The Taming of the Shrew - Wizard Style - COMPLETE

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8-14-09 F

Well, folks, I’m coming to you fresh from the business end of Lucius’ hairbrush. I made a bad error in my typing and never saw the mistake until several of you pointed it out. I couldn’t understand why you were saying it until I went back and found it myself. Yikes!

I NEVER meant to have Lucius say “Mudblood households” – every time I read it over I saw "Muggle households" and that’s what it should have said. Lucius did NOT use that racist term and now you, he, and my blistered backside all know it. I’ve changed it in the previous chapter and apologized to him and now I’m apologizing to all of you. Lucius would never have been so gauche as to say that to his wife. Sigh, when I make a mistake, it’s a rip snorter.

Chapter Ten reviews had so many different viewpoints that responding was quite the challenge, so first I decided to make my own intro then respond to comments.

My intro –

To answer those who are unhappy with Lucius’ behavior, he is still quite canon here, trying, not always successfully, to wean himself of his lifelong Pureblood upbringing. Hermione has her own prejudices and two weeks of marriage won’t miraculously make them best pals. Lucius is also under fire from the problem in the wizarding world mentioned in the summary (and yes, I know it hasn’t been laid out yet). Hermione has shellacked him viciously with her verbal howitzers for the entire marriage so far and he finally blew up. She’s quite agile with words, you know, and he’s not used to the total disrespect and insolence he’s getting. He sees himself as her elder, her husband, and yup, still a little superior as a Pureblood (we all know that attitude has to go), although he truly would NOT say the word 'Mudblood' to Hermione.

Hermione sees Lucius as old, her captor, and a snob. Unfortunately (or maybe not, if we want this story to include lemons), she also is attracted to him and she’s like a kid in a candy store, getting her first taste of sex. Do you all remember how addictive those first days were? Plus, she’s always been insatiably curious about all things; sex has shot to the top of her list.

If you’ve read my other stories, you know I don’t have them a cozy twosome within a few chapters. They have a lot of baggage to unpack first. However, I also always have a happy ending, so this initial feuding will come to a safe harbour. Lucius is already showing a few signs of caring. Keep those in mind.

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Anon – You’re angry with Chapter 10. I hope Chapter 11 is a better one for you.

blue artemis – Lucius didn’t think of the spanking as ‘fun’ either. As far as Lucius is concerned, he thinks his relationship with Hermione is nonexistent so far.

Shiv - I don’t think Lucius is trying to win Hermione over to anything except to accord him a measure of the respect he feels she should show him as her husband. In her own way she is hurting him quite as effectively, even if it is more a verbal abuse. Being bright doesn’t preclude being vulnerable to a flaying tongue.

jw – Yes, Hermione shot well past his limit. In Lucius’ mind, he’s trying to ease her way into his rarified circle by imparting the etiquette she’ll need. She fights everything he attempts and gives him no credit even when he’s good to her. I guess his wooing mood has been whittled to next to nothing for now.

Sirsevchick – Thank you for your insight on this chapter. To me it is not all black or white for either Lucius or Hermione. I very much appreciate how you’ve laid out my purpose, describing the story as a step by step progression of the relationship, plus your other comments. This chapter incited some readers and taken alone, it seems worse than it is when one knows how it fits in the future whole. Your review is spot on. Well done!

Femme Bono – Fascinating basilisk analogy LOL. I’m tallying one vote from you for a future chapter with Lucius getting the spanking. Noted! (Yum. Tavington.)

Aleysiasnape – I’m happy you liked both Chs 9 & 10! I’m sure you’ll be able to see the chapter pics tomorrow.

Angeles – Yeah, that sort of doom is likely true for this pair, heh, heh. Lucius has more on his mind than his new marriage. Remember the story’s summary. He has a lot on his plate right now.

meankitty69 – As much as they need to clear the air between them, neither of their personalities is an open one, esp. Lucius’. He’s also not around much of each day and Hermione usu. hides out in her suite with her research. No, it’s not terrible that you wish they would open up and bare their inner insecurities, but it wouldn’t be what either of them would be likely to do at this early point. Maybe Lucius got his ‘pound of flesh’, but Hermione has carved that much out of his hide with her tongue. The honors are now even for a while.

Liagiba84 – Perhaps Lucius should have more regard for Hermione’s angst at being coerced into the marriage. Lucius also feels a bit trapped in the same way, however. Remember from the story summary he and Snape are trying to fix that major problem in their world and for them to succeed, Lucius needed to marry Hermione. Yes, he does have his moments, none of which Hermione acknowledges. She’s suspicious of him and he’s distracted by his world’s problems. Things between them aren’t working too well so far.

Scary Bear Hair – LOL, Lucius did get a bit of spanking from Hermione, didn’t he? Which would Lucius really prefer – the Amazon or the mouse? (She’s a little short for an Amazon, but the heart is there.) I’m not sure she would have donned the collar at all, but the clock struck the hour, startling her into putting it on and running for his door. Even though she’s been blithely baiting him, he’s appeared civilized so far, but the note told her she had pushed him too far. She’s got his past track record to legitimately scare her. Do you sense she’s just the tiniest attracted to him as well? What would be her attraction? Looks? Power? A will as strong as her own? A curiosity about what might be found within the dark side of sex? Lucius has them all as well as a brain as devious as they come. (Why else would he and Snape be longtime friends? Snape never suffered fools gladly.) I do love your laying out of both Lucius’ and Hermione’s characters. You’ve been reading ahead somehow, I think, LOL.

Rini – Kudos for studying, Rini! I’m happy to supply the rewards. You’re right, Hermione isn’t much interested in Lucius’ money. And you’re so right that neither of them is doing too well at the marriage thing right now. Hermione is uptight and suspicious and angry and Lucius has his hands full with his and Snape’s problem and plan. Actually, I think Lucius does see the matching collars as cute. She doesn’t, of course - another bone of contention from a total imbalance of sexual experiences.

BeaBibliophile – Can I just cut and paste your description of their individual reactions to the wedding night in my summary and save myself some fumbling for words? So well described (No, I won’t plagiarize). Loved it! Lemme see, um, Snape and Narcissa enter the story a few more chapters on, after which they will be in and out of the story from then on. (Sorry for the cliffie, Bea.)

lemonade8 - Yes, unfortunately so far their marriage rests on a shaky foundation of distrust and upset on both their parts. Neither Lucius nor Hermione are the confiding sort. They’ll both have to earn each other’s trust, needed for any solid marriage.

Snapes_Goddess – If I had a bottled genie, I’d be wishing for that naked Lucius, too. Lucius isn’t any more the villain here than little Hermione of the vicious mouth. I really hope his idea of building their marriage in the bedchamber works out. I do love lemons with Lucius. Randy Lucius withholding sex for spite (or any reason) is about as likely as a politician taking a vow of silence for Lent.

pittwitch – Yes, this marriage is tangled in distrust and past perceptions. Hermione is never a nonentity in my stories as Lucius had found to his cost each time. 8-)

Mietzekatze - Hello and welcome! No, no, Hermione won’t suffer any more than she is inflicting back to Lucius in verbal injury. It will be an even struggle. Her words are wounding him as much as his spanking hurts her. They do need time to get past their prejudiced perceptions of each other. Will Hermione getting some great sex help you feel she’s being revenged on Lucius? I hope so.

Monique - Perhaps given time Hermione could find a loophole in her marriage. It does look like she might want to discover what the handsome wizard can offer her in bed first, though. She is such a curious creature.

mad4moony - I think Lucius has plans for more sex before this night is through. We’ll have to see if he brings it off. He’ll have to tread carefully as Hermione is NOT in the mood at this point. Over all, this story may have a few more slightly kinky sex scenes scattered here and there, if that is why you thought this chapter was strange. Not sure if that is your reason. The ‘kink’ warnings are in the summary.

Katiekrm – Yes, well, I address the ‘Mudblood’ issue in my introduction at the very top of this chapter. Apologies. You are perfectly correct. However, I’m the culprit here, NOT Lucius.

Opheliaxx – Is Hermione the only one who has been tortured? As you probably know, I like to take my time having those two work out their dysfunctional association. This story is no different LOL.

VoraciousReader - Let’s see, the PLAN isn’t for another couple of chapters. Gotta get through the sex scene first, drat it. 8-) And those two aren’t much at communicating their inner feelings to each other right now. They barely see each other except at dinner.

Sampdoria - Hmm, I feel that you’ve read more into Lucius’ actions than I meant to create, but I’ll try to respond. First, it seems as though Lucius got no credit for his care of her at the beginning of the chapter. He’s also been trying to teach her the stringent rules of his level of wizarding society. She, on the other hand, has used her tongue to flay him left, right, and center. Her spanking was because she was disrespectful to him on all levels. Yes, he still clings to the idea that as a Pureblood he deserves respect, but he would want that from anyone from Muggleborn to another Pureblood. His code of superiority will have to be whittled down, but it’s only been two weeks so far. I would say that was canon Lucius. He can’t change into a flag-waving republican overnight. Hermione has to have more time to get past her own strong prejudices and meet him halfway. The spanking wasn’t foreplay to Lucius. It may have had a side effect rather like Pavlov’s dog for him, but he didn’t consider it something that would excite Hermione. He wished it could be so in the future, but not that night. You do know that this is not a threesome, I hope. Snape is in the story, but not as a lover to Hermione.

Lilbitbord – Neither Lucius nor Hermione is comfortable in their new marriage and neither is trying to change that very much so far. What would you like “Master Lucius” to do, Lilbit? He is probably quite happy to oblige LOL. And it’s too bad children don’t come pre-packaged with patience. Mine had to discover that whining was futile, but listening to him while he figured it out was nerve-wracking. My theory was spend a few hours in earmuffs in early years or have it stay with him for years and years. It actually worked – mostly. 8-)

spetz – Ah, a Lucius proponent. Yes, this Hermione starts out similarly to the famous Shakespeare Kate character if not quite as nasty for no reason. She does have a reason. Canon Hermione also has a history of ruthless behavior so this figure isn’t so far off the mark. I hope she doesn’t bounce you out of the story. She doesn’t stay this way. In fact I rather think she begins to appreciate those green leather leggings in the near future - perhaps not this next chapter, though. And Lucius, while a complex character, does have a murky past that can’t stand the light of day. Hermione today isn’t any worse than he was in his past. You can see Lucius is trying and you can hear his thoughts, but Hermione is still very suspicious of someone whose bad past she remembers. People change and she has to find that out about him. If you can bear it, I’ll keep her around to see if she can change, too. Warning: that takes awhile as Lucius hasn’t much time to devote to her with the wizarding world problems. I’m hoping she’ll be seduced by his pet snake. Ugh, please, you can’t mean Umbridge…snicker.

CoCo.M – I’ll be sitting right next to you drooling, too, if Lucius gets some of what he’s currently physically doling out. Hermione is pretty innocent, but she’s waking up to Technicolor sex after seeing it in mundane black and white, rather like Dorothy stepping out of her Kansas house into Oz. Go Lucius!

Pensieve Plotter – Narcissa has her own way of dealing with overbearing wizards, I agree. She was, however, very young when she married Lucius and they both were drilled with ‘Lucius’ as Head of the House’ propaganda. Unfortunately for Lucius, Hermione never got that owl post. I think the numbing cream is one of Snape’s concoctions. The metaphors just pop into my head. I may have missed a twist with no riding crop in that box. Darn. And I hope Hermione gets past her worry that Lucius sees her as unimportant trash – it’s because he’s gone much of the day.

Abbeysmum – Hermione has used her voice to tell him in quite graphic terms how she feels about him. He may not be listening too much any more. While Lucius knows Hermione was coerced, his Slytherin mind puts the wizarding world problem ahead of her upset, especially as he was, in effect, sewn into the marriage as well, for the needs of his and Snape’s plan.

T Stevenson – Ah, T, your review was a bit of sweet relief; you iterate in a perfect reflection, my views of what’s going on in this story. Everyone has their own interpretation from what they read and that is as it should be, and I know there are more polarized views of these characters, which I hope work themselves out through future chapters, but your review speaks for my individual vision. I just want the characters to be seen in all their mutual good and bad points with no one being the ultimate in evil. Oh! Snerk, and the green leather pants just keep getting more and more story space LOL.

LadyDisdain - Lucius married Hermione and wound up with much more than he expected, but perhaps not more than he would like as far as a self-confident wife goes. She, on the other hand, finds him baffling, the few times she tries to look past the ogre mask she’s put on him. This isn’t going to straighten out in a chapter or two.


And now...


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Chapter Eleven

Where Do We Go From Here?


Lucius withdrew the robe belt and lifted her up from her bent over position. She was limp in his arms, not fighting him at all and he was a little alarmed. He wanted to teach her some respect, not totally demoralize her. She couldn’t have been that easy to break. All the spankings and worse he’d received in his youth hadn’t broken him and she was, if anything, stronger than he was.

Lucius sat in the reading chair and settled Hermione in his lap, getting only a gasp and a tortured hiss from her as her sore butt met his leather pants. The leather was warmed from his body and didn’t feel too good on her stinging skin, but after the initial shock of pain, it was bearable as long as she didn’t move.

The physical hurt, however, was the least of her emotional upheaval and Hermione hid her face in her hands and continued to cry softly, afraid to look at her husband, equal parts embarrassed and enraged at her punishment, and ashamed of her nasty behavior all week, while still livid at his pomposity and disregard. It was fine for Lucius to dislike her, she didn’t like him much, either. However, having her bad behavior brought home to her with such a…a…juvenile punishment was a painful eye opener. He must think her nothing but a stupid, misbehaving child. She cringed to remember his low opinion of her flashing in those icy eyes of his. But he was holding her gently against his bare chest and that was weirdly soothing as always.

She was briefly startled by his fingers sifting through her tangled curls and the two of them just sat together for a long time while Hermione slowly ran down from her upset as she let herself lean against his chest. She’d once seen a small child spanked by its mother for darting into the street and been surprised when it had immediately turned and sought her arms for comfort while crying. Now she better understood the child’s odd behavior. Comforting was at hand and she needed some. Lucius gave it easily and quietly rocked her, neither one speaking or looking at the other, as they separately wondered what to do next.

After a while Lucius softly kissed her hair and she felt his breath at her temple as he meandered his way down the side of her face with his lips until he reached a spot just under her jaw on her neck. She shivered at the unexpected zing of arousal his lips uncovered there, clutching at the warm masculine biceps enfolding her. Then some of her normal moxie began to bounce back; St. Arthur’s arse, was she completely without shame? The man had just spanked her. Yet here she was cuddling on his lap…hang on a minute…that didn’t feel like indifference. That felt a lot like she was sitting on a giant cucumber. How could that be? Did he actually get off on spanking her? Maybe he didn’t see her as a misbehaving child after all.

Hermione thought about the green leather collar he had made her wear and his own outfit and realized she was sitting on a man with very odd tastes in sex. The unbidden thought crept into her mind that she wasn’t exactly as infuriated as she should have been. She was angry with him, but less for the fact he had dared to raise a hand against her than the painful act itself. Oddly, it was almost a relief that someone had just as much determination as she did. She’d met so very few men with anything like her force of will; she had been essentially alone for a long time.

Most men viewed her intelligence and dauntless drive as something distasteful and less than feminine; they had been quite willing to use her for her encyclopedic knowledge, but drew the line at any more personal interaction, which had wounded her. As a result, she had distanced herself from social affairs, retreating to her research business.

It was an unquestioned facet of her nature to want to be in charge; she saw herself as having more knowledge than others and it followed that she would know best, but she was grossly out of her element with this man; she hadn’t any idea how to act, how to exert the control she was so used to, and it upset her equilibrium badly. The worst of it was, she wanted to find her way with him, but didn’t know how. He left her alone so much, she couldn’t learn what he expected of her, couldn’t learn how to finesse some marital balance into her own hands; Hermione felt at sea and she didn’t like it at all.

Lucius’ scathing description of her behavior from his point of view had dismayed her, but what reluctantly intrigued her was his retaliation. He could have put her into a corner of this huge mansion of his and ignored her if he didn’t like her company. But he’d taken her on instead. No one had been strong enough, no one had cared enough to go up against her before. She had assumed he didn’t care either, but apparently he did. His behavior toward her had been shocking and embarrassing, but strangely, it felt as though a huge burdensome weight was lifted from her shoulders. Of course, it felt as though that weight had landed on her bottom, but even so…



Finally, after many minutes had passed, Lucius carefully leaned his silent wife away from his chest and reminded her, “You still owe me an apology, Hermione.” He gazed somberly at this little termagant who was making his quiet, boring life into a shambles. He wasn’t sure he liked it, but it was marginally better than the humdrum existence he had been leading for the last three stale years that he had been single.

He had thought Severus was enjoying his bachelorhood and had been surprised when his friend had married, much less married who he had. But now Lucius had gained firsthand experience of the exciting, dissipated life of a bachelor. Gods, it was stultifying. How had Snape not dropped dead of sheer ennui?

Lucius had thought Snape free as a bird to do as he wished, but it hadn’t worked that way at all for a suddenly free Lucius. Maybe his wealth had been the problem. The women he had squired around were either too snobby, too young (oh yes, too young was a definite turn-off when all they could discuss was the latest wizard rock band or their fingernail polish), or they had their eye on his bank account.

And then there were those groupies intent on sleeping with a Death Eater. Snape had probably liked terrorizing the gullible, glory-seeking young women. To Lucius it was irritating having a female wait for him to growl menacingly or show them his Dark Mark. The vicious tattoo was inactive now, but none of the Death Eaters had found a way to get rid of it yet.

He hadn’t found a single, truly interesting woman in the entire three years of bar-hopping in his world or in the occasional forays to the Muggle nightclubs when his home became too lonely. He had discovered he enjoyed the music in the dark, anonymous Muggle clubs; the beat was much more visceral and sexy than the boring operas Narcissa had hauled him to over the years. Most of the women in the bars and clubs had never even heard of the opera, confirming his suspicions that this slice of the Muggle population was rather lowbrow. He’d been irritated to find he did expect a modicum of native intelligence even in a one-night stand. One of his conquests thought Rigoletto was a pasta dish and Verdi was the sauce.

He, in turn, had been confused by many of the odd Muggle words and odder enthusiasms. He was mystified why the Muggles liked to play games with crickets so much and he had no opinions to offer on which crickets were better. When he was asked for his email address, he’d declined to offer one, not knowing what it was, but certainly not wanting any of the young women making any effort to find him.

His confusion notwithstanding, the blond wizard’s looks had attracted droves of the female Muggles who adored his long hair and fine facial features - they weren’t bashful about extolling his well-built physique either and the lack of a wedding ring seemed to make the women circle him faster. He hadn’t been looking for deathless romance in the Muggle nightclubs – just some down and dirty dancing and an easy lay for the night, but mostly he had been disappointed. Going home alone to his quiet mansion just increased his feelings of loneliness.

After a time he had given up trolling the Muggle clubs, missing only the dancing until he started going again with Snape and Narcissa after she had also discovered them through her curmudgeonly mate. Lucius knew the Muggle nightclubs were old trolling territory to the longtime bachelor Snape and he had introduced them to Narcissa.

Lucius was somewhat chagrined that Snape wasn’t having to attend any operas. Why couldn’t Narcissa have figured out twenty years ago that she liked the fast pace of the nightclubs and saved Lucius decades of sitting in uncomfortable velvet-covered seats at the opera house, trying to sleep with his eyes open?

Back in the early years of his marriage to Narcissa it had been ‘see and be seen’, the opera itself had been secondary; it had been Narcissa who wanted to dress up and swan around in her diamonds and expensive evening gowns. Lucius hadn’t needed even then to go to musical galas; his wealth and Pureblood position had made his place secure without inconveniencing him with boring evenings. Now it appeared that Snape had put an end to that nonsense. If it kept Lucius (as their oft-invited guest) from any more high-pitched warbling in foreign languages about bleak lives and early deaths, he was all for it.

So - how did one suggest to a new mate that he liked a few swats and other kinks in his sex after he’d spanked her for her vicious disrespect? A rich sex life usually came only with marriage or a permanent companion - or a brothel, which didn’t appeal to Lucius at all, not after that red-headed whore had given him that nasty, painful Muggle disease that had taken him weeks to get rid of when he was in his last year of Hogwarts. Why anyone would want to call it ‘the clap’ when clapping was the last thing one was inclined to do, was just another stupid Muggle oddity.

It had begun to look like he was doomed to be alone for a long time until Hermione had entered his life. No wonder his hand hurt from lack of use. Tonight had been a blessed relief for him in some ways, but in the long run he figured he was probably destined for an ice pick in his neck while he slept. Lucius perked up a little when he remembered that so far all he’d gotten in retaliation was a few wand smacks on his bottom.

Looking at the morose little witch on his lap, Lucius had to smile to himself. He had hated his silent, solitary dinners, but maybe he was the latest victim of the old saw, “Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” His dinners weren’t silent now. He waited for his wife to say her words, then he had to find a way to get her into bed and successfully laid. It would probably turn out to be one of his more Herculean tasks, but at least he wasn’t bored. Lucius’ eyes narrowed as Hermione took her time answering him.

The little witch saw his temper start to fray again and she wiggled on his lap, instantly regretting that lapse as her bottom stuck to his leather pants and she shrieked. “Shite, that hurts. Dammit, don’t you dare move. I’m stuck to your green cucumber.”

Lucius picked her up, peeling her reddened skin off his pants as he stood up, tutting impatiently, “Language, Hermione!” and strode into his bathroom with his wriggly bundle as Hermione shrieked again from the pain of her skin being peeled off Lucius’ pants. She tried to hit him, but he threw her over his shoulder and warned, “Do you want more spanking?”

He felt her go rigid on his shoulder as he brought her over to the sinks by the mirrors and set her down. She shrugged off his steadying hand and turned to look at what he had done to her bum in the mirrors, but she was too short to see below her waist over the counter. Lucius opened up the door to his closet showing her that on the inside was a full-length mirror if she wanted to see all of herself.

Hermione scowled at the tall wizard, but stomped over to the long mirror, lifting her diaphanous robe to see her bum - it felt like she had sat on a hot iron. She turned and looked over her shoulder, getting her first look at the results of Lucius’ manual labor. Her poor buttocks were blotches of uneven red and there were a couple of distinct handprints in the mingled rosy shades. She knew he was still waiting for his apology and it irked her to have to say anything besides telling him which bus to take to hell; her conscience was bedeviling her to apologize, but her butt wanted retribution.

She was busy looking at her bum and didn’t see Lucius pull a tube of ointment from a bathroom drawer; the first she knew was when it appeared in the mirror over her shoulder as he held it out to her. “The numbing cream,” he said. “Green cucumber?”

Hermione could see he was not happy to be giving it to her, but he was doing it anyway. Always the gracious host, always finding another way to make her feel small. She drew herself up to her diminutive height and majestically raised her chin, “Thank you, no. I believe the pain will help me remember this evening - and you - better without the cream. I apologize. Now I would like to leave your august presence and go to bed.” Her brown eyes shot daggers at the man who had brought her to this new low. She wanted to crawl away and hide from this man who made her feel angry and embarrassed and lost all at the same time.

“You will be going to bed, but you aren’t leaving. We aren’t through yet. You had better have the cream. It will hurt too much otherwise,” her husband replied, anticipating the fireworks, nor was he wrong.

“Not through? Am I going to experience pain each time you force me into bed with you?” Hermione’s hurt, angry face made him sigh.

Lucius grimaced at the realization that he had begun each of their two sessions with unpleasant pain for her. “The first time it was anatomical,” he replied. “You were very tightly closed. We both know it hardly hurt you at all the second time that night. Tonight, though, was entirely your fault. You’ve been laying into me for the entire week with a vast array of insults and unpleasant aspersions. Did you think I would just let you walk all over me?”

It doesn’t have to be unpleasant,” he thought, if you would ever learn to enjoy coming to my bed, a little pain could even be an aphrodisiac, but he didn’t say what would amount to the first salvo in the next wizarding war taking place right in his bedroom if he opened his mouth.

“You can’t expect me to…to…after you hit me? No… I WON’T! If you try to touch me tonight I’ll break every fancy ornament in this entire outhouse you call home.”

“And I will just repair them – after walloping your backside again.” He sighed, “What is the point? We can go round and round, but the end result is always going to be sexual intimacy between us. It must be obvious to you this is never going to be a sterile, indifferent relationship – certainly not for me and I don’t believe for you either. You’re too passionate to stay celibate – not now that you know what it’s like. Use the ointment or let me apply it, then we can get through the rest of the programme and be done with it for the evening.” Lucius stood with his arms crossed over his molded chest muscles as he tried to reason with his recalcitrant mate.

The glamour still held on his trousers and Hermione thought she must just have been feeling the pain blooming or something, because it looked like he still had no interest in her sexually, so what on earth was he going to do with her in bed? Why did he even want to touch her if he was so angry and disappointed with her? She didn’t understand him at all.

Lucius stood there in the bathroom resigned to a waiting game for as long as he could stand it before carrying her to his bed and fucking her to a standstill. He was trying not to be too harsh, but he had known the spanking had to come before the bedding for him or he would have been so immensely angry with her he would have hurt her far more than just some bum smacking. He didn’t want her to know that she could rend his temper – and feelings - into confetti with a few well-chosen, hurtful words. She was appallingly good at finding the best ways to make him livid.


It had been a major blunder for him to put off the second bedding while letting her whittle away at his ego for a week. Why didn’t he learn? She had been hurting from her initiation and he had sustained bruising on his precious equipment from cramming it into the small canal. It had seemed a good idea at the time, to let things cool down and mend. But her vituperation all week had done a job on him; his anger had blown up to hurricane force and she had felt the result tonight.

Now he was heavily aroused from yet another stint of abstinence, this time even worse for having whetted his appetite the once, while watching his wife prance away from him every evening. He was also hard as a rock from the spanking he’d enjoyed way too much - Gods, the witch could send his blood pressure through the slates of his roof two stories above. Maybe he was too old for this, for her.

“I can stupefy you or I can obliviate you afterward if you prefer. I’d rather not, but if you insist, I will. If you leave, what have you gained? You probably don’t see it this way, but to my mind we are now even. Can we not move forward together now?” Please, he hoped, not the stupefy. He’d be the one embarrassed to have anyone find out he had to stupefy his wife for sex. He knew he was his own worst enemy and would probably blab his misery to Severus. Then Narcissa would know, too. He really needed to enlarge his circle of intimate friends. ‘Lucius the lonely, solo lover’ to an unconscious mate. He could already hear Snape’s drawling voice, “So Prince Charming, how is Stupefied Beauty today?” He would never live it down.

Hermione took a last look at her punished posterior and stalked back out of the bathroom into his bedroom. In the middle of the beautiful, silky Persian rug she hesitated. Could she make that limp thing in his pants come alive? It was impressive in its sleeping state, but she was extremely humiliated to think she had no effect on him – that the only thing she excited in him was his temper. She had been alternately dreading and anticipating his impressive length and size for the whole week, ever since the last time. Now she might have to go through more agonizing wait, only to come to this point once again because this virile man would always want sex.

Hermione admitted she wanted to have a better sex life, too, just as he said, and knew he was capable of showing her how to achieve it. She was terribly curious if decidedly wary. Her previous night with him had been an eye-opener. She grimaced and knew she was hooked. As always curiosity won, but how to save face and wind up in his bed? Ah. The ointment. Besides saving face, she could save herself some pain. Win-win.

Hermione swirled back into the bathroom in her floaty green robe, breasts temptingly displayed and unobscured by her arms, pushing past Lucius who had come as far as the doorway to watch her stand motionless in the middle of his carpet.

“You may apply the ointment,” she said with a queenly nod, “You did the damage, you can fix it. I refuse to submit to any more discomfort than I have already suffered this evening. Although it looks like you’ll be hard pressed to cause any discomfort at all with that limp noodle in your pants.”

“I can add more wallops if you don’t find a stopper for that acid tongue of yours – just to keep us even, you understand. Come here and bend over - you can hold onto the towel bar.” Watching her comply, Lucius was nearly giddy with Hermione’s turnabout; he smiled as he once again lifted the green fabric up from her burnished tush. She wasn’t able to see his immense relief that she had decided to stay and sleep with him. He was proud of his masculine attractions and toned body; he worked hard at keeping himself trim and fit. Being rejected by his young wife was a painful arrow pricking his pride.

Lucius was sorry to see the dried tear tracks on Hermione’s face, but that was better than damaging her sexually. Then she would never have consented to another round of bedtime with him. He wasn’t built for unrestricted sex with amateurs; his size dictated some care with his partner and he wanted to give pleasure, not howling misery. He was certainly capable of both, but Hermione didn’t deserve that from him again. Much.

Hermione, oblivious to her husband’s concerns and relief, artfully wriggled just enough to fasten her husband’s eyes on her bum, then she sighed dolefully as she struck a pose with her derriere in the air, magnanimously offering her heated skin for the ointment. According to Harry and Ron, men could usually be trusted to think with their cocks and that gave her an advantage over this aggravating, provocative man.

She vowed the day would come when it was she who would be swatting him. The idea gave her an amazing rush of sexual heat and she wiggled in place some more. A stifled intake of breath from behind her brought a secretive smile to her face, which she carefully kept hidden until she could control her features. Maybe this relationship wasn’t going to be so completely one-sided, and he not so puzzling after all.

“Stop moving or I’ll smear the numbing cream in the wrong place,” an irritable, horny male crabbed behind her. “I thought you were Little Miss Know-It-All. You’ve already had the pain. It will be odd enough for you, being numb on your butt cheeks. I’ve already warned you what happens if I get it on those other places. Do you want to lose all feeling in your folds, too, and miss out on the pleasure?”

“What pleasure? You’ve made my whole backside tender with your loutish actions. So now it is fine for you to call me names, but I’m punished for calling you names? Do I get to spank you, then?”

Hermione gasped when Lucius calmly replied, “In time, perhaps. You’ve already made a start, using your wand on my rear.”

“Oh!” Oh my sweet Guinevere, could she really…oh my goodness! A picture of her swatting that beautiful male rear with her “Hogwarts – a History” tome burst in her mind. That pale, velvety skin would turn redder than a Gryffindor banner with even a few strokes. Hermione lost herself in a daydream of Lucius bent arse up over his reading chair begging her to stop as she imprinted on his butt multiple large H’s from the embossed cover of her favorite book. 'H' for Hermione.

tbc...

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So – my two questions to you are: what methods should Lucius have used to get Hermione to quit slicing him to ribbons with every breath? What has he tried already and had thrown back in his face?

And don't forget the chapter pics at:

http://labibliographe.livejournal.com/48156.html


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