Thank you all SO much for taking this journey with me!

Your support love for this story (and this triad) has meant the world to me.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

Bucky stared out into the quiet stillness of the morning, letting a sigh rumble out of him. Camped out on the very edge of an astral tear, Hermione had crafted them a rather resplendent hunting lodge within another ridiculous little tent. Every so often, she slipped out into the real world to send letters to her friend, Harry, letting him know she was all right.

And, more importantly, that she was happy.

Even after weeks upon weeks of peace, they could not quite find equilibrium with the calm state of their lives. Equilibrium with one another, however? Bucky glanced back over his shoulder. Loki and Hermione were snoozing on the floor before the fireplace, all but lost amongst a nest of pillows.

A smirk curved his lips as he shook his head and returned his gaze to the horizon. That balance had been much easier to happen upon, once they'd all stopped fighting it.

Still, as much as they enjoyed this . . . . That smirk shifted into a thoughtful frown as he gave another shake of his head. He could feel that it was not just him. Loki and Hermione, too, were getting a little stir-crazy with so much calm surrounding them.

Bucky didn't hear the body shifting against the floor, or the footfalls coming toward him. He became aware of the presence at his back before the arms slid around his waist, elegant, long-fingered hands clasping before him.

With a second rumbling sigh, he let himself sink back against Loki. Bucky tilted his head to one side expectantly as Loki lowered his chin to rest in the crook of Bucky's neck.

"Your thoughts are troubled this morning."

Again, a thoughtful frown played on Bucky's lips as he shook his head. "Nah, just . . . restless, I guess. Too much solitude."

"I suppose it is a bit mind-numbing."

"And if I can say?" Bucky rested his arms over Loki's. "This is still weird," he said with a chuckle.

"Yes, well," Loki started, amusement edging his tone, "lucky for us that 'weird' can also mean absolutely phenomenal."

A snore cut across the interior of the lodge, then. They turned in unison to look at the slumbering witch—who would swear she did not snore! Or, at least, that she could not possibly snore to rival any pair of male lungs.

"What do you say we wake her pleasantly?"

"Hell, yeah. But it's my turn, you did it last time."

Loki smirked, mischief glimmering in his green eyes as he caught Bucky's chin in his hand. "All right. But . . . ." His gaze lowered to Bucky's lips as he traced over the soft, plump bit of flesh with tip of his finger. "You must do this other thing for me."

Hiding a grin, Bucky sighed a final time and nodded. "Fair is fair."

Hermione awoke to the delicious abrasive tickle of Bucky's ever-present five o'clock shadow scratching against her throat. Stretching, she draped her arms around his neck before she even opened her eyes.

When she did, she noticed Loki leaned back from them, watching the display as Bucky's mouth captured hers in a hungry kiss. Bucky settled between her thighs as she nipped and suckled at his plunging tongue.

He broke the kiss and shifted lower against her, dragging his lips and the very edge of his teeth against her skin as he moved.

Opening her eyes, once more, albeit in a bit of a daze, this time, she dropped her gaze to watch his head as he moved down along her body. She reached out blindly, her hand finding Loki's lap.

With a warm, appreciative chuckle for her sleepy efforts, Loki guided her fingers to wrap around him and start moving in slow, lazy strokes. He leaned over, stealing a kiss of his own from her as Bucky flicked his tongue in a line, descending from her navel.

She felt the brush of Bucky's fingers over her, teasing and testing before he slipped them inside. Groaning, she broke Loki's kiss as she lifted her hips, meeting the delving of Bucky's hand.

God, she was so ready it made how hard he was hurt. Withdrawing his hand—the sound of disappointment she uttered at that causing both men to chuckle—he grasped her hips. That first month had been a bit tricky with learning to control the strength of his metal arm in these sorts of situations for which none of his training had prepared him, but after a few times of bruised bones and healing charms, he'd gotten the hang of it.

Sitting back on his heels, he shifted her against him. He positioned himself between her thighs, only to hold back. He watched her, her eyes had drifted closed again as she waited, her hand working over Loki, still. Loki, for his part, merely sat with his head tipped back, enjoying the moment. Bucky knew how she would respond to his entry, anyway, so he allowed a few seconds to tick by.

Finally, Hermione forced her eyes open to meet Bucky's. "Get on with it," she said in a breathless, pleading whisper.

Grinning, he thrust his hips, burying himself inside her.

She gasped, throwing her head back and rolling her hips to meet him. Reflexively relinquishing her grasp on Loki, she gripped her hands into the pillows on either side of her as she started rocked against Bucky's motions.

A smirk that made Loki damn proud curving his lips, Bucky crooked a finger at the Asgardian.

"I do enjoy it when you take charge."

Bucky shook his head, even while he shuddered at the way Hermione's body gripped him as she rocked against him. "Just shut up and get over here."

Chuckling, Loki moved to kneel beside Bucky.

Hearing the discussion over her own rushed and moaning breaths, Hermione forced open her eyes. Almost as delicious as the sensation of Bucky withdrawing and driving into her again and again was the sight of Loki and Bucky meeting in a savage, devouring kiss.

God, they were both so damn beautiful . . . .

She forced herself to keep moving against Bucky as he got a bit distracted with being in the center of the activity. The sharp, jerking movements of his hips had her nearing the edge, fast.

Loki broke the kiss, gripping a hand into Bucky's hair as he rose up by increments. He dragged Bucky's mouth along his skin, moving down over his chest and abdomen, and lower, still, until Loki was on his feet.

Hermione sank her teeth into her bottom lip, biting back a moan as she watched Loki slide himself into Bucky's mouth. Almost immediately, his head fell back and he let out a groan as he started rocking his hips, accommodating the other man's suckling pulls.

She lost herself to that moment—to the gorgeous sight of them before her and the sweet, heated tension of her muscles going taut and her body clenching tight around Bucky's thrusts. Forcing her eyes to stay open, she kept her gaze on them all the while as she came.

For several blissful seconds, nothing else existed but the pleasure spiraling through her and the hungry sounds Bucky was uttering as he drew on Loki; nothing else but the way Loki gasped and dropped his head, his fingers tightening mercilessly in their grip on Bucky's hair.

As her orgasm ebbed, she felt Bucky's motions becoming erratic. He was close . . . and from the way Loki shuddered even as he jerked his hips, forcing himself through Bucky's lips faster, she knew he was, too.

Poor Bucky was probably having a hell of a time concentrating on both of them.

Shifting, even as sweet aftershocks rippled through her, Hermione lifted herself to straddle Bucky's lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders for leverage, moving against him as he stilled in that final, wonderfully hard thrust.

Burying her face in his neck, she lapped and suckled at the skin there as she rocked over him. Only when she was certain he'd spent himself, entirely, did she slow. Though, she waited for his pained groan before she stopped, entirely.

And just in time, too, she thought, a wicked giggle edging the words in her mind. As she lifted her head from Bucky's throat, Loki froze. She stared up at him, unblinking as he let out a series of gasping breaths, his hands clutching at Bucky's head, helpless.

After what almost seemed too long, Bucky eased back. He allowed Loki to slip from between his lips with a dazed expression on his face.

As Bucky struggled to catch his breath, he said, "I . . . I love being in the middle, but I sometimes think you two just might kill me."

Loki and Hermione shared a snicker at that, even as the witch pulled them both down onto the pillows to cuddle with her.

After their pulses had slowed, and their breathing had steadied, she brought up a subject they'd decided to shelve sometime last month, but had yet to approach, again.

"I'm still worried about the future."

Both males groaned in unison.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, seriously. I know we're enjoying living in the moment, and that's fine for now. But, I'm only a witch, and while I'll have a very long life by human standards, you're Asgardian—"

"Untrue! I am—"

"A Frost Giant, yes, shut up." She ignored Bucky's snicker at her admonishment. "You are an exceptionally long-lived alien. Bucky is a super-soldier whose cellular regeneration means he's going to outlive me, as well. You know what'll happen to the remaining two, what life will be like, if one of us dies. I don't want to leave you two to that fate, if I can help it."

God, she never would have thought there would come a day when she would wish the secret of creating the Sorcerer's Stone had not died with Nicholas Flamel and Dumbledore.

"You know . . . ." Loki tapped a finger against his chin as he thought. "Now that I am thinking on it, I do seem to recall hearing of an artifact that grants its bearer an exceedingly long life."

He waited a moment, catching each of their gazes, in turn, before he tacked on, "But the search for it could be . . . rather dangerous."

Bucky and Hermione exchanged a glance before answering in the same breath, "We're listening."

THE END

Again, thank you so much for reading!

END NOTE:

When I first started this fic back in November of 2015, there were no Bucky/Hermione stories to be found (I know, I looked, all I could find at that time was one fic that had them not as a pairing but as supporting cast for Cap/Harry). Now, looking back some time after BbY's completion, I'm happy to say it's become a thriving little ship. If this pairing's grown on you, please go check out the following author's profiles for more Bucky/Hermione works:

keelhaulrose [] xxDustnight88 [] Squarepeg72 [] Nanyin [] Travelilah [] Entwinedlove [] NoelleG [] Dreams of Athena [] sareen momo [] SlytherinStarkRavingMad [] RoyalAdvisor13 [] messica [] Magda the Magpie