Always a Bridesmaid

The smell of sausage and bacon filled the air. Hermione groaned softly and turned her head into her pillow as she tried to resist waking up. She was tired and sore this morning, a realization that actually penetrated the sleepiness in her mind and drew her to consciousness. It took her a moment to remember why she was sore and then memories of the previous evening came back to her.

It had been quite surprising to learn that shagging in the bathtub was actually possible, albeit a bit crowded and messy with water splashing on the floor. They’d both needed a nap after that and it had felt all too natural to snuggle against Cedric’s nude body and sleep.

He’d woken her once during the night and proceeded to show her what tenacity truly meant as he’d teased and touched and pleasured her for what was most definitely more than five minutes. It had been slow and gentle, lazy thrusts and soft exploration, and they’d fallen asleep again wrapped in each other’s arms. It had been the best sleep she’d had in awhile.

When she finally opened her eyes, she blinked at the discovery of Cedric lying on his side beside her, simply watching her sleep. He was naked, the sheet riding low on his hips, and he had a slight smile on his lips as his fingers brushed through her hair.

“Good morning,” he said softly as he dropped his hand.

“Good morning. What time is it?” she asked as she ran her tongue over her teeth and kept herself from breathing in his face.

“Half ten,” he told her after a quick glance over his shoulder at the clock on the table by the bed.

“Half ten?” She groaned and stretched, certain muscles protesting the action as they reminded her they’d been very used the night before. “I never sleep this late.”

“I think you were rather tired,” he reminded her with a grin that was far too cheeky for this early in the day. “I don’t usually sleep this late, either, but I was reluctant to wake up.”

“How long have you been awake?” she asked, watching me was unspoken but evident in the somewhat sleepy but curious look she gave him.

“About half an hour, I guess. I didn’t want to wake you because you were sleeping so well,” he explained before a crooked smile crossed his lips. “I also sort of like watching you sleep. You snuggle against your pillow in a really cute way and nibble your lip right here,” his finger brushed against her lip, “and you drool just a little.”

“Talking about my drooling is not exactly high on my list of morning discussion topics, Diggory,” she muttered as she wiped the side of her face, her lip still tingling from his casual touch.

“You’re beautiful, Granger. Drool and all,” he replied as he leaned down to kiss her.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,” she pointed out as she dodged his lips.

“Are you always this cranky in the mornings?” he asked with an arched brow.

“I’m not cranky,” she denied with a slight glare. “I’m just not used to this.”

“Neither am I,” he admitted, knowing exactly what she was talking about. “There haven’t really been any morning afters for me in a very long time. I suppose my calling your drooling cute isn’t really helping, huh?”

“That would be a no,” she informed him with a slight smile. The sneaky prat took advantage of her relaxation and pressed her against the bed as he kissed her, seemingly not caring at all that her mouth was really gross. He tasted of toothpaste, and she knew he must have used hers. She soon forgot about her morning mouth as he deepened the kiss and moved his hand along her side beneath the sheet.

Cedric pulled back and grinned. “Now that’s a proper greeting,” he decided before he nipped at her bottom lip. He moved off her and sat up, not caring that the sheet had fallen to reveal just how well he’d enjoyed that kiss. His hair was tousled even more than usual but instead of looking messy like hers did, his looked sexy.

“You’re far too perky in the morning,” she accused as she stretched lazily and smiled. Normally, she’d be awake and alert in the morning but today she was languid and felt like staying in bed all day. With him.

“I’ve always been a bit of a morning person,” he explained with a shrug of his shoulders that drew her attention to the bite mark she’d left there some time in the middle of the night. He ran his hands through his hair and glanced down at his stirring erection and then at her where the sheet had fallen to her waist and then at her face, gnawing on his lip as he was obviously debating whether or not to ask for a shag. It was rather adorable, which was yet another clue that she was in far over her head with Cedric Diggory.

Hermione needed to pee and clean up before she gave any thought to a morning shag. However, there was something she could do before she went to the loo. Before he had a chance to prepare himself, she sat up and pushed him back against the bed, smiling as she leaned over him.

“Granger, some warning next time might be nice,” he muttered as he watched her curiously. She began to kiss her way down his chest and heard him actually whimper in the back of his throat when she nuzzled the trail of hair on his lower belly. His fingers tangled in her hair and he urged her to look up at him. “You don’t have---“

“I want to,” she told him honestly before she licked his belly and moved her mouth lower. She brushed her fingers through the coarse curls surrounding his erection and then gripped the base of his cock. He was fully hard now, twitching as her warm breath blew against his flesh, and she wanted to make his toes curl like he’d done to her the previous evening.

She wasn’t overly fond of blow jobs and hadn’t given them very often. She had a tendency to gag when something was shoved into her throat and her tongue got tired and her jaw got sore rather quickly. He had a nice cock, thick enough to feel without being too uncomfortable and not so long it felt like she was being poked with a wand but long enough to touch all the spots that made her moan. She kissed the head and moved her tongue over his slit to taste the first drops of arousal.

“Oh God,” he murmured softly and she looked up to see that his face was flushed and he was biting his lip just from that brief touch. She smiled wickedly before she licked the underside of his cock from his balls to the head, listening to his grunts and whimpers as she began to focus. She only took the first few inches into her mouth when she began to suck him, but made sure her fingers stroked the remaining length.

It wasn’t as bad as she remembered. In fact, she was getting wet from listening to him and knowing she was making him lose control a bit. She liked that he wasn’t afraid to be vocal with his noises and that he didn’t feel a need to really talk during sex, itself, unless it was to ask her if something felt good or she wanted more. She began to move her head up and down, licking and sucking and stroking until his body tensed. She debated on whether to pull her head back when she sensed his imminent release and decided to keep sucking as she really didn’t mind the taste at all.

Cedric grunted when he came, arching off the bed as he spilled inside her mouth. She swallowed as much as she could, the bitter salty taste thick on her tongue as she used her hand to wank him until he was spent. When she pulled back, she licked her lips to get any stray drops and wiped her chin with the back of her hand. He was looking at her with an expression that made her tummy flutter and her heart race.

Hermione crawled up his body and kissed him, rubbing against his thigh rather wantonly as she sought her own release. His fingers moved between her legs and pressed in all the right spots to send her over the edge. She came on his hand with a soft whimper against his lips. She rolled off him and laid beside him, knowing she couldn’t put off going to the loo any longer.

“I have breakfast,” Cedric told her in a soft voice that sounded sated and slightly amazed. She looked at him and he smiled as he rolled to his side and brushed her hair away from her face. “I didn’t know what you liked so I ordered a little of everything. It’s, uh, quite a bit of food.”

She laughed as she looked over at the table he indicated and she saw several plates of food. Her stomach growled to indicate that she was hungry enough to eat just about anything. “It looks delicious,” she told him as she met his gaze again.

“You go clean up and I’ll get things arranged,” he said as he rolled forward to kiss her again and then kissed her nose. “Go before I decide to forget breakfast and just keep you here.”

“Bossy, aren’t you, Diggory?” she teased as she kissed his chin and then got out of bed. Bloody hell, she was sore but in a way she didn’t mind at all.

“You should talk, Granger,” he muttered as he stood and walked to the table to arrange breakfast while she went to the loo.

After she peed, she took a quick shower and then brushed her teeth. There was no denying that she looked like a woman who had spent the night in bed with a very attentive lover. She left her hair wet because her wand was in her bag where she’d had to leave it during the ceremony due to the Muggle location. When she went back into the room, she picked up his discarded shirt from the night before and slipped it on, not bothering to button more than a few buttons on it.

“That smells good,” she said as she moved behind him, noticing he’d pulled on his shorts, and hugged his waist, smelling his neck in a way that told him she didn’t necessarily mean the food.

Cedric turned and looked at her, his expression changing when he saw her standing there with wet hair, bare feet, and just wearing his shirt with the collar open to reveal the marks he’d left on her neck the previous evening. She shifted and stared at him, not sure what he was looking at in such a way. He shook his head slightly and then smiled.

“You look good in my shirt, Granger,” he told her as he divided the eggs onto two plates. She noticed that he’d gotten them scrambled, thankfully, and reached out to snag a piece of crispy bacon. He smirked and leered playfully. “Of course, you look even better out of my shirt.”

“Incorrigible,” she muttered as she rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Sit down and eat.” He reached over and smacked her bum, making her laugh as she sat down and looked at all the food.

“I might be starving but there isn’t any way we’re going to be able to eat all this,” she decided as she mentally debated what to eat first. She glanced over and saw that he had his plate neatly arranged with the eggs not touching the ham or the sausage. She cut up her sausage and ham and then mixed it with her eggs, smiling slightly when he cringed subtly at seeing her plate.

“I don’t know. Someone wore me out last night so I could use a bit of energy,” he replied as he took a bite of his sausage and then neatly cut one sliver of his ham off.

They ate in comfortable silence until the initial hunger pain and stomach growling was appeased. She smiled as she caught him looking at her several times and blushed when he caught her looking at him. She was debating whether or not she wanted to eat one of the pastries when she met his gaze again.

“This is nice,” she admitted softly, suddenly sensing the awkward morning after ‘where do we go from here’ sort of feeling.

“It’s not exactly how I had planned things,” he confessed with a crooked smile that she honestly thought might be replacing his smirk as the most arousing thing she’d ever seen.

“Really?” She wasn’t sure what that statement meant so her reply was somewhat guarded.

“Well, I’d figured dinner out somewhere and maybe a little dancing or something. A few dates while I charmed you completely and then, if I was really lucky, a kiss or two. I didn’t quite reach the sharing breakfast the morning after a night of making love part in my plan,” he explained as his cheeks once again flushed as he somewhat stammered out a few of his words. He smiled then. “Of course, I did think about the night of making love part quite a bit.”

It was the making love part that did it, really. She had even somewhat thought of it as just shagging, really good sex, and he was sitting there with his tousled hair and bare chest talking about dates and making love. It was then that she finally understood what Harry meant, that she realized it was something more than a flirtation at a wedding and great sex.

That realization scared her.

“And if I hadn’t run into you in the hallway yesterday, would we be here like this now?” she asked softly.

“Probably not,” he said quietly. “I’d be home kicking myself for all the things I should have done but didn’t and for letting yet another opportunity to ask you out pass by because I could never tell if you actually meant the flirting or were just playing.”

Hermione nodded slowly, understanding exactly what he meant. “Then I’m glad it was you that Harry sent upstairs to get me.”

“Actually, I volunteered,” he confessed with a slight smile. “I didn’t expect to knock you off your feet in quite that way, of course, but I can’t complain.”

“So what now?” she asked bluntly, having no use for silly games and subtly.

“Well, I figured we’d finish breakfast and it looks like a pretty day so maybe take a walk, with several stops along the way so I can kiss you, and after that probably a late lunch somewhere.”

“I have to be out of the room by noon.”

“Actually, I reserved it another night when I ordered breakfast.”

“Rather confident, weren’t you?”

“Always prepared is my motto, Granger. And a, uh, bit of wishful thinking doesn’t hurt either.”

“And after lunch, Diggory? What other wicked schemes do you have planned?”

“God, do I need to write out an itinerary? Two o’clock, have lunch. Half two, make Granger scream for more. Three fifteen, shower.”

“Hmph. More like, two forty-five, shower, if I’m being generous.”

“Brat.”

“Diggory, don’t even think about it!”

“You’ve called my stamina into question, Granger. It’s only fair that I get an opportunity to prove the claims untrue. Consider it an experiment, if you must.”

“All in the interest of research and science then?”

“Of course. I’m a very research oriented guy, you know?”

“You still haven’t answered my question, Diggory,” Hermione reminded him as he pushed her against the bed, the remainder of their breakfast forgotten for now.

“I don’t know, Granger,” he said honestly as he traced her cheek with his fingers. “We’ve not even been out on a proper date yet.”

“That’s because you’ve not asked me,” she told him as she moved her ankle lightly over the back of his leg.

“Will you go out with me?”

“When?”

“Granger!”

“What? I might just be using you for sex,” she teased.

“Tonight,” he said firmly. “You, me, dinner somewhere, a pretty dress that covers your breasts and shows off your great arse, and maybe a romantic walk so I can seduce you into keeping me around.”

“Your arse fetish is rather adorable.”

“Your neck fetish is rather adorable.”

“I don’t have a neck fetish,” she denied even as she discreetly removed her fingers from where they’d been stroking his neck.

“Sure you don’t,” he teased before he kissed her nose. “Are you going to give me an answer or do I have to get more persuasive?”

“Yes, of course,” she told him as she rolled her eyes. “Did you really think I’d say no?”

“Well, the notion did strike my mind once or twice,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’m not particularly good at this sort of thing, you know?”

“I wouldn’t say that. You seem very good in my opinion.”

“I can be very good,” he drawled lazily as his previous insecurity faded and was replaced by the sexy smugness that he really only showed her.

“Prove it,” she challenged with a smug smile of her own. He moved his hand beneath her shirt and she moaned when he kissed her neck. “Oh, Diggory?”

“Yes, Granger?” he asked in an impatient ‘stop talking and let me pleasure you now’ tone that she could really get used to hearing.

“Since I’m thinking I might keep you around for awhile,” she said as he looked at her and gave her a big smile at hearing her words, “there’s something I’m going to need you to do for me.”

“All right. What?”

“It’s nothing at all, really,” she assured him as she wiggled in a way that would distract him.

“Granger,” he groaned as he moved his hand higher and squeezed her breast.

“I promised Ron that he and Harry could take you out for a drink and a little talk if things progressed beyond flirting,” she told him with her best ‘if you do this for me, you’ll get rewarded very well’ smile.

“You want me to have a drink with those two while they threaten me and make sure that I know I’m lucky you’ve decided not to let me go?” he clarified as he frowned and appeared thoughtful.

“Well, I don’t really want you to but I did promise.”

“I suppose I can do that,” he relented with a dramatic sigh followed by a smug smile. “Of course, that means you have to be my date for the next Hufflepuff dinner, Granger.”

Hermione made a face and gave every impression she was considering whether or not she should say yes to such an offer. He shifted and licked her neck, making her smile as she sighed happily. “Fine, Diggory. I guess I can do that.”

He laughed softly and kissed her thoroughly while his hands moved over her body. When he pulled back, their gazes met and she was fully aware that she was flushed and smiling a smile just as goofy as his own. Then they kissed again, soft and gentle, a promise of things to come.

The End