Her Bound Heart Ch. 8 (Patreon)

Content Warnings: Nothing. 

Hermione groaned into her pillow as the alarm buzzed on her nightstand. She reached out blindly, patting around until her palm connected with the snooze button for the ninth time.

It took a minute for her actions to pierce through the haze of sleep surrounding her mind but when it did, she bolted upright, her eyes wide.

I hit the snooze button nine times!

“Fuck! Shit shit shit.” She took advantage of being alone in the playroom to get all the swearing out of her system. Hopping out of bed she rushed to the door, pulled it open and ran down the hallway to her sugar daddy’s bedroom.

It was empty, just as she had predicted. In their nearly one month of living together, she had never once known him to sleep in, even on his days off from work. They had fallen into a schedule ever since their evening together in the gardens of the family manor, finally settling into the life she had imagined she’d lead when she had signed the contract to become Harry Potter’s sugar baby and submissive.

She usually woke up at six, brushed, and walked down to his bedroom, silently kneeling next to his bed for the half hour it took for him to wake up. It was a splendid opportunity for her to organize herself for the day, the position and sheer submissiveness of the act itself working to focus her normally scattered thoughts. Once he’d woken up they showered together more often than not before he collared, plugged, and dressed her. Then it was off to work for him and classes for her.

Except Professor Merryweather (who she swore hated her) had assigned her extra coursework for a momentary lapse of attention in her class, conveniently ignoring the couple playing footsie in full view of everyone two rows behind her. She’d spent half the night working to finish the stupid essay and overslept.

I swear if she’s the reason I get edged tonight…

Hermione grumbled to herself as she followed the delicious smell of fried bacon down to the kitchen, knowing Harry had let her sleep in and started on breakfast by himself.

Something else that they had taken to doing together.

Goddamnit Merryweather.

She rushed into the kitchen, shooting off her apology before he even had a chance to speak. “I’m so sorry! I was up till three in the morning trying to finish a stupid essay and I know I’ve broken like a billion different rules but I swear it’s all my professor’s fault. She never should have assigned me the essay but I procrastinated and I’m taking responsibility. I’m sorry,” she rambled, finally pausing to take a breath.

“Good morning, Hermione,” Harry said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Susie, this is Hermione. Hermione, Susan.” Harry gestured with the mug in his hand to the statuesque redhead seated opposite him.

He wasn’t alone. Again. Hermione groaned silently.

I really need to start making sure he’s alone before I accidentally end up talking about plugs and kitten ears in front of his business partners.

Susan turned to wave at Hermione, a small smirk on her face. “You’re right. She is a cute little pixie.”

Hermione blushed. She tugged on the oversized t-shirt she had nicked from Harry’s closet, trying to pull it further down her thighs. “You told Susan about me?”

“Oh, he wouldn’t shut up about you in his letters. ‘Hermione is so smart. I could listen to her talk for hours. She’s a tiny, sassy goddess’,” Susan said, doing an uncanny imitation of her best friend. She ignored Harry’s glare, turning to wink at Hermione. “Mind you, I already knew most of what he said but his rambling was cute so I never let on we were friends in school.”

“You were?!”

“We weren’t close, but I did have a life outside of schtupping you in broom closets and preventing Neville from overrunning the castle with his plants, Harry.”

Hermione sighed. Right. The two had been best friends with benefits. A fact she had learned through casual hints and offhand comments from her sugar daddy.

She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but as she studied the gorgeous redhead with her perfect hourglass figure and luscious waist-length red curls, she suddenly wondered what sane man would pick her over someone like Susan Bones.

Overcome by an irrational fit of jealousy, she marched over to Harry’s side and waited until he had pulled his chair away from the table. She plopped down in his lap and smiled at Susan.

The message was clear.

He’s mine now.

Susan simply returned the smile with one of her own. “I see being adorable is a two-way street. So, tell me about the… ‘billion rules’ you’ve broken Hermione,” she murmured, her electric blue eyes sparkling mischievously.

Hermione gulped. She tilted her head to look at Harry, her eyes frantically begging him to save her.

“It’s too early to fuck with her, Bones.” Harry rolled his eyes, gently wrapping an arm around Hermione and pulling her into his chest.

Susan chuckled. “Just a little friendly teasing. We did it with Abbott when she started dating Neville too, remember?”

“Y-you know?” Hermione obediently opened her mouth, plucking the scrambled eggs from the fork Harry held in front of her lips.

“About your boyfriend’s tastes? Oh, I’m well acquainted with them.”

It was Harry’s turn to blush. “We… we aren’t. You know-”

“Live in denial, Potter. It suits you,” Susan muttered, cutting him off. “You live in denial, your father lives in denial… it’s practically a family trait at this point.”

“Dad? What’s he got to do with this?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I have absolutely no clue,” Harry responded stubbornly.

“Fine. Like I said, live in denial. It suits you.”

“You know everything?” Hermione asked, looking at Susan with big brown eyes.

“Hey, I deflowered this emotionally damaged young man. There are no secrets between us, right Potter?”

“If I remember correctly, it was a mutual deflowering Bones.”

“But the point stands.”

Harry shrugged in acceptance.

“Oh.”

Susan smiled. “If you’re worried about me judging you, Hermione, trust me, I don’t. She who shacked up with a married man in Rome for a month shall not cast the first stone.”

“Emilio? He was married?!” Harry exclaimed.

“That was my reaction too. Married with two children.” Susan held up two fingers. “Turns out my lover was an amazing cook and phenomenal at sex but the thing he was best at was lying his ass off.”

“What’d you do?” Hermione asked, slowly coming out of her shell. Susan’s gregarious nature was infectious.

“Me? Nothing. I just told his wife. She hexed his ass. Literally.” Susan smirked. “Now he farts uncontrollably every time he gets an erection.”

“Maybe I should learn the spell. Just in case Harry has more sugar babies he isn’t telling me about,” Hermione teased, turning so she could push her hands under Harry’s black shirt. She ran her hands over the firm muscles of his abdomen, savoring the unnatural warmth of his skin.

“Oh, I know him. He doesn’t,” Susan murmured, before whispering, “and I doubt he’ll ever need to find someone else.” She watched her best friend bend and capture his submissive’s lips with a satisfied smile, glad that she didn’t have to worry about him anymore.

“You’re on thin ice after your antics in the garden and the cheek you’ve been giving me all week, Miss Granger,” Harry growled against Hermione’s lips. “Not to mention the ‘billion rules’ you’ve broken this morning.”

“I already know I’m going to be punished,” Hermione whispered back, sighing as his hands massaged her thighs. “I might as well go all out so I know I really deserve it,” she added cheekily.

“Just you wait. I know you don’t have any classes today and I’m not going to work so I think we should spend all day making sure you… properly learn your lesson once Susan leaves,” Harry growled.

“Why do you have to wait for me to leave? I was actually thinking of spending the day with you so I can catch up on everything I’ve missed these past six months. You are a shitty best friend, Potter. I come home after half a year and you can’t wait to kick me out.” Susan groaned dramatically. She was eager to test her friend’s affection for his new amour. How protective was he of Hermione Granger?

“Do you get paid to ruin moments, Bones?” Harry growled, reluctantly pulling away from a panting Hermione.

“No, I do it because it brings joy to my black, shriveled heart. Why the hesitation? You literally had Adams suck you off under this very table while we planned my trip.”

“We haven’t really discussed public play yet, Susan. I’m not going to do anything that makes Hermione uncomfortable,” Harry said firmly, wrapping his arms protectively around Hermione’s tiny body. A gesture that wasn’t missed by Susan, who picked up her cup and brought it to her lips to hide her smile.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… shit, I’m sorry Hermione. I didn’t know it was a limit,” Susan murmured once she had brought the cup down.

“It’s not! It’s not.” Hermione alternated between looking at Susan and Harry, weighing her options. She could simply let Harry spend the day with his best friend and wait till evening for some alone time with him. That was probably what she’d have done a month ago. The new Hermione, however, really really wanted to flaunt her relationship in front of Susan.

She wanted Susan to see Harry with his kitten, to watch the ever-deepening bond she had with her dominant.

And if she was being honest, she was more than a little jealous and wanted Susan to know Harry was hers now.

“I just requested it be limited to the setting of kink clubs or around people we know and trust. We trust you,” Hermione whispered, resting her hand on Harry’s chest.

“Hermione-”

“I’m not going to make you choose between spending time with your best friend or with me on your day off, sir,” Hermione murmured, pushing her fingers through his messy black hair. “Remember my promise to you? If something makes me uncomfortable, I’ll tell you without hesitation. This doesn’t. I want Susan to watch,” she whispered, her eyes smoldering.

“Are you sure?”

Hermione nodded.

“You comfortable with this, Bones?”

“Again, I’ve watched a girl blow you under this very table. Fuck’s sake, we christened this table together when you bought the flat,” Susan muttered, rolling her eyes. Hermione buried her face in Harry’s chest to hide her pout.

They’d never actually had sex on the table, something she was now determined to change as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

“Alright. Come on. You can tell me all about Emilio in the playroom.” Harry pushed the chair away from the table and got to his feet, effortlessly carrying Hermione. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying her best not to stare at the graceful woman following them.

“Wow. This room looks… different.” Susan whistled as she walked into the playroom. The open racks with the toys and equipment had all been bundled into cupboards, the satin sheets on the bed had been changed to softer, more practical cotton ones, and a nightstand and armoire had been added. “There’s a desk. And a… bookshelf.”

“Harry let me renovate things a bit. Just to make it easier to live in,” Hermione explained as Harry set her down in the middle of the room.

“I offered her the spare bedroom but she wanted to sleep here.”

“It makes life much easier. Plus, I really like how it immerses me in the lifestyle. And living in this room means I’m practically in Subspace the minute I’m home. It’s very relaxing,” Hermione replied shyly, missing the silent conversation between the two best friends as she packed up the open books on her desk.

You let her change the playroom?

Harry shrugged. What was I supposed to do? Force her to live in discomfort?

Susan smirked and shook her head. You’re so whipped, she mimed a whip with her hands, her smirk growing bigger when Harry scowled.

Harry perched himself on the edge of the bed while Susan walked to the comfortable chair next to the desk and sat down, watching the couple happily. Hermione had shifted to the center of the room and stood there with her head bowed, awaiting further instructions from her dominant.

“Kneel.”

Hermione gracefully sank to her knees, the action second nature to her after a month of living as Harry’s submissive.

Susan watched the girl kneel with perfect form, waiting to see if she would tap out or safeword. She didn’t and Harry walked over to a cabinet, pulling open its top drawer and studying the paddles inside.

Susan sighed. While she was more than happy to help them indulge in one of their kinks, she didn’t want Hermione to rush into something simply to prove a point.

“Something wrong?” Harry asked, weighing a small black leather paddle in his hand.

“How upset do you think Auntie is with me?”

“Well, you left in the middle of the night three days before your parents’ death anniversary, Susie. I’d say she’s pretty damn upset.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how much madder is she going to get when I turn up without a gift for her or your father?”

Harry turned to look at her with an incredulous expression. “You breezed through all of Europe and you couldn’t pick out two things? Please tell me you’ve at least gotten wreaths for your parents’ graves.”

Susan sighed again. The death of her parents and his mother were topics they rarely discussed. They both grieved in their own unique ways. She ran as far away from their legacy and existence as she could, as if the distance could blunt the pain of their loss. He? He ran head first into Lily Potter’s legacy, trying to finish what she had started as a way to feel close to her.

She wondered if he’d ever realize what had drawn him to Hermione. An idealistic Muggleborn witch, smart as a tack and chomping at the bit to change the world around her.

“Shit,” she swore, running a hand through her long hair. “I should do that, huh?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Yes. And get a gift for your Aunt.”

“Do you still have that rare original scroll on Arthurian Treatises I lent you last year?”

“Yeah. It’s downstairs in the safe in my study.”

“Can you get it for me? She’s wanted to read it for a while. I’ll give her that and buy something nice from King’s Road as a peace offering. Sorry about this. I’ll sit in on a session some other day and catch up with you two at your father’s party?”

“Don’t forget to get a gift for him too,” Harry said, making his way out of the playroom to fetch her the scroll.

“I won’t.” Susan waited for Harry to leave before getting up and walking over to Hermione. She hadn’t moved or said anything during their entire conversation, the very picture of a perfect submissive.

“I know why you wanted me to stay and watch,” Susan said quietly, kneeling in front of Hermione.

Hermione’s eyes widened. “I… I just-”

“No need to deny it. I wasn’t born yesterday. You don’t need to justify yourself either,” Susan cut her off.

“It’s silly.”

“Yes, it is.” Susan had never been one to mince words, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“I don’t know why he picked me. I mean…” Hermione gestured in Susan’s general direction. “Look at you. Merlin, my ex used to stare at you all the time and that was when we were in an actual bloody relationship.”

“Who has Harry concentrated on this entire morning?”

Hermione couldn’t help the blush on her cheeks. “Me.”

“Now, you’re a smart girl. I’m sure you can figure out what that means. And if you want to indulge in your Exhibitionism kink, Hermione, do it for the right reasons, not because you want to prove something. Ask Harry to take you to Club Black. They host amazing masquerade parties on Sundays.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You have no idea how happy your little fit of possessiveness made me. Shows me it’s more than a job to you. That you care about him just as much as he cares about you,” Susan murmured. She rested a hand on Hermione’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “For future reference… me and Harry? There’s nothing there anymore. But he is a good man who has suffered a lot, Hermione. Lesser people… people like me? We cut and run. But he stays and fights, trying to make this unjust world a better place. And he might not show it, but he needs someone in his corner. Promise me you’ll take care of him.”

“I-I promise,” Hermione whispered shyly. This was not the conversation she had ever expected to have with Susan.

“Good.” Susan leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I can’t wait to embarrass you with the tale of how you vanished my eyebrows and hair in Charms at your wedding,” she teased with a grin.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, to remind Susan that she was nothing more than Harry’s sugar baby, only for Susan to pick up the panties she had discarded on the floor the night before and push the bunched-up cloth inside her mouth, gagging her without warning.

“Everything alright?” Harry asked, walking into the playroom, scroll in hand.

“Just saying goodbye to Hermione.” Susan walked over to Harry and grabbed the scroll, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “It was nice catching up with you. Don’t be late to your own father’s birthday party, Potter.” With that refrain and a wave in Hermione’s direction, she left, whistling happily.

“Are you alright, kitten?” Harry asked, closing the door once Susan had left.

Hermione nodded, her heart hammering in her chest. Susan was wrong. By his own admission, Harry did not date, had no time for love, and probably would never be interested in marrying someone, let alone her. There were no pretty white dresses and beautiful seaside weddings in their future.

“Shall we continue, Miss Granger?”

Hermione’s big eyes flickered from the smile on his face down to his large hands. She pushed Susan’s words from her mind. She had no idea what the future would hold, but she wasn’t about to ruin her present by worrying about it.

Her lips curled into a smile and she nodded. She locked her arms behind her back and bowed her head, ready for him to start their day together in whatever way he saw fit.

                                                             ---

Amelia looked up from the document she had been reading, smiling at the sight of James Potter leaning against the door of her office. She had spent the entire night working, something that had unfortunately become far more frequent than she had anticipated.

“Late night?”

“They’re all late these days. This mess in Albania isn’t going away quietly,” Amelia murmured. She wearily pulled off her glasses and started to polish them with her sleeve, waving at James to take a seat.

“You know my thoughts on the subject.”

“And you know Fudge won’t budge. So let’s stop talking about politics before you work yourself up into a frenzy. Tell me something else happening in your life. Anything outside the four walls of Wizengamot.” She picked up her wand and waved it, causing two mugs filled with steaming coffee to float over and gently settle down on the aged oak of the desk.

“I met my son’s new girlfriend.”

“Oh? Please tell me she’s not as vapid as the last one.”

“She’s a delight. Smart as hell. Actually wants to work in this madhouse once she’s done studying Magical Law.”

“How’d you meet her? Harry isn’t exactly open about his personal life, even with us.”

“How do you think I met her?”

Amelia groaned theatrically. “Is your office a magnet for shenanigans of that nature? The last time I made the mistake of walking in without knocking I saw Sirius and Marlene… you know what? It’s best if I don’t get into the specifics.”

“This wasn’t like that. It was sweet. She came over to cheer him up, I think. It reminded me of Lily passing me hard candy during long Order meetings because she knew I needed them to concentrate,” James said wistfully, a fond smile on his face. “He likes her a lot.”

“He told you?”

“Didn’t have to. I raised that kid, Lia. I know when he’s protective of something or someone. He’s falling in love. I could see it on his face, plain as day.”

“Let’s hope they marry before I put on too much weight to fit into the gorgeous dress you got me for Christmas. Long hours at the desk and ice cream from Fortescue's aren’t doing me any favors.”

James snorted. Despite her age and penchant for severe buns and understated black robes, Amelia Bones could pass for a gorgeous thirty-year-old on any given day.

“That’s why I’m so insistent about Albania, Lia. I want them to marry and grow old together. I want them to have everything we didn’t have. We have to deal with this. We can’t let it become their problem.”

Amelia sighed. “I’ll talk to Fudge later during the day.” She shook her head at his triumphant smile. “Don’t… don’t get your hopes up. I can already tell you how he’s going to reply.”

Notes:

So I had a different version of this chapter originally. But I saved it for later because I realized it would be much more impactful and fun when Hermione was closer to Harry's friends and had a real emotional bond with them. The same thing applies to Harry and Hermione's friends (Ginny). Also, I've never seen possessive Hermione so that's a joy to write! No Harry/Multi, just Harmony but Susan and Ginny are going to be their loveable shit-stirring best friends egging them on. The next chapter is going to be spicy so buckle in folks.