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sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-08 03:21 pm
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-08 03:21 pm
Entry tags:
Three Galleons, 4 of 4
Summary: After the war, Hermione has settled into a quiet if unorthodox life with Severus -- until a small problem in the form of a refugee spy calls for an even more unorthodox solution.
Rating: R for sexual content.
Notes:arsenicjade challenged me the other day to write Snape/Hermione/Lupin in a hurt/comfort scenario, and VOILA. Blame her. :D
Originally Posted 12/16/2006
Chapter 4
The archives were cool and dusty, a quiet and peaceful place interrupted only occasionally by some scholar who needed special access to this or that artefact. It was ticking over nicely without her, though everyone was glad to see her and there were one or two things that did need attending to. The pottery was in utter disarray and there were a handful of early wizarding coins that needed cataloguing before they could be put back in their case, so she was kept busy for much of the morning.
She left at four, having run out of things to do, and returned to a quite startling scene.
She had never, not once ever, seen Severus drunk. He had whiskey sometimes and often wine with dinner, but she'd never seen him drink to excess. She had a private theory that it was because even Severus was afraid of what he might say without any inhibitions. He said quite enough when he was inhibited.
She didn't even think Remus knew how to get drunk.
Yet there they sat at the table, a nearly-empty bottle of vodka (vodka!) between them, and when she came in neither of them could actually focus on her.
"Do I want to ask?" she said, hanging up her coat and going to the icebox for the milk.
"No. Probably not," Remus said. "Definitely not."
"Why not?" Severus demanded. "Can a man not get drunk in his own home?"
"My home," she reminded him.
"Lupin's too."
"Yes, and I blame him," she said, stirring hot chocolate powder into the milk. She muttered an incantation over it, and it immediately began to steam.
"Me? Wasn't my fault," Remus replied indignantly. "He! He brought it home! And made me drink it!"
"Here," Severus added as she sat down. He dumped the last of the vodka into her cocoa. "Drink."
"That's foul!"
"I have my reasons," Severus said darkly. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she did drink.
"What are they? You keep saying that," Remus complained.
"Let her finish," Severus ordered. Hermione, who didn't like vodka and definitely didn't like it in hot cocoa, downed the drink quickly. Another bottle appeared from somewhere, and she groaned.
"Now," Severus said, pouring himself another glass. He poured one for Remus, too, and a good helping into Hermione's now-empty cup. It turned a muddy brown colour, mixing with the dregs. "I have a question. For Lupin."
"Forty two!" Remus cried. Hermione had read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Severus had not, and looked perplexed.
"Forty two whats?" he asked.
"I'll explain later," Hermione said.
"Right, a question. I want to know," Severus held up a finger, "What you think you were doing, going round kissing my wife."
Remus sat back, shocked. His mouth opened, then closed again. He looked at Hermione.
"First of all," she said, "That's no concern of yours, Severus. Secondly, I am not your wife."
"Ah! That reminds me." Severus rummaged in his pockets and flung a small bag at her -- the bag of Galleons. There was something else in it; she took out a small black box. She opened it, annoyance increasing.
"This is how you propose to me?" she asked, taking a ring out of the box. It wasn't a diamond; Wizarding tradition, she knew, dictated the giving of sapphires. The blue gemstone sparkled. It was not small. "Drunk, flinging a box at my head?"
"Tedious formalities," he waved a hand dismissively. "Had it for months, never remembered at an opportune moment. To return to my point, why did you kiss my -- affianced?"
Hermione put the ring on her hand. Well, sapphires were nothing to sneeze at.
"How did you know?" Remus blurted.
"Listened to you talking in the kitchen," Severus answered imperturbably.
"Bloody hell."
"And what do you propose to do about it?" he added, turning to Hermione.
"If you were listening," she retorted, "You would know that I offered him several alternatives."
"Whores and catamites! You propose to subject our guest to venereal disease?"
"Well, what do you think I ought to do? You're the only one making a fuss," she answered.
"You'd better marry her anyway, Severus," Remus interjected. "She's the only one who'd hire a prostitute just to please your beaky self."
"You are an adulterer," Severus said to him.
"I am not. I'm not about to be married."
Hermione tilted her head back and swallowed the vodka in two gulps. Her eyes watered, but she could not possibly follow them unless she was drunk as well.
"We could duel," Remus suggested.
"While it would be immensely satisfying to murder you," Severus said, "it's hardly practical."
"It would satisfy your injured honour. I shan't do it again," Remus answered. "You could just maim me a little. I'm used to that."
"Shut up, both of you," Hermione ordered. Oddly enough, they obeyed. "Nobody's dueling over me, I'm not sixteen, I don't enjoy the prospect. We will settle this like rational human beings."
"Rationality be damned!" Severus said, pounding a fist on the table. Their glasses rattled.
"I'm still waiting for a better idea from you," Hermione said tartly. Severus crossed his arms.
"I could throw him out."
"It's my home, so you won't, and if you tried you could have this ring back right now," she said.
"Hear hear," Remus said weakly.
"He said he wouldn't do it again, anyway," Hermione said.
"I don't believe him."
"Then what do you propose to do?"
"I can tell you what I should like to do," Severus growled, but he looked at her when he said it. She had the distinct impression that what he would like to do would involve making her scream so loud that the people in the next building would worry.
Remus, she saw, was not even looking at her. He was watching Severus. His tongue darted out and wet his bottom lip. Hermione found herself slightly unable to think.
"I'm sure if you weren't such an arsehole to him he'd have kissed you first," she said. It was Severus' turn to rock backwards in surprise. He glanced at Remus, who looked...hungry.
"Certainly not," he proclaimed.
"You were listening at breakfast, weren't you?" Remus said.
"I didn't think you meant that fol-de-rol you fed her."
Remus closed the narrow gap across the kitchen table, proving his point. Hermione might have squeaked as she watched her boyfriend -- her fiancee -- kiss another man.
"Pervert," Severus gasped, when Remus leaned back.
"Well, I want you both and can't have either, so now it's even and we can all go on as we have done," Remus said affably.
"Go on!" Severus sputtered.
"I haven't felt this good in years," Remus said to Hermione.
"Clearly," she replied.
"It really is medicinal." He poured himself another glass of vodka. Hermione took it away from him. Severus was still staring at him, and that was when a little gear went click in Hermione's brain.
"Well, if it's just equality we're after," she said slowly, glancing at Severus. "I mean, that shouldn't be a problem."
"What are you talking about, woman?"
"Balance," she replied. "Really, it all works out in his favour in the end."
"Hermione?" Remus asked unsteadily.
"I mean, if you kissed me and then kissed him, where's the harm really?" she asked.
"He's not a steak! We can't split him!" Severus protested.
"I don't think that's what Hermione is suggesting," Remus said. "You said," he added to Hermione, "this morning, that having both of us around was like having two halves of one full person."
"I am not half a man," Severus said, sounding deeply insulted.
"That's not what she means and you know it," Remus replied.
"I'll thank you not to tell me what I know -- "
"Quiet!" Hermione ordered. "Remus is right, I'm not saying we should share him. I'm saying we should...keep him," she said, spreading her hands. The sapphire on her finger caught the light. "Both of us."
"Like a cocker spaniel?" Severus inquired sardonically.
"Not unless you plan to go around kissing cocker spaniels," Hermione replied. "Would it really be so different from what we have now? We already spend the night together, all the time. I'm just saying we ought to have some fun while we're about it."
Both of them looked at her as if she was out of her mind, then looked at each other uneasily.
"I don't think I have the energy for that," Remus said in a very small voice. "The spirit is willing, but I get winded just climbing a flight of stairs."
Severus began to laugh, which startled all of them. He covered his forehead with one hand.
"You are proposing we take this specimen to bed and thoroughly molest him because he hasn't had a shag in years and you like him too much to throw him out?" he asked.
"No," Hermione said. "I'm proposing that we take Remus to bed and have deviant, perverse sex with him because we love him."
"I don't."
"Such a liar," she sighed.
"Honestly," Remus continued, looking more and more aghast, "Just a flight of stairs. Sometimes I get dizzy if I stand up too fast. I'm really quite certain you'd be utterly disappointed in my stamina -- "
"If I were to agree to this prepost -- propos -- " Severus finally stumbled on a word. "This bizarre proposition -- "
"My heart," Remus interrupted. "It's liable to go out at any time!"
" -- what do you suppose people would say?"
Hermione laughed. "Severus Snape, since when have you ever given the slightest fuck what people say?"
"She must be drunk, she'd never swear sober," Severus said to Remus.
"And -- and just the mechanics make my head hurt..."
"But you would still marry me?" Severus demanded. "I am not going to enter into some horrifying double-ceremony."
Hermione smiled. She took Severus' hand and pulled him upright as she stood, kissing him. She held up her hand, the ring flashing on her finger.
"I will marry you," she said. "Is that your only worry?"
He glanced at Remus. "Yes," he said sullenly.
Hermione went to Remus, pulled him up too, and kissed him as well. "Your heart is fine. If you get tired, Severus is more than capable of picking up the slack."
Remus was too desperate to be sullen; he just nodded and swallowed nervously.
"Now, I'm going to go change out of my dusty clothing. If you gentlemen care to join me, I'll be in the bedroom," she said, marveling at how bossy she sounded -- Ron and Harry were right, she really was an insufferable boss. She left them standing in the kitchen, neither completely steady on his feet, staring awkwardly at each other.
She slipped out of her shoes and socks in the hallway, not quite sure if they would even follow her. She didn't hear them as she unbuttoned her blouse and took it off; when she reached for the strap of her bra, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Severus kissed the side of her neck. She turned her head to kiss him properly, twisting slightly in his arms as he helped her take it off.
"Hi," she said against his lips. "Did you kill Remus?"
"He's picked an awkward time to be shy," he replied, his voice a deep rumble in her ear. He circled around and kissed her again, pulling her close with an arm around her waist. She twisted in the other direction, enough to see Remus standing hesitantly in the doorway.
"I've seen you naked, you know," she said to him, and Severus laughed against her throat. Remus merely watched, eyes dark, as Severus hooked his thumbs in her skirt and pulled it down.
"We're not putting on a show," Severus said. Hermione turned back to him, but a moment later she felt Remus -- smelled him, dusty books and vodka -- as he kissed her shoulder where Severus had, a moment ago. His hands slid down her arms, holding her loosely just above the elbow.
"If I'm intruding," he said, sounding only half-joking, but she laughed anyway.
"Take off your shirt -- and your belt, the buckle's freezing," she suggested. He shrugged the shirt off while she worked on the buttons of Severus'. It was hard, because he kept kissing her, possessively, on the lips and cheek, high on her throat, then just below her ear --
She tilted her head back as Remus leaned over her shoulder and distracted him with another kiss. She was pinned between two bodies, each so warm she thought she might burn. Remus leaned heavily on her, trousers almost sliding down his hips. She wriggled delightedly and they did fall, leaving both of them nearly naked while Severus still hadn't got quite all the way out of his shirt.
"Lie down before you fall down, wretch," Severus ordered. Remus kissed Hermione's shoulder again, then stepped back so that she could help Severus undress. When she looked up from undoing his flies, she saw that Remus was lying on his side, one arm resting on the pillow and the other spread on the blanket in front of him, watching them. His erection lay against his stomach, looking almost painful, but he didn't touch it. She wondered if he'd forgotten how.
She cupped one hand against the insistent bulge in Severus' trousers, kissing him.
"You wouldn't mind, would you?" she asked in his ear, biting his earlobe. He traced one hand lightly down the curve of her back and pushed her panties off. "I'll make it up to you."
"You had better," he said, but he smiled as he said it, and that reassured her more than any promises of trust and love could have.
She pushed Remus gently over and straddled his thighs, then paused. This would never work; he was still anxious, still almost passive, and he wouldn't enjoy it. She wanted him to enjoy it. All the more because Severus should see -- this raw need, that they could care for.
She pulled him up and over, rolling, until he lay on top of her, his eyes level with hers. She kissed his nose.
"It's all right," she said, hitching her body slightly and wrapping her thighs around his still-bony hips. She felt him inside her, wondering if he'd even meant to, and then heard him moan, ragged and guttural. She reached one hand out blindly.
"Severus," she said. "Come along."
He knelt behind Remus, still wearing his trousers, damn him, and held the other man's shoulders.
"If I am to be cuckolded, you will do the thing properly," he said.
"Not -- cuckolding," Remus moaned, barely moving -- but moving, thrusting slowly as if he were going to hurt her. "You're welcome to -- mmh -- join in..."
"I'm not going to bugger you first time out," Severus answered sharply. Remus swore. Hermione moaned as he licked his tongue across one breast.
"Been buggered...Hermione...before," Remus managed, breathless.
"Don't remind me."
Hermione laughed, then cut off in the middle abruptly as Remus thrust harder. He leaned forward, cradling her head in his hands as he gasped and moaned. His shoulders were slick with sweat when she touched them, thinking that was where Severus was holding him; instead she ran her hands down his ribcage, and found one of Severus' hands on Remus' thigh, the other on his hip. Supporting him, she realised. Showing him what to do.
Remus seemed lost in some other world now, barely conscious of either of them; she felt him tasting her skin, sucking one hard nipple between his teeth and then licking away the sting. Pleasure raced through her nerves, not just at the physical act but because he so obviously appreciated it, because his desperate attention was for her and was not something he could have transmitted to a stranger. She wasn't going to orgasm, not before he did, but she knew she would be close. She shut her eyes and moaned.
"I -- Hermione -- I -- " he managed, but with a sharp final thrust he collapsed, another ragged groan vibrating against her collarbone. She could feel him gasping for breath. She stroked his hair, looking up at Severus. He frowned, but it was more thoughtful than disapproving.
"That was wretched," he said finally. Remus laughed and slowly eased himself to one side, kissing Hermione as he went.
"Have a heart," he answered, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. "It's my first orgasm in three years."
"You've no technique at all. We shall have to remedy that."
"Mmh," Remus replied, too relaxed to be insulted. "Well, show me, then."
"Yes, Severus," Hermione said, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Do show him."
He pressed one hand against his own flat stomach and banished the trousers and underthings easily, which was pure showmanship on his part. Hermione glanced at Remus, but Remus was studying the long, angular lines of Severus' body.
"Good choice," he said to Hermione, who laughed again and shoved him over a little so that Severus could lie down. He cupped both her breasts in his hands as she leaned over him and took him inside her, moving her hips slowly.
"Lovely," Remus breathed.
"She is," Severus replied.
"I wasn't referring to her," Remus said, and kissed him even as Hermione looked down on them, enjoying the slick way Severus' cock moved inside her, the control he granted her.
Remus kept kissing him as they fucked (fucked!), one hand creeping over to spread itself across his stomach. Hermione watched, more aroused than she had actually known possible, as her lover and...well, her new lover explored each other. Remus lifted his hand to stroke her back, then pushed himself up and nuzzled her shoulder. She cried out and ducked her head as Severus arched his back, but she wasn't quite there -- neither, she sensed, was he.
Remus leaned all the way up and moved behind her, and she suddenly felt him press against her back, his head resting on one shoulder.
"Your heart," she teased, bending to kiss Severus, "seems to be fine."
"It does," Remus answered gravely. She felt the tip of his cock press against her thigh, then the length of it slide along her arse. "Not to impose, Hermione -- "
"Yes, now is -- mmm -- the time for politeness," she replied.
"One does like to ask first," he continued, tracing odd shapes and lines on her back. "I know a charm that would make it considerably easier -- "
"Please, Remus, stop talking," she replied. She heard him whisper something, felt his hands settle on her hips, and felt an odd -- tingling, a sensitivity -- she could feel her blood pulse, all over her body, as Remus pressed gently against her. She rocked back, trying to relax, remembering one time she and Severus --
"Oh god," she said, as Remus delicately moved his hips and every nerve ending in her body stood taut.
"I can -- "
"Don't -- don't stop -- "
He held her by the waist and moved with her, which drove each thrust harder against Severus, who writhed and swore as well. She wasn't even expecting the orgasm when it caught her and took her breath away, muscles convulsing, pleasure so intense and final that she thought she might pass out. She was distantly aware of Severus coming -- she knew the low rumbling moan well enough -- but she didn't feel Remus shudder against her until he pushed once more and a second orgasm made her cry out.
She eased herself down on Severus' chest, not really trusting her muscles to hold her much longer, and felt Remus topple onto the bed next to them.
"Much better," Severus murmured. "Not but that I'd expect you'd be better in that area of -- "
"Please, shut up," she told him. He shoved her off his chest, though it was -- well, an affectionate shove. She fell into the bed between them, and Remus promptly wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Now we sleep?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes," she answered, nuzzling Severus' cheek. He kissed her ear. "Now we sleep."
"Wait," Severus said, sitting up. Hermione moaned.
"What?"
He leaned over the edge of the bed and she saw him pick up her skirt. He reached into the pocket and withdrew the bag of Galleons. She smiled, suddenly.
"Lupin," he barked.
"What?" Remus asked, eyes closed. Severus tossed the Galleons on his chest. "What are...?"
"You need a haircut," Severus said. Hermione stroked Remus' arm.
"I'll explain in the morning," she whispered. "You'll like it."
Remus studied the bag, then carefully put it on the edge of the bed, next to his pillow. Hermione smiled at Severus and stroked his cheek as he settled down again.
***
She woke once, in the night, feeling stiff and rather as though she might like a long bath in the morning, but unwilling to move just yet. Severus had one arm stretched across her belly and Remus had buried his face in her shoulder where it met her neck. She sighed happily.
Severus was breathing slowly, a serene dead weight as usual. Remus, however, didn't seem to be asleep; his shoulders rose and fell evenly but too quickly. She was about to ask if he was all right when she felt a hot dampness against her skin and realised he was crying. She didn't think it was grief, not really -- just release of another sort. She doubted he ever had before, not since finding them. Even so he wasn't sobbing or weeping, just crying. Silently and shamefully, as grown men do.
And I'm a grown woman, she thought. And I chose this.
She must have said at least part of it out loud, without realising; Severus grunted and slid a little closer.
"Mmf?" he asked.
"Nothing. Go to sleep," she whispered.
"Hmm."
She turned her head and kissed Remus' hair, just above his forehead. It really was getting long; Severus was right, he'd have to cut it soon. And they would both have to help Severus move out of that poky flat above the shop. Perhaps she should move, too. They could get somewhere bigger, with a proper dining room. She'd like a library, somewhere she and Severus could work while Remus read. Or she could read while Severus worked and Remus napped on the sofa. Or...
She drifted back into sleep, one arm crooked around Severus' shoulders, her head nodding against Remus' too-long hair.
END
Rating: R for sexual content.
Notes:
arsenicjade challenged me the other day to write Snape/Hermione/Lupin in a hurt/comfort scenario, and VOILA. Blame her. :DOriginally Posted 12/16/2006
Chapter 4
The archives were cool and dusty, a quiet and peaceful place interrupted only occasionally by some scholar who needed special access to this or that artefact. It was ticking over nicely without her, though everyone was glad to see her and there were one or two things that did need attending to. The pottery was in utter disarray and there were a handful of early wizarding coins that needed cataloguing before they could be put back in their case, so she was kept busy for much of the morning.
She left at four, having run out of things to do, and returned to a quite startling scene.
She had never, not once ever, seen Severus drunk. He had whiskey sometimes and often wine with dinner, but she'd never seen him drink to excess. She had a private theory that it was because even Severus was afraid of what he might say without any inhibitions. He said quite enough when he was inhibited.
She didn't even think Remus knew how to get drunk.
Yet there they sat at the table, a nearly-empty bottle of vodka (vodka!) between them, and when she came in neither of them could actually focus on her.
"Do I want to ask?" she said, hanging up her coat and going to the icebox for the milk.
"No. Probably not," Remus said. "Definitely not."
"Why not?" Severus demanded. "Can a man not get drunk in his own home?"
"My home," she reminded him.
"Lupin's too."
"Yes, and I blame him," she said, stirring hot chocolate powder into the milk. She muttered an incantation over it, and it immediately began to steam.
"Me? Wasn't my fault," Remus replied indignantly. "He! He brought it home! And made me drink it!"
"Here," Severus added as she sat down. He dumped the last of the vodka into her cocoa. "Drink."
"That's foul!"
"I have my reasons," Severus said darkly. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she did drink.
"What are they? You keep saying that," Remus complained.
"Let her finish," Severus ordered. Hermione, who didn't like vodka and definitely didn't like it in hot cocoa, downed the drink quickly. Another bottle appeared from somewhere, and she groaned.
"Now," Severus said, pouring himself another glass. He poured one for Remus, too, and a good helping into Hermione's now-empty cup. It turned a muddy brown colour, mixing with the dregs. "I have a question. For Lupin."
"Forty two!" Remus cried. Hermione had read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Severus had not, and looked perplexed.
"Forty two whats?" he asked.
"I'll explain later," Hermione said.
"Right, a question. I want to know," Severus held up a finger, "What you think you were doing, going round kissing my wife."
Remus sat back, shocked. His mouth opened, then closed again. He looked at Hermione.
"First of all," she said, "That's no concern of yours, Severus. Secondly, I am not your wife."
"Ah! That reminds me." Severus rummaged in his pockets and flung a small bag at her -- the bag of Galleons. There was something else in it; she took out a small black box. She opened it, annoyance increasing.
"This is how you propose to me?" she asked, taking a ring out of the box. It wasn't a diamond; Wizarding tradition, she knew, dictated the giving of sapphires. The blue gemstone sparkled. It was not small. "Drunk, flinging a box at my head?"
"Tedious formalities," he waved a hand dismissively. "Had it for months, never remembered at an opportune moment. To return to my point, why did you kiss my -- affianced?"
Hermione put the ring on her hand. Well, sapphires were nothing to sneeze at.
"How did you know?" Remus blurted.
"Listened to you talking in the kitchen," Severus answered imperturbably.
"Bloody hell."
"And what do you propose to do about it?" he added, turning to Hermione.
"If you were listening," she retorted, "You would know that I offered him several alternatives."
"Whores and catamites! You propose to subject our guest to venereal disease?"
"Well, what do you think I ought to do? You're the only one making a fuss," she answered.
"You'd better marry her anyway, Severus," Remus interjected. "She's the only one who'd hire a prostitute just to please your beaky self."
"You are an adulterer," Severus said to him.
"I am not. I'm not about to be married."
Hermione tilted her head back and swallowed the vodka in two gulps. Her eyes watered, but she could not possibly follow them unless she was drunk as well.
"We could duel," Remus suggested.
"While it would be immensely satisfying to murder you," Severus said, "it's hardly practical."
"It would satisfy your injured honour. I shan't do it again," Remus answered. "You could just maim me a little. I'm used to that."
"Shut up, both of you," Hermione ordered. Oddly enough, they obeyed. "Nobody's dueling over me, I'm not sixteen, I don't enjoy the prospect. We will settle this like rational human beings."
"Rationality be damned!" Severus said, pounding a fist on the table. Their glasses rattled.
"I'm still waiting for a better idea from you," Hermione said tartly. Severus crossed his arms.
"I could throw him out."
"It's my home, so you won't, and if you tried you could have this ring back right now," she said.
"Hear hear," Remus said weakly.
"He said he wouldn't do it again, anyway," Hermione said.
"I don't believe him."
"Then what do you propose to do?"
"I can tell you what I should like to do," Severus growled, but he looked at her when he said it. She had the distinct impression that what he would like to do would involve making her scream so loud that the people in the next building would worry.
Remus, she saw, was not even looking at her. He was watching Severus. His tongue darted out and wet his bottom lip. Hermione found herself slightly unable to think.
"I'm sure if you weren't such an arsehole to him he'd have kissed you first," she said. It was Severus' turn to rock backwards in surprise. He glanced at Remus, who looked...hungry.
"Certainly not," he proclaimed.
"You were listening at breakfast, weren't you?" Remus said.
"I didn't think you meant that fol-de-rol you fed her."
Remus closed the narrow gap across the kitchen table, proving his point. Hermione might have squeaked as she watched her boyfriend -- her fiancee -- kiss another man.
"Pervert," Severus gasped, when Remus leaned back.
"Well, I want you both and can't have either, so now it's even and we can all go on as we have done," Remus said affably.
"Go on!" Severus sputtered.
"I haven't felt this good in years," Remus said to Hermione.
"Clearly," she replied.
"It really is medicinal." He poured himself another glass of vodka. Hermione took it away from him. Severus was still staring at him, and that was when a little gear went click in Hermione's brain.
"Well, if it's just equality we're after," she said slowly, glancing at Severus. "I mean, that shouldn't be a problem."
"What are you talking about, woman?"
"Balance," she replied. "Really, it all works out in his favour in the end."
"Hermione?" Remus asked unsteadily.
"I mean, if you kissed me and then kissed him, where's the harm really?" she asked.
"He's not a steak! We can't split him!" Severus protested.
"I don't think that's what Hermione is suggesting," Remus said. "You said," he added to Hermione, "this morning, that having both of us around was like having two halves of one full person."
"I am not half a man," Severus said, sounding deeply insulted.
"That's not what she means and you know it," Remus replied.
"I'll thank you not to tell me what I know -- "
"Quiet!" Hermione ordered. "Remus is right, I'm not saying we should share him. I'm saying we should...keep him," she said, spreading her hands. The sapphire on her finger caught the light. "Both of us."
"Like a cocker spaniel?" Severus inquired sardonically.
"Not unless you plan to go around kissing cocker spaniels," Hermione replied. "Would it really be so different from what we have now? We already spend the night together, all the time. I'm just saying we ought to have some fun while we're about it."
Both of them looked at her as if she was out of her mind, then looked at each other uneasily.
"I don't think I have the energy for that," Remus said in a very small voice. "The spirit is willing, but I get winded just climbing a flight of stairs."
Severus began to laugh, which startled all of them. He covered his forehead with one hand.
"You are proposing we take this specimen to bed and thoroughly molest him because he hasn't had a shag in years and you like him too much to throw him out?" he asked.
"No," Hermione said. "I'm proposing that we take Remus to bed and have deviant, perverse sex with him because we love him."
"I don't."
"Such a liar," she sighed.
"Honestly," Remus continued, looking more and more aghast, "Just a flight of stairs. Sometimes I get dizzy if I stand up too fast. I'm really quite certain you'd be utterly disappointed in my stamina -- "
"If I were to agree to this prepost -- propos -- " Severus finally stumbled on a word. "This bizarre proposition -- "
"My heart," Remus interrupted. "It's liable to go out at any time!"
" -- what do you suppose people would say?"
Hermione laughed. "Severus Snape, since when have you ever given the slightest fuck what people say?"
"She must be drunk, she'd never swear sober," Severus said to Remus.
"And -- and just the mechanics make my head hurt..."
"But you would still marry me?" Severus demanded. "I am not going to enter into some horrifying double-ceremony."
Hermione smiled. She took Severus' hand and pulled him upright as she stood, kissing him. She held up her hand, the ring flashing on her finger.
"I will marry you," she said. "Is that your only worry?"
He glanced at Remus. "Yes," he said sullenly.
Hermione went to Remus, pulled him up too, and kissed him as well. "Your heart is fine. If you get tired, Severus is more than capable of picking up the slack."
Remus was too desperate to be sullen; he just nodded and swallowed nervously.
"Now, I'm going to go change out of my dusty clothing. If you gentlemen care to join me, I'll be in the bedroom," she said, marveling at how bossy she sounded -- Ron and Harry were right, she really was an insufferable boss. She left them standing in the kitchen, neither completely steady on his feet, staring awkwardly at each other.
She slipped out of her shoes and socks in the hallway, not quite sure if they would even follow her. She didn't hear them as she unbuttoned her blouse and took it off; when she reached for the strap of her bra, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Severus kissed the side of her neck. She turned her head to kiss him properly, twisting slightly in his arms as he helped her take it off.
"Hi," she said against his lips. "Did you kill Remus?"
"He's picked an awkward time to be shy," he replied, his voice a deep rumble in her ear. He circled around and kissed her again, pulling her close with an arm around her waist. She twisted in the other direction, enough to see Remus standing hesitantly in the doorway.
"I've seen you naked, you know," she said to him, and Severus laughed against her throat. Remus merely watched, eyes dark, as Severus hooked his thumbs in her skirt and pulled it down.
"We're not putting on a show," Severus said. Hermione turned back to him, but a moment later she felt Remus -- smelled him, dusty books and vodka -- as he kissed her shoulder where Severus had, a moment ago. His hands slid down her arms, holding her loosely just above the elbow.
"If I'm intruding," he said, sounding only half-joking, but she laughed anyway.
"Take off your shirt -- and your belt, the buckle's freezing," she suggested. He shrugged the shirt off while she worked on the buttons of Severus'. It was hard, because he kept kissing her, possessively, on the lips and cheek, high on her throat, then just below her ear --
She tilted her head back as Remus leaned over her shoulder and distracted him with another kiss. She was pinned between two bodies, each so warm she thought she might burn. Remus leaned heavily on her, trousers almost sliding down his hips. She wriggled delightedly and they did fall, leaving both of them nearly naked while Severus still hadn't got quite all the way out of his shirt.
"Lie down before you fall down, wretch," Severus ordered. Remus kissed Hermione's shoulder again, then stepped back so that she could help Severus undress. When she looked up from undoing his flies, she saw that Remus was lying on his side, one arm resting on the pillow and the other spread on the blanket in front of him, watching them. His erection lay against his stomach, looking almost painful, but he didn't touch it. She wondered if he'd forgotten how.
She cupped one hand against the insistent bulge in Severus' trousers, kissing him.
"You wouldn't mind, would you?" she asked in his ear, biting his earlobe. He traced one hand lightly down the curve of her back and pushed her panties off. "I'll make it up to you."
"You had better," he said, but he smiled as he said it, and that reassured her more than any promises of trust and love could have.
She pushed Remus gently over and straddled his thighs, then paused. This would never work; he was still anxious, still almost passive, and he wouldn't enjoy it. She wanted him to enjoy it. All the more because Severus should see -- this raw need, that they could care for.
She pulled him up and over, rolling, until he lay on top of her, his eyes level with hers. She kissed his nose.
"It's all right," she said, hitching her body slightly and wrapping her thighs around his still-bony hips. She felt him inside her, wondering if he'd even meant to, and then heard him moan, ragged and guttural. She reached one hand out blindly.
"Severus," she said. "Come along."
He knelt behind Remus, still wearing his trousers, damn him, and held the other man's shoulders.
"If I am to be cuckolded, you will do the thing properly," he said.
"Not -- cuckolding," Remus moaned, barely moving -- but moving, thrusting slowly as if he were going to hurt her. "You're welcome to -- mmh -- join in..."
"I'm not going to bugger you first time out," Severus answered sharply. Remus swore. Hermione moaned as he licked his tongue across one breast.
"Been buggered...Hermione...before," Remus managed, breathless.
"Don't remind me."
Hermione laughed, then cut off in the middle abruptly as Remus thrust harder. He leaned forward, cradling her head in his hands as he gasped and moaned. His shoulders were slick with sweat when she touched them, thinking that was where Severus was holding him; instead she ran her hands down his ribcage, and found one of Severus' hands on Remus' thigh, the other on his hip. Supporting him, she realised. Showing him what to do.
Remus seemed lost in some other world now, barely conscious of either of them; she felt him tasting her skin, sucking one hard nipple between his teeth and then licking away the sting. Pleasure raced through her nerves, not just at the physical act but because he so obviously appreciated it, because his desperate attention was for her and was not something he could have transmitted to a stranger. She wasn't going to orgasm, not before he did, but she knew she would be close. She shut her eyes and moaned.
"I -- Hermione -- I -- " he managed, but with a sharp final thrust he collapsed, another ragged groan vibrating against her collarbone. She could feel him gasping for breath. She stroked his hair, looking up at Severus. He frowned, but it was more thoughtful than disapproving.
"That was wretched," he said finally. Remus laughed and slowly eased himself to one side, kissing Hermione as he went.
"Have a heart," he answered, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. "It's my first orgasm in three years."
"You've no technique at all. We shall have to remedy that."
"Mmh," Remus replied, too relaxed to be insulted. "Well, show me, then."
"Yes, Severus," Hermione said, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Do show him."
He pressed one hand against his own flat stomach and banished the trousers and underthings easily, which was pure showmanship on his part. Hermione glanced at Remus, but Remus was studying the long, angular lines of Severus' body.
"Good choice," he said to Hermione, who laughed again and shoved him over a little so that Severus could lie down. He cupped both her breasts in his hands as she leaned over him and took him inside her, moving her hips slowly.
"Lovely," Remus breathed.
"She is," Severus replied.
"I wasn't referring to her," Remus said, and kissed him even as Hermione looked down on them, enjoying the slick way Severus' cock moved inside her, the control he granted her.
Remus kept kissing him as they fucked (fucked!), one hand creeping over to spread itself across his stomach. Hermione watched, more aroused than she had actually known possible, as her lover and...well, her new lover explored each other. Remus lifted his hand to stroke her back, then pushed himself up and nuzzled her shoulder. She cried out and ducked her head as Severus arched his back, but she wasn't quite there -- neither, she sensed, was he.
Remus leaned all the way up and moved behind her, and she suddenly felt him press against her back, his head resting on one shoulder.
"Your heart," she teased, bending to kiss Severus, "seems to be fine."
"It does," Remus answered gravely. She felt the tip of his cock press against her thigh, then the length of it slide along her arse. "Not to impose, Hermione -- "
"Yes, now is -- mmm -- the time for politeness," she replied.
"One does like to ask first," he continued, tracing odd shapes and lines on her back. "I know a charm that would make it considerably easier -- "
"Please, Remus, stop talking," she replied. She heard him whisper something, felt his hands settle on her hips, and felt an odd -- tingling, a sensitivity -- she could feel her blood pulse, all over her body, as Remus pressed gently against her. She rocked back, trying to relax, remembering one time she and Severus --
"Oh god," she said, as Remus delicately moved his hips and every nerve ending in her body stood taut.
"I can -- "
"Don't -- don't stop -- "
He held her by the waist and moved with her, which drove each thrust harder against Severus, who writhed and swore as well. She wasn't even expecting the orgasm when it caught her and took her breath away, muscles convulsing, pleasure so intense and final that she thought she might pass out. She was distantly aware of Severus coming -- she knew the low rumbling moan well enough -- but she didn't feel Remus shudder against her until he pushed once more and a second orgasm made her cry out.
She eased herself down on Severus' chest, not really trusting her muscles to hold her much longer, and felt Remus topple onto the bed next to them.
"Much better," Severus murmured. "Not but that I'd expect you'd be better in that area of -- "
"Please, shut up," she told him. He shoved her off his chest, though it was -- well, an affectionate shove. She fell into the bed between them, and Remus promptly wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Now we sleep?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes," she answered, nuzzling Severus' cheek. He kissed her ear. "Now we sleep."
"Wait," Severus said, sitting up. Hermione moaned.
"What?"
He leaned over the edge of the bed and she saw him pick up her skirt. He reached into the pocket and withdrew the bag of Galleons. She smiled, suddenly.
"Lupin," he barked.
"What?" Remus asked, eyes closed. Severus tossed the Galleons on his chest. "What are...?"
"You need a haircut," Severus said. Hermione stroked Remus' arm.
"I'll explain in the morning," she whispered. "You'll like it."
Remus studied the bag, then carefully put it on the edge of the bed, next to his pillow. Hermione smiled at Severus and stroked his cheek as he settled down again.
***
She woke once, in the night, feeling stiff and rather as though she might like a long bath in the morning, but unwilling to move just yet. Severus had one arm stretched across her belly and Remus had buried his face in her shoulder where it met her neck. She sighed happily.
Severus was breathing slowly, a serene dead weight as usual. Remus, however, didn't seem to be asleep; his shoulders rose and fell evenly but too quickly. She was about to ask if he was all right when she felt a hot dampness against her skin and realised he was crying. She didn't think it was grief, not really -- just release of another sort. She doubted he ever had before, not since finding them. Even so he wasn't sobbing or weeping, just crying. Silently and shamefully, as grown men do.
And I'm a grown woman, she thought. And I chose this.
She must have said at least part of it out loud, without realising; Severus grunted and slid a little closer.
"Mmf?" he asked.
"Nothing. Go to sleep," she whispered.
"Hmm."
She turned her head and kissed Remus' hair, just above his forehead. It really was getting long; Severus was right, he'd have to cut it soon. And they would both have to help Severus move out of that poky flat above the shop. Perhaps she should move, too. They could get somewhere bigger, with a proper dining room. She'd like a library, somewhere she and Severus could work while Remus read. Or she could read while Severus worked and Remus napped on the sofa. Or...
She drifted back into sleep, one arm crooked around Severus' shoulders, her head nodding against Remus' too-long hair.
END
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