Hermione leaped up, "Crooks, get in the box," She said, ushering him into the extended cage. He didn't hesitate, disappearing into it.

"This…wasn't here yesterday, right?" Seamus laughed, "I'm not crazy?"

Hermione shook her head.

"And it's really here, right?" Seamus asked, blinking hard, "No illusion?"

Cautiously, Hermione crawled to the banks of the water, lapping against the once-dry earth. She reached out with her wand, dipping it into the liquid.

"No illusion," She said, raising her wand , water droplets sliding down it. She sniffed it, "It's water. Not a potion."

"So a lake appeared while we slept? From where?"

She dried off her wand, "I think 'from what' is a better question," She said. She stared at it, rubbing her chin, scowling, "Hmm…."

Seamus began packing up their camp, "Where's yer head at, Luv?" He whispered, staring up.

"You're not going to like it," She said, turning halfway around, pressing her lips together.

"Oh?"

"I don't know if we triggered the entrance by writing our names or if we were indeed waiting for the Equinox…"

"Entrance?" Seamus asked dryly, "Where?"

Hermione tipped her head toward the center of the lake, wordless. At first, Seamus didn't understand.

"You know…" She blinked at him, gnawing on her lip, "There's a lot of myths where the entrance to the Otherworld is through water."

"But those are just -, " Seamus began, a knee-jerk reaction, trailing off, "...Myths."

Hermione just blinked at him, shrugging.

He scowled, "You're right. I don't like it. I don't like what this is insinuating."

"There's no other entrance in this whole cavern. We checked." Hermione pointed out.

"There wasn't an entrance in the ground either!"

"Well, there also was not a whole lake," Hermione threw her hand out, "And it seems deeper than it should be. So I have to think we have to do…" She made a diving motion down with her hand.

"Great Gryffindor, is this how I die?" Seamus groaned, rubbing his face, "I'm not a great swimmer, 'Mione."

" I think it would be hard even if you were an Olympic medalist."

Seamus snorted sarcastically. "Mint." He paused, "And if you're wrong?"

"Then we go home. Or we manage thi s…o r die trying." She was digging in her pack, "Oh if only I'd known…bugger!"

"No Gillyweed in there?"

"No," She grouched, throwing things onto the flat surface where they'd slept, "At least, I don't remember packing it…"

"Sharkhead?" Seamus asked with mild amusement, remembering Viktor's spell 4th year. He immediately regretted it from the way that Hermione stiffened, "Fuck…I didn't mean t o…t his isn't…"

"I'm not fond of lakes either," Hermione whispered shortly, eyes focused on her pack.

"No, it's not worth it. We don't have to," Seamus insisted, "The fact we got close is good enough. Let's just go home, Hermione -, "

"Don't be silly," Hermione shook her head , "I'm a Gryffindor. And I'm stronger than that stupid fear," She spat.

"So…" Seamus forced a smile, knowing that Hermione was even more determined than ever to finish this, and there would be no talking her out of it, "Bubble-head charm?"

They spent the morning making sure all their items were tightly in a water-tight charm and were unlikely to get ruined in their trek. She double-checked Crookshanks' box , wrapping it tightly.

"Ginny has a counter-charm…" She whispered uncertainty, "If we don't come back by the Winter Solstice…a backdoor to get to Crookshanks. Or if he senses danger, he can also trigger it from his side."

"That's smart," Seamus nodded.

"But of course, we'll be back," Hermione said with a too-casual smile, "Easy, right?"

Hermione transfigured some rocks into flippers for them, making it easier to swim. Then, there was no more prep.

"I really need to say it more often, and not just before certain death…" Seamus rubbed the back of his neck, "But I love you, Hermione."

"I know," She teased, kissing his cheek , " And you should say it more often." She jabbed his side good-naturedly, "I like hearing it."

She pulled him into a hug , "Love you too," She added, pressing her cheek against his.

Hermione tied a string to his wrist and then to her own, as they had no idea what they may encounter.

Best to stay together.

She waved her wand, placing the charm over his head, and then her own.

Then, before Seamus lost his nerve, he waded into the lake.

"I guess I wished to be clean. Careful what you wish for, eh?" He chuckled, walking up to his chest. At that point, he could feel with his shoe that it dropped off to a depth they couldn't stand in, as Hermione guessed, far deeper than the space would have indicated previously.

"Down?" Hermione pointed.

"After you!"

She tightened her backpack, wrapped the rope in her hands, and ducked under the water. He could feel the tension on the rope and didn't want to be too far behind.

The water was as black as soot. Hermione's wand had a lit tip , but it hardly pushed aside the inky blackness.

Seamus tried to remind himself to keep calm; the bubble-head charm had a few hours of air, but if he panicked, he'd dry it up faster, and they may need it all. They had both agreed that if it got too much they'd go back up and try again, though Hermione was worried it would vanish and they'd have to wait for the next celestial holiday.

Neither wanted that.

The deeper they wen t… t he warmer it got. Seamus would have expected it to be colder, farther away from the su n…u ntil he reminded himself they were in a cave and there was no sun. But it should be cold, right?

He could tell Hermione was equally disquieted by this.

Sulfur springs? She mouthed back to him, but Seamus was just as unsure.

Hermione had set a charm on a rock, which she gripped tightly in her palm, to go off if they were in danger of poisonous gas or otherwise . So far, there were no animals or flora at all.

That was the eeriest thin g…n ot a single fish had swam by, not one creeping algae reaching for their limbs.

It wasn't right .

Seamus felt it first. A sense of danger thudded in his chest, like an icy hand gripping into his chest and squeezing hard. And all his ancestors, screaming in his ear.

Turn back now!

Right as he swam forward to grab Hermione and tell her, the alarm went off.

It squealed and flashed a bright purple and at once, Seamus was cursing the multi-faceted and complicated system of colors, that at the time had seemed so logical as to alert them specifically to the danger - but with his adrenaline thumping, Seamus didn't know what danger purple was associated with.

Hermione's lips moved but it was too dense to see between them what she was saying. He started to swim forward, catching her lips pursing into the start of a 'B ', her wand wildly swinging around, but something shot between the two of them, snapping their rope.

It seemed as wide as the Hogwarts Express and went on forever, something spiraling up. The shockwave in the water displacing the area around it sent Seamus spinning backward through the water, unable to tell up from down.

It sounded like the Hogwarts Express too, speeding past his ear, loud and unstoppable.

Delirious, Seamus slapped into the open water, trying to orient himself. He couldn't see Hermione; the thing, dark, meandering, and all-consuming was still in front of him. He pushed forward, a hand skidding across it as it moved.

Scales.

Seamus swam away from it as fast as he could, but all around him was utter darkness. There had never been a dot of light behind them, and now, Seamus was alone here.

He understood what Hermione had been trying to scream to hi m…t here was a beast in the water with them.

He went down from the beast, in the opposite direction it was coming from, hoping to reach the bottom of the lake. As he pushed into the boiling water as fast as he could, something dove back down.

At once, Seamus was face to face with it, this sea monster. One single eye of it was as large as Seamus' whole body. He almost couldn't comprehend the size of this thing, lurking in a lake that only appeared on particular days, and didn't at other times. It was mind-boggling. It defied everything he knew about the extent of magic.

He bubbled in the space in front of it for a few moments before a scream ripped from his throat, containing itself in the bubble, echoing in his mind.

The monster grinned, as though amused, and opened its jaws, sucking in all the water around Seamus.

How many of those names , Seamus wondered, had met this very end? How many had made it through this trial?

Had Nathair?

Seamus squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for just a moment of agony and then darkness.

Something brushed his arm, but it didn't feel like teeth. Seamus opened one eye to see something flash white in the water before he was tugged up by Hermione, pulling him over the snout of the beast as it snapped in the water, sending ripples that Seamus could feel deep in his bones.

He frantically motioned up, but Hermione shook her head, determinedly pointing down.

Then, before he could argue, she linked their fingers together and swam close to the body of the sea snake, skidding against the sharp scales. She swam with purpose, using her wand to propel themselves down by creating a burst of air behind them like she'd strapped a jetpack to their fingers. The monster realized what they were doing and turned around, chasing them, but like they were on the worst amusement coaster in the world, Hermione kept herself skating in circles, following its long, long, long tail.

After what felt like an eternity of frantic beating of his heart, the body began to become skinnier as they reached the end of the tail. And there, maybe a trick of the light and Seamus' most fervent wish, but it looked like…shapes! Like a cave! Like the end of the lake.

The beast turned around, its snout shoving even hotter air at the back of their neck. It burned like fire on his skin. He felt his flesh bubble, but he kept himself glued to Hermione.

The air was growing thin; their charm was running out. If this wasn't the end, or there was more, it wouldn't matter. They'd be dead soon and sea-monster snacks.

The cave started wide and large , nearly as big as the cavern that they'd first entered in itself . Hermione pushed them both forward, using the edge of the cave to push off, as though grasping some invisible thread and pulling, pulling, pulling.

The sea monster screamed into the cave, wiggling itself after them, but the cavern was falling in on them . No , not falling in , it was…getting smaller, thinner.

Hermione pointed down frantically. There; at the bottom, hidden in the sand, was a crack. It's like someone had broken the ground in two and tried to put it back together, but it didn't quite match up. Light, brilliant and golden, glowed up, catching specks of the lake water and illuminating them, as though flecks of gold swam in this place, rare and magical.

She kicked down and they hit the bottom.

The area was far too small for either of them to fit in. Hermione used the rope that was left to tie herself to a rock, grasping at the edges of the ground with her hands, and pulled as hard as she could. Behind them, the sea monster was halted, the cave too small now to fit his head through, but he was head-butting, frantic to reach them.

It wouldn't hold forever.

Seamus swam down too, doing the same with his untied rope before grasping the rocks. They were burning hot and as sharp as knives. He felt the bite of the edges into his skin but he ignored it, using all his weight to break a piece off.

Bit by bit, agonizingly slowly, as the sea monster hit the cave and threatened to bring it all down on top of all of them, they picked away until there was a space scarcely big enough for someone to fit through.

"Go!" Hermione yelled through the charm, her voice catching bubbles between them, but he understood her lips moving.

"You first!"

She gave him a look of utter aggravation but took her backpack off and started kicking it through the space like she was trying to cram it in her school trunk at the end of the year. Seamus took off his pack and did the same and they managed to shove it down into the lit space, so golden shimmery it was nearly blindingly white.

He looked back over his shoulder; they had seconds.

"Right after me?"

"I promise."

Seamus used a sharp rock to snap his rope and then crawled into it.

There could be nothing. This could be true death, welcoming two foolish students.

But he didn't have any other options.

Seamus came up on the other side still underwater, but he could see light streaming above him.

He kicked upward. The backpacks were buoyant above him, floating innocently.

As soon as Seamus broke the tension of the water, he was on a sandy, welcoming bank. He dragged himself fully out of the water, every inch of him in agony, coughing up water. He felt like he couldn't breathe, his stomach sloshing with that dark, bad water.

Hermione washed up next to him, also sputtering and coughing up bile, unable to catch her breath.

They were outside, in the most beautiful sun.

In fact, everything here wa s…b eautiful. There were simply no other words to describe it , every mortal word seemed far too cheap.

"I thought we were dead, for sure," Hermione said, her voice as thin as a single thread, shaking so much that no one would mistake her for Gryffindor now if they saw her.

"Oillipheist," Seamus groaned, wincing hard.

"Bless you."

"No, that's what that was. An Irish sea monster, lurking in lakes." He couldn't believe he'd survived one. He thought they were all dead by now.

"Oh..well…I don't…" Hermione winced, "I don't like them."

It was such an understatement that Seamus collapsed in laughter. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky and somewhere his laughter turned to salty tears rolling down his cheeks.

And then, he was outright sobbing.

"It…hurts…" He managed in between sobs that shook his ribs, "And I was so scared and…Nathair…and…"

Hermione was using the palm of her hand to wipe underneath her nose, nodding frantically, "I thought we were done for."

She helped him to a half-sitting position and just hugged him, her shoulders rattling with tears too .

When they finally had dried themselves of tears, they pulled apart slowly, wincing.

They were in quite a state. Both of their hands were gashed open, deep cuts all the way down to the bone. Peeling skin and burns riddled their exposed flesh; as a small miracle, the heat from the rocks had cauterized their hands, so they weren't bleeding much.

Flecks of stone stood out in their gashes, catching the light as it gleamed.

"Obsidian," Hermione said, holding Seamus' hand steady as she tenderly started plucking out the shards. Seamus jumped and sucked in with each one pulled out. When she finished with only one hand and reached for his other, he almost fainted from the pain.

Apart from that, he could tell that the back of his neck had taken the worst of the burns.

To say they'd come out of that unscathed would be outright untrue. They'd survived, but not painlessly.

Add in his headache from those few seconds when the oxygen had begun to run ou t…w ell, this was not for the faint of heart.

"Where do you think we are?" Hermione asked as a side-thought as she continued on his second hand.

Seamus glanced around. They were on a beach, the water in front of them the most perfect shade of blue he'd ever seen. In front of them was a wide , peaceful field. At the edge, where distance fuzzed his sight, he was pretty sure he caught sight of woods.

"Exactly where we're meant to be," Seamus said.

Hermione snapped her head up, "The Otherworld?"

"Yeah."

She pursed her lips, "Does this mean we died?"

Seamus shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think s o…I don't feel dead…" He moved an inch and it felt like everything was on fire, "Plus, if we were dead, wouldn't this be fixed ?" He motioned to their various gashes and cuts.

"Good point."

After him, Seamus helped Hermione's hands. She was distracted during it, for the best, as he could attest to how painful it was. By the time they were done , they put some salve on - though they doubted it would do much - and wrapped their hands in matching bandages.

"We should go in a bit more," Hermione decided, looking suspiciously at the lake.

"I don't think it's…on this side."

"Still, I'd rather not chance it."

Seamus shrugged, "Alright."

"And when we rest, I'll try to help the burns," Hermione added, reaching back and flinching in pain as she brushed her own.

"That way?" Seamus asked, pointing across the field, but it really was no hard decision. In front of them was the lake, or maybe a sea, because he couldn't see the end. And the same with the grass and the trees all the way, like they were just in bands, stretching forever one way or the other.

They put their packs on and continued walking.

Maybe Seamus was out of it, or maybe it was magic, but the field seemed to shorten. It didn't seem like the time they'd walked across it had been long enough, but all of a sudden they were at the trees.

A few scarce trees lingered on the edge, but the rest of the trees were obscured by a thick smoke. As though someone had placed an invisible shield, the smoke rolled up to a point and then curled up, pressing against something holding it bac k…a nd the pair out.

Hermione went, pressing her hand on the barrier, but it wouldn't give.

She spent about an hour trying different spells, to no avail.

"Is this the end of it?" Seamus groaned. All this work for, what, nothing?

"No…" She tilted her head, frowning, listening, "Do you hear that?"

Seamus strained, "Erm, no?"

"It says…wait."

He blinked, "What does?"

"The voices…" She took three steps back, "It's a whisper, like wind. I just don't think it's time yet."

Seamus searched his feelings, but he was all dried up of opinion. He didn't know if he was frustrated they had to wait yet again , or relieved. Pleased to get time to rest , or antsy to continue. Scared they may wait forever , or relieved they had time to collect themselves.

He was just…existing with no feelings.

"Set up camp here?" He guessed.

Hermione sent one more look back toward the smoke, nodding clunkily, still focused on something he couldn't hear.

Maybe if he had his magic, he could.

"It says to walk down that way."

Seamus blinked, "Sure, follow the freaky invisible voice," He agreed, "Why not?"

"It seems trustworthy," Hermione said, picking at her nails, "I can't tell you why, but it does."

Hermione led them down a couple hundred feet. When Seamus looked back, it was like the perfect line folded, bending them out of sight of where they'd been.

Spooky.

Around another perfectly straight bend, they found a little collection of rocks with a waterfall and a stream dancing into the smoke. Hermione leaned down, cupping her hands, sipping cautiously.

"Oh, Seamus! This is divine," She said, waving him over, "The best water you've ever had."

"Water doesn't have taste," He chuckled, but soon was eating his words.

Okay, so this water did have taste, and it was the singular most incredible thing he'd ever drank.

Seamus stuck his mouth in the stream, drinking as much as he could . He felt like it was replacing that nasty dark water, healing his insides.

When he sat back on his haunches, satisfied, he heard the chirping of birds, and the buzz of insects, and saw a rabbit hopping through the grass. Yes, this felt much more natural.

"I think we'll be here awhile," Hermione said thoughtfully, "So I think it's time to pitch the tent."

"Oh, we have a tent?" Seamus asked, half-jokingly, "I thought you just brought that sad blanket."

Hermione threw a weed at him.

Seamus reached in to take one more gulp of water and looked at his hands.

"Hermione! Look!" He was giddy, "My scar, it's gone!"

Hermione looked at her hand, blinking in shock.

"Pour it on my burns , try it!" Seamus said, craning his neck over the stream. Hermione cupped it in her hands, pouring it on the back of his neck.

Immediate relief.

"That's incredible…like the purest dittany I've ever seen!"

"It's heaven," Seamus said with a wry, cheeky grin, "Literally."

After they were both healed, they spent the next few hours pitching their tent. Though it was magical insomuch that it was large on the inside, with every modern convenience, it wasn't easy to set up. Plus, much of it got jostled around in their journey, meaning that a lot of the afternoon was simply putting things upright.

When Hermione untwined Crookshanks' box, he was as dry as could be and was sleeping, as though he hadn't just been jostled around like beads in a tin. In fact, he looked almost annoyed that Hermione reached in to poke him.

The sun remained stubbornly in the sky, not budging an inch.

"Well, this will be a nightmare to count days," Seamus said, staring up at it.

"A sun that never sets, huh?" Hermione chuckled to herself, "That's a new one."

"I guess we sleep when we're tired , hope our circadian rhythms are decent?" Seamus squinted, "Though, of course, the time in the caves really threw it off already…"

"We have nowhere to be, not until the smoke vanishes." Hermione shrugged, "For all we know, we could be experiencing time so slowly that while it'll feel like days for us, it could be mere hours in the real world."

"I don't like that idea."

"Or it could be normal," Hermione said, "No one knows, surely not me."

Luckily, the tent was thick enough inside that if they tied down all the 'windows' and turned off the lights, they could make it dark enough to sleep. If they had to suffer out here without something like that, and just the blanket, Seamus might actually have gone mad.

It was cozy; a wood-burning fireplace surrounded by cushy chairs in the middle, a small kitchenette in one corner, a dining room in another, a bathroom with an iron tub in another, and then a splattering of bedrooms off the other spokes. Of course, they were just two people, and other than giving Crookshanks his own entire room, most of them were unnecessary.

"Well, we ought to take the master, right?" Hermione said nervously, glancing at Seamus shyly like she was expecting some adults to burst out and shoo them into the other beds.

"Not banishing me to a creaky twin bed?"

"Unless you don't want to, we can have our own rooms -, "

"Are you bleeding kidding ?" Seamus shook his head, "Ignore me , really . I'm just nervous so I'm being a git." He coughed, "Unless you don't want to…?"

She shrugged, "I wouldn't have offered unless I wanted. Besides, we've been sleeping with each other -, " She broke off, face bright red, "Sleeping against each other all the other nights."

"Sure," Seamus swallowed, but they both knew that was very different. They'd been doing it out of necessity, for warmth, for safety, exhausted and dirty, and more like survival partners than lovers. But now they had the excess of time stretched out in front of them and a real bed - a king size at that - with warm, quilted blankets and too many pillows and it felt almos t…d omestic.

"Alright then," Seamus nodded, twisting his rings around his finger, "I'm a right-side sleeper…"

"I can make do with the left," Hermione said, setting her personal things on the left-side bedside table, and all of a sudden, all of it felt very real.

They were completely alone, with no parental supervision.

Seamus may be a gentleman, an adventurer, and respectfu l…b ut he is also a sixteen-year-old boy.

So.

Hermione glanced down at his pants and chewed on her lip, but didn't apologize.

Seamus crossed the space, kissing her, "We have time."

"It seems we do," She agreed cautiously.

"So there's no need to be nervous, or feel like we have to rush anythin'."

She gave a nod , "I, uhm," She winced, rubbing her temple, "Lavender may have…forseen…something…" She laughed into her hands.

"Oh no," Seamus grinned, "What has she done now?"

Shyly, Hermione opened a bag , showing him the contents. It was a book an d …h e squinted.

"That's not what I think it is, is it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh." He felt his heart pound and he reached for the book, "Oh! Lavender wants to get both of us laid, huh?"

"Or something." Hermione grinned, "She just can't help herself. I wonder if somewhere, she's shooting right up in class, grinning to herself."

Seamus placed the book on his bedside table, winking, unapologetically displaying it, "Well, that's for later, Luv. And trust me, you'll know when. You won't be able to keep your hands off me."

XXX

Later that night, they hole up with board games.

As it turns out, the tent is primed specifically for family-fun bonding, meaning there's a veritable treasure trove of both Muggle and Wizarding games slotted away, eager for the pair to try.

Right now, they're playing Scrabble.

But neither are truly playing at their best. Hermione knows Seamus is distracted in the same way she is.

The night has bee n…a lmost perfect. They went all in and made their first home-cooked meal in days (they can start rationing tomorrow). They found a record player and spent far too long combing through what was left for them, before finally settling on one of Celestina Warbeck's first albums, which hums in the background.

And now, Hermione sits, squished on a chair that melts with her, palms around a steaming mug of tea. She found an oversized sweater in one of the wardrobes. It absolutely dwarfs her; underneath it, she just has a pair of sleep shorts and her cozy knee-high socks, but from the way she's sitting, it would appear she has nothing on.

And Seamus can't keep his eyes off her.

But she's the same.

Seamus has put on a pair of flannel sleep pants and just a white tee shirt. She is fully aware of his most casual self, something she doesn't even get to see at Hogwarts, where McGonagall would probably scold him to put on a sweater in the common room.

She's enjoying the view.

She can see his arms, defined with all that sweat equity he put into his work-outs, and when he leans over to place a few tiles, the hem of his shirt lifts up , and she can see his sculpted stomach hidden to her view. And, she cannot be absolutely sure of it, but she's nearly sure that he's going commando underneath his pants.

They muddle through a game. Despite her earlier embarrassments on the topic, she is not without want.

And that's perhaps what frustrates her so muc h…h er body's natural knee-jerk reaction.

She doesn't want Seamus to think her so prudish that she is exempt from the natural teenage hormones. She isn't, not by a long shot.

She wishes she could just get past this nervousness. She wishes that whenever she thinks of what Lavender has given her advice, she doesn't turn into a stuttering, illiterate mess in front of Seamus.

She wished she could be so much more of a natural at it, using all those unknown words to make him understand that she was where he wa s…s he wanted all those things too . Not just in passing eithe r…n o, Hermione thought about it all the time . Far more than she ought to with how dangerous their lives have been.

But now that they're just waiting?

Hermione feels like those musings, which have been kept under such latch and key, are now bursting out.

She's nearly thrown into a needy mess when, after Hermione wins, Seamus shakes his head, chuckles, and stands up to stretch out. His shirt rides high and she can really see his muscles and how they work together to drive her totally , institutionally batty for him.

As they crawl into bed that night, she's struck with nervousness.

This is different, no matter how you look at it. It's a big deal, she supposes, to reach this stage. It seems more significant than an 'I Love You ', which anyone can say. This takes real meaning.

In the bed, she's sure that her unsureness is just rolling off her in waves, wondering if she should say something because Seamus rolls over.

"Hey," He whispers, the curtains closed tightly and the lights turned off, leaving just slivers of the day peeking through, "Nothing is changing. It's just me and you."

Hermione placed her hand on his jaw, trying to force herself to settle down.

She traces his face, trying to memorize it. She starts at the freckles across his cheeks, the nose that's been broken so many times it has a slight divet, up to his sea-green eyes, and finally, her fingers start to tighten in his hair, sandy-brown, just starting to curl. On the bottom of his palm, she can feel the stubble of a beard beginning and she wonders what he'll look like in ten, or twenty years and if she'll be so lucky to still be around.

"I know," She whispers, and pushes her bravery through, going in for a kiss.

Seamus responds in kind, looping an arm around her under the covers, pulling her towards him. It seems for a second that it's going to ramp up into something more, and Hermione wouldn't say no - she doesn't think - but Seamus draws back.

"We have time, Luv," He reminds, "So we'll take it however fast you want to go."

This frustrates Hermione, though she can't articulate her annoyance. But she knows she has to say something so she just sighs a quiet 'no'.

"No?" Seamus' brow rises in surprise, "Right, yeah, or not at all…I didn't mean to press -, "

"I don't know what I'm doing," Hermione stopped him, "But I know I want it. I just don't…" She gnaws on her lip, "I don't know how to start it or ask or where to go so I don't think I should be leading. I'd rather yo u…t ake…" She doesn't know how else to describe it, but at that word, she watches as his eyes darken, "And if I don't want that, I'll put the brakes. But it probably means just not that right moment, not never, unless I tell you never -, "

Seamus cuts her off with a kiss, "I can do that," he says, understanding her perfectly. He always does. She waits for a few moments, perhaps for Seamus' fingers to seek beneath her shorts, or for his mouth to pull down her jumper, but he just pulls her against him, settling himself on the pillow with her head at his shoulder. After a few moments, it's like her tension -no, her anticipation is palpable.

"Oh, you wanted something?" He chortles.

"Don't tease me -, "

"I'm not, Hermione," He says seriously , "I'm doing what I want. Tonight, I just want this. That okay?"

It is. It always is.

She eases into his warmth.