A/N: Here''s the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Hermione POV!
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As Hermione steps into the Head Unspeakable''s Office, she''s not surprised to see Harry there. After all, it was through his influence that she''d been recruited into the Department of Mysteries in the first place and he''d become something of a regular visitor to the Department in the last few years.
She IS surprised to see the Head Unspeakable not wearing her identity-concealing robes, however. The Department of Mysteries was incredibly compartmentalized and until precisely this moment, even Hermione hadn''t been privy to the Head Unspeakable''s true identity.
That might beg the question of how she knows this witch is the Head Unspeakable, but Hermione is fairly confident through context clues alone. Like the fact that the older woman is sitting behind the Head Unspeakable''s desk for one. And the fact that the Head Unspeakable''s Office was notoriously well-warded against trespassers and intruders.
Also…
"Unspeakable Granger, please remove your robes."
There was the fact that the woman recognized Hermione on sight, something that only the Head Unspeakable should have been capable of. And the word ''should'' is only applicable because Harry often likes to make a mockery of anything Hermione holds to be true. She can tell he''s not surprised to find out its her, and though she''s always kept things strictly professional when he''s visited the Department, she''s confident he''s always known its her under the robes.
Pulling down her hood and shucking off her robes, Hermione folds them carefully and sets them down nearby, even as she takes in the scene and notes evidence of a recent ritual on the floor in the center of the office. Her eyes light up with excitement but she catches herself before she can feel too hopeful, even as she approaches the desk.
"In the interest of full disclosure, my name is Andromeda Tonks. Mother to Auror Nymphadora Tonks and sister to Lady Narcissa Malfoy and… Bellatrix Lestrange."
Hermione''s eyes widen slightly. She might not have known Andromeda on sight (which makes sense given the woman is the Head Unspeakable and they''re notoriously private) but she certainly recognized all of those names. Tonks was even a friend of hers. Did the Auror know that her mother was the Head Unspeakable? Probably not. And it wasn''t Hermione''s place to tell her either.
Inclining her head in Andromeda''s direction, Hermione simply nods.
"I will not betray this show of trust, ma''am."
Smirking, Andromeda just shakes her head.
"I''m sure you won''t. Especially after today."
The unmasked Head Unspeakable gives Harry a pointed look at that, causing Hermione to turn towards the time traveler as well. In response, Harry grimaces.
"… Nothing is set in stone yet. We still need to discuss this first."
Hermione can tell Harry is concerned about something. That all but cinches it in her mind. Deciding it''s best to cut to the chase, she leans forward eagerly.
"Is this about the binding? If you''re finally offering it, I''m more than ready, Harry."
Silence falls as Andromeda''s face splits into a broad smile while Harry just looks gobsmacked. He stares at her with wide eyes for a moment before shaking his head in sheer shock.
"You… knew?"
Andromeda chuckles from behind her desk, the older witch sitting back with eyes that glint in amusement.
"It doesn''t surprise me in the least. Ms. Granger has proven herself to have quite the voracious appetite for knowledge."
Hermione can''t help but blush at that. While she appreciates her superior''s praise, part of her can''t help but feel like she didn''t really deserve it. The truth was… joining the Department of Mysteries had been an eye opener for the muggleborn witch.
Back at Hogwarts, she''d been quite confident in herself, at least insofar as scholastic pursuits were concerned. She was best in her year every year, and she knew she was smarter than many of the wizards and witches who were older than her as well.
On top of that, there was the trust Harry had put in her when he''d given her the project she was even now working on. He''d come to her above all others with his findings and while it had been a while before he''d confirmed that his true source of knowledge was from an apocalyptic future, there was still no denying that he''d thought SHE of all people could lend a hand in saving the magical world.
Joining the Department of Mysteries and becoming an Unspeakable however, had been like a bucket of ice water to the face. Maybe in the future that never was with a decade or two of extra learning under her belt, that Hermione had been worthy of Harry''s consideration and faith.
But in this timeline, it wasn''t until becoming an Unspeakable that the muggleborn was forced to confront just how much she truly didn''t know. It wasn''t until she was working at the Department of Mysteries that Hermione had fully come to realize just how much there was she still needed to learn.
She''s been playing catch up ever since, and while she''s definitely made great strides, Hermione no longer thinks she can solve the problems Harry opened their eyes to on her own. Fortunately, she doesn''t have to. Between Andromeda and the other Unspeakables, they''ve made significant progress on magitech through collaborative efforts.
Still, even if Hermione wasn''t NEARLY as smart as everyone always liked to talk her up as being… she also wasn''t an idiot. She could put two and two together and come to four, and she could take everything Harry had slowly told her over the years along with his actions and recognize when something didn''t QUITE add up.
Specifically, Harry''s power. He was impossibly powerful and really didn''t make much of an effort at hiding it. His magic went beyond the recorded feats of any other wizard or witch in all of history, including the Founders, Merlin, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Voldemort.
Watching him, Hermione had eventually realized Harry didn''t just have a harem for the fun of it. There was a purpose to his collection of beautiful witches. In the end, she''d figured out the general idea of what he must have done but stayed silent, patiently waiting for him to come to her and bring her into the fold himself.
Now… now it was finally happening it would seem. She would have preferred it happened sooner, but better late than never.
Still, in the face of Harry''s surprise and Andromeda''s smugness, Hermione smiles apologetically and shakes her head.
"I only really figured it out thanks to everything I''ve been taught here at the Department of Mysteries. I couldn''t have put the pieces together on my own, I don''t think."
Smirking, Andromeda chuckles again.
"So very humble, Ms. Granger. You don''t give yourself enough credit."
Hermione just continues smiling apologetically even as she waits for Harry to recover. Finally, he lets out a small incredulous laugh of his own.
"Andromeda is right. You don''t give yourself enough credit, Hermione. Here I am thinking that I''m keeping the big stuff under wraps, but everywhere I turn today, it seems I''ve been already been found out."
Humming, Hermione can''t help letting her curiosity get the better of her.
"There is one question I had… why did you wait so long with me?"
Harry winces and squirms, prompting Andromeda to explain.
"He was worried that you would jump at the chance because you trust him implicitly, Ms. Granger. Which to be fair, you didn''t just jump at the chance, you jumped ahead of him even performing the reveal."
Hermione flushes at that, but Andromeda isn''t actually reprimanding her or anything. Still, she can''t help but cross her arms over her chest, scowling a little bit at Harry.
"I am a grown, adult woman Harry. I can make my own informed choices, I should think."
Sighing, Harry slowly nods.
"You''re right, of course. I just… in the original timeline, you married Ron. In this timeline, I never bothered rekindling my friendship with him and I guess I''ve always blamed myself for you two drifting apart as well over the years. Its my fault you didn''t get married."
Married Ron? Hermione''s mind bluescreens for a moment. She''s glad for that because if she hadn''t come to a complete stop at the news, she might have blurted out something incredibly offensive directed as her future self. Something a bit beyond ''what the FUCK was she thinking?!''.
There''s just… it''s not… Hermione doesn''t hate Ron Weasley or anything like that. It was just like Harry said, they''ve simply drifted apart. It helps that the trajectory of their lives took them apart as well. Last Hermione heard, Ron was an Assistant Coach for the Chudley Cannons. Meanwhile, she was an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries. They hadn''t seen each other in years and the very idea of trying to make a marriage with Ron work was putting her on edge.
Frankly, as far as Hermione is concerned, Harry had saved her a lot of grief and helped her dodge a bullet. But she can''t just say that because it''s obvious that her best friend and infrequent lover has put her future self on a bit of a pedestal.
Instead of deriding her future self for being a complete idiot, Hermione takes a deep breath and then locks eyes with Harry.
"Well then… it sounds to me like you''ve been shirking your responsibility."
He looks confused by that, so Hermione continues on to explain in an even, matter-of-fact tone.
"If you really did derail my life like you thought… then it only stands to reason that you make it up to me. I want this and you wouldn''t be offering it if you didn''t want it as well."
Hermione''s eyes do flicker to Andromeda though, because she''s not sure what part the Head Unspeakable plays in all of this. The older witch grins at her.
"Oh right. What you don''t know yet is that the binding can go both ways. Chief Warlock Potter here will have access your magic… but he can also boost your magic with his own substantial reserves to levels you''ve never felt before. I convinced him that such a thing would be necessary given where your research is at Ms. Granger."
That… her eyes widen as she looks to Harry. That part she had NOT known about. Also, she hadn''t heard that he''d become the Chief Warlock either. It must have just happened today. Still, she focuses on the important bit.
"She''s right, Harry. A little bit of extra power would go a long way with our experiments. It could be just what we need for a proper breakthrough."
Harry hesitates for just a moment longer before slowly nodding and standing up from his chair.
"Very well. We''re not doing this here though. I''ve already performed one ritual in this office recently. The ambient magic left behind could disrupt a second so we''re going to have to take this back to my place."
Hermione shares a look with Andromeda at that. Both of them could smell made-up magical bullshit from a mile away and Harry''s excuse didn''t exactly line up with what either of them knew about rituals. Still, it wasn''t like Hermione was going to call him out on it and Andromeda clearly wasn''t either.
Smiling, the Head Unspeakable nods as she simply sits back in her chair.
"Of course Chief Warlock. I leave Unspeakable Granger in your capable hands. And Unspeakable Granger, I look forward to both of us seeing exactly what sort of knowledge we can uncover together in the upcoming days."
That''s right. Because Andromeda had just been bound as well. Hermione should probably be jealous about that, but instead she''s just excited by the prospect of more research conducted at the Head Unspeakable''s side with both of them having access to enough magical power to bypass previous limitations.
Oh, this was going to be such fun!
… But she couldn''t get ahead of herself. Instead, following Harry back to his place, Hermione bites her lower lip as she prepares herself for what comes next. Though, given the opportunity while he''s creating a new ritual circle, she does ask about the other bombshell Andromeda had dropped.
"So… Chief Warlock now?"
Glancing up from his work, Harry just smirks a little bit.
"It was time. Lady Malfoy was more than willing to give it up."
Hermione snorts derisively at that. While on the face of things Narcissa Malfoy seemed like the absolute worst person someone like Hermione could want in charge of the Wizengamot… the truth was, she was barely a Blood Purist these days.
Not that there were even many of those types left after Harry defeated the Dark Lord one final time, but still… Narcissa was the perfect foil to Harry''s push for change. She pushed back just enough to keep the traditionalists happy, while providing a soft opposition for their plans of moving forward.
Other muggleborns despised Narcissa Malfoy as Chief Warlock, but Hermione had learned to look at a situation from multiple layers. In the end, Lady Malfoy was exactly the right person to have in the job until Harry could take over. Not least of which because she was one of his witches.
As Harry gets close to finishing the ritual circle, Hermione exhales lowly… and takes the plunge, stripping down to her birthday suit and freeing her body from the rest of her garments. When he finally turns around to speak to her, the sight of her nudity stops Harry dead in his tracks and he just stares at her for a moment, causing Hermione to blush.
It wasn''t like it was anything he hadn''t seen before. And she couldn''t possibly be convinced that she was the most beautiful woman he had regular sex with either. Yet here they were all the same. She was standing there all but posing for him and Harry enjoying the view.
"… S-Shall we?"
Harry blinks before letting out a little laugh and nodding. Sear?h the n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Sure, let''s get down to business."
However, as he vanishes his own clothing and moves towards the circle, Hermione stops him… and sinks to her knees first, taking his cock in her hand.
"Nothing wrong with mixing a little bit of business with pleasure, now is there?"
Harry grunts as she proceeds to lay a long lick across the surface of his cock.
"No… no there is not. Which is why I''m letting you decide the position when we finally get to the ritual."
Hermione blinks but nods as she begins to work over Harry''s cock with her mouth. Fuck, she''s glad she went for this first now. It''ll give her time to come to a decision.
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The Vote:
[ ] On her back - 30%
[X] On her hands and knees - 60%
[ ] On her side - 10%
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