A/N: I don't really know what to say here. For those of you that don't know, this week we lost Michael Gambon before time, in my opinion, and Dumbledore, despite being a difficult character to explore for so many many reasons, was one of my favourites to explore. I adored Richard Harris but Michael never looked out of place once he took over. Not even when Harry did or didn't put his name on the Goblet of Fire. LibMcGranger expected I'd write something for it, but I think based on my plans for this, I think it can take its place. Perhaps once we've written them to a happy ending, we'll come back to that if we want that.

I'm even going to mention football. Enjoy!

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She felt the bed dip in her dreams, and then soft fingers combed through her hair and woke Minerva properly with a start. She blinked awake and found her lover's eyes staring back at her with a smile on her face.

"Hey beautiful," she whispered.

Minerva didn't reply, nor did she wait. She pulled Hermione in and kissed her solidly. She resisted Hermione's movements as she tried to press her back and pulled away as Hermione made a noise of surprise.

"Will you let me?" Minerva whispered.

The truth is, after dinner, Poppy had done her tests on her and grumbled about the changes in her readouts. Once she was finished, however, Poppy had hugged her goodnight and Minerva had been left to her own devices. She spent a hell of a lot of the time thinking. Having one's mind to one's self, for a change, gave her the freedom to have those thoughts completely privately and she had noticed something as she examined their interactions since they were first bound. Except for the odd moment, the most recent having started in the kitchen only a few days prior, it had been Hermione that had started, prolonged and finished things. She'd joined in, of course; Hermione's hands on her body made her wild. But, she was sad to realise that she never reached for Hermione on the basis that she wanted to make love without a reason and that sat awkwardly with Minerva. Hermione clearly didn't have an issue with it, else she would have said. But, in Minerva's soul and after her frankly abysmal beginning, she did not ever want Hermione to wonder, or to think that perhaps that Minerva was only complying with what she wanted, instead of seeing that Minerva wanted it just as much.

To that end, she was the one that pressed Hermione back, now and Hermione breathed out quietly.

"Are you alright?" Minerva asked softly as she came to rest between Hermione's thighs.

"Fine," Hermione smiled. "Apparently I just needed another nap."

"Less than thirty-six hours this time," Minerva sighed. "But you did frighten me. Do you remember?"

"I actually don't," she said with a hum. "Oh," she chuckled. "No, I do remember you and I making love." Minerva kissed her hotly, but then pulled away and let her finish. "Beyond that, I don't remember much. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I know you didn't," Minerva nodded. "I am just letting you know. Poppy is on the sofa out there. I -" She blushed and was thankful that despite their eyesight in the dark, blushes were difficult to see. "I panicked."

"Then I am doubly sorry," Hermione soothed. "I definitely remember you healing my shoulder," she grinned, and though her eyes flashed in the moonlight, Minerva could see the exhaustion pulling at her temples. Hermione interrupted her musing as she traced Minerva's face and tucked a piece of stray hair around her ear. "I'm fine," she said again. "And you? You're okay?"

"Yes," Minerva nodded. "Much better now."

"Good," Hermione smiled and Minerva traced her lips; she had the most beautiful smile. "I'm glad."

Minerva nodded for a while longer before she gave up pretending and leaned in to kiss her lover again. Hermione's hands were never still in these moment and they weren't this time either. She rubbed up and down Minerva's back and squeezed her arse once or twice, but Minerva was too busy kissing to reciprocate. She kissed a path down Hermione's neck and nibbled on her clavicle as she undid the buttons of the pyjama shirt she was wearing. Hot, open-mouthed kisses traced the skin where the shirt opened up and finally, at least to Minerva, her lips encircled Hermione's nipple.

"Oh, Minerva," Hermione breathed. Minerva spent some time worshipping her lover's breasts. Hermione's hands kneaded her shoulders and she hummed against the skin and made Hermione arch. She let her mouth lead the way as she stripped Hermione's pyjamas slowly, by hand. "You did miss me," Hermione breathed as Minerva sucked a bruise onto her hip.

"More than I might be able to accurately convey," Minerva muttered as she smoothed her hands over those beautiful hips and pulled off her bottoms.

"Keep thinking stuff like that," Hermione muttered. "You're doing wonders for my self-esteem."

Minerva smiled against her thigh and pressed gently on the insides of her knees. Hermione opened them greedily and the scent of Hermione's love filled her senses.

"You are like the sweetest Amortentia that I do not wish to give up," Minerva muttered as she settled on her stomach.

"You are so fucking romantic," Hermione moaned.

Minerva wiped the smile off her face as her tongue slipped between Hermione's thighs. The breathy moans that she gave out made Minerva's stomach clench and she sank into the task at hand. Before meeting and falling in love with this young woman, Minerva had an idea that this wasn't particularly fun. Her previous lovers had almost made it seem like a chore, or a prepayment for what they wanted. Hermione's hand tightened in her hair and she smiled. She had been carried away in her thoughts.

"Darling," Minerva chuckled. "I love you with all that I am."

She reached up and entwined their fingers. Both of them breathed out and Minerva began again.

"Minerva," Hermione moaned.

"Hush, my love. Stay quiet for me."

The next moan was squeezed out between clenched teeth and when Hermione came, Minerva moaned against her and made such a deep noise erupt from her young lover that Minerva, herself, felt her body flutter.

"Come here," Hermione sighed. "Come -"

Hermione showed her what she wanted in their mind and Minerva was immediately taken back to their first week. She had been embarrassed about it afterwards but she had been so lost to her pursuit of pleasure that it had never entered her mind that it was - she winced - whatever it was, until long after.

"Minerva," she whined. "Come up here. I'm too tired to come down there and I want to see you break. You're so sexy when you roll your hips and throw back your head."

Minerva swallowed and did as she asked. She carefully kneeled either side of her head, taking care to avoid her hair and had just opened her mouth to tell Hermione that it was alright; that they could do something differently when Hermione's tongue covered her clit.

"Fuck," she hissed as she jerked.

Trust me, Hermione chastised gently. Get lost in these feelings with me.

She tried to have some semblance of thought, but Hermione's tongue felt like it was everywhere. She leaned against the bedhead and clamped her lips together instead of squealing like she wanted to. How Hermione could make her feel so much with just her tongue was ridiculous and she could already feel her body racing to its end.

Hermione clamped her arms around Minerva's hips and drew her closer. The jerking her hips were doing, all on their own, was stopped and that feeling made her even wetter.

Minerva's sight went bright white as two perfect lips wrapped around her clit and she came, spectacularly on Hermione's face. Evidently, however, Hermione was not done. While Minerva was still struggling to breathe, Hermione helped her to lay back down and Hermione began again. She paused for a moment and Minerva whined. She wanted nothing else but to live in this pleasure for the rest of her life.

I'm here. I love you. Hermione soothed. I want you to scream for me, Minerva. I want you to come so hard that all you can do is scream my name.

Minerva shook her head as Hermione's fingers pressed against her.

No! Minerva gasped as Hermione's fingers curled. Her back lifted off the bed as the echoes of her last orgasm mingled with this building one. No. Hermione! She groaned. Poppy!

"We're witches, Minerva," Hermione grunted as she got to her knees and laid a heavy hand on Minerva's stomach. "Silencing spells exist for a reason."

Minerva lost her will to try. She pleaded with Hermione for something she didn't know the name of and Hermione did her best to break her.

"No!" Minerva whispered.

"Minerva, let go," Hermione ordered. "You can. Trust me."

The way Hermione pressed against her, pulling out all the stops to make her wild, almost made her angry, until Hermione's thoughts stopped her own.

Will you just trust me?

Minerva felt her frustrations and collapsed. Once she allowed her voice the freedom, she couldn't seem to stop it. Hermione played her body to perfection and judging by her thoughts, tried to make her wild.

Minerva's fingers scored her skin as Hermione set a relentless pace, pressing against her with her hips and her hands and her body.

"Tell me," Hermione grunted. "If it's too much."

Don't stop. Minerva felt the growl in their minds. Don't you fucking stop.

She felt it coming, like a whisper that grew into an echo, that grew into a shout.

"Come for me, Minerva. Please."

It was the please that did it. Hermione begging her for her pleasure did things to Minerva's stomach that helped her body crest and break. She felt the bones in her back crack. Hermione made a noise of astonishment as she kept moving and Minerva screamed for her love. Hermione immediately pressed kisses all over her face. She nuzzled under Minerva's chin and stayed as still as she could as Minerva trembled.

"I have you," Hermione whispered as she held her gently. "I've got you, I'm right here."

Minerva couldn't see. She couldn't do anything but feel; where Hermione's fingers were, that is where she began. Her skin tingled everywhere and the smell of sex and Hermione covered her like a blanket.

"Breathe," Hermione soothed. "Breathe with me."

She complied because she could do nothing else. She pulled Hermione in and nudged her elbows where she was leaning on them. Hermione made a noise of understanding and let her full weight rest on Minerva. Minerva breathed out happily.

"Okay?" Minerva nodded and Hermione's hand shifted inside her. "I'm going to come out, alright?"

Minerva nodded again and groaned as those beautiful fingers left her. They lay in silence for a very long time until Minerva could put a thought together.

"You make me feel things that I never thought possible," she muttered. Hermione was a wee bit heavy but the feeling of her body grounded her and helped her calm. "How did you know that's what I wanted, or needed," Minerva shrugged. "Whatever."

"I know you," Hermione soothed, moving just a little off her body and resting on the mattress. "I know you as I know myself. I will always give you what you need, Min."

"Apparently I need to know myself better," Minerva mumbled.

"We can do that," Hermione whispered.

Minerva blinked at her. The whispered words were nothing to the little whispers in Hermione's mind and she gained her senses back a lot quicker after hearing them.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you ever -" She swallowed but Minerva saw where it was going and felt the blush on her cheeks. "Pleasure yourself?"

"Why would I need to, with you -"

"Well, I suppose I'm asking if you ever have? But just because we have this," she motioned between them and Minerva blinked at her. "You still can, you know. I mean, I'm not giving you permission, you don't need that, I'm just saying that -"

"I -" Minerva cracked her neck. "Cannot say it has been a regular feature of my life, no." She hesitated but Hermione smiled kindly at her. For once in her life, Minerva suddenly felt very young. "Do you?"

"I haven't, I mean, not since you," Hermione chuckled as Minerva's gut clenched. "I have before, but not very often. But," she shrugged. "We could."

"We?!"

Minerva felt a wave of horror overcome her but then she paused. She had no idea why she felt that way but Hermione's easy smile didn't change. She kissed her softly and nuzzled her cheek.

"Breathe," she whispered. "Just breathe for a while. I'm going to the bathroom and I'll be back and we can talk about it, if you like. Otherwise, we can get some rest and talk about it later."

"I -"

"It's alright," Hermione eased. "It really is."

Minerva almost asked her to stay and regretted it when Hermione paused at the edge of the bed.

"It's fine," she said softly as she changed her mind. "Truly, it's okay. You've thrown me, yet again."

"I hope to god we will always throw each other, my love," Hermione chuckled. "What a life that would be."

Minerva pondered that as she lay back. Her life, as it turned out, had been quite - she struggled for the right word. Repressed, she supposed. It was something that made their differences quite stark at times. She sighed as she heard Hermione come back from the bathroom and welcomed her in her arms.

"You aren't repressed," Hermione soothed quietly. "Someone that rides my face like you do, is not repressed."

"HERMIONE!" she squeaked.

"I'm just saying," Hermione giggled. "You are not repressed, Minerva McGonagall. I actually think you are coming into your prime, my love. You just needed an avenue for all that passion."

"You are ridiculous," Minerva chuckled. "I don't -" She pondered her thoughts and she smiled as Hermione let her. "I don't have the same ease you do. With these things, I mean. I don't want to -" Her thoughts betrayed her as Hermione leaned up on her elbow.

"Min!" Hermione blinked. "No. You could never let me down. Never! Your body is perfect, as it is, for me. I love you. If you never wanted to make love ever again, I would be alright with that. And conversely, as I keep telling you, if there's something you want to try or need, or anything, we can do that."

"I don't even know where to start," she muttered as she hid her face. "You have so much more information than I do."

"Then let's expand your horizons," Hermione smiled. "I'm going to get you some things to read and maybe we can talk about how they make you feel and I -" She cupped Minerva's cheek and stared into her eyes. "Mean this with all my heart. If the mood takes you, I want you to seize it. Okay?"

Minerva blinked at her.

"You mean -"

"I do. I -" Hermione blushed now and Minerva traced the rouge on her cheeks. "I would love to watch, but I'm okay if you aren't ready for that."

"Watch!" Minerva squeaked.

Hermione shrugged and Minerva stared. She'd always thought that she was out of Hermione's league and now she knew she was. She was so far out of her league it was comical.

"Don't be like that," Hermione whispered. "We're learning. And I was not raised like you were. Different times, different upbringing. This is the one thing we're furthest apart, I think."

"You are -" Minerva breathed. "So brave, Hermione, I can't even begin to say anything close to what seems to just roll off your tongue like it is nothing. Let alone do these things."

"I want you to try," Hermione insisted. "I want you to say everything. I want to hear you swear, I want to hear you moan and whine and plead for me." Minerva's heart stuttered and she pressed against her ribs. "I want your secret desires, Minerva. Every one of them. I want you to try and tell me honestly, no matter what they are. I know we made such a big deal out of it with Amalle at the beginning but you're feeling a little better about it now, aren't you?"

"I am," she confessed. "Your bravery has helped me to be brave. I understand what they said now - in the way they meant it. I appreciate the way you stood up for me," Minerva whispered. She gave Hermione a soft kiss to reinforce it. "But I realise what they meant, now. And they were right, just as you were."

"But that still doesn't mean you should do things based on something I might want," Hermione said seriously.

"You know I wouldn't," Minerva chuckled. "I will take a reading list from you, my love. And I will work on being brave enough to speak things I am uncomfortable speaking. I want to make you happy."

"You do make me happy, Min," Hermione argued. "You make me so happy I could burst. You make me brave. This isn't about making me happy. I want to fulfil your every desire. I feel like -" She blushed and shook her head. "I read a lot of smutty stuff," Minerva tutted at the phrasing but didn't interrupt. "But the practicalities of it are something else entirely. And like I said at the beginning, some of those things that -" she shrugged. "Made me- " She took a deep breath and Minerva felt something settle in her. "Horny, I wouldn't want to do with you. There are desires and then there are just sexy things, you know? I don't know how better to explain it? You are my absolutely everything and every second of every day you turn me on." Minerva snorted and shook her head. "But," Hermione said before she could interrupt. "I might look at a man, for instance and think he was sexy but not have any desire for him at all, you know?"

"I do," Minerva chuckled. "That part I understand. It is the other parts I seem to be having issue with."

"You are unpracticed," Hermione smiled. "They are not issues." Minerva stifled a yawn in her pillow and Hermione traced her face. "Sleep now," Hermione insisted. "We can talk more later."

"Poppy is going to grill you about our sex life," Minerva moaned as she settled. "After this, I'm terrified." She paused and remembered what Poppy had said. "Oh god."

"What?"

"She mentioned -" Minerva blushed and rubbed her eyes.

"Min, what?"

"I told her -" Minerva closed her eyes against the shame. "I told her about our visions at the beginning. And about what we'd decided about the magic, making choices for us." Minerva moaned and grumbled as Hermione chuckled. "She asked and we were just talking -"

"You don't need to excuse your girl talk, Minerva," Hermione said softly. "And you do not need to be ashamed. There is nothing shameful about what we're doing, you know?"

"I know," Minerva hummed. "Well, I am working on my brain catching up with my heart." Hermione acknowledged that with a kiss. "In this instance, I actually rather thought it was a bit shameful to tell her everything without clearing it with you."

"Oh," Hermione chuckled. "You told Poppy all our sexy secrets."

"No!" Minerva squeaked. Hermione giggled and Minerva grumbled at her. "I will pay you back for that," Minerva hissed as she pressed her face into Hermione's neck and bit down on the skin. "I have been known to hold a grudge, you know."

"I cannot wait," Hermione whispered as her arms wrapped around her tightly. "What did she say?"

"Um," Minerva took a deep breath and the memory of the conversation surfaced.

"Tell me. Don't show me. Talk."

"I -" She could feel her cheeks burning. "She mentioned. Um. Toys."

"Oooh," Hermione grinned as she peered down at Minerva. "What does she drink, because clearly I owe her one."

Minerva bit down on Hermione's neck again and laughed at the comical noise she made. Even so and despite them being midconversation, she no longer had the energy to speak. Hermione seemed to realise and soothed her with steady fingers through her hair. Minerva kissed the indentation her teeth had made and finally allowed herself to sleep.