A/N: This is set a few years after the Final Battle at Hogwarts.
Chapter 7
Minerva put the book down that she was reading hearing someone knock on her door. Slowly getting to her feet, she moved across and swung the door open.
"Yes?" she asked staring at the younger woman before her.
"I…" she stopped lost for words looking at the older woman. 'Minerva looks even more tired than ever' she sighed staring at her appearance. She still wore tartan robes though they were a tad torn at the bottom; she used a walking stick to support her and her face had more defined lines around her eyes and mouth. Something sparkled in the sunlight caught her eye, her face lit up into a wide grin seeing Minerva still wearing the necklace she gave her all those years ago.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Minerva asked again. For several moments the two women stared at each other in silence. Minerva took this opportunity to look at her guest. She was well dressed: a light blue summer dress with a maroon cardigan, her bushy brown hair neatly tied back and a light spread of make-up on her face to emphasize her brown eyes shining brightly.
A scar on the woman's left arm caught Minerva's attention. Looking closer she read mudblood engraved into her skin. Hermione saw Minerva's gaze and pulled down her sleeve attempting to cover up the horrible word that has caused her so much pain. Minerva suddenly jolted her head back towards the woman. Her mouth gaped realising the face belonged to Hermione Granger. 'Why did I not recognise her at once! After all she is the one I fell madly in love with' Minerva told herself crossly frowning. 'Because the last time you saw her was three years ago' a voice told her. Sudden images came crashing back of the battle at Hogwarts with Hermione rushing past in a hurry. She had cuts with blood dripping down her face. All Minerva had wanted to do at the time was catch her, wrap her arms around Hermione and never let her go. The next time she remembered seeing Hermione was at the funerals; even then she didn't have much time to speak to her as she was in the arms of Ron comforting her. 'Maybe I didn't recognise her because she has grown into such a beautiful young lady' Minerva thought frowning once more.
"Minerva?" Hermione called softly taking a step closer to her. Minerva looked up feeling Hermione place a hand on her arm. Feeling weak in the knees Minerva was sure they would give out from the touch of her lover. Hermione moved closer and wrapped her arms around Minerva's waist seeing how unsteady she was on her feet. Minerva turned away from Hermione. 'Why did she come back? I heard the rumors that Hermione and Ron are no longer together. Why is she here… could she still have feelings for me, could she?' Minerva thought as her heart began to race. 'I fell in love with that bright young student and now look at her' Minerva sighed risking a quick glance at Hermione. 'I know it was not allowed but how could I not? She is just as beautiful as ever, possibly even more elegant as a lady' she paused looking away again. 'She has her life ahead of her, so why would she want to spend it with an old witch' Minerva doubted.
"Stop it" Hermione said lifting Minerva's head.
"Stop what?" she frowned.
"Whatever you are thinking" she sighed.
"I can't help it" she sobbed. Hermione gently sunk to the floor still with Minerva in her arms.
"Minerva" she called softly. Minerva's stomach tied into a knot hearing her name. "I…" Hermione choked: she hated seeing Minerva like this. Sighing, Hermione cautiously managed to cross her legs without knocking Minerva over. "I'm so sorry for your loss" she mumbled several minutes later breaking the silence. Minerva forced a smile and sternly told herself 'There will be no crying!'
"Thank you" she managed to say. Hermione suddenly flung herself onto Minerva hugging her seeing her struggle with emotion.
"I'm sorry I didn't visit sooner. It wasn't the right time" she mumbled apologising. 'What on earth could that mean, wasn't the right time?' Minerva frowned staring at her. Leaning back Hermione became worried seeing Minerva wince in pain. "What's wrong? Are you ok, I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked.
"No, it is just my back beginning to cramp up" Minerva gasped. Hermione quickly got to her feet and held out her hands to help Minerva up. She took the younger witch's hands as Hermione gently pulled Minerva to her feet.
"Would you like a cup of tea or maybe coffee?" Hermione offered as they walked to the living room.
"A tea would be lovely" Minerva smiled as she sat down in the arm chair. Hermione nodded and quickly left the room leaving Minerva to her thoughts. Several minutes later Hermione entered the room and carefully crossed the room caring the hot tea.
"Here" Hermione smiled placing the mug down on the little coffee table next to the arm chair. She then swiftly crossed to the couch and sat down.
"Hermione… I have become a lot older in the past few years since the battle. I'm old. I need my rest. I… I've come to a stage in my life where I am perfectly content in the sanctity of my rooms, rather than to force myself to go out knowing my back will bear the consequences for days. I don't lean on a walking cane for nothing" Minerva mumbled. Hermione frowned then got to her feet and moved to Minerva. Crouching down in front of her, Hermione rested her hands on Minerva's knee for balance.
"Then I'll stay home with you and give you a massage, and then I'll make love to you gently" Hermione smiled looking up at her.
"And how would you do that? I can't even lie on my tummy without hurting. Besides, how can you make love to me? I wonder whatever attracted you to me in the past will most certainly... There is none of that left" Minerva questioned looking away.
"Minerva… Whether you believe it or not, you are still very attractive to me. My fingers ache to touch you after all these years. They want to feel your soft skin underneath and come home inside you. My lips ache to kiss you again and all over your body" Hermione paused taking a deep breath resisting the urge to sneak her hand under Minerva's clothes. Hermione moved away seeing Minerva slowly getting to her feet. She leaned on her walking stick and Hermione instantly rushed forward to aid her. "Where would you like to go?" she asked offering her arm for support.
Hermione lead Minerva over to the couch and they sat down. Minerva pushed hair from Hermione's eyes and noticed Hermione seemed to yawn consistently; looking down at her watch she was surprised to find it so late at night. "Where are you staying?" She asked quickly looking back up at Hermione.
"Fire King Inn" she replied.
"It is too late and too dangerous for a young lady like you to be walking alone at night" Minerva muttered frowning. "You may stay the night if you like" she added quietly.
"Sure" Hermione smiled faintly. "I'll sleep on the couch" she offered standing. Minerva nodded her head and she leaned heavily on her cane trying to get to her feet. "Here" Hermione muttered helping her to her feet.
"Thankyou" Minerva whispered turning pink in the face. "Hips and backs aren't what they used to be" she frowned pointing the way to her bedroom. Hermione grinned then it suddenly faded seeing Minerva glare at her. She pushed back the door and helped Minerva over to the bed. Quickly crossing the room to the wardrobe, she opened the wooden doors and picked out a long blue nightie. Hermione then moved back to Minerva and handed it to her. Minerva took the nightie from Hermione and stood for a moment. "I won't look" Hermione said turning her back towards her. A mirror hung on the inside of the wardrobe door. Hermione's breath hitched watching Minerva undress and change into her nightie. Minerva cleared her throat and Hermione turned around to find her sitting on the bed. Swiftly moving over, she grabbed the sheet from underneath Minerva's leg and pulled it over her. Smiling at Minerva, she leaned down and kissed on her forehead.
"Good night" she murmured moving over to the door reaching for the light switch.
"You'll be exceptionally sore in the morning if you sleep on the couch" she called out seeing Hermione reach the door. "Which wouldn't be very smart if the spot beside me is still free. I'm not expecting a lover" Minerva continued. She stood there thinking for a moment before flicking the light and moved back to the bed. Hermione let out her hair letting it flow past her shoulder and crawled under the sheets.
"Yes you are" Hermione mumbled snuggling up to Minerva. Breathing in deeply, Hermione felt content to be near Minerva again and closed her eyes.
In the middle of the night, Minerva felt something heavy on her. Slightly lifting her head off the pillow, she looked down to see Hermione sprawled all over her with her hand resting on her breast. Her heart began to race as she started to panic. Minerva carefully tried to shift Hermione onto the other side of the bed without waking her. Hermione groaned and snuggled the pillow. Minerva watched her for a moment then began to relax seeing she was still asleep. Taking several breath, Minerva leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. 'This wasn't a very good idea' she said trying to control the urges that ran wild in her mind. Looking back over at Hermione, Minerva found her sitting up staring at her.
"You were supposed to be asleep" she muttered.
"How could I when my pillow moved?" Hermione shrieked and instantly regretted saying it. "I wasn't going to try anything, I just fell asleep" Hermione explained. Minerva's cheeks turned pink and she rolled over to the edge of the bed. She pulled the covers tighter around her ashamed of what she had become. She had more scars than back at Hogwarts, she wasn't as flexible as she once was and certain parts of her body sagged more. 'How can she love this, if she loves me at all?' Minerva questioned herself. She felt the bed dip and heard footsteps walking around the bed. Kneeling down by the bed Hermione stared up at Minerva.
"Hermione…" she choked seeing the young witch close to tears.
"Minerva, I love you! I never stopped loving you. I always wanted you. I still want you. I know we can't just pick up where we left off, but please let me hold you. I won't overstep your boundaries, I promise…" Hermione pleaded. Reluctantly, Minerva nodded her head and Hermione climbed back onto the bed. Hermione rolled onto her side to face Minerva as she carefully wrapped her arms around her. Minerva sighed as she too moved onto her side staring at Hermione.
"What about Ron?" Minerva asked quietly treading carefully.
"I love him" she shrugged.
"Oh" Minerva sighed looking away.
"He asked me to marry him, but I turned him down" she added making Minerva turn her head back to stare at Hermione. "I told him that I loved him, but the problem was I wasn't in love with him. My heart belongs to someone else" she explained giving Minerva hope like she had never had hope before. 'This is it, I have nothing left to lose' she thought.
"I love you Hermione" she whispered. Hermione let out a cry of excitement then suddenly kissed Minerva. Breaking off the kiss they both gasped in oxygen. Hermione sat up and looked down at Minerva.
"I want to kiss you in every imaginable place of your body" Hermione groaned. Muttering a quick spell, Minerva looked down to find her spell work leaving the two of them naked. Leaning down, she placed soft delicate kisses on Minerva's neck slowly making her way downwards. Pausing at her naval Hermione looked up given in the past Minerva had always stopped her.
"If you really want this…" Minerva paused staring down at Hermione. "You can" smiling seeing Hermione's eyes widen with joy. Continuing down she found Minerva's pleasurable spot of her being and paying homage to it. Hermione began moving her tongue up and down tickling Minerva's centre. Tickling turned into licking making Minerva hold her breath as she teasingly moved her tongue inside. Minerva's heart began to race as Hermione had removed her tongue and began kissing her wet folds. 'Maybe it was a good thing we never truly made love all those years ago. I wouldn't know how to look at Hermione without being aroused after such an overwhelming experience as this' Minerva thought clutching the sheets tightly. She gave a small buck with her hips indicating to Hermione she was almost there. Hermione only stopped when the evident was visible she had given pleasure to her mentor. Crawling her way back up to the top of the bed she stopped seeing tears trickling down Minerva's cheeks.
"Did I hurt you?" she frowned sitting up.
"No" Minerva replied shaking her head.
"What are you smiling for?" Hermione asked as Minerva wrapped her arms around Hermione's shoulder. She rested her head on Minerva waiting for an answer.
"I'm just so glad you've come back" she smiled even further. "I missed you every day since you left Hogwarts. I kept wondering if I had done something wrong as you never visited" she whispered.
"I'm so sorry, if I knew you still felt the same I would've never left. I had my own doubts, I thought you wouldn't want me after leaving school" Hermione said lifting her head to stare at Minerva.
"I always want you and I will love you forever till I become infirm and you'll have to carry me everywhere!" she laughed staring at Hermione. She smiled back and reached up to kiss her.
"I love you Minerva. I would very much like it if I could stay forever" Hermione muttered.
"You know the answer" Minerva grinned.
- The End -
A/N: I know that Minerva would probably have recognised Hermione straight away but I liked this version better, way more dramatic XD Beta work done by Bola, who's without your advice and guidance I would still be stuck on the fourth paragraph :(