Who Knew?

Disclaimer: I didn’t create them so I don’t own them, JKR and her league of publishers, producers, attorneys, etc. get all of that credit. I just manipulate the situations the characters find themselves in.

Warnings: Also see A/N, (implied) Slash, Het, Rim, (slight) BDSM,

A/N: To the one who e-mailed me: If you are reading this then obviously my failure to include AU in my warning did not bother you as much as you wanted me to think. If you were sincere, then my e-mailed reply would have made no difference. However, for anyone else who may be a newbie to FanFic: IF THE STORY IS ABOUT HARRY POTTER AND THE RATING IS NC-17, YOU MAY CONSIDER IT AU. IF THE WARNINGS CONTAIN ANY SAME SEX OR TEACHER/STUDENT REFERENCES, IT IS AU REGARDLESS OF HOW CLOSE TO CANNON THE CHARACTERS REMAIN. When an author uses AU in the warning, it tends to imply that the “universe” of the story has been drastically altered: The Dark Lord runs Hogwarts, Harry is a dark wizard, the setting is somewhere other than JKR’s UK setting.

‘###’ denotes dialogue spoken into thoughts of another, rather than spoken aloud.

Thanks to Angel and JJ for the continued reviews

Chapter 14: Of Braids and Bonds

While yet another toast was being made, Harry looked down at the braided ribbons connecting his and Ginny’s left wrists. Green, red, purple and black ribbons bound with a copper clasp at each end. The clasps secured the loop in place around each wrist. The colors of green and black had not been any problem, but when Dumbledore announced the other two and their meanings, Harry knew that he had blushed from the tips of his ears to the tips of his toes. ‘I really need to find out who chose the colors!’ Harry thought. The significance of the metal had slipped passed as Harry had fought to recover from his embarrassment at the public blessing of their being passionate and fertile. Making a mental note to check on the metal, too, Harry leaned toward Remus, who was seated to his right, and asked about removing the ribbons. It was something in the older wizard’s eyes that told him he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“The ribbons are symbolic of the bond, Harry.” Remus leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper before continuing. “It has to remain in place until the bonding rite is complete.” At Harry’s puzzled expression, he added, “From here on, the rest is up to you and Ginny.”

“Okay… OH! Oh no, no, Remus! I have to use the…”

“The two meter length between you is to allow you each to tend to the little necessities of life.” As Harry stared at Remus, Remus chuckled softly over the lost and helpless look on the boy’s face. “You are a wizard, are you not, Harry?”

“Who has to pee!” he hissed through clinched teeth.

“Remus was now fighting laughter so hard that tears had formed in his eyes. After an unsuccessful attempt, he finally choked out, “A shield charm, Harry, and once that’s erected, from the inside you can add a silencing charm. A Scourgify or other freshening spell will take care of any persistent ‘problems’. Chivalry dictates the lady goes first, while the gentleman cast and holds the shield until she steps out, but I’m sure you and Ginny will work something out.”

Harry tucked his chin and was darting glances about the room, unable to make eye contact.

“Harry, go. Ginny has stopped eating and drinking, and she’s grown anxious.”

Harry looked in his eyes and the werewolf subtly flared his nostrils. Harry nodded and tugged playfully at his… wife’s… braid. The realization hit him like a bludger. He had a wife… He was a husband… He was going to be a father… Ginny was going to have a baby, a baby that he was going to be accountable for. The list was still growing as he and Ginny left the restroom, which would explain why he failed to notice that Ginny had stopped.

“…off to,” a voice was saying as the braid around his wrist drew tight.

“Oh, excuse me Professor, Draco. I didn’t mean to be rude. I guess I was just a bit preoccupied.”

“Obviously,” Draco said with a smirk.

“I believe that’s to be expected, Potter,” Snape drawled, as Harry was accepting the proffered handshake from Draco, which left him more ensnared in the braid than before.

“Did you have to deal with these?” Harry asked, waiving the offending ribbon in aggravation.

“Of course,” Snape said simply.

Draco raised his sleeve to reveal a white, yellow, black, and green braid bound with a gold clasp, before attempting to explain, “They’re only representational. Once you both get off,” Draco paused to huff at his mate, who had just swatted his ass, “as I was saying, once the bond is fulfilled, it morphs into a bracelet around each wrist. Then you can remove it.”

After that,” Ginny piped in, “they are generally only worn during times of significance to the couple.”

Snape had fished his own braid out from under the collar of his shirt and began stretching it until it reached approximately half a meter in length. He then moved his hand back toward his neck so that the braid returned to a choker length. Unexpectedly, it was left outside his collar, as he said, “Customarily, they are worn when viewing another’s bonding rites, due to the intensity of the emotional connection within the bond.”

“My parents wore theirs for the duration of the pregnancy and birth of each of their children… Family gatherings,” Ginny was interrupted by the honey-coated tones of Lucius Malfoy.

“Absolutely, my dear,” he said as he and Narcissa approached the two couples. He had withdrawn his own ribbon braid from beneath the cuff of this glove. “Anniversary… Holidays of magnitude… It is a deeply private means of reaffirming one’s own vows, whilst the ring is a more communal symbol of the bonding. Might I see your ring, Mrs. Potter?”

The authenticity in his voice did not reach the chilly and manipulative, storm grey eyes. However tightly the blond held his composure, it was not enough to prevent the sharp intake of breath as he took Ginny’s hand to view the ring.

“It’s, of course, it’s rather inimitable and quite exquisite; exceedingly appropriate for such a lovely young lady.”

He brushed the lightest of kisses across her knuckles. As he straightened, he began to speak but froze in mid-syllable as his eyes fell on Snape’s ribbon.

“White? Unadulterated, self-sacrificing, altruistic love?”

In a flurry of midnight blue wool and silk, Lucius stalked back into the Great Hall and the on-going reception, fairly dragging his wife with him. The two young Aurors, who had observed the scene from the door, breathed noticeable sighs of relief when the palpable tension began to deescalate. Having seen the Malfoys' disposition upon their arrival, Dumbledore gathered the families of the couple and ushered them to the Entranceway. Hermione, Remus, the Weasley’s, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore joined the four in the hallway just in time to see Harry stifle a huge yawn.

“I believe it is time, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, that you take your leave. This has been an exhausting day for all, but most especially for the two of you. I am afraid that there is much still to be addressed later today.”

As hugs and pleasantries were exchanged, Harry noticed the Headmaster and Snape in an apparently serious conversation. Draco kept shooting apprehensive looks at Ginny and Harry felt a sudden flare of overprotective suspicion blazing in the core of his being. Snape’s head snapped up, as he began scouting for the danger that had triggered the wards on the school. Harry missed that though, just as he missed the Headmaster and Snape taking hold of Draco and forcefully pulling him behind them. What he didn’t miss was the sudden cooling sensation flowing from his hand to his heart, as foreign but welcomed as summer rains in a desert.

“…rry!”

“Oi! What’s on, mate?” Ron asked standing just over his shoulder.

When Harry realized that the coolness was starting in his right hand, he dropped his eyes, but only slightly. Ginny’s hand was covering his and his wand was trained on the spot where Draco had been standing.

‘What the bloody hell did I do, Potter?’ screamed Draco.

‘Stay away from her! Her protection is my concern, NOT YOURS! Got it?’ Harry replied, his “voice” deadly calm, but no less emphatic.

‘Yeah, I got it! Nevertheless, you are wrong… I am bound by a Wizards’ Oath to protect her, too. You’ll have to settle with Severus on that matter, th-”

“Harry!” Dumbledore stepped in front of the young man in a demand for his undivided attention. “Remus and Severus will accompany you and Ginny to the Shrieking Shack. Once there, I have asked Severus to place additional wards on the premises. After that, they will return later to escort you back to the school when we have need of your presence. I’m sorry, my boy, that we cannot afford you more time…”

“No, that’s fine. Ummm, thanks for all you’ve done. It was a beautiful ceremony. This time is more than we have a right to expect.”

“Run along, then. Draco, I trust that after your previous encounter you will remain by my side until Severus returns?” Dumbledore asked, as he guided the slightly disconcerted Slytherin back into the Great Hall.

“Well, Potter, it would appear that you will keep the next few months relatively eventful,” Snape said acerbically.

“Severus,” warned Remus, “you probably shouldn’t push him right now.”

“What are you whining about, you git?”

“Harry, you positively shouldn’t push him right now,” warned Remus affectionately. “Severus is referring to the bond settling phase. Until the bond between you and Ginny settles, the two of you may, well, judging by your reactions, will be extraordinarily sensitive to other’s company around your mate. It is a customary and predictable element of the bonding.” The last was said with a meaningful look at the smirking Potions master.

Ginny slipped her arm around Harry’s waist as they set off to the shack. It was a challenge to avoid tripping over the braid, until that is, Severus had enough of the slow progress and intervened. With a sharply raised eyebrow at Harry, he grasped Ginny’s left arm, raising it above her head he turned her in a clockwise circle twice, ending with her tucked under Harry’s left arm. Lowering her arm, Snape slid his hand down to Ginny’s and gave it a brief squeeze before releasing it. With a visible swallow, he bowed to them.

“Harry, Ginny… I do truly desire for you the best that life has to offer. If you discover yourselves in need of anything, please let me know… Not just while you’re here at Hogwarts, but throughout your lives. As long as I am alive, I will assist you. Under normal circumstances, you are a beautiful young woman, Ginny. Tonight, you were breath-taking.”

“Thank-you, Severus.” Ginny’s voice was little more than a husky whisper.

“Harry…” As he turned to more fully face Harry, Harry caught a glimpse of Remus. The cold wrath in his eyes only fueled the burning rage Harry had lingering from the episode with Draco. Forcing himself to focus on Snape, Harry maintained his tenuous hold over the flaring resentment.

“I have no doubt that you will ascend to being the provider and protector of your family in spectacular fashion. Your composure and graciousness of these past few months indicate the measure of the man you are destined to become. It has been a singular gift to be witness to the, to your journey into manhood. Your parents would be proud; you bring true honor to the Potter name, honor worthy of Godric Gryffindor; and you do justice to the memory of Lilly Evens… All that was good in her has been carried on in you.”

Severus abruptly spun away from the couple and descended into the tunnel. Ginny and Harry followed, leaving a shaken Remus to catch up.

“That was not what I was expecting,” he whispered to Harry as they emerged in the Shrieking Shack.

Severus had set to work on the wards and seemed to be unaware of their entrance. Ginny unwound the braid to step into the room where he was working. Spell work was her forte and she made no attempt to conceal her fascination with the intricate spell he was weaving. Remus laid his hand on Harry’s shoulder, and heaved a heavy sigh when the young man’s face flamed bright red. Speaking so that only Harry could hear, he put voice to that which he believed concerned the boy, no, the man beside him.

“You’re married, Harry. There will never be reproach regarding what happens, consensually, behind your bedroom door. From tonight forward, it is anticipated that… Well, sex is a requisite to the bond, and a very beautiful means of expression within the marriage. A word of advice on that matter, if I may? Take your time with her. Tonight starts the relationship between the husband and wife. You not only have the liberty to discover each other, you have the protected right to do so. Do you understand the distinction?”

Harry nodded.

“You know… It was uncomfortable to face people when they found out that we had made love… But, that was nowhere near as hard as facing them tonight, knowing that they knew, umm, that we are going to… With this stupid braid to announce the fact to EVERYONE!”

“The act of sex, the art of making love, if you please, is appropriate and good between two who are lovingly bound. After tonight you won’t have such difficulty with conflicting emotions.”

“Harry! That was brilliant! The way the energy shifted-” Ginny babbled on in excitement as Snape emerged behind her.

“Dobby left a package for you in the tunnel. I took the liberty of placing it on the bureau in your room. We will come back for you when Dumbledore deems necessary,” Snape said, giving a final nod before he and Remus returned in silence to the school.

Harry and Ginny grinned at each other, bashfully at first but growing bolder with each heartbeat. Ginny stood on tiptoe and claimed her husband’s lips in a teasing kiss. Harry’s hands sought Ginny’s waist through the voluminous folds of her robes. Sighing in annoyance, he decided to divest her of the heavy outer robe, only to find his efforts thwarted by the Bonding ribbons around her wrist. With a giggle, Ginny spelled away her and Harry’s velvet robes.

“The rest, kind sir, is up to you!”

Ginny’s body shuddered as Harry’s hands warmed the silk that was sliding sensually across her gentle curves. Melting into the sensation, she gave a momentary thought to her previous lover. This decadence was one experience he had not given her, for that she was thankful. Somehow, she knew that Harry would take her to heights far beyond what Snape had revealed to her. Her breath caught as Harry’s palm brushed warmly across her nipple, dragging cool silk in its wake. As Harry nibbled on the succulent bottom lip of his mate, he felt the nub harden under his palm. He gently tweaked it with his thumb. When Ginny moaned into the kiss, he firmly pinched the rigid nipple. The uninhibited writhing Ginny was launched into rewarded him, writhing that resulted in mind searing friction against his cock. Harry slid his hands down her thighs and began to ease the silk under robber up over the Quidditch toned legs. When his fists were full of the soft material he brought them to her waist and ground his hips against her belly. He let the robe fall around the back of her legs as he worked his own silk covered leg against her labia. Ginny could feel the sweet tension starting to build and arched wantonly when Harry’s hands kneaded her ass. He picked her up and squeezed the tight globes once again. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her up the stairs.

In the second bedroom they checked, they found their parcel, indicating that they had also found the room intended for their use. Harry eased Ginny onto the bed and stood back to look at her. The silk was draped around her breasts and peaked over her nipples, gathered at her waist framing the slight rise of her pregnant belly. Her pubic hair lay in bright red curls nestled between creamy thighs. He could smell her arousal. With a whispered spell and a flick of his wand, their under robes vanished.

Harry climbed on the bed beside Ginny and leaned down for another kiss. Their tongues caressed in a primeval dance. Ginny carded her fingers through his hair and guided his head to the pale column of her throat where he nibbled and laved kisses. When he felt her pulse quicken beneath his lips, his cock twitched in reply. A love bite was left on the ridge of her collar bone and another where the swell of her breast met her chest. Harry moved down so that he could better worship the rosy nipples that called to him like the sirens’ song. Using his tongue, he drew circles around her nipples and lines across the pert breasts.

Every moan from Ginny earned another nibble, each sigh warranted a sucking kiss, and shivers were met with a reflexive grind of Harry’s hips. Afterwards, Harry would never be able to say what possessed him to do it, but he took as much of her nipple and breast into his mouth as possible and sucked as hard as he could. After several seconds of constant suction, he bit…HARD! At the same time, he pinched and twisted her other nipple. Ginny screamed as her orgasm slammed through her. She felt Harry’s hands on hers and realized that she still had his face held tight against her breast.

Harry resumed his kissing exploration as mild after-shocks rippled through Ginny’s petite body. When he scooted further down, he felt her pubic hair brush his chin. When he had taken the time with her in the prefect’s bath, he had only kissed her labia; he had been underwater after all. Decidedly, he had put his hands to good use, but that was different. He continued to kiss his way down until he felt the separation of her lips. Still uncertain about what he was doing, he began to gently probe with his tongue. He slipped in between her lips and got his first true taste of his wife; it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted. He lapped at the fount of juices he had found, while reveling in Ginny’s whimpers and writhing. Suddenly, his tongue brushed across a small, hard button and her entire body convulsed. Harry reached up and spread her lips apart so that he could become better acquainted with this new little pleasure point. His hands had previously made this grand discovery, but Ginny’s response to the probing of his tongue was unlike anything they had shared before.

“Yeah… Right there! Suck on it, Baby!”

It took a few attempts before Harry could find a good angle for his head; nevertheless, when he did it was well worth the awkward attempts. He had also decided he would do anything just to hear Ginny use that tone of voice more often. He sucked her swollen clit into his mouth and bit down lightly, just hard enough to ensure that it did not slip away form him. When it was securely in his mouth, he began flicking his tongue over it, while twisting and bending his finger just inside her still tight vaginal opening. This exploration yielded yet another discovery. Ginny’s orgasm meant a flood of the nectar like juices. Harry greedily sucked and lapped at her opening as he tried to get every drop her body would offer to him. Her legs quivered and her vaginal walls pulsed against his tongue as her breathing slowed to deep sighs with an occasional gasp.

When he moved back to her clit, there was no mistaking that new sound for pleasure, so Harry moved away and started his trail down her legs. A mental note was made about Ginny being ticklish around her knees and ankles. The instep of each foot was highly responsive to any touch he delivered to it, while the arch was touchable with only a broad flat stroke of his tongue. Her toes were a different matter entirely. As he sucked each toe into his mouth, Ginny began to writhe again. Sucking was obviously the key to her toes. By the time Harry had completed all ten toes, she did not hesitate when he whispered for her to turn onto her stomach.

When he saw her perfect ass, he was taken back to the day when he watched Snape pay the same adoring respect to her body as he was now, when he watched as Snape spread her cheeks and pressed his face between them. The snitch in his stomach sped up as Harry worked his way up the back of her legs, trailing kisses and love bites as he went, until his nose brushed across her cleft. At this point, he knew that he would not get the view he craved lying next to Ginny. With a gentle nudge from Harry, she spread her legs and let him settle between them. She startled when his hands caressed the sides of her rump, as he began to slowly caress his way to her cleft. He felt her breath catch, then accelerate, when his thumbs moved up and down between the perfect globes, not parting or dipping in, just ghosting over. Ginny gasped as the chilled air assaulted her when Harry gave a particularly firm squeeze that ended with her ass cheeks spread wide. She released a strangled sob when the cold air was replaced with warm breath. Electricity exploded throughout her when Harry’s tongue tickled then demanded entrance. It was all Ginny could do to keep from bucking against his face, but as a compromise, she rose to her knees, keeping her chest on the bed. Finally, she gave in to desire, and thrust back in rhythm with his rimming. Her thighs were shaking by the time Harry leaned over her back and nipped her on the shoulder blade.

“Are you okay, Baby?” He asked in an unusually deep and heavy voice.

“God’s yes!” was all she could manage to gasp out, words were rapidly moving beyond her capabilities.

He rose up and went back to kneading her cheeks. She could feel her juices coating her thighs; Harry could smell it and it was driving him insane. He shoved into her juicy pussy in one sharp thrust, never letting go of her ass. The feel of her ass slapping against his groin nearly sent him over the edge. With every stroke his thumbs pressed against her puckered opening. When Ginny rose up on her hands and arched her back, Harry felt something primal growing in his gut. Without thinking he took hold of the French braid resting on her shoulders and tugged her head back. Looking down at her bouncing ass, he gave one final poke with his thumb before releasing it. He watched it bounce with every stroke as he drove his full length into her; he looked at the deep arch in her back and at his hand entwined in her hair, and gave one light, but stinging, slap to the outside curve of her hip.

“YES!” Ginny screamed at the top of her lungs. She felt Harry pulling her head further back until he was pulling her upright and onto his thighs.

“Open your eyes Gin…Look.”

Her eyes locked with his in the mirror at the head of the bed. He stroked her belly until she looked at this hand. He traced a lazy spiral down to her labia, swollen, red and parted around his cock. Harry ran both hands between her legs and pulled her lips further apart and watched in absolute awe as her body became the sheath for his. Ginny watched this, too, with a similar fascination. She had harbored a deep seated fear that Harry would never get over what had happened during the summer. That fear was blown away when she looked again at her husband in the mirror. Passion, love, awe, humility, innocence, and other expressions she could not identify were written on his face. She slipped her hands over his as they continued their intimate dance.

“Do it baby,” he whispered into her ear, as Ginny started to blush. “Let me watch you do it… I know he taught you how to do it… He knew I was watching… He let me see you learning to do it… Do it for me, now.”

He could feel her hesitation, but he never missed a stroke.

“Please, baby… You were so beautiful… So powerful… So completely in control. Please baby, let me see you like you let him see you.”

Ginny ground against Harry on his next thrust and released his hands. She net him with the thrust after that, and on the following one, she touched herself. One hand had gone to her clit, while the other was cupping her breast.

“Ohh! Gods, Baby! So beautiful, you’re so perfect.”

Harry’s breathing was growing ragged and his voice was hoarse. When her fingers brushed across his shaft, he bucked hard and hissed. Emerald eyes sparkled with a fiery passion that Ginny had never seen before. Snape had never looked at her with such intensity.

“You are… My wife… Mine… Nobody… Ever… Sees you…Like this… Again!” Harry panted, as if reading her thoughts.

“Yours… Yours only… Always… My husband… No one… ever… Does this… For you… But me!”

Ginny could feel the tension building rapidly as she rubbed almost viciously at the clit. Harry was swelling and hardening even more inside of her. His thrusts were becoming jerky.

“Don’t stop, Baby!” he moaned, as he gently pushed her shoulders forward, again.

Ginny braced herself with one hand on the headboard, the other rubbing obediently between her legs, and stared in admiration at Harry’s reflection. Sweat was beading down his chest; his eyes clinched shut; his moans had become a keening cry. She realized she could see his back in the reflected image from the mirror on the dresser. His upper back muscles were taught and standing rigid, while his lower back was rippling and his cheeks were flexing with each thrust. ‘Glorious!’ Ginny thought. Her orgasm was the most powerful she had ever experienced. With her scream, Harry lost the little bit of control he had managed to hang on to. He slammed into her another half dozen times before his body seized, gripping her hips so tightly that marks would remain. It felt as if every drop of fluid in his body was channeled through his dick and into the hot passage he was buried in. Every muscle in his body was quivering when the sound broke through his foggy thoughts, a gasping sob.

“Ginny! Oh please, Ginny! I’m so sorry! Oh, Baby, I never meant to hurt you! I’m so, so sorry. Please forgive me-”

“Harry, stop it!” she said sharply, finally raising her voice to get Harry’s focus. She realized just how sore her throat was. “I’m good, perfect in fact. I’m not hurt… That was brilliant.”

Starting to catch her breath, Ginny was truly hit with the reality of the situation. She reached back to still his hands. He was stroking her hips as if to erase the bruises. Turning to face him, she sat leaning against the mirror and stretched her legs.

“Harry, I’m fine, really. You’ve not hurt me… That was incredible!”

Harry studied her face for a moment before allowing the issue to be dismissed. She was slightly flushed, but beaming, nearly glowing. Reaching out, he placed both hands on her belly and massaged the gentle swell before leaning down and scattering kisses across it.

“And the baby?”

“I suppose its fine, too. I mean there are no pains or anything. I’m not bleeding.”

“When we get back, would you talk to Madam Pomfrey? Just to make sure, and I guess to find out… I just, I don’t want to hurt you or the baby.”

“It’s alright. Hermione has already found a book!”

They shared a laugh at the private joke and were relaxing against each other when Ginny spotted the package on the dresser. Harry lumbered over and retrieved it. Settling beside Ginny on the bed, it was with a sense of trepidation that Harry gingerly unwrapped the box. He spared a thought to the plain brown wrapping, but snickered. He had learned that most things came in plain brown paper in the wizarding realm. However, upon seeing the contents of the box, he had to wonder. Innocent enough at face value, it was the absence of a few key items that cast a disparaging light on any innocent connotations, items namely bowls and ice cream. By the blush on her face, Ginny had drawn the same conclusion, as she rifled through the varity of sundae accompaniments. Lifting out a cylindrical can, she quirked an eyebrow at Harry.

“Muggle whipped cream,” was all he could say.

“Right, then. Would you mind terribly if this,” Ginny indicated the box with an absentminded wave, “waits ‘til later on? After what you just did to me, chocolate sauce doesn’t sound all that interesting.”

Feeling of the canned whipped cream, Harry shook his head and renewed the stasis charm to keep it cool before returning the box to the dresser. A bit uncomfortable over what he needed to say, he leaned against the dresser as he debated how to say “it”. Uncomfortable only until he realized on major fact, that brought a smile to his face.

“I’ll be right back!”

Ginny, who had just managed to get under the covers, raised her head and peered over the edge of the quilt at Harry. When he indicated the bracelet on his left wrist and stepped into the bathroom, she had a beaming smile of her own. Minutes later, Harry slid under the heavy covers next to his soundly sleeping wife. With a chaste kiss on her parted lips, he felt confident, at that moment, that the world was his for the taking.

####

Harry tried to force his sleep-fogged brain to work. ‘Why am I awake? Why am I so tired? What time is it? Where am I? What’s going o-OH! Oh, yes!’ Stars exploded across the backs of his eyelids as his stomach tightened, and then relaxed, sending a deluge of hot relaxation throughout the rest of his body with one heart beat. He could feel himself being milked by a very capable mouth as it worked to swallow around him.

“A Jelly-fish,” Harry said on a sigh.

“What?”

A Jelly-fish. I must have completed my animagus transformation because I’ve morphed into a jelly-fish,” he explained.

“I see,” said Ginny, accompanied by a husky chuckle. “So you liked?”

“I liked… Very much, I liked, Mrs. Potter. I am in a bit of a predicament though-”

“No, I already took care of your morning predicament.”

“Another dilemma… A more pressing predicament!”

He paused to kiss the expectant lips that were offered to him. Slipping his tongue between them, he was hit with the taste of himself. Harry promptly determined that he enjoyed the feeling that came with the familiarity of how it got there and whose mouth it was in. It was a peculiar sense of power that coursed through him as he licked the final traces of his seed from his wife’s mouth. With a wink, he stood and headed toward the bathroom.

“You have a bladder the size of a thimble!”

The silence was broken by a soft pop followed by the haunting notes of Phoenix song. Harry peeked around the door frame, more than a smidgen terrified of encountering the Headmaster. Instead, he found Fawkes sitting on the bed beside Ginny’s belly. The Phoenix was crying, its silver tears collecting in Ginny’s belly button. On closer inspection, Ginny appeared to be asleep, but Harry knew that when Fawkes stopped singing, Ginny would be instantly alert. No sooner had he thought it, it came to pass. Sitting up, Ginny stared at the red and gold bird.

“Why is he here?”

“Maybe the question should be why was he crying over you?” Harry inquired.

The bird flew to Harry and balanced on a bare shoulder, its talons drawing a small amount of blood. It was only there for a few seconds before it flashed away. In his apprehension for Ginny and the need for Phoenix tears, he had permitted his mental barriers to collapse. The result was that they heard the sound at the same time. Frozen in place by the sound of someone climbing the stairs, Harry realized his mistake; the wards on the house were down, also. The faint drone that had been in the back of his consciousness since Snape had set the wards was gone. Harry and Ginny lunged for their wands, spun to face the door, and started firing hexes as the man stepped to the door. The hexes flew true and hit their target, sending the man stumbling backwards into the banister at the top of the stairs. With a crash, the invader hurtled to the first floor as the couple waited for the sound of impact in astonished disbelief… Remus.

“Potter!” growled a very perturbed sounding Potions master.

Harry and Ginny ran to the stairs and looked down to where the body of Remus Lupin should have landed. He was being levitated to the settee; rather, a purple, boil covered mass that was theoretically Remus was being levitated.

“Is he alright?” they asked in unison.

“They are only juvenile hexes, Potter! The werewolf will be fine,” Snape scolded as he sat about countering the hexes.

Soon, Remus was back to normal, shaken and shaking, but chuckling over the incident. Profuse apologies were raining down from the top of the stairs. The two wizards looked up at the young adults, one to further reprimand and the other to reassure. The words never left their mouths; where they were expecting two to be, three now stood. Harry saw the distress on Remus’ face, but it was raw desire that marked Snape’s countenance.

“Perhaps you should get dressed,” Snape said in a strangely roughened voice.

When Harry and Ginny turned to their room, they saw what had stunned the two older wizards… A wet, disheveled Draco wearing nothing but a sheet.

“Mal – Sna – What the bloody hell are you doing here?” demanded Harry.

“Severus! What the bloody hell am I doing here?” Whereas Harry’s voice had been irate, Draco’s was panicked.

“Get Dressed!”

“MY clothes are in our bathroom, which is where I was until a few seconds ago! What did you do Potter?”

“ME? What are you going on about? As if I would want you anywhere near Ginny!” yelled Harry. It did not take a genius to comprehend that the incident was escalating out of control again.

“Yeah, YOU! You and your stupid Gryffindor audacity! You’re the only one powerful enough to do something like this, Mr. Above-the-rules-Power-of-Godric Gryffindor-Potter!”

“Get dressed, NOW!”

“I CAN’T!” wailed Draco.

“Potter, go get-”

“Professor!” yelled Ginny to be heard over the den. “I can’t seem to locate our clothes, either,” she said, as she walked from the room wrapped in the quilt and handed Harry the other sheet from their bed, the one matching Draco’s.

Severus was pinching the bridge of his nose, a sign that Ginny and Draco had learned to recognize as the only outward expression of the migraine beginning. Remus was struggling to keep from laughing outright, but took sympathy on his cohort; after all, Snape had just saved him from severe bodily harm.

“Did you take them off or spell them away?” he asked, as Snape took a few moments to recover.

“Spelled,” Ginny and Harry answered in agreement.

“Where did you send them?”

As the two looked at each other, Remus stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away. He doubted that Harry would share his sense of humor in this situation. Draco was watching the silent exchange with much interest and amusement, and perked up even more when Snape rejoined the conversation.

“I know it’s a challenge for you, but focus would be useful right now.” When Ginny and Harry glared at him, he continued, “What were you thinking about when you spelled them away? WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP! IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING USEFUL, DON’T BECOME PART OF THE PROBLEM!”

Remus and Draco were openly laughing, side holding, doubled over, tears rolling, laughter. Snape closed his eyes, took a slow deep breath, and tried again, having realized the sound of his question. Remus left the room to prevent, well… He knew if he were to stay he would be hexed again, this time from Snape.

“The clothes… When you spelled them, what were you thinking regarding the clothes?”

Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment before she spoke up.

“I just wanted to get them away from us. The outer robes…”

“Nicely vague. Potter, am I to assume you spelled away the under robes? And?”

“Yeah, ummm… They were in the way, I wanted them gone.”

“Gone?”

“Just gone,” said Harry with a sheepish nod.

“Well, I found part of them,” Remus said, returning with the velvet robes. “That’s all though. The rest are not here.”

With a pointed look from Snape, the three teens shuffled down the steps and into the sitting room. As Remus assisted Harry and Ginny with their improvised togas and robes, Snape had removed his cloak and was likewise assisting Draco. Due to the cut of the outer garments, the bed coverings would go unnoticed and they were only going to the antechamber of the Great Hall. About half way through the tunnel, Draco glanced at Harry.

“You never did tell me how you did that little trick.”

“Actually that was courtesy of Mrs. Potter,” Snape said in wonder.