A Terrible Temptation

A/N - Thanks to Kate for wielding whip and chair and inspiring me to write. Thanks to all my reviewers for being so kind. Everyone go read Shiv\'s \"Arithmantic Dating Agency\" so she will like me again. It\'s very, very funny!

Chapter 32 – Declarations

Hermione sat in the Library with her head down over the book. She hoped her mass of hair would hide her tear-reddened eyes from the other students. The book was one she had read a thousand times: Hogwarts, A History was like a touchstone to her now. When she had first been escorted with her parents to Diagon Alley by the Ministry representative, he had handed the book to her and suggested it as her first purchase in the Magical World. She had taken it home with her after that first incredible day and devoured it.

Now, whenever something hurt her or shook her confidence she would pour over the pages, fingers caressing the moving illustrations and eyes drinking up the remembered words. It was a ritual that had soothed her lacerated sensibilities through a dozen childhood traumas. Of course, Hermione’s childhood traumas usually included Voldemort and almost dying which she was coming to realize was not normal.

Why couldn’t her biggest worry be about what to wear on a date or how to do her hair, instead of wondering how to kill Voldemort and keep a half-tamed ex-Death Eater as a boyfriend? Her mind boggled when she thought of all the lurid tales whispered in the girls’ dorms in the night; he must have experienced every conceivable sensual experience. Everyone knew what went on at Death Eater gatherings, how could one teenage virgin compare to the debauchery and decadence he must have grown quite used to.

A sweep of black robes from the corner of her eyes alerted her to his presence. He moved without pause into the stacks and she waited a moment and then gathered her things and followed him. He was hard to find -- she searched fruitlessly for some minutes before a firm hand grasped her arm and pulled her into an alcove. Curtains were drawn around them and his hand tilted her chin up to reveal the tear-ravaged face to his scrutiny.

“Mr. Potter came to my office to night and after dint of much prompting, managed to convey the gist of the conversation you had.” Hermione’s heart plunged into her socks as she looked into the black on black depths of his eyes. His words made her blush furiously. “Hermione, in my entire life I have had precisely two willing partners; neither one was more than adequate. My time as a Death Eater was surprisingly orgy-free.” The last was said with a dry tone that told her he knew full well what the girls whispered in the dorms.

“I was afraid that I would bore you.” She murmured in embarrassment.

“In the nearly seven years I have known you, you have driven me to drink and to the brink of madness, but you have never bored me.” His amused tone belied the seriousness of his glance. “I very much doubt that the novelty of kissing someone who actually loves me will wear off anytime soon.” He added and she fell into his arms clutching him tightly. Relief flowed through her veins and she breathed deeply of the scent of wool and herbs that permeated his robes.

“I was being silly, I’m sorry.” Hermione admitted, her face pressed against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat faintly through the layers of his clothing and it was calming and reassuring to feel him there with his arms about her.

“As Mr. Weasley would say, you were merely being human.” His rueful tone made her lean back so that she could meet his eyes. It was his turn to look embarrassed. “I am quite sure that you will find a boy your own age, some cheerful young fellow who spouts romantic drivel and then it will be, ‘Goodbye old bat.’” There was genuine fear underneath the surface sarcasm and she smiled up at him with the love she felt for him swelling her heart.

“You forget, I’ve met all the boys my age and they’re all dunderheads.” She pointed out to him and he smiled but it was still an uncertain expression. “Severus, boys my age cannot even pronounce ’Ars Alchemica’ let alone read the articles.” Her scathing tone made that glint come into his eyes. His expressions were often such tiny changes that she had to pay absolute attention to pick up on them. It was a very good thing that she wanted nothing more than to study him for the rest of her life.

His mouth sought out hers and his kiss tingled through her body. Her heart raced, her mind went fuzzy and the world faded away when he kissed her. His lips could go from light and tender to hard and demanding in an instant and the shifting moods kept her breathless and dizzy. She could stay in that moment for all eternity and never want anything more than this feeling.

She wondered if this was what he meant -- her fumbling kisses with Victor and the awkward groping with Ron had been nothing like this. The knowledge that he loved her and she loved him, that this was forever, spiced everything, shifting the experience from the physical to the spiritual. There was nothing beyond him and her and this kiss; there was no world beyond them. Somewhere, she knew, a garden was blooming.

Ron found that worshipping Lavender came easily to him. Her mouth was soft and she tasted of vanilla so kissing her was accomplished with the same fervor and joy as eating a batch of his mother’s cookies and left a similar sweetness behind. She was proportioned in such a way that she fit against his body perfectly, she just felt so right in his arms.

With Hermione he had felt overwhelmed by her intellect, like he was running to keep up with her. Lavender was just as smart but their interests ran along the same paths,it wit was far easier to both listen and talk with her. Lavender was soft in all the right places and equally as inarticulate when passion swept her away.
Hermione could discourse on Plato while having an orgasm. Not that she had had one with Ron; they had never gotten that far, but the few snogging sessions they had engaged in had been rather frustrating for him.

Lavender was never frustrating. No matter how much he wanted to go furthith ith her, the joys of snogging alone were so great that he never felt deprived. Just walking next to her in the halls made him feel content with his life. He was a very happy man.

That was the other thing. Lavender made him feel adult, Hermione made him feel like a grubby first year. He sighed happily as Lavender ran her mouth along thr throat, kissing and nipping as she went. Hermione was much better off with someone like Snape who would always have her respect and admiration. He caught Lavender’s earlobe between his lips, sucked lightly and then licked, bringing little gasps from her. She wriggled against him, his train of thought derailed completely, and he lost himself in the sensations that were overwhelming his higher brain functions.

A gust of cold air hit them and he realized the warming charms had faded. He came back to his senses andchedched for his wand. The cushioning charm that kept the hard ground from bruising them and the warming charms that kept them from freezing outside in Scotland in April both needed re-casting.

“Ron, it may be time to go back in.” Lavender teased him. He looked around and realized that the sun had long ago sunk on the horizon and curfew must be nearing. He groaned and nodded.

“I lost track of time.” He admitted and she grinned at him with a happy expression that made his own mouth turn up in response.

“That is what a girl likes to hear.” Lavender chuckled and he stood, pulling her to her feet after him. A quick kiss and they were walking back to the castle, hand-in-hand, heads together.

Ron could see a future with Lavender, little redhead children with her eyes running around a house, laughing. He could see them coming home every day and talking over their days with each other. He wanted that future.

“So, after you start your line of cosmetics and make a million galleons, what ou wou want to do?” Ron asked her, continuing the ongoing discussion that had beauseaused by their extended kissing session.

“I want to travel and see the world. I want to go all the places I’ve read about and live the life I have only dreamed of.” She leaned against him and he slipped his arm around her waist to hold her close against him.

“That sounds perfect.” Ron responded. Ythatthat rosy glow on the horizon was his future and he was looking forward to every moment of it.