"It's obvious to me how much you care, because of how much this is affecting you. And I still feel the same way about you, even more now because I have at least an idea of how hard that was for you. Our friendship has always been unusually close, and I feel closer to you now than ever. I can't imagine something being as intimate as what just happened between, not even sex.
"No matter who we grow into, no matter where our relationship goes... what we just shared is something that can't be duplicated with anyone else. I can't ever have that same kind of bond and intimacy with someone else, even if we don't work out and we end up meeting other people… in that case, there might be others I ask to punish me, but no one else would ever be the same."
Harry's expression morphed into a scowl when she mentioned the possibility of their relationship not working out and at the idea of someone else punishing her, his arms tightened possessively around her.
"I'm not saying that will happen," she assured him, quickly leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. "Right now, I can't imagine being this close to, or trusting, anyone this much but you. But we are pretty young. We don't know what the future will be.
"The parts of your soul and mine that this experience exposed lets us know each other, and ourselves, in a way that nothing else can, and that's what lets us both truly forgive. I can forgive myself because of the parts of me that got laid bare emotionally through this experience... and now, hopefully you can forgive yourself by those parts I'm sharing with you right now."
She finally stopped talking, suddenly worried that she might have rambled too much by the blank expression on his face. Had she confused him, or worse upset him, by saying they might not last? Did he think she might not want to be with him?
Eventually he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, a kiss that she returned wholeheartedly, trying to show him just how she felt through that simple yet intimate contact.
"I think," he murmured after they separated. "I think I actually understand now. I feel a little better about the whole thing at least. I honestly think that was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, Mine. I don't want to have to do that very often… but I… I don't think it will be nearly as difficult in the future if I have to."
She beamed at him and kissed him again, a much more intense sort of kiss than the few they'd so recently shared, before she pulled back, secretly enjoying the slightly dazed look on his face, and rested her head on his shoulder again, shifting to a more comfortable position in his lap.
"What else do we still need to talk about?" she asked from his shoulder as she closed her eyes and just let herself relax, basking in the comfort she always felt with him.
"I'm not entirely certain, really," he muttered after taking a minute to think, humming quietly to himself all the while. "Why don't we… what if we break down everything that happened today? See how we each feel about it?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, everything I had you do today. How did you feel? Did anything make you uncomfortable at all, or did you think you particularly liked something?"
She could feel her face warming, nearly to match the heat in her other cheeks, and was rather glad that she was already resting her head so she didn't come up against his order not to hide from him. The urge to hide her face against his chest was bad enough as it was.
"I don't think there was anything I didn't enjoy in some way," she muttered, embarrassed to admit it aloud. "Having to bend over to write our contract… Merlin, that was so embarrassing, but exciting at the same time."
His body shook under her and it took her a moment to realize that he was laughing.
"I've noticed that," he admitted. "I've been trying to figure out what to do with you, and I've noticed the more embarrassing something is, the more excited you seem to get."
"How can you tell I'm excited? It's not like it's incredibly obvious like with you boys."
"You move."
She lifted her head at that, utterly confused by his response. "I move?" she asked incredulously, to which he laughed louder.
"Yes, you move," he said, a broad smile on his face. "When I had you write out your fantasies? The longer it went on, the more you shifted around in your seat. I've noticed when you're turned on, you seem to have trouble sitting still."
Her face suddenly got even hotter and she had to fight the urge to look down, away from those bright green eyes of his.
"Oh," she said in a small, surprised voice.
"I think it's only because I know you so well that I figured out what it meant honestly," he continued.
"You certainly do seem to like making me blush," she pointed out teasingly, and he shrugged.
"What can I say? You look so beautiful with that red in your cheeks," he told her, lifting one hand to touch her cheek before letting his fingers trail down her skin, over her throat and across her upper chest where her skin was slowly turning a brighter red. "I didn't realize just how far that blush of yours extended under your clothes though," he murmured. "That's certainly a fun discovery."
Hermione bit her lower lip as a shiver ran through her body at his gentle touch. A moment later she noticed his eyes weren't on her face anymore, instead he appeared to be looking at her hair, when both of his hands came up and reached around her head.
"Let's fix this," he muttered and she felt a light tugging at her hair as he untied the ribbon and pulled it loose. Immediately she turned in his lap and presented her back to him, lifting both hands to gather up her hair and hold it out of the way, so he could easily tie the ribbon back around her throat.
When he wrapped it around her neck and started to tie it, she shivered again at the pressure against her throat.
"How's that?" he asked.
"It can be tighter, Sir," she whispered, her heart racing as he slowly increased the pressure. "Right there, that's… that's perfect, Sir," she said when it was just a bit tighter than she had had it before.
She leaned back against him as his arms came around her middle, both of his hands resting on her bare stomach. Her eyes slid closed and she sighed again.
"I love how that feels," she admitted, letting the fingers of one hand brush against the soft silk around her neck. "I don't know why it's just…" She trailed off and felt more than heard him hum something as his chest rumbled against her back.
"What about your punishment?" he asked suddenly, and her eyes opened, staring at the wall across from them for a moment.
"How do you mean?"
She felt his body shift as he shrugged behind her. "Well… I tried to find something that would be a mix of physical and mental. How did you feel about it? Have you learned anything about yourself because of it?"
She had to think about that for a while, comparing her thoughts just before it to how she'd felt during. As she'd thought when he'd first said what her punishment was going to be, it had been humiliating, laying sprawled across his lap that way. They way he'd held her in place during and the actual pain of it…
"I think… honestly I think I actually enjoyed some aspects of it," she admitted slowly. "It was humiliating, like you were treating me like a child that had misbehaved or something. I don't know… it... it was exciting for some reason, and then I felt ashamed that I was getting excited by it, which just made it more arousing. The way you held me in place, and the pain itself…" She let her eyes fall closed again, blocking out the room around them to just focus on her thoughts, and what she'd felt. "I'm not entirely certain how to describe it," she finally let out, frustrated that she couldn't seem to articulate her feelings.
He hummed again, a noncommittal sort of sound, and his arms tightened slightly around her, pulling her up a bit so her body fit closer against his.
"Hey, what'd you mean earlier?" he asked and she tilted her head back against his shoulder in an attempt to look up at him.
"What'd I mean what earlier, Sir?" she asked, a small smile playing around her lips. "We've said a lot since we came in here."
"Okay, point to you on that," he chuckled. "I mean when you said you wanted less control. What'd you mean?"
She blinked several times, her mind flashing back to that part of the discussion. She'd almost forgotten it in the haze of her punishment, and the near terror she'd felt at that time when he'd suggested renegotiating their agreement again to give more control to her, she couldn't stop a shudder that ran through her at the memory, one of discomfort as opposed to the frequent pleasured tremors that she experienced around him.
"At the time, I honestly didn't have the slightest clue. I didn't really consider what I was saying, just that it was true. I'm just…" Her mind spun as she fell silent, trying to piece together what she might have meant, or how they might actually achieve the result of giving her less control than she currently had. However she kept coming back to the same problem. How could she have less control in a situation where she had none save ending it by using her safeword? She had no control left to give to him there unless they really did away with any limits they'd decided on, but even then they'd both agreed entirely to the absolute 'no's' so there wouldn't be any change.
"You… you were frustrated with the limitations by confining everything to while we're in this Room," she absently pointed out, and she could almost feel him raising a brow behind her in a quizzical manner even though she couldn't see him.
"Yeah?"
"What if… what if we extended things beyond the Room? Just a little?"
Now it was official, she could literally feel his confusion.
"Doesn't that sort of violate the keeping things separate rule?"
"We don't actually have a rule about keeping things separate, Sir," she pointed out. "We have one about not bringing in things from outside into what happens here. And we have the terms we use for each other in here, or when we're otherwise actively in the dynamic we're building, 'Sir' and 'Mine'. But none of the rules specifically state that only in here are we in the dynamic, and outside we're not. If that were true you'd have broken that rule yourself several times. Our first session that you surprised me with, the note you sent me at lunch the other day, any time you've called me 'Mine' outside of our space… even the homework assignment you gave me would have violated a rule like that."
As she spoke she was very careful to take note of her tone to ensure she didn't slip into her usual 'lecture mode' as her Sir liked to call it.
"Huh. You're right, I hadn't considered that. We'd have both broken that a dozen times over by now," he muttered thoughtfully. "So, did you have a suggestion then?"
I just might, she thought, idly chewing on her lower lip for a moment until she suddenly blinked in surprise when she felt him gently tugging her lip from between her teeth.
"You really need to stop doing that," he whispered. "You have no idea how sexy you look when you do that, and I can't have you distracting me right now, Mine."
She blushed again and squirmed slightly in his lap as the low tone of his voice seemed to send a shiver of pleasure through her body, then she suddenly froze as another thought clicked into place. Holy… he's right, I can't sit still when I'm turned on.
He laughed again, low in his throat as if he knew what she'd just realized and she turned in his lap until she was sitting sideways so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders again.
"You're terrible," she muttered.
"You love it."
She didn't say anything. Honestly, there wasn't anything she couldsay. He was right. She absolutely loved what he did to her, as much as the entire thing continued to amaze her. That he held so much control over her and her body's reactions was mind boggling, especially considering they were really only scratching the surface still.
"Suggestion?" he prompted a moment later, causing her to shake herself out of her thoughts and back into their conversation.
"Right. The only thing I can really think of is… well what if you started giving me orders to follow outside of here?" she waved absently at the Room with one hand, "Simple things that wouldn't draw attention to us, things that only you and I would know about? You could even give me new orders out there too, just whisper them to me, and as long as they're not something that would draw attention..."
"How would that work? Outside here, in the rest of our lives you're not my sub, you're my girlfriend, and I don't order my girlfriend around."
She frowned at that and sat up so she could see him. "But… I said it before, Sir, I'm your sub and your girlfriend. I don't stop being one or the other just because of where we are."
Once more, abject confusion was clear on his face and in his eyes. "But… but if we're keeping things separate, like you insisted, how does that make sense?"
Just like the day she figured out just what it actually meant to be submissive, and that she might have such a side within herself, she felt a fevered sensation growing inside her. A thrill at finally understanding something that had eluded her, as she started to realize just what might be the main cause of Harry's issues with their dynamic.
"Sir, have… have you been trying to keep me separate in your head like that this whole time? Almost like thinking of me as two different people?"
"Well of course I have. We're only in this dynamic in here, or if we're outside it's a lead up to coming here, or to our other room before now. When we're just sitting around with Ron, or in classes or doing our homework, you're my girlfriend, not my sub and I'm not your Dom."
"Yes... you are," she insisted, several things clicking forcefully into place in her mind. "Merlin, Sir, I'm so sorry. I… I didn't realize the whole idea of separation was confusing you like this," she muttered. Dammit, why hadn't she seen that? Emotional things were confusing for him, she knew that from the time he spent talking to her when she was petrified.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, how to explain it so you'll understand… not that I don't think you're capable of understanding," she hastened to add the last part. "I'm just… I'm not entirely certain how to explain it…."
She thought furiously, her brain on fire once again as thoughts raced around chasing about each other in a chaotic mess that only she would've been able to make any sense of.
"Sir… have you been having difficulty in keeping that separation you were trying for?"
"How do you mean?"
"It's something I was thinking when i read your note here. The order not to use the cushioning charm. I was thinking that you still treated me as a sub with the same kind of tenderness and care that you use with me as your girlfriend."
"Okay, now you're making even less sense. First you're saying that you're both sub and girlfriend, but now you're separating how I treat you depending on which one you are at the time."
"I think I can explain it," she said. "I just… can you please answer a couple more questions for me? Help me understand your thoughts, so I can explain mine?"
He sighed, clearly frustrated, but nodded for her to continue.
"Hey, this is part of us communicating better, right?" she reminded him. "We need to talk about our concerns with each other. And actually this leads me rather well to something that's been bothering me a little."
He considered that for a moment before he sighed again, though more in resignation than frustration. "You're right, and that was at my insistence too, that we talk more. So I'll try to be patient. What was your concern?"
Now that the moment was on her, she found herself suddenly extremely nervous, but if they wanted to move past this, they couldn't avoid talking about uncomfortable topics.
"I've… I've been wondering why you haven't been… haven't been using me, Sir," she mumbled, blushing furiously, but she absolutely refused to look away from him.
He didn't seem to be in much better shape thankfully, his own cheeks blooming with a brilliant red as he shifted nervously under her. "You mean… uh…."
"Sexually," she said bluntly. "Every session I've been fully dressed, until this one." She glanced down at her naked body, his eyes following her gaze until stopping on her bare breasts for a moment. She grinned as he tilted his head back up to look her in the eyes. "Exactly, Sir," she teased, her grin widening as he growled at her. "But really, it's things like that, that have been confusing me. You know I'd get on my knees right now and suck your c-cock if you ordered me to, Sir. And I've seen that you like looking at me, so why haven't you done anything? Using me for your pleasure and mine is a part of this whole thing."
His mouth dropped open slightly when she said 'cock', even though she did stumble a little over the word, overcoming her natural inclination not to use crude language, and she felt a thrill of pride that she was able to surprise him. He recovered quickly though, leaning back more against the corner of the sofa.
"I haven't really been sure," he admitted. "That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. One of my issues with this... what I mentioned the other day... and after we first wrote out the contract and discussed all this... later that day, I was wondering about it. You… you seemed so insistent on wanting a more sexual aspect to this. But outside of our space, whatever room we're using, I haven't seen that same kind of… desire, I guess? I mean. As my sub, you want this, obviously. But as my girlfriend? Outside of here you haven't seemed interested. Or maybe it just… I don't know. I wasn't sure if you only wanted to do things together in here, or what… I don't know that I'm making any sense at all now."
"No… no that does make sense, Sir," she disagreed. "I think I understand at least. And I believe part of that problem is a matter of balance. I mean… really, outside of when we get away for a session, or when we'd discuss the aspects of this dynamic, when are we ever really alone? Just the two of us, with no one else around?"
He thought about that for a moment before he shrugged. "Never really."
"Right. We haven't been able to… oh say... go on a date or something, since your awful Uncle wouldn't sign your Hogsmeade slip. So us spending time as a couple has kind of been overshadowed by us being in this dynamic. Although… you realize that I could be your sub and us not actually be a couple, right?"
A hurt look flashed across his face for a moment.
"Not to say I don't want us to be together, I do, Sir. I… I think I've wanted it for a long time actually, I just kept trying to convince myself otherwise. My point was, that other people could just have the dynamic if they wanted, without being in an actual relationship. They could limit themselves to simply using each other in a scene or session, however they want to define it, and otherwise they could not even be friends for all we know. I don't think that would be a lasting thing, but it could be done.
"The difference here is we are a couple. What I want as your sub, I want as your girlfriend too. I want to kiss you and more. We just haven't really gotten away except for these times."
By the time she finished he was smiling again, and she couldn't help but answer with a smile of her own as she leaned forward to kiss him. "I wish you'd said something sooner," she murmured against his lips. "We really haven't been making this easy on ourselves."
"We're getting better though," he pointed out, and she backed away, nodding her head.
"Okay, so… we'll come back to that in a moment," she said, causing him to give her another quizzical look but she'd already moved on. "As far as the separation goes. What I most meant was outside of this Room, or wherever we happen to be when you're controlling me, or commanding me… well, wouldn't it seem odd if you gave me an order around Ron, and I just obeyed you without question? Or if you spoke to me the way you do in here? People would ask questions. They'd wonder what was going on, and we don't want everyone knowing our personal business, right?
"I meant it more as a way to try to stop us from accidentally falling into the habit of order and obey, so that when we're in public we don't do or say something that gives us away… does that make sense? I didn't mean that, outside of here that I'm not still your sub. I am always your sub, Sir. I am always going to be yours to control. I… being submissive to you… that isn't something I just decided would be fun, though I certainly do enjoy it.
"It's a part of me, it's a part of who I am, and what I am. I didn't really understand that at first, but I'm starting to. I don't want you to control me, I need you to. I feel… it makes me feel wonderful when you take command of me, and when I know what I've done pleases you. I… I can't think of how to explain it other than that."
By the time she finished there was a desperate, almost pleading tone to her voice, as if begging him to understand what she was saying and he placed his hands on her shoulders before he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.
"So," he asked quietly a few minutes later. "Let me see if I understand this all correctly. I've been worrying over how I treat you as my girlfriend versus as my sub… for no reason, basically? Just a misunderstanding of what we each understood 'separate' to mean in this situation?"
She nodded, her face pressed against his neck, slowly breathing in the scent of his skin. "That's pretty much it. Whatever we would do in here, I would be just as willing to do as your girlfriend somewhere else, since I'm always your sub and always your girlfriend at the same time."
He let out a long breath followed by a rather self deprecating chuckle. "Well… damn, I feel kind of stupid. I really should have asked this weeks ago, I just… I wasn't really sure how to do that."
"So… does this mean you're going to stop worrying, and stop holding back with me?" she asked hesitantly.
"Might not just get better overnight, but I'm certainly going to try. It'll be easier, I think, knowing that treating you differently depends on where we are, not what role we're each playing. Because it's not a role for you, is it? Like you said, it's a part of you, not something you're pretending."
Hermione nodded again, smiling though something about what he said tickled her attention, she just wasn't sure what, yet.
The alarm on Harry's watch started beeping and his head fell back as he let out a groan.
"It's nearly time for dinner," he muttered, reaching over to silence the incessant noise.
"I should get dressed then," she said, disappointed that their time was up. She was tempted to use the Time Turner, but then they would have had to find a different room and none would be as secure as this one. Better to wait, she thought and reluctantly climbed off of Harry's lap. She very carefully did not smirk or grin when Harry attempted to subtly adjust himself, but she noticed and loved the effect she had on him.
Walking over to the chest she pulled out her clothes, slightly surprised that she wasn't feeling at all embarrassed to just be standing there naked in front of him as she laid each item out and started dressing. She moved almost on auto-pilot, her mind analyzing everything that had happened, and everything they'd discussed as she dressed, first pulling a red pair of her boyshort knickers up her legs and over her hips before she reached for the matching bra. Her skirt followed, and she'd pulled on her blouse, but had yet to button it when she suddenly froze in place, her eyes taking on a distant look for a few moments before she suddenly turned to Harry, her blouse hanging open still.
"You said 'it's a part of you. Not something you're pretending.'," she blurted out, and Harry turned from where he'd moved to roll up their new contract so he could tuck it into her bag for safe keeping.
"What was that?" he asked, looking up at her with a confused expression coming over his face.
She started buttoning her blouse, a distressed feeling growing in her chest. "When you were talking about it being easier in the future, not having to think of the roles we're playing so much as where we are. You said that it wasn't a role for me, and that it was a part of me."
His eyes moved toward the ceiling as he thought back for a moment, and finally he nodded. "Yeah, I think that's what I said. Why?"
She didn't answer at first, taking time to tuck in her blouse and then placed her Time Turner back around her neck, tucking it under her clothes, and then pulling on her robes.
"You didn't say anything about you, Harry," she pointed out. "You didn't say that being a Dom is a part of you. I know when we started, you really didn't choose it because you wanted to, but because you wanted to help me. I appreciate you wanting to help, Harry, but I said it before it won't work, not in the long run if this isn't something you want. If it's not a part of who you are, do you think you'll be able to keep being my Dom? Or will you get tired of the 'role' eventually."
The expression on Harry's face she thought she might have easily reproduce by punching him in the nose without any reason or warning. It was a pained, confused expression, and she really didn't like seeing it. Silence filled the room as she finished dressing, and gathered the rest of her belongings, slinging one strap of her bag over her right shoulder.
"Don't answer me right now. Please… think about this very carefully, Harry. I… I really need you to know… to truly know that you want this. Not just that you're willing to do it for me, but that you want to do it for yourself, too. Does that make sense?"
Frowning, he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think so," he muttered.
Moving over to him she pulled him into a hug and kissed him gently. "Please, think about this," she repeated, looking into his eyes the entire time. "It's extremely important. Once you have an answer, let me know, and we'll figure out what we can do from there, okay?"
"I understand, Hermione," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I obviously didn't think all this through well enough at the beginning. But I promise, I'll consider it extremely carefully now, and I'll get you your answer as quickly as I can."
Merlin, she hoped that he truly did want this dynamic. If he didn't… she honestly wasn't sure if their relationship could survive it. She understood, finally, that she honestly needed the dynamic they were building, and if he couldn't fulfill that role, she didn't know how they could work things out.
"Come on," she said, forcing a smile onto her lips so as not to worry him. "We need to go down to eat, and I have a question for you." She hooked her arm through his and the two of them left the Room, the door vanishing behind them as they walked away.
"I've been wondering since earlier. How did you summon the chest that had that paddle in it? And then how did you send it back? We haven't learned the summoning charm yet, and you shouldn't have been able to do either of those wandlessly."
He looked at her and grinned, that lopsided boyish sort of grin that was such a trademark of his it was nearly more recognizable, to her, than the lightning bolt scar above his eye. "The Room did that."
"Wait, what? How?"
"I requested the Room, so I control it while I'm there," he explained as they made their way toward the Great Hall. "I needed the chest by me, so the Room made it happen."
She considered that for a moment. "So… waving your hand…"
"Complete theatrics," he confirmed. "I could have sat there completely motionless and the thing still would have come flying over when I wanted it to."
Hermione shook her head, dumbfounded by the changes the last few weeks had wrought in her boyfriend. He'd never been one for that kind of sleight-of-hand showmanship. He wasn't one to showboat or to do something simply because of how it would appear to someone else. He was a straightforward type of person, but she had to admit this new side of him was certainly entertaining.
By that time, the halls around them had become more populated, and they joined a small stream of students heading toward the Great Hall, forcing them to turn their conversation to more mundane topics. Harry started asking about the day's Ancient Runes lesson. He was still behind the rest of them, but Professor Babbling had commented that it was built off of a lesson from the previous term that he'd already covered so they were able to lobby ideas and concepts back and forth while they walked.
"'Bout time you two showed up," Ron complained when they sat down across from him at the Gryffindor table. "Haven't seen either of you since classes ended."
"Did you check the Library?" Harry asked, and the look on Ron's face told them both clearly that no, he had not.
"We were there for a little while, had to do some classwork, and then we went out walking," he said as he passed a platter of steak and kidney pie down the table. Hermione mostly tuned them out at the point, turning her attention to her meal as she was quite suddenly ravenous. Idly she supposed that had something to do with the strain she'd been put under earlier; physically, emotionally, and mentally, the entire experience had been draining, satisfying, and completely worth every bit of pain, but now she was starting to flag.
She shifted slightly in her spot on the bench, holding back a wince as the movement reminded her that her arse still burned like the dickens. She'd have to check in the morning and see if she had any bruises, she supposed.
Or maybe Sir could check for you? she thought, then dismissed the idea as she still wasn't sure what Harry was going to decide. She sighed when she suddenly felt Harry's arm wrap around her, allowing her to lean into him just a bit.
A moment later his chin was resting on her shoulder, and she felt his warm breath brush across her ear, as he quietly whispered, "Mine?"
She was fairly positive her entire body went completely rigid as that single word registered, her eyes darting wildly back and forth for a moment before she realized that not a single person was paying them the slightest bit of attention. A hopeful sensation grew, and she very carefully restrained her reaction to an equally quiet, "Sir?"
"We'll be having our next session this Saturday, we'll work out the time later. When you get to the room, I want you to wait for me, just as you were today. I think that will be standard from now on. Do you understand."
Kneeling naked, waiting for you? "Yes, Sir, I understand," she replied, feeling practically giddy as she realized that this was his way of letting her know his decision. He really did want what they had.
"One more thing. Between now and then, I want you to prepare a list, Mine."
A list? Where's he going with this?
"A list of what, Sir?"
"Five things that you want to try. I'll decide what, if any of them, we actually do. But you'll have that list ready for me come Saturday."
Almost immediately she couldn't help but shift her weight slightly in her seat, and she swore she could practically hear him smirking as she moved.
"Yes, Sir," she practically squeaked out.
"Good girl," he whispered and she closed her eyes for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek to distract her.
His arm tightened in a quick squeeze around her middle before he straightened up, turning away from her to speak to Neville, whom was sitting on Ron's other side and across the table from them.
"Hermione? Are you okay?"
Startled, her eyes opened and she turned to see her dorm mate giving her a curious look from a few seats away on her other side.
"I'm fine, Lavender," she choked out. "Just… bit my tongue accidentally."
The giggly blond didn't seem entirely convinced, but she shrugged anyway and turned back to her conversation with Parvati, leaving Hermione to turn back and level a glare at her boyfriend. He wasn't looking her way, but she could tell he was smirking.
You enjoyed that, didn't you, Potter? she thought, entirely too thrilled with him to be in any way upset with how smug he was acting.
She returned to her dinner, considerably more cheerful than she'd been moments before. With the concern over what Harry would decide alleviated, she turned her thoughts to something else. How could she show him just how much she wanted him as her Dom while everyone else still just saw her being his girlfriend in public? She considered several different ideas throughout the rest of the meal, and they were making their way toward the Tower to relax before bed, when she struck on something that she felt would properly convey her commitment. She only wondered if she would have the nerve to actually do it.
Entering the Common Room, she followed him over to their usual sofa by the fire. As they sat she checked her watch, quickly doing some math in her head. Since she'd left for her punishment immediately after class, she hadn't gotten around to any of her assignments yet, and there was no way that she was willing to let them sit, wasting the time she had and could be working on them. A look around the room showed that it was still fairly crowded, early enough in the evening that most of the Tower's occupants were present, either lounging around or doing their own classwork. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully as she tried to decide what course to take.
"You need to stop doing that," Harry murmured, and she blinked in surprise when she felt him gently tugging her lip from between her teeth. "I already told you what that does to me, Mine."
"Sorry," she muttered, blushing slightly, but grinning in spite of herself. She looked around again then leaned against him, pulling her legs up so that she was half laying down, her upper body propped up against him as his left arm came around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and tilted her head back so her lips were close to his ear.
"Sir?" she whispered.
"Hmmm?"
"I'd… I'd like to show you what I meant. About wanting you as my Dom but still being your girlfriend."
He turned his head slightly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"How so?"
At that she nearly bit her lip again, but stopped herself, unsure if he really meant it as an order, or if he was just teasing her about that habit.
"If… if I tell you it would sort of lose some of the impact, Sir."
He turned back to face the fire, relaxing back into the sofa as he thought before slowly nodding his head.
"Go ahead then, Mine," he whispered, and she nodded, lifting her head for a moment to make sure no one was looking in their direction. When she was certain they weren't being observed, she laid her head back down, and with her left hand she quickly reached under her skirt and grasped the edge of her knickers. A quick press of her legs to lift her hips slightly, and a tug of her hand, and she was sliding them down her legs until she was able to pull them off over her shoes. Reaching over she stuffed them into his robe pocket and leaned her head back again to look up at him, noting the shocked expression on his face with more than a little satisfaction.
His shock slowly morphed into that tiny smirk that she'd come to both love and view with a sense of trepidation, as he patted his pocket with his free hand for a moment.
"Well… you gave them to me, Mine. They belong to me now, and you're not to wear any more until I say you can. Do you understand?"
She was positive that her face probably mirrored his shocked look from moments before, as she ducked her head slightly, while still keeping eye contact with him. Slowly a small, pleased smile turned up her lips and she murmured, "Yes, Sir."