When Hermione went to sit beside him, he pulled her around so she was lying over his lap.
There wasn't much worry that he might spank her—she hadn't done anything wrong—but being over his knee always made her wriggle around with excitement.
"What are you doing?" she asked when he palmed her cheeks apart.
"Enlarging your plug and putting on some more cream."
She shivered. "How much bigger?"
"Just the next size up. Do you want me to take it out to do it or leave it in?"
Her hips wouldn't stop; she couldn't keep still. "Um . . . I don't know. Leave it in?"
He tapped the red jewel once with his wand.
He assumed it had worked by the way she moaned. "How was that?"
"Fuck," she whispered. "Weird."
"Tell me what it's like when you take it out in the morning."
"Is it going to hurt?"
"It shouldn't. It's just a touch bigger."
"Okay." There was no way she could be still after that.
Lucifer watched her wiggle across his knee for a minute before he summoned the jar.
She gave him a contented purr when he smoothed the cream over her skin, practically humping him.
"What time will you be here tomorrow?" he asked.
"Same time," she mumbled.
"Are you studying enough?"
"Besides you, it's all I do."
The white cream blended into the red of her marks, making them look pink for a few seconds before he rubbed it in. "That sounds healthy."
She smiled. "That what Samael says about you."
"That I'm healthy?"
"No. I told him that whenever my bum hurts it reminds me of you. He sarcastically said that was healthy."
"You think about me when your bum hurts?"
Hermione glanced over her shoulder at him. "Yes, of course."
"Every time?"
"Yes. I think about you a lot."
"What do you think about?"
She smiled to herself and rested her cheek against the seat. "Your hands on my arse mostly. Being over your knee or bent over your desk . . . or here in bed. I think about every single time you punished me, whether I liked it or not. I think about what you do to me afterward. I see you fucking me and coming about fifty times a day."
"How do you find time to study around all that?"
"I see it all in flashes, not real time."
"I see." He put more cream on her.
After he'd rubbed her so long her arse felt like satin, he sighed and figured he should send her back to her room.
"Come on, love. Put on your clothes. You need your sleep."
She made a noise of dissent but did as he said.
The cane marks were too fresh for any kind of argument.
He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her hair, inhaling one last hit of her before she left.
Hermione smiled when he tipped up her chin and kissed her.
It seemed he was trying to hold back, just a sweet kiss to send her on her way.
That wouldn't do. She needed to remember him.
Her tongue quickly slipped past his lips.
His surprised inhale cooled her cheek.
Clearly he thought her idea superior and deepened the kiss, licking his way into her mouth, tickling and teasing her.
Hermione could hear herself panting though her nose, smothered against his face.
He released her and stepped back with a dazed look.
"Get back to your room. Go to sleep."
She had more revising to do. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," he intoned.
Hermione was happy to hear him say it. "I'll miss you tonight." She knew she wouldn't sleep well, what with worrying about Triwizard Tournament and not being with him.
He nodded. Sleeping alone wasn't at the top of his list either.
With one last smile, she left.
xxxxxx
Every night she returned that week, Lucifer became more concerned.
The dark circles under her eyes grew sootier, and she smiled less and less each passing day.
In class on Friday, she looked as though she'd gotten makeup tips from an Inferius.
Harry was starting to look pretty ragged too, mostly dreaming about being killed every night, but Hermione half-lidded look of near-death topped him.
Lucifer would have thought she didn't know where she was, and just stared at him off and on throughout the class as usual—the only difference being she didn't look hot and bothered . . . more narcotized and blank.
Her appearance and demeanor worried him.
When he answered the soft knock on his door that Friday night, she looked drunk, her head weaving gently.
She took one long look at him and promptly fell against him and buried her crumpling face against his chest, her arms tight around his waist.
Closing the door against any prying eyes, Lucifer held her for a minute before speaking. "What's wrong, pet?"
"I'm so tired."
Her voice quavered with unshed tears. Lucifer felt his heart lurch down toward his stomach.
There was no stopping her obsessive reading about Triwizard, House-elves, and he didn't help to relieve the burden either....
But he would do what he could to staunch the deleterious effects.
Kissing the top of her head, he made her look at him. "Wait right here for a second."
She gave him a lackluster nod.
Going to the small cabinet on the far wall, he rummaged around until he found everything he was looking for.
Slipping some phials into his pocket, he returned to her unsteady form.
He scooped her up and carried her through his room and into the bathroom, where he deposited her on the counter.
A small smile tried to emerge on her tired face, but she seemed incapable of sustaining it.
Turning on the taps, he filled the tub with warm water and threw in a slew of recuperative soaking solutions.
All he had to do was dunk her in the concoction and get her to drink the contents of the phials in his pocket.
Starting with her shoes and socks, he began to undress her. "How much have you been sleeping?"
She shrugged.
"That much?" he quipped dryly. "You're staying with me tonight, and you're getting some sleep."
"Parvati will be worried if I don't come back."
"I'll send her a letter."
"She keeps trying to feed me," she said with a weak smile.
"Feed you?" Lucifer was pretty sure she'd been eating, he sat with her for fuck's sake during breakfast, lunch and dinner....
"Yes. I don't think she knows what else to do."
"She's got good reason to be worried. How could you let yourself get like this?"
Her lower lip trembled. "I'm doing the best I can."
"Why didn't you tell me? Get help?"
Hermione couldn't take one more thing piling on top of her.
His displeasure wasn't a weight she could bear.
xxxxxx
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