Hermione's Plan
Romantic Interlude
By Chem Prof
Author Notes:
I had originally intended to continue at this point with the rest of the school year, but these scenes describing Harry and Hermione’s honeymoon as well as the rest of the wedding reception popped into my mind. Keep in mind that this is their honeymoon, so there will be a lot of references to sex. It’s not explicit, or even particularly detailed, but consider yourselves warned. The rating for this chapter has been increased to Mature
Chapter 28, Romantic Interlude
Hermione had researched and prepared for her first lovemaking experience as thoroughly as any woman ever had. She would never admit to anyone besides Harry (and him only years later) just how many books, magazines, and internet sites she had pored through seeking to learn everything she could about the process. Not to mention the time spent discussing it with her mother (somewhat awkwardly) and Fleur (also somewhat awkwardly, but for an entirely different reason). She had decided that she should probably discount some of the things she heard from Fleur, who was part Veela after all. All in all, though, she thought she had a reasonable idea of what to expect.
The reality was nothing like she had imagined. It was so much better. She had thought that she and Harry had a very close connection. It was nothing like the emotional connection this generated. She had very much enjoyed embracing him in the nude, with the delightful sensations of skin to skin contact. It was nothing compared to having him inside of her. Even without the stimulation of nerve endings that eventually led to orgasm, just the act of being joined together gave her a sense of being closer to him than she ever had. The feeling of completeness was indescribable.
The actuality more than made up for the wait. Indeed, the months of denial and anticipation only enhanced the ultimate experience, not to mention the effect of the additional magic of the marriage bond. But the months of denial also meant that now that she had him she simply could not get enough of him. She had once wondered how many hours they could spend in bed in a day. The first full day of their marriage gave her the answer. Twenty hours in a twenty-four hour period.
They took a brief break for breakfast when a slyly smiling Mayahuel delivered a bowl of fresh fruit and freshly baked bread to their door, although Harry pointed out that they could have eaten that without getting out of bed. Hermione compromised by having them remain nude while they sat at the small table in their room, then sweetened the deal by sitting in his lap while they ate. Harry had no problem eating with one hand while his other hand did quite a few interesting things besides holding her. At midday they took an hour to eat lunch, at least making it out of the room this time. When evening came, they actually took a couple of hours to visit with their hosts during dinner. All the rest of the time was spent exploring the physical side of their marriage.
On the evening of their wedding day they made love only once – with the time zone change and their earlier time travel it had been a 36 hour day – but it was quite satisfying for both of them. When they finished Hermione insisted that Harry stay inside of her, and they fell asleep joined.
The next day was a different story entirely. When Fleur had first noticed that Harry and Hermione were together, back in France before her wedding, she had made a joking comment about studious girls being the most knowledgeable and adventurous lovers. This unequivocally turned out to be true in Hermione’s case. On the other hand, the similar saying ‘it’s always the quiet ones’ most certainly did not apply. Hermione would never be described by anyone who knew her as a ‘quiet one’. From her studies, to the causes she believed in, to her concern about Harry, the Hermione of Hogwarts and later was one of the most outspoken and passionate women around. And as might have been expected, this passion carried over quite obviously to her love-making.
Their body clocks woke them at 2 AM, and they were both eager and willing to give it another go. This time it lasted a bit longer, but soon enough they were each satiated and once more fell back asleep. As the morning light began to diffuse into the chamber, Harry woke to see Hermione smiling at him with a gleam in her eye. This time she began to experiment with different positions she had read about, learning the advantages and disadvantages of each. For example, with him on his back and her astride, she had more control but there was less skin to skin contact. After taking the act to completion for a third time, Hermione slyly mentioned the stamina charm. Harry gladly accepted it as he could easily see how much Hermione was enjoying this (as was he!), and willingly engaged in yet another round.
After this they finally got out of bed to shower before they ate breakfast – and managed to fulfill a fantasy Harry had visualized ever since they began showering together the previous summer. Hermione cautiously assented, concerned only because each time they made love the sensations were so intense that she knew it would leave her knees weak and unable to support her. Harry assured her he’d never let her fall, which earned him a smoldering look and a thorough snogging, which ended only because Hermione’s hands started to get mischievous. Just in case, Harry also cast cushioning charms in the shower – by the time he was finished they had the most comfortable shower in existence.
After breakfast, they took a break for another nap, then continued with more exploration of different positions until lunchtime. During this period they learned what many couples have discovered, that having him enter her from behind enabled even greater penetration. It also gave Harry more freedom to use his hands, and over the months of abstinence he had become very good at manually pleasuring her. Back after lunch, they continued with renewed vigor, this time experimenting with different furniture. After trying it with all the chairs and couches in the room, Hermione decided she liked it best while sitting on his lap facing him. Then they discovered the dressing table and mirror. As far as Hermione was concerned, this combined several good features of the alternate positions they had been exploring (use your imagination!) and it was to become their second favorite piece of furniture after their bed. For the rest of their lives Harry would find it difficult to pass by their dressing table and mirror (they always made sure when they bought a new one that it was just the right height) while Hermione was dressing without taking advantage of the opportunity. All she has to do was give him a look (he later began calling it her ‘come shag me’ look) and they would go at it.
After supper, and after a polite amount of time spent visiting, they excused themselves to return to the chamber and continue their explorations. Of course they had to put up with a lot of teasing from their Mayan friends, who also joked that they had missed some important visitors, but they didn’t let it stop them. As for the final tally? Hermione never did get up the nerve to ask Fleur how many times Bill had managed it in a day, but she and Harry had made it into double figures and she was pretty sure the older couple couldn’t have gotten much farther than they had.
-ooOoo-
“Wow.” She knew that simple declaration was as much as he could manage, as he was as overwhelmed by the day as she was. She had a delicious ache in muscles that were unaccustomed to the workout they had received today (although she fully intended that such exertions would be a regular part of her activities from now on) and she was getting pretty sore inside despite the spells from Fleur. On some later date she would ask him about how sore their workout had left him, although he certainly had shown no reluctance to continue. But both of them knew it was their last time for tonight, and they settled comfortably into their favorite sleeping position in each other’s arms.
“I know,” she responded. “This has been incredible, beyond anything I could have imagined.” She punctuated her statement with a tight squeeze.
“I know what you mean,” he returned. “And I had imagined some pretty amazing things when I dreamed of making love to you. But the reality was so much more.” He paused to give her a tender kiss on top of her head. “Thank you.” Hermione kept silent, waiting for him to elaborate. “Thank you for loving me. Thank you for marrying me. Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world.” His arms tightened around her as well.
Hermione purred with contentment. “I was going to say exactly the same thing,” she added. “I can’t express how happy I am right now. I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” came his whispered reply as they finally fell off into a blissful slumber.
-ooOoo-
“Are you certain that you want to do this?” Harry and Hermione were gathered with the leaders of the Mayan magical community in the eastern Yucatan, in the most powerful of the ceremonial circles in the main temple of Chichen-Itza, and Ix Chel needed to be assured that they were not undertaking this ritual lightly.
“Believe me, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing this,” Harry replied as he turned to Hermione. “And as you might imagine it got pretty emotional at times.” Hermione nodded somberly. “I know that I couldn’t bear it if Hermione didn’t survive this. I honestly don’t believe I’d want to go on living. So my initial inclination was to forbid her to be with me when I face him.” He paused as a small grin worked its way onto his face. “Of course, if you know Hermione, you realize how well that idea went over.”
“I was finally able to make him understand that I felt exactly the same way,” Hermione added. And he agrees that we’re much more likely to defeat him if we face him together. So we’ve decided that it has to be all or nothing.”
Hermione continued. “There is story in Greek mythology about an elderly couple who do a favor for the gods and are told they can request anything they wish. Even though they lived a simple life, they were content with everything they had as long as they were together. So their request was that they never wanted to be apart, and that they be permitted to pass on together, so that when one died the other would also. Each would never have to live without the other. Harry and I feel exactly the same way. So this bonding will help us achieve more than one of our goals.” Ix Chel nodded. The Mayans, and probably every culture, had a similar legend.
Harry and Hermione had asked Ah Kinchil and Ix Chel to assist them in performing the most powerful of the bonding spells – the soul bonding. The advantage of this would be to make their connection even stronger. Each would be able to sense where the other was at all times, and they would even be able to mentally communicate with each other to some extant – not actual words but feelings and general impressions. Of course, Ron would say that they had been doing this for years, but this was a bit more reliably consistent. The biggest advantage would be that each would be able to draw on the other’s magic in case of need, regardless of how physically separated they were or if the other was even conscious. In the extreme, they could take every bit of magic the other possessed, turning them into a squib. This was why this bonding was so rare – it required absolute trust in the other person. Both of them had determined that as much as they loved being able to do magic, they would each be willing to live their life out as a squib if it meant that Voldemort was defeated and the other remained alive. Harry had even joked that Hermione could be Headmistress of Hogwarts and he could do Filch’s job at least as well as Filch had. The important thing was that they would be together.
This bonding spell had considerable potential for abuse, of course, if a power-mad wizard tried to force his underlings to give him access to their magic, but in practice this was not a concern because the bonding had to be entered into entirely voluntarily. No matter how fanatically devoted an underling was to his master, it was extremely unlikely that he would willingly sacrifice his magic without even a shred of doubt.
The downside for their battle with Voldemort, which was considerable, was also the fact that if one died the other would follow a short time later. The exact amount of time for that to occur was uncertain, because this bonding had been done so rarely, but it was believed that the maximum was between 18 and 36 hours. The bottom line was that if Hermione was killed, Harry would have about a day to defeat Voldemort before he passed on as well. During that time, however, he would have absorbed all of her remaining magical power, making him temporarily as powerful as his enemy. On the other hand, if Harry was killed first, and the prophecy was correct that only he could defeat Voldemort, it would be hopeless, but Hermione was determined to die trying regardless. The preferred outcome, obviously, was that this connection would afford each of them their best chance of staying alive and keeping the other that way as well.
Having convinced their mentors that they knew what they were doing, and that it was their best option, they took their positions in the ceremonial circle and discarded their robes. This particular ritual required the participants to be nude, and out of the corner of her eye Hermione saw Ah Kinchil and Ix Chel removing their garments as well. She and Harry knelt down and faced each other, each reaching their arms around their soul mate and clasping their hands behind their backs. Each of them could feel the other’s heartbeat through the contact of their bare chests. When they were in position, with their bodies pressed tightly together and their foreheads touching, Hermione nodded.
Ah Kinchil and Ix Chel alternated saying their parts of the incantation, with a bright silver light erupting from Ah Kinchil’s wand and enveloping them, followed by an equally dazzling gold light from Ix Chel’s wand, which entwined itself with the silver beam and formed an intricately woven web around the pair of young lovers. An especially bright node appeared at each of their clasped hands, another right over both of their hearts, and a final one where their foreheads met, signifying the joining of hands, hearts, and minds. Lastly, the elder wizard and witch spoke the final phrase in unison and the web began to dissolve into their joined bodies, much like the glow had during their marriage bonding. This time it took several minutes for the process to be completed, with the bright nodes being the last things to disappear. When the light had finally faded they were unable to move under their own power and had to be helped to their feet and out of the circle. They were led into another chamber and into a shallow pool, where their mentors left them sitting in the warm water, still embracing each other.
Hermione would have a difficult time describing how much different this felt than the marriage bonding had – the tingling sensation was the same but this time she could feel Harry so much more. Her eyes widened as the thought went through her mind that love-making would be even more fantastic now with this heightened sensitivity to each other’s feelings. She wondered if it would be so intense that she would pass out.
In fact, the final stage of the ritual included the option to do exactly that, right there in the warm waters of the pool. When Hermione reminded Harry of this option his eyes lit up and they proceeded to fulfill yet another fantasy, this one which both of them had entertained ever since they had first sunbathed nude by the small plunge pool at the Robinson Club.
She did indeed pass out the first time. And true to his word, Harry didn’t let her fall, holding her up to keep her head above water, even though he was feeling a bit lightheaded himself. With their new ability to experience each other’s emotions, the excitement Hermione felt in Harry only added to her own arousal, which fueled his response in turn. Similar to a feedback loop in muggle electronics equipment, it quickly built up into the most intense orgasm either had ever experienced. It was actually over too quickly, and with practice they would learn to control the feedback from each other so that they could enjoy it longer.
-ooOoo-
The rest of their honeymoon was considerably less dramatic, although no less enjoyable. They spent a week in Chichen-Itza and Coba, then used the time turner to spend another week at the beach. Instead of staying at one of the luxury mega-resorts, however, they had chosen to rent a private villa with its own secluded stretch of beach. Aside from the times that the maid visited, they were completely by themselves, which meant that clothing was superfluous most of the time. They did dress up to go out for dinner each night, but most of each day was spent outside letting their bodies soak up the sun and frolicking in the waves. Needless to say, Hermione and Harry had sex-on-the-beach fantasies just like anyone else, and they managed to experience every one of them. They did discover, as many other couples before them had, that sand has a pesky habit of getting into uncomfortable places while making love in that particular location.
One more manipulation of time and they were back at Coba on the day after they had arrived, ready to return home. Since they knew that their previous selves had spent nearly that entire day in the marriage chamber, they knew that there was no chance of accidentally encountering them. As they took their leave Mayahuel and Ekahau teased that they would be sure to let the couple inside the marriage chamber know that they had missed them if they ever emerged.
Chantico, Bolon, Ix Chel, and Ah Kinchil had a more serious parting message. If the young couple failed in their task, the four of them vowed that they would come to Britain and complete it. They were confident that Harry and Hermione would succeed, but had no doubt that even if they lost, Voldemort would be seriously weakened by the encounter and they would take care of finishing him off. As far as they were concerned, their willingness to break their centuries of seclusion in order to do this for Harry easily came under the heading of ‘the power he knows not’. Feeling that their burden was now that much lighter, the pair of lovers activated the portkey that would return them to Potter Manor.
-ooOoo-
Back home the newlywed couple discovered that quite a few interesting things had happened at their wedding reception after they left. It took them most of the month of January to get all of the details out of their assorted friends, but eventually they pieced together the story.
It is a commonly accepted adage among wedding crashers that wedding receptions are great places to find willing female partners. Something about the wedding atmosphere is thought to put women in the mood for romance. At this particular wedding, several of the girls in attendance had long had crushes on the groom. Now that the subject of their fantasies was officially off the market, there was a tendency to turn to the next available prospect. In addition, watching the smoldering looks Harry and Hermione had been exchanging all evening had been arousing for quite a few of the females present. (It was mostly females because they tend to be more observant about such things than males.) All of these things had combined to create a large group of women looking for some loving, and the guests began to pair off.
Two things that facilitated this state of affairs were the fact that bedrooms had been made available to anyone who wished to stay the night, and the lack of adult supervision as the reception wore on. The Hogwarts professors all left shortly after Harry and Hermione’s departure. Dan and Emma were busy hosting the muggle reception, and never did make it to the magical one. Tonks was as affected by the overall mood as any of the females, and she dragged Remus off to the room that had been set aside for their use, and nothing was seen of them until the next day. Likewise, Hestia Jones got up the courage to admit that she had always been attracted to Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the two of them disappeared shortly afterward.
During one of the slow dances toward the end of the evening, Neville finally got up the nerve to kiss Ginny. Initially she kissed him back enthusiastically and Neville was in heaven for a second. But an instant later she was pulling back and running away in confusion. Later she would confide to Hermione that it had been nice, but it was Neville! She was just not ready to think of him as anything but a friend. As a result, Ginny spent the remainder of her time at the reception with Colin, and shortly thereafter went home with her parents. Neville, hoping desperately that he hadn’t gone too far and ruined their friendship, watched her sadly from the other side of the room until she had gone, then left with his grandmother and returned to Hogwarts. For the next month the two of them would avoid each other except during their sniper training.
Padma consoled herself with Justin. She had talked to him a lot at the wedding ceremony, where he sat next to her and explained the muggle service to her, and she discovered that he was a really nice guy. By the end of the evening the shy Ravendlaw had experienced her first-ever snogging session. To his credit, Justin was too honorable to push her farther than she was comfortable with, but it was the beginning of a nice relationship.
Hannah helped out her best friend by distracting Lavender, so that Susan snagged Ron and managed to spirit him away for some heavy snogging and petting. The two of them eventually ended up in one of the bedrooms together where they took it as far as anything Ron and Lavender had done the previous year. During their exploration of each other she managed to convince him that she stacked up very favorably with her rival. The next morning, Ron woke and arose quietly, gazing appreciatively on her bare torso before pulling the blanket over her and leaving for another room with a dazed smile on his face. Once he had gone, Susan opened her eyes and permitted herself a happy smile of her own before she curled up and went back to sleep.
Once Hannah was certain that Susan had Ron to herself, she latched onto Ernie and pulled him into a private corner of the mansion for some serious snogging. At this point, Lavender and Parvati were both a little down and looking for some comforting. They found it in the company of their two housemates, Dean and Seamus. When the four of them had gotten thoroughly drunk together, Lavender pulled Dean out onto the dance floor. As they staggered around she grabbed him and told him she wanted to find out if he was as big as she thought he was. She thereupon shoved her hand down his trousers, at the same time thrusting his hands into her robes to feel her up. He agreed that she felt as good as she looked, and they made their way out of the room for some more private investigation.
Fortunately for her, Dean’s mum, who had been a single parent raising her family under difficult circumstances, had drilled into him to never take advantage of a girl when she was drunk. He took her up to one of the bedrooms where Lavender passed out, and though they shared a bed the two of them stayed partially clothed. The next morning she apologized profusely, but he said it was all right, that he enjoyed it as far as it went. However, once back at Hogwarts a certain rumor spread quickly, and Dean found himself confronted with an unending supply of young witches who evidently subscribed to the saying that ‘size matters’.
For his part Seamus, in yet another bedroom, was finally able to fulfill his fantasies of Parvati – right up until he made the mistake of using the word ‘twins’. She had been down to nothing but knickers by that point, but to his dismay she immediately gathered up her things and apparated straight back to her room. (The wards had been set to allow the official occupant of a room to apparate into it, but no one else.) There, to her surprise, she found Justin kissing Padma goodnight. In her shock she just dropped everything to the floor, giving her sister’s new boyfriend quite a show. After a few seconds she whirled and ran to the bathroom, so that he was afforded a view from the rear as well as from the front. (It must have really been his lucky day, because that occasion just happened to be the first time that Parvati had been brave enough to wear a pair of thong knickers.) Thus, through the inadvertent exposure of her twin sister, Justin managed to get a very good idea of what his new girlfriend’s body looked like unclothed – but he at least was noble enough (and smart enough) to never utter the word ‘twins’ in either of their presence.
With all the pairing up going on, Su Li and Tracey Davis hooked up with Anthony Goldstein and Terrry Boot. Eventually, however, they decided they preferred each other’s company to that of the males, and they ended up sharing a bed for the night while the guys came up empty handed.
The older PDA members did pretty well for themselves also. Fred and George disappeared into a large bedroom with Angelina and Alicia, and Lee and Verity (the clerk at WWW) were last seen heading off somewhere together. A few drinks gave Katie the courage to approach Oliver Wood and admit that she had harbored some fantasies about him back at Hogwarts. Oliver decided that their three year age difference, which had prevented him from pursuing her at school, didn’t really matter that much now that they were adults. One thing led to another and the next morning saw them sharing a bed in yet another one of the mansion’s bedrooms, with Katie having satisfied at least one of those old fantasies.
One couple never left the ballroom. Viktor spent the entire evening with Luna, captivated by her stories. Eventually they were the only ones left in the room, sitting on a love seat just talking. There, for the first time in her life, Luna broke down and admitted that most of her fanciful creatures were made up. It was her way of distancing herself from people, as she had determined never to get close to anyone again after her mother died. Only once since then had she let the mask slip and she let someone in a just a bit, and that was when Harry had asked her to Slughorn’s party.
For his part, Viktor confessed to the loneliness of being famous – girls wanted him for his fame, never getting to know who he really was inside. With only two women in his life had that not been the case – Hermione was never like that, and neither was Luna. Luna then realized how similar Viktor was in this regard to Harry, the only other guy who saw something in her. At this point she decided to finally give up on Ron. The dawn of the next day found them still together, sitting on the balcony watching the sun rise, his arm wrapped around her and her head on his shoulder.
Early that morning, Minnie discretely provided sobering potions to every bedroom. After having served James and Sirius in many similar situations she was quite familiar with the preparation of that particular potion.
Once Lavender found out what had happened between Ron and Susan through the Hogwarts gossip network, she determined that it was time to step up the level of her relationship with Ron. By the end of January the two of them would no longer be virgins. Unfortunately, the result of this effort was the same as it is so often for girls who try to use sex to cement an uncertain relationship – instead of bringing them closer together it caused him to pull away from her.
By their prior agreement, February was Susan’s month with Ron, and she also managed to seduce him, the night of the Valentine’s Day dance. By the end of February Ron was left with a difficult decision. He was not so much of a cad to sleep with girls he did not have feelings for, and indeed he was very attracted to both of them. Ultimately, he was able to persuade them both to wait until after the final battle to make any final decisions.
-ooOoo-
When the newlywed couple returned to Hogwarts at the beginning of the term, McGonagall called them aside to inform them that they would be permitted to share the Head Boy’s bedroom in the Head Suite and they agreed that it would be all right to remove the bed from the Head Girl’s bedroom. Amazingly enough, all three of them managed to keep a straight face all throughout this conversation.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
Author Notes:
The scene involving Parvati, Padma, and Justin is loosely based on an actual incident that happened to a pair of twins I knew in college.