Hermione whispered as a cold pit opened up in her stomach.
"What?" Minerva seemed a lot more aware now.
"You think I lied to you?"
"No!" Minerva protested. "No, I know you wouldn't do that!"
"Then why are you holding onto something I have already told you is wrong. I was a little sore before I went to sleep, I was tender when we got out of bed but after being in the bath for a while, I was fine. You are making things more than they are. Just as your," she winced. "Bruises -" She caressed the one that still showed where her teeth had marked her. "Have faded in less than a day, I am quite sure that my body has healed itself so I can enjoy this more."
"But -"
"The only argument you need to settle, in yourself, is whether you think I would lie to you about anything."
Minerva put down her tea sharply and sat with her hand pressed against her stomach. Hermione felt her unease and knelt in front of her.
"Minerva." She said sternly. "If I ask you for something, I want it, can you at least acknowledge that?"
She nodded but didn't speak.
"Then let this go." She cupped Minerva's cheeks and stared into her eyes. "Our unspoken rule of communication has always been that if you want something you ask for it and if you have an issue you speak up, yes?"
A tear escaped Minerva's eye but she nodded.
"Did I say stop?"
Minerva's eyes fluttered with the memory. Hermione shifted as she watched and felt her body clench at the imagery. Minerva stared at her in shock.
"You loving me is delightful," Hermione admitted. "I refuse to feel shame for enjoying watching that." Minerva didn't really know what to do, so Hermione shook herself and took a deep breath. "Answer me this, then, if I had said stop, would you have?"
"Of course!" Minerva said emphatically. "Absolutely."
"Then why are you upset about this?"
"Because I wasn't in control!" The shout made them both pause but Hermione rallied quickest.
"I don't want you in control, Min!" Hermione protested as strongly as Minerva had. "I want you to lose your control with me. I want you everywhere." Her heart was thumping wildly and she took a series of deep breaths to calm down but her mind would not be calm.
I want you to fuck me until I scream.
Minerva's eyes widened and Hermione paused. She hadn't meant to think that and now she had she could not take it back.
"I -"
"I want you," Hermione whispered. "Your feelings are just like mine. And I want you to act on them because I so want to act on them with you too."
"But I -" Hermione paused and Minerva blushed.
"Well let's look at it this way, then, if you are so determined to protest it. If you were not in control, how can you be sure that you would have stopped?"
Minerva gaped.
"Of course I would," she protested hotly. "I absolutely would have. How could you think otherwise!"
"Then you have control," Hermione said firmly. "It is just not the control you wish it to be."
Minerva opened her mouth to argue and paused. The silence stretched until Minerva had nothing else to do except speak.
"I do not want this all the time."
"Our lives, Min," Hermione whispered. "Will not always be this. We're in the middle of this magic that we cannot control. Lucia said theirs lasted 4 days. They had only just met. We are the best of friends. We have built a relationship together before this. We have fallen in love with each other. We held off for months, we fought this for months. Ours is undoubtedly going to be ridiculous for a while. But I want you to remember one thing -"
"Her -"
"Remember," Hermione said softly. "That we have a literal lifetime together beyond this first part. One day, in the near future, I'm going to lay you down on silk sheets and I'm going to blindfold you and I'm going to tease you until you, Minerva McGonagall, are begging for my touch. But I'm not going to do that until we're ready. And I'm not going to do it while we're in this moment. Where our desperation and a magic we are not in control of, are guiding our hands."
It was Minerva's turn to flush now and she stared in shock.
"I told you," Hermione chuckled. "I am widely read."
"I perhaps need a copy of whatever you have read, Leannan," Minerva managed to joke as she calmed.
"Come 'ere," Hermione nodded as she turned back around and straightened her legs. "Come 'ere and let me hold you and let's just be for a while. If something happens and you are not ready, or you are, then you tell me."
"And if you want something, you must tell me."
"I will," Hermione nodded. "Let's try and be as open and honest as we can, for a while, alright? No matter how uncomfortable our needs and wants are."
"I will try."
Hermione pulled her close and tucked her beneath her body. Minerva's head rested on her bicep and Hermione's hand rested between her breasts as they settled. Minerva reached behind her and pulled Hermione's leg over her hip and they lay quietly. Hermione reached over for her wand and flicked the switch on the window as they heard thunder and they watched out of the massive window as a storm rolled in off the ocean.
"We're going to be alright," Hermione promised. "We're going to be just fine."
