Chapter 12

Minerva quietly sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing a towel in her grey streaked ebony hair. She smiled, taking in Hermione's nudeness, as the much younger witch carelessly rummaged into the drawer of her wardrobe in search for the pair of panties that would fit with the bra she had already located into the depths of the drawer. Hermione Jean Granger appeared to have the sort of easiness with her nudity that was typically only possessed by the young. It did her good to know Hermione felt comfortable enough to walk about naked while conscious of Minerva's eyes following her every move. "Do you usually wear sets?" Minerva inquired, finishing rubbing the towel in her hair.

"A-ha!" Hermione exclaimed, reaching for the velvet looking violet panties. A smile of satisfaction had come over her features when she quietly turned to face Minerva. "I usually do, yeah," she said, getting into her panties and then pulling on her bra. "I somehow cannot bear the thought of wearing a bra and panties not matching. Don't you…?" She asked.

Minerva shrugged. "I usually do, but the type of underwear I wear is something that could never be called lingerie or anything."

Hermione quietly sat by the elder woman's side on the bed, pulling one hand atop of Minerva's. "You're beautiful," she whispered.

"I'm old."

Hermione quietly shook her head and leaned in to let their mouths connect again. Hermione carefully straddled her thighs, holding onto the collar of Minerva's robe as their kiss turned needier… until Minerva pulled away. "I should comb my hair first, or it'll get unbelievably tangled."

"Oh, let me," Hermione suggested, moving off the older woman's lap to sit beside her on the bed again. She easily summoned the comb that lay on the wardrobe – the one which she had used earlier – with some wandless magic, and encouraged Minerva to turn somewhat so that she could comb easier through the lengthy ebony waves of hair. The softness surprised her a bit. "You should leave it loose more often," Hermione whispered.

"Maybe," Minerva replied, "I usually pull it into a knot so that it doesn't end up in the way and doesn't get tangled."

Both remained in silence until Hermione was satisfied with the result, and laid the comb on the night table. Minerva quietly turned her head to look gratefully over her shoulder at the much younger witch. However, at that something snapped in the elder woman's neck, and she intuitively reached to rub the sore muscles with one hand. "Ouch," she winced.

"You should have been more careful, if you should have gone at all."

"I know," Minerva managed, then hissed upon feeling Hermione carefully beginning to massage her neck.

"All right. Promise me to take it somewhat easier for at least another couple of days."

"I…" Minerva gasped, "promise."

"I know that you feel like you are entirely responsible over Hogwarts now, and surely I won't counter that, but you don't have to do it alone. No one would feel better if you overstretched and got more ill again. Please allow yourself to rest just a little bit before jumping into it again. Working's not the solution. I'm here for you. We'll get there together. We'll get through this." Hermione discontinued massaging. "Turn over," she whispered. At once, Minerva quietly turned to lie face down on the bed, when Hermione interrupted again, "You'll have to get rid of that robe first." She chuckled, watching Minerva's green eyes roll and watching how she quietly undid the tie keeping her robe together and shrugged the material off her shoulders. She felt rather uncomfortable with her own nudity when turning to lie face down on the bed once more. Minerva winced a couple of times while the motion lasted. A shiver ran across her spine as she settled, holding onto the edges of the pillow as she intuitively buried her head in it.

Hermione carefully began massaging the pain away. At first, Minerva would wince occasionally, but after a few minutes she felt more at ease than ever for the very first time in months if not years and allowed Hermione to make her feel a little better. Her intakes and exhales of air began evening as the pain slowly disappeared entirely. She had no idea about how long it must have taken. "Minerva? Have you fallen asleep?"

"No," Minerva lazily replied. "I'm awake…"

Hermione smiled, laying down on her belly right beside the elder woman. She quietly ran a thumb over Minerva's cheek. Minerva smiled, and gazed up to let her eyes meet younger, hazel ones. "I… Hermione, I love you, too," she whispered, leaning into Hermione's touch.

"I know," Hermione said, and chuckled.

"Oh. Well, fine. I'll never tell you again," Minerva teasingly replied.

"Hey!"