HP fic: Three Is a Magic Number [Draco/Harry/Hermione, adult]
Title: Three Is a Magic Number Author: celandineb Fandom: HP Pairing: Hermione/OCs, Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Draco/Harry Rating: adult Length: 23,543 words (posted in three parts) (9239 this part) Warnings: BDSM, polyamory, EWE Summary: Hermione never expected to become a domme, and she certainly never expected it to lead her down this path in life. Note: Written for the hermionebigbang in 2009. This was inspired by several drabbles and ficlets that I wrote for inell. Many, many thanks to snegurochka_lee for beta-ing; her suggestions have (I hope) much improved the story, and any remaining errors and infelicities are entirely my own responsibility.
He and Harry did manage to have dinner together that week; Draco reported to Hermione afterward that he had certainly had a good time, and that he thought Harry had as well, although without giving too many details. Which was, after all the point, that Harry and Draco should have private things together without having to include Hermione in everything. Still, in order to accept the state of things she had to remind herself that the same would be true when she and Harry had time to be together, without Draco.
She was also glad that Draco had pointed out to Harry that he, Draco, would want to spend time alone with Hermione as well. Living together of course they were around each other in the mornings and evenings, but they needed to be sure that there would be some real "couple time" as well, in particular, time for the sort of play that had brought them together in the first place.
Communication between the three of them wasn't always perfect, naturally, a fact that was brought home to them all one Sunday. Hermione and Draco had both agreed that eventually they would need to tell Harry about their established dominant-submissive relationship, but neither of them was quite sure when and how it would be best to tell Harry. In the meantime, they continued with it when Harry was not around... or at least, so they thought.
"Ten... eleven... twelve," Draco counted, his reddened arse flexing as each stroke fell. He was pressed against the wall, arms outspread and held by ropes, head turned to the side, eyes closed.
Hermione stopped, reversing her hold on the flogger and running the handle of it down his spine, probing between his buttocks. "I really should consider getting a strap-on," she murmured. "Watching Harry fuck you makes me want to do it myself."
"Yes," Draco agreed.
"Maybe we can go pick one out together." She stroked his arse. "Another dozen? Pick up the count."
Swish-crack.
"Thirteen... fourteen..."
“What are you doing?" Harry's voice cracked from the doorway, his expression wavering between astonishment and horror as Hermione turned to look at him.
"Caught," murmured Draco, and Hermione lowered her arm so that the flogger brushed the floor.
"What does it look like, Harry?"
"You – but I – you never told me that you did this stuff," Harry said.
"Finite incantatem." At Hermione's words the ropes binding Draco vanished, and they both stepped toward Harry.
"It wasn't that we were trying to hide this from you," Hermione assured him. "Honestly. I just wasn't sure if you'd be interested, and I didn't want to make you think that you had to be."
"It's true, Harry." Draco touched Harry's cheek to make Harry look at him. "We were going to talk to you about it eventually; we didn't expect you here so early today. I thought you were just coming for dinner."
"Are you very upset?" Hermione asked a little anxiously.
Harry let out a long breath. "Not exactly. Not by what you were doing so much as by the fact that you never even hinted that you did anything like this."
"I'm sorry," she said. "I wasn't thinking about the fact that you might feel excluded."
"Okay," Harry said. "Just don't keep the secrets like this another time, all right?"
They both nodded. Draco asked, "Are you interested in it yourself? Would you like to watch?"
"I – yes, I think I would," said Harry. "I'd like to understand. Do you take turns?"
"No, Hermione doesn't enjoy submission the way that I do," Draco said. "She's an excellent dominatrix, though, whether or not she's inflicting pain."
Hermione blushed at the compliment. "There's something beautiful about complete and voluntary obedience," she tried to explain.
Harry looked a little confused, but he nodded. "I guess I see. Maybe watching will help me understand better."
"You don't need to participate, nor even watch if you don't want to," Hermione said.
"We don't do this all the time, either," Draco added. "If it's not to your taste, that's not going to be a problem for us as a triad, I hope."
"Let me learn what it's like, and we'll see how it goes," Harry said, and he conjured a chair to sit in while Hermione and Draco returned to what they'd been doing. His own evident arousal by the sight of Draco being beaten made Draco even more responsive than usual, and Hermione smiled to herself, confident that even if Harry didn't ever want to submit himself, he would have no long-term trouble in accepting what the other two did.
"Draco," said Harry presently.
"Yes?"
"You like being the –" Harry paused, clearly groping for a word.
"Submissive," Hermione supplied.
"Submissive," Harry repeated. "Why?"
Draco ran his fingers through his hair, then shook his head, the strands falling neatly into place. Hermione always felt a pang of envy, watching that. "Hermione's asked me that, too, and I'm not sure if I have a very good answer."
"Well, tell me whatever you can, then. Because it seems odd to me; in school I would have thought you'd do just about anything to get out of feeling pain."
"Not quite," said Draco thoughtfully. "Not pain so much as shame, I'd say. Although it isn't precisely the pain that I like either. It's more the security of knowing what the expectations of me are, of having someone correct my faults with care and attention. Hermione's very good at that."
"What does she do to you, if it's not always a beating or whatever?" Harry frowned.
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of it and shut it again. She wanted to know how Draco perceived matters.
"Different things. She has had me polish her boots, for instance." Draco grinned. "I won't forget the first time she did that. I had never polished a shoe before in my life, and she told me she wanted to be able to see her face in them when I was done. I was terrified I wouldn't do a good enough job."
"You did just fine, though," said Hermione.
"It was funny, actually. I was so absorbed in the task... and stroking the leather of your boots almost made me feel as if you were touching me."
"Yes, I remember your reaction." Hermione smiled at Draco.
Harry had been looking from one of them to the other. "What was his reaction?"
"It excited me. A lot," Draco explained patiently. "Hermione is a kind mistress, though, and she permitted me to come almost right away, as a reward for doing a good job. Those boots weren't clean for long."
Harry looked as though he was trying very hard to understand why Draco would find all that satisfying. "Okay," he said in doubtful tones. "So sometimes she punishes you physically and sometimes she makes you do tasks you don't like, but the point is that she's doing this because you've done something wrong or disobedient, is that it?"
"More or less. Although the tasks can turn out to be quite enjoyable in their own way. As I said, I rather liked polishing her boots, in the end; it was satisfying to make them as perfect as I could. And she's had me do other things that I enjoyed."
"We don't by any means always engage in the roles of dominant and submissive, either," Hermione put in. "It takes a lot of effort and concentration, for both of us. I know there are a few tops who live the role pretty nearly all the time, but that's not something I would want to do, probably not something I could do even if I did want to. But sometimes – yes, sometimes it's what each of us needs. I think of it as helping to make my partner as nearly perfect as he can be."
"Your partner? Isn't that always Draco?"
"These days it is, but it didn't used to be. I was working with several other bottoms when Draco first asked me if I would take him on." Hermione touched Draco's shoulder fondly. "It took quite a while before he persuaded me to become exclusive."
"So you would – top – several people at once?"
"No, no. I couldn't give proper attention if I did that. Some tops could, maybe, but not me. No, I'd see someone different each time. I had three regulars before Draco came along; they've all found other mistresses or masters now."
"I see." Harry's voice was thoughtful. "I think I see."
"Well, you know that anything you want to know about it, you can ask," Hermione assured him.
"I will," said Harry. "I'm sorry, I'm interrupting. You should go on."
He had been interrupting, but Hermione didn't mind all that much, not if it meant he was interested. "Maybe you should take off your clothes, too?" she suggested. "Or at least, you can touch yourself while you watch, if you want.
"Do," Draco encouraged, and Harry licked his lips and pulled down his jeans and pants before sinking back into his conjured chair.
Hermione felt a little self-conscious now. She'd had an audience plenty of times at Brands, but there, there were always other couples too, so she didn't feel quite so much as if she were putting a solo – well, duo – performance as she did with just Harry watching. She finished another dozen blows with the flogger before deciding that perhaps that was enough for the time being.
Telling Draco to turn around, she was pleased to see his response to having Harry watch was positive; the head of his cock positively glistened with pre-come. A little delay seemed appropriate.
"Eat me," she ordered, sitting on the edge of the bed and spreading her thighs wide. Not imaginative, maybe, but it always worked well for Draco, and Harry would probably enjoy the sight too.
She was very wet. Draco blew across her cunt, the caress of the air by itself almost enough to trigger an orgasm, but he followed with light short licks, flickering his tongue over her clit. Hermione dug her fingers into the mattress, her muscles spasming. Draco's eyes rolled upward to gauge her reaction, and pressed harder with his tongue, slurping and smacking and making little noises of appreciation. Over in his chair, Harry whimpered; Hermione could see his hand pumping on his cock.
"Good boy," she murmured, rocking into Draco's face. "Don't touch yourself, now. I want your hand free to fuck me. You'll get to come soon."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied indistinctly against her. "Fingers now?"
"Now," she said, and felt a mighty rush as he pushed into her cunt. Three fingers, she thought he was using, and silently approved his choice. "Harder."
Draco obeyed, finger-fucking her fast and hard even as he kept his lips sealed over her clit, suckling, tongue vibrating rapidly; she wondered how long he could continue. Her orgasm was like a waterfall, a continuous surge gushing through her, holding her quivering at the peak for long minutes until she could take no more and she was compelled to say, "Enough! Stop, Draco."
He stopped immediately, sitting back on his heels, his face shining with her juices.
Harry had already come. He sprawled, his prick still red but now softening against his dark curls as his chest heaved with deep breaths.
"Turn so that Harry can see you, Draco. Touch yourself."
She let him go on for a good five minutes without giving him permission to come, watching Harry's face as Harry watched Draco wank.
"You may come," she said at last. It took him a few more strokes, he had been holding back so hard, before his semen jetted out onto the floor – he'd aimed at Harry, Hermione thought, though Harry was too far away to be reached.
"Wow," Harry breathed. "Um. I didn't realise it could be like that."
Hermione smiled and stroked Draco's shoulder. "As I said, if you want to know more, or to try it sometime, we'll be happy to talk to you about it... and if not, that's fine too."
"Yeah, all right," Harry said, still looking a little dazed.
He still maintained his own flat, and the three of them had established a schedule – subject to variation based on what each of them had to do for their jobs – in which Harry saw Draco at least once a week, Hermione usually once for lunch, and then the three of them were together twice. Since not all of the get-togethers were at night, Hermione and Draco generally had several evenings a week to themselves.
"Does Harry talk to you a lot?" Hermione asked Draco one night.
He had been working on a crossword puzzle in the Daily Prophet and looked up at her question.
"Sometimes. It depends." He went a bit pink. "If we're meeting at his flat, or here, we're more likely to get physical, but if we go out for lunch or something, then obviously not."
"But the two of you get along well together in non-sexual ways, is what I mean."
"Oh, definitely." Draco cocked his head. "Although you might not think so, if you were a fly on the wall. We do tend to slip back into some of the ways we interacted back in school, you know? A bit of insult, that kind of thing. It's comfortable but it doesn't mean anything negative, not any more."
"Men." Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "As long as it works for you two, though." She tucked away that bit of knowledge, so that if they started posturing and sniping in front of her, she'd know to ignore it.
"We try to be on our good behaviour in front of you," Draco said with a slightly wicked smile. "I mean, isn't that what you've trained me to do?"
"Yes, but not Harry."
Draco waved that away. "Harry's a quick study."
Although Hermione had been reluctant when Draco suggested they live together, she was the one who first brought up the idea of Harry moving in, some eight months after their first time together as a threesome.
"I don't know," said Harry doubtfully. "Draco, what do you think?"
"I'm certainly not against the idea," said Draco.
"But you're not for it, either?" asked Harry.
"I just want to make sure that we all know what we're getting into. I think that having three people together all the time is likely to be a lot more complicated than any of us realizes. Just the little things, like personal space. I think we need to think about it, talk things over carefully before we make any precipitous decisions. Do you agree, Hermione?"
Hermione nodded. "I wasn't trying to suggest that Harry move in here tomorrow. It will take some thinking and discussion to figure out how this is going to work. We'll probably need a larger place again, for one thing, and then there's another issue to deal with as well."
"What?" Harry looked confused.
"Our families," said Draco shrewdly.
"Exactly. Even Harry might find it a little awkward to explain to the Weasleys, for instance, what's going on, and I doubt that either your parents or mine will be delighted either." Hermione made a little face. "Your mother asked me last time we visited whether we planned to get married, and I suspect she was hoping the answer would be 'no,' rather than 'we haven't really discussed it,' which is what I told her."
"I know this is kind of precipitous given that we are really only discussing possibly all living together, but is it even possible for three people to be married? I know that Muggle law forbids it, but what about in the wizard world?" Harry asked.
Hermione had looked up wizarding law about marriage the previous week, but she kept quiet to see what Draco would say.
"It's..." Draco paused, biting his lip, "...it's possible, but complicated. It would be especially complicated for the three of us."
"Why?"
"Because you and I, Harry, are each the last direct descendants in our families, and Hermione is Muggle-born. The pre-nuptial agreement would have to take into account how inheritance would occur, with all the possible variations depending on how many children Hermione might have, and what their sexes happened to be, in what order. I don't know about the Potters, but there are some fairly stringent restrictions on inheritance in the Malfoy family, although I think we might be able to find a way around the blood purity question." Draco flushed. "Look, you know that I don't care about that anymore, right? But because of the way that the Malfoy family properties are held and passed down, it could be a problem. Even if it were just Hermione and me getting married, that would be the case, and adding a second potential sire to the equation would complicate matters quite a bit."
"I see." Harry looked at Hermione. "In a theoretical sort of way, what do you think of the idea, not immediately but someday?"
"I would be happy to marry both of you," she said, reaching for their hands and bringing them all together. "At least, once we've lived together for a few months and it looks as if we can make it work with the three of us. Maybe we should try seeing how we manage in this flat, even if it is a little small for three people to each have some privacy, and if things go well, then we could talk about getting married and finding a larger place, perhaps even a house, at the same time."
"That sounds like a decent plan," agreed Draco, and Harry nodded too.
For practical reasons having to do with Harry's current lease, it ended up being another month and a half before he moved in, and in the meantime they continued their pattern of spending time as different couples as well as all three together.
"Do you ever get jealous, about Draco and me?" Harry asked Hermione one day when it was just the two of them. They had gone to see a Muggle film, and were just finishing dinner at a rather nice restaurant.
"Sometimes, yes," said Hermione honestly. She ate the last mussel from her pasta and decided she'd had enough. She set down her fork and looked directly at Harry. "But sometimes I'm glad when the two of you are spending time together, too. It's nice to have a chance to be by myself occasionally, even though I love you both. What about you?"
"More or less the same," Harry said. "Sometimes I'm still overwhelmed that the two of you have invited me into your lives, you know? It's more than I ever thought possible, and I'm grateful."
Hermione leaned forward and took his hand across the table. "We are grateful you said yes," she said firmly. "You've been my best friend practically forever, Harry, and I'm glad that now we have this as well."
Harry stroked his thumb over her wrist.
"Would you help me with something?"
"Of course. What do you need help with?"
"I was thinking that I wanted to do something special for Draco, when I actually move in. I don't know that I'd want or be able to do it all the time, or even very often, but could you teach me how to, er, to do some of the dominating things you do for him?" Harry's eyes were very green as he looked at her pleadingly.
Hermione blinked. Whatever she'd expected, that was not it. "I suppose I could," she said. "Did you have something specific in mind? Because really, a lot of being successful as a dom is just thinking about what the sub would like, and I think you know Draco well enough to be able to do a reasonable job."
"Well..." Harry shifted in his chair. "I'd like to learn how to use some of your, um, toys. The whips and things," he added in a whisper, after looking around to make sure he wouldn't be overheard.
"Ah, I see." Hermione thought about it for a minute. "I think, then, that the best thing to do would be for you to go with me to Brands once or twice. I can get in touch with one of my former subs, maybe Lloyd, and see if his current master would be willing to let you practice on him. Carlo is a little possessive, as I recall, so we'd need his permission, but I believe he'd give it."
"Could you do that? I'd really like not to disappoint Draco, if I try this," said Harry eagerly.
"I'll send messages to Lloyd and Carlo tomorrow," Hermione promised. She wondered if Harry was planning something special for her, too, and if it would be the counterpart of what he would do for Draco: offer himself up to her. It would suit Harry's sense of fair play, but on the other hand, he had to know she would guess that he might do that, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he did. She'd just have to wait and see, she supposed.
"Thanks." Harry smiled. "In the meantime – want to go back to my place tonight?"
"I'd like that," Hermione agreed. Thinking about Harry being dom to Draco's sub was turning her on.
They paid the cheque and took a bus to Harry's flat in a Muggle neighbourhood. He'd mentioned to Hermione years ago that he preferred that as it kept down the number of young witches and wizards – and no few older ones, for that matter – who would otherwise hang around, hoping for a glimpse of the wizarding world's single biggest celebrity, even years after Voldemort's destruction.
"I'll miss this place," Harry confessed, gesturing at the somewhat messy but comfortable living room. "Furniture I like, everything where I put it, you know?"
"I know. Draco and I were both like that when we moved in together, too, but once we grew used to the change it worked out all right. The trick seems to be to have some private space, I think." Hermione hugged him.
Harry kissed her, gently and then more insistently, and led her off to his bedroom. They undressed together – like an old married couple, she thought, and smiled to herself – and then Harry picked Hermione up, her legs wrapping around his waist so that she could feel his cock nudging her cunt, and kissed her some more.
The first time he'd done that Hermione had been nervous, thinking that she'd be too heavy for him to hold, but Harry had assured her that it wasn't a problem. "Even if it started to be awkward, we're two steps from the bed. I'd just put you down," he'd said.
So now Hermione simply enjoyed the feeling of being held and supported. She didn't like to move too much like this lest she unbalance Harry, but she tilted her hips slightly, hoping to find the angle that would let him slide into her.
"Don't be in such a rush," Harry murmured against her ear, and licked a wet stripe down her neck.
Hermione giggled. "That tickles."
Harry did it again, until Hermione couldn't help it and was wriggling uncontrollably. He overbalanced, but she didn't have time to be worried before they were on the bed with Harry leaning over her, grinning.
"Oh, you," she said in fond tones.
"Yes, me." Harry buried his face against her breasts, suckling, moving from one nipple to the other until they were both drawn to tight aching peaks. Hermione could feel herself growing wetter. She ran her hands along Harry's back as far as she could reach, using her nails to make him quiver under her touch.
He shifted and knelt between her legs, his head poised above her curly patch of brown hair. "You taste so good," he said, and proceeded to prove that he meant it, running his tongue along her slit, slowly spreading her open. He circled her clit a few times, then drifted away, nipping at the tender skin of her thighs, sliding a finger inside her.
Hermione moaned, wanting more, and Harry seemed to understand, bracing himself over her and slowly, slowly, pressing his cock inside. She locked her ankles together around his back, pulling him deeper. Harry was barely moving, his eyes intent on her face.
"Tell me what you want."
"You," she groaned. "Come on, Harry."
Finally he started to thrust, not too hard, and she tilted her hips so that he rubbed over her clit at every stroke, pushing her higher and higher along the path to orgasm. Hermione shook, clutching at him.
"Yeah, that's right," he murmured. "Love it when you're happy like this."
"Yes," she gasped. "Harry, yes."
He picked up his pace. "Are you ready?"
"I'm there, come on, now, please!"
Harry's face contorted though his body stilled as he came. Hermione was still shuddering through the last shocks of her own pleasure, and it was a moment before she unclasped her legs from around Harry to let him slide out, his semen mixing with her juices and dripping down her thighs.
Hermione chuckled.
"What's funny?" Harry sounded concerned and sleepy.
"I was just thinking, first, that I'm going to be going away in a few minutes and leaving you to sleep on the wet spot, but then that you could just cast a cleaning or drying spell if you wanted. Sometimes I still forget all the advantages of magic."
"Me too," admitted Harry.
"Draco doesn't." Hermione rolled onto her side so she could look at Harry. "It's such a different mindset. I don't always understand him... and it still surprises me how much I care for him. But he's not the person he used to be."
"Neither are any of us." Hermione's hair was clinging to her face in damp tendrils, and Harry stroked it back.
"Change is inevitable," Hermione agreed. "We just hope it's for the better."
"I think it is." Harry gave her a smile. "Otherwise I'd still be with Ginny, and you'd be with Ron, and Draco..."
"Would be with Pansy, probably," put in Hermione.
"...and none of us would be as happy as we are now," Harry finished. "Ginny's much better off with Neville than me; she hero-worshipped me too much. I don't think she does that with him. I mean, he was definitely heroic at the Battle of Hogwarts, but she'd already known him as a regular person, and that makes all the difference."
"I think it does, yes. I wouldn't have guessed that Ron would end up with Susan, but they're clearly happy together," Hermione said.
"You're too clever for Ron," said Harry. "I don't mean that as an insult to either of you; it's not like I'm all that brilliant myself, mind you."
"No, I know what you mean. Ron's a lovely person, but he's prone to comparing himself to everyone around him and thinking less of himself on that account. With me it was schoolwork, with you it was Quidditch. I think not having been in the same House as Susan made it easier for him."
"Could be." Harry stretched. "Much as I hate to say it, you'd probably better be getting home."
"True." Hermione gave him a quick kiss and got up to put her clothes back on. "One plus about having the three of us living together, there won't be all this late night dashing around. I think I'm getting too old for this."
Harry laughed. "You're hardly old. None of us is even thirty yet."
"I'll be thirty before either you or Draco," she reminded him. "The old lady."
"Yeah, but women live longer."
"Sometimes it just seems longer," she joked, and kissed him again. "See you later this week?"
"I'm spending Saturday with the two of you, yes," Harry said. "I think Draco wanted to talk about maybe adding some wizarding space to your flat, for storing some of my things."
"Oh, right. See you then."
As she'd promised, Hermione sent owls to both Lloyd and his master Carlo to ask if it would be possible to have Harry learn a bit about how to use some of Draco's preferred toys.
I don't know if he will ultimately be interested in becoming a true dom, Hermione wrote, but he's eager to learn a few basic techniques, for the man we both love. I would be most grateful if you would permit this training.
Carlo replied on behalf of both of them, indicating that he would be willing to agree to Hermione's request, but that someday he'd claim a favour from Hermione in return. That was more or less what Hermione had expected, and she didn't mind. Carlo would almost certainly ask Hermione to make a third in some scene with a sub who wanted to be dominated by two people at once, and Hermione could do that. Draco understood that such play didn't necessarily involve the emotions, and wouldn't be threatened by it, and Harry would come to learn the same.
Finding a time when the four of them could meet without Draco's knowledge was tricky. Hermione had hoped that they might manage more than one session – it wasn't as though domination was easy to master – but time was short and that proved to be impossible. It was less than a fortnight before Harry was to move in when she took him to Brands and introduced him to Lloyd and Carlo.
"So, you're interested in learning what we do?" Carlo was a large, strongly-built wizard, who conformed visually to the stereotype of a dominant, wearing tight black leather that displayed his muscles, a whip coiled at his belt. His voice, though, was a surprisingly light tenor. "Do you have any experience as either a dom or a sub?"
"No," said Harry. "Mostly I want to learn this to please Draco. I don't know if I'll really get into it otherwise."
Carlo pursed his lips and looked at Hermione.
"It's not that Harry doesn't take it seriously," she assured him. "Just that, as he says, he wants to be able to do it for our lover, say if I had to make a long trip for my job, or on special occasions. We've talked with him about the dynamics of a dom-sub relationship, but Harry would like to have it be a surprise, the first time, so as I said in my note, he needs practice with an experienced sub, and I thought Lloyd would be ideal."
"He's well-trained," Carlo agreed, resting his hand on Lloyd's head.
Hermione smiled slightly, acknowledging the implied compliment, since she had been Lloyd's mistress before turning him over to Carlo.
"What exactly do you want to learn, then?" Carlo asked Harry. "We have only a few hours, so there won't be time for much."
"Maybe how to use a couple of Hermione's whips?" Harry said tentatively. "Or floggers, whatever they're called?"
"The two are quite different," Carlo told him, and proceeded to lay out a selection of his own equipment, pointing out the many distinctions between the different types of whip, flogger, and crop, throwing in a cane for good measure.
He paused and glanced at Hermione. "Shall I take him through restraints, too?"
"Just the basics," Hermione said. "Draco and I don't use those much; mostly I require him to remain in one place without mechanical assistance."
Carlo nodded, and pulled out a set of leather cuffs, some metal manacles, and a length of rope, each of which he demonstrated on Lloyd.
"Now it's your turn," he told Harry. "First we'll have you put each restraint on Lloyd and take it off a few times, so you know how to do it smoothly. Nothing breaks the mood like fumbling around trying to pull a knot tighter. Choosing to do it slowly has a very different feel from being unable to get it right the first time. Then you'll use at least three different tools to beat him." Carlo gave a slow smile. "Lloyd likes pain, as you'll see, but I'm going to give him permission to speak or cry out during this session, so that you can get a sense for how he feels. Finally, if you want, I'll beat you. There's nothing like experiencing it yourself, after all."
Harry paled, but nodded.
"Don't worry. I'll be gentle with you... relatively speaking," said Carlo. "Ready?"
"Ready," said Harry.
It didn't take Harry long to get the hang of the restraints, thought Hermione, watching. Carlo was quite a good teacher – not all good doms could explain what they were doing the way he could – and it was clear that Lloyd was even happier with him than he had been with Hermione as mistress.
"Lloyd's safe word is 'spoon', by the way," Carlo told Harry as he handed him a flogger with a half-dozen suede falls. "I doubt he'll use it, he never has with me, but just in case."
"Right." Harry swished the flogger experimentally. "Um. So I just hit him with this, right?"
"Pay attention to how hard you strike, and where. The arse is safest, if you're inexperienced, as it's well-padded. The thighs and upper back are also possibilities. Even light blows can produce some very intense sensations as you repeat them again and again," said Carlo. He frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe it would be better if I demonstrate a few on you, first, and then have you practice on Lloyd."
"That seems like a good idea," Hermione interjected.
Harry gulped, but agreed, and Lloyd moved away from the pillar against which he'd been standing, waiting for Harry.
"You will want to undress," Hermione reminded Harry.
"Oh. Yeah," Harry said, and bent to untie his shoes. It didn't take him long to strip naked.
Hermione beckoned him over and kissed him. "It'll be fine. Carlo is very good, he'll be careful," she murmured.
Harry gave her a crooked smile and went to stand against the pillar. "I'm ready. Uh. Safe word, yeah? How about 'shoe'?"
"'Shoe' it is," Carlo agreed. "I'm going to use a paddle first, then that flogger you were looking at, and finally a more traditional whip."
"All right." Harry visibly braced himself.
Hermione wished she had three pairs of eyes; she would have liked to watch the reactions of all three men to what Carlo was doing, all at once. As it was she had to look from one to the others, and worried that she might miss something. Clearly Carlo was being gentle, at least to begin with, for Hermione could see that Harry had relaxed after the first few blows, although the skin of his arse was reddening a bit. She glanced at Lloyd and saw him staring intently; well, he'd get his soon enough, and Hermione was certain that Carlo would make up for any faults in Harry's technique later. Carlo had that peculiar focussed look that almost all topmen had when they were working. People outside the scene always assumed that being a dom was easy, but Hermione knew better. Learning to accept pain, or humiliation, or even simply orders was often much simpler than judging how to dole those things out to the best effect.
"I think that's enough of the paddle," Carlo commented. He beckoned Lloyd over. "Bring the flogger now."
Lloyd bowed his head and did so quickly, handing it to Carlo and resuming the kneeling position that Carlo evidently preferred him to maintain.
Carlo brushed the suede falls over Harry's back. "Feels soft, now, but it won't in a minute," he noted, and raised his arm.
As the blows fell, Hermione saw Harry's breathing quickening. In his position against the pillar, she couldn't tell if he was aroused or not, but she suspected so. She smiled. Even if Harry never wanted to get seriously into this kind of scene, as either dom or sub, his reaction boded well for him occasionally joining Draco and herself in play in the future.
"One more to go." Carlo hummed softly in his throat. The last whip was the one he wore at his belt, and he uncoiled it with obvious affection. "This is going to hurt more," he warned Harry, who yelped when the whip struck him, though Hermione could tell that Carlo had held back, using only enough force behind the blow to ensure that Harry would get a true sense of it.
Lloyd's skin sheened with sweat as Carlo continued, giving Harry six blows altogether. Not many, really, Hermione knew, but then Harry had no experience with pain like this, and didn't especially desire it; he only endured it so he would understand what he would do to Draco.
"You okay?" Carlo asked when he had finished, and Harry nodded against the pillar before he dropped his arms and stepped away.
"You did well, for a beginner," Carlo complimented him. "Even seemed to enjoy it a little, didn't you?"
Harry could hardly deny it when his erection was obvious, but he nodded nevertheless. "I didn't expect to," he confessed, "but it was... different... from what I thought."
"That's not unusual." Carlo waved Lloyd over and gestured to him to take a position against the pillar. "Are you ready to try it from the other side now? Which did you enjoy best?"
"The paddle," said Harry immediately. Then he frowned. "Although maybe that was because it was first. I got a little tender after a while."
"Lloyd will be fine, whichever you use first," said Carlo. "Lloyd, tell Harry if he's striking you too hard, or not hard enough. The trick, Harry, is mostly to be aware of what you're doing, and vary it according to the results you want – which will be different depending on who your sub is, as well as factors particular to that person, the day, and all sorts of other things. Basically, though, if you pay attention, and respond to their responses, you'll be fine. Lloyd is just going to let you know if you're way out of the ordinary range."
"Okay." Harry took a deep breath. "Um. Maybe I should put my clothes back on, though. I feel kind of weird doing this naked."
Hermione generally felt the same way about being naked while acting as a domme. Even a wisp of a skirt made her more comfortable. She stood up and Summoned Harry's clothes from the pile he'd left them in, handing them to him.
"You did really well, Harry," she said in a low voice, and he gave her a crooked smile.
"Thanks. I hope I do as well from the other side."
"You will," said Hermione confidently.
He did, beginning with the paddle. Perhaps it was having just felt the impact of the three types of instrument himself, but only once or twice did Lloyd have to tell him to strike harder or softer with any of them.
"My arm's getting tired," he remarked as he put down the whip – not the one Carlo had used, but a similar one belonging to Hermione – and reached for the flogger.
"It takes a lot of practice and effort," Hermione agreed, and Carlo nodded as well.
"You can stop now, if you'd rather."
"No, I want to try this one too. I know that every whip or whatever is unique, but I'd like to have a little bit of a sense of the different types in general," Harry explained. "As long as Lloyd's doing all right."
Carlo laughed. "Lloyd can take being beaten much harder than you're doing, and for much longer. Don't worry about that."
So Harry tried the flogger, finding that although he had preferred feeling the paddle himself, he enjoyed using the flogger most of the three.
"You've seen me use a flogger on Draco before," Hermione reminded him. "So that works out well. I'd say you should offer to flog him, if he wants. But remember too that it's not pain that Draco likes so much as being dominated, whether physically or otherwise. He likes to give up control, be told what to do."
"I know, but I'm glad to feel like I can beat him a little if that seems like what he wants, sometimes, and not worry that I'd be doing a poor job of it," Harry said. He held out his hand to Carlo. "Thank you so much, Carlo, you and Lloyd both. I learned a lot tonight."
"You're welcome. Hermione – I'll see you another time?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes. Thank you, both of you. I really appreciate your help."
"What did he mean, he'll see you another time?" Harry asked as they were leaving Brands.
"The bargain we made. He did this as a favour to me, so now I owe him one." Hermione shrugged. "Don't worry. He'll probably just want me to be a second domme in a scene sometime. I'm happy to oblige."
"Okay," said Harry, although he sounded uncertain. After a moment he said, "It's really a whole world unto itself, with its own rules and etiquette and everything, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. For some people it becomes their whole world, but it's never been that for me, or for Draco. I think it might be for Lloyd and Carlo, although I haven't asked and they haven't said."
"I see," Harry said. "I have to say, all that did turn me on more than I expected." He gave her a sheepish grin. "Um. Walking is a little uncomfortable right now."
Hermione glanced around, then tugged Harry into an alley, out of sight of any stray passers-by; not that there were many at this time. She didn't want to wait, either. A Banishing spell took care of her panties, and within seconds she had her legs wrapped around Harry's waist and his cock thrusting into her.
The brick wall was uncomfortable against her back, but that was a small price to pay for the pleasure she experienced, heightened by the chance of discovery – minimized, but real. Harry was just as eager as she, one hand closing over her breast as he held her up with the other.
"Hermione," he said as he came, voice choked, and she held him close as her feet again touched the ground.
Harry moved in the following weekend. Hermione was thankful that magic made the whole moving process infinitely easier than for Muggles; she and Draco helped Harry pack up, using spells, and then shrank all the boxes until they could all be stacked on a single luggage trolley that they borrowed from George Weasley. He used it for moving merchandise around the shop, and Hermione suspected either he or Fred had originally nicked it from King's Cross Station.
Draco volunteered to cook their first meal together. Hermione forbore from pointing out that, technically, it wasn't their first meal together – that honour could probably be given to the start-of-year feast at Hogwarts when they had all been first years; and they'd begun this relationship with dinner, as well; but she knew what he meant, their first meal living together.
When Draco put the food on the table, Harry reached out to both of them, taking their hands.
"I just want to say," he swallowed, "that I love you. Both of you."
Hermione found that she had a lump in her throat, but she managed nevertheless to say, "I love you both too," and Draco echoed her.
Then he said, "Now that the sentiment is out of the way, can we eat? I've been working hard on this."
Harry looked at the dish, and laughed. "Real men make quiche, then?"
"This is a quiche, yes. I'll let the two of you decide if I qualify as a real man."
"I'd say so," Hermione said. She picked up the knife and cut into the quiche, giving each of them a slice as Harry served himself some vegetables. "Did you make the crust and everything?"
"I did," said Draco proudly. "It actually wasn't that difficult."
"Mmm." Harry had already taken a bite. He sucked in some air. "Hot! Good though."
"Thanks." Draco smirked. "Can I take that as a compliment to myself as well as the food?"
Harry flipped him off and grinned. "I'll have a present for you later."
"Not for Hermione?"
"There's something for her, too."
Hermione sipped at her wine. So Harry had planned something besides the scene she knew about, with Draco. She looked forward to it.
They didn't rush through the meal, however, enjoying each other's company and lingering over glasses of wine afterward. Draco had even made a lemon cake; by then Hermione was too full to want any, but the two men each had a slice.
"Well," said Harry eventually. "Shall we wash up, and then Hermione can help me give Draco his present?"
"Why bother washing up?" Draco raised his eyebrows. "Today's Saturday. None of us has to work tomorrow; we can clear up in the morning if we want."
"All right then. Draco, please wait in the living room. Hermione will come fetch you when I'm ready."
"Are you sure about this?" Hermione asked in a low voice when they were in the bedroom.
Harry nodded firmly. "I really want to do something special for him, something that means I acknowledge what the two of you have had together." Then he bit his lip and looked worried. "You don't feel like I'm pushing in on this, do you? I mean, you were the one he chose to dominate him, right? You're not bothered if I try it?"
Hermione laughed. "Harry, if that were the case, would I have helped you learn about it, arranged for you to meet Carlo and Lloyd? Honestly, no, I'm not bothered. I think it's lovely that you want to do this. What do you want to do to set up?"
"I thought I'd just lay out a couple of your whips and restraints, and, um, I bought some leather trousers and a vest. To have the right look. I hoped you'd wear one of your domme outfits too? Maybe we could both participate."
"Whatever you want, Harry." Hermione changed quickly, putting on her corset – much easier with Harry to help – and her high black boots, and knotting her hair up. "I'll put my dressing gown over, so that when I fetch Draco he won't guess right away."
"Good plan." For all Harry's determination, he still looked a little nervous.
"Relax, Harry. You'll be fine... and Draco will be so pleased that you wanted to do this for him. If I can make a suggestion, I think restraining him and maybe using just the paddle would be more than enough this time. He's not like Lloyd, he doesn't like pain for its own sake, but he really loves it when I take charge. Make him kneel and suck you off." Hermione gave Harry a conspiratorial grin. "He'll probably almost come himself from having you order him around."
"Okay." Harry took a deep breath. "I'm ready now."
"I'll get Draco." The heels on Hermione's boots clicked as she strode down the hallway. Draco probably would guess, since the boots added several inches to her height, and her dressing gown didn't quite reach her ankles so that the polished leather toes were visible.
Despite his words earlier, Draco had cleared off the table and was just finishing with washing the dishes when Hermione found him in the kitchen. He flicked his wand to send the final plate into the drainer and turned.
"So Harry's surprise is ready?"
Hermione nodded.
Draco stepped toward her and put his arms around her. "Hermione, love." He kissed her. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For having suggested bringing Harry into our lives. I'd always fancied him a bit, but I don't think I would ever have come out and said so." He shrugged. "I don't know why, but that seemed more difficult than approaching you in the first place. So thank you."
"You're welcome... although it's not as if I did it just for your benefit." She gave him a mischievous smile. "Come on, now. Harry's waiting."
Draco followed obediently – how appropriate, Hermione thought – and gasped when they reached the bedroom and he saw Harry in his leather, leaning against the bedpost and holding Hermione's favourite paddle.
"What...?" He looked at Hermione first, waiting for her to speak.
"Harry will take charge of you tonight," Hermione told him.
"Kneel, Draco," said Harry softly, and after another moment's pause, Draco did.
He was still fully dressed, but managed to look graceful as he knelt, holding the pose with his head slightly bowed, his blond hair gleaming in the light of the candles that Harry had placed around the room.
Harry crossed over to him and used the paddle to caress Draco's shoulders. Draco held very still, but Hermione could see his breathing quicken, and his cock was clearly outlined against the fabric of his trousers.
"Take your shirt off, slowly," Harry ordered.
Button by button Draco loosened the crisp white cotton. A whispered word undid the cufflinks he affected, and he caught them in his palm before they could fall to the floor. Then he slipped the shirt from his shoulders and held it in one hand as he waited for Harry's next command. Harry licked his lips and tilted his head. Hermione leaned against the wall, behind Draco so that he could not see her, and began to caress her clit as she watched.
"Stand up and finish undressing, then kneel again."
Draco kept his face and body oriented toward Harry as he obeyed; that was as it should be, Hermione thought. Now that she'd given him permission to take Harry as his dom for the night, he was going along whole-heartedly. It was quite gratifying actually to see Draco acting according to the training she'd given him. She caught a few glimpses of his cock while he stripped, and as she had told Harry would be the case, Draco was hard, fluid glistening at his slit as his cock bumped against his belly.
When he had returned to his kneeling posture, he was required to undo Harry's trousers, just enough to free Harry's prick so that it sprang out, the dark hair that surrounded it blending into the leather of the trousers.
"Suck me."
Hermione stroked herself faster, watching Draco's head bobbing against Harry's groin. The contrast of Draco's paleness against the black leather Harry wore was positively transfixing.
"Stop."
Draco ceased immediately and pulled back. Hermione couldn't quite see his face; she moved sideways a little until she could. Draco looked worried.
"You scraped me," said Harry coolly. "I didn't specify that you had to keep your teeth under control, but I didn't think I needed to. A little punishment is in order, I believe; five blows should do it."
He picked up the paddle from the bed and sat down. "Here, over my knees, like a naughty child." He gave Hermione a tiny smile as Draco positioned himself across his lap, and Hermione smiled back. "Count."
"One... two... three... four... five," counted Draco steadily as Harry paddled him. Harry rested a hand on Draco's back, holding him there, after he'd finished.
"Accio lube." The bottle flew to Harry's hand. "Spread your legs, Draco."
Awkwardly, still sprawled across Harry's lap, Draco parted his thighs as wide as he could. Harry reversed the paddle, holding it by the flat edge, and dragged the handle along Draco's spine until it rested between his arsecheeks.
"Can you guess what I'm going to do, Draco?" Harry crooned.
Hermione's eyes widened.
"You're going to fuck me with the paddle," Draco answered almost inaudibly.
"Very good. I am. But I'm going to be kind and let you come at any time," said Harry. He squeezed a generous amount of lubricant onto the paddle's handle and his own fingers, and pressed one fingertip against Draco's anus. "You can make all the noise you want, too. Now relax."
It didn't take long before Harry was able to slide the handle into Draco's arse. Hermione shuddered with the beginnings of orgasm as he did so. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, reaching down with her left hand to thrust three fingers into her cunt as she continued to play with her clit, and came hard, watching.
Draco was moaning, almost whimpering, as Harry pumped the handle in and out, his hips jolting at each stroke. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, Harry!" he cried out, and Hermione saw his semen spatter against Harry's trousered leg and the floor as he came.
Harry stopped, easing the handle out, and used the paddle to caress Draco's buttocks. "You can sit up," he told Draco.
It was a couple of minutes before Draco managed to do so.
"Wow," he muttered. "That was... wow. I didn't expect anything like that." He looked at Hermione. "You taught him that, didn't you?"
"I helped him learn," said Hermione, "but I didn't know exactly what Harry had planned." She crawled over to them. "I think we need to take care of Harry, now; you and I have both come, but he hasn't."
"Mm. Yes, please," said Harry. He wriggled back onto the bed and sprawled out.
"Let's both suck him at once," Hermione suggested, and Draco nodded enthusiastically.
Their lips and tongues met around Harry's cock, kissing intimately even as they worked together to tease Harry to climax. Draco had his mouth over the tip when Harry came, and he swallowed every drop but shared the taste with Hermione in a deep kiss afterward.
She snuggled between them sleepily, then, until Draco drawled, "Didn't you say you had something to give Hermione, too?"
"I did say that." Harry rolled away. "Hang on, let me get these off," he said, peeling down his trousers.
"That's a good idea," said Hermione, and sat up to remove the corset and boots she still wore. Whatever Harry's present was, she didn't expect she needed to be dressed up for it, and they weren't all that comfortable if she was going to curl up with her two men.
Draco helped her, while Harry padded out of the room and came back a few minutes later with something clenched in one hand.
"This isn't really from me," he said, sitting cross-legged on the bed in front of Hermione and Draco.
"It's not?" asked Hermione, confused.
"No. It's from both of us." Harry opened his fingers to reveal three rings sitting on his palm. "I know that maybe it's a little soon to be making a permanent commitment, and we need to see how we can work out all the mundane details first, but if it does work, I know I want to marry you. Both of you. And Draco agreed with me. He's already started looking into the legal side of things. Hermione?"
Hermione was smiling though tears streaked her cheeks. "Oh, Harry. Draco." She picked up one of the rings and looked at it. "This is perfect."
Each ring was formed of three strands of gold, twisted together – one ordinary yellow gold, one white gold, one rose gold.
"Actually that one's mine," Draco said. "We had them sized already."
"So you accept?" asked Harry anxiously.
"Of course I do." Hermione let the two of them slip the ring on her finger, and then she helped put on Draco's and Harry's also. "How could I not, when I love you both?"