Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hermione sat in the St. Mungos library, worrying her bottom lip. She was supposed to be researching symptoms of a particularly nasty rash that manifested around an elderly wizard's bum, but she had been unable to concentrate. Her …husbands had put up very little fight regarding her desire to have a wedding. She found that interesting. In fact, they'd each offered their opinions on location and seemed receptive to participating in the planning. Lucius had told her that in wizarding tradition, it was the groom's family who paid for the wedding, so it was expected that the groom played a role other than showing up in dress robes at the binding ceremony. Hermione had then informed him that in Muggle ceremonies, it was traditionally the bride's family who paid for everything but the rehearsal dinner. Lucius and Charlie had looked appropriately appalled at making the bride responsible for anything other than approving the overall design and color scheme. Hermione went on to explain that many grooms are not interested in planning or any of the decision making portions, which had her giggling at their gasps of indignation.

Lucius then declared he would be present and accountable for each decision to which Hermione begged off asserting herself as 'final decision maker'. She wanted them involved, but not too involved. It was her wedding after all.

Lucius had harrumphed, Charlie had smirked, but each had conceded, and now she was left wishing she had girlfriends to share this with and to offer honest opinions on her options.

Hermione was startled out of her reverie when one of husbands came barreling, quite out of character, around the corner. "Hermione! There you are! I've been looking all over creation for you!" Blaise cried.

Hermione shut the book and stood abruptly. "What's happened?" she said, quickly meeting him halfway. Her instant dread and worry surprised her. She hoped that none of her husbands were hurt.

Blaise immediate returned to the graceful, fluid and almost feline husband she was used to. He spoke slowly, in that calming, irritating, voice he used just for her. "I've just come from the Emergency Center (EC). There's been an accident, but he's fine… perhaps a bit beat up, but fine."

At this point, he was talking to her back because Hermione was now rushing to the EC.

He'd failed to mention that it wasn't one of her husbands who were injured, but instead, someone from her past. He'd pictured the conversation much differently than what had actually occurred and was now mentally kicking himself for his rather rushed delivery.

He should have began with the 'who' and not the 'what'.

Jogging after her, as she was quite a bit faster than she looked, he lamented on her currently nonexistent relationship with The Weasel and Potter. He didn't know what had happened between them, but when Draco had asked her how she wanted to tell the deluded duo, she set his hair aflame. Neither man had ever had the pleasure of someone so feisty in their bed. It just confirmed to Blaise, and to Draco, he suspected, that they'd all made the right decision in Calling a wife, and that the Fates knew exactly what they were doing in granting them one wife to share – specifically this wife to share.

Blaise came to a hasty halt. He'd lost sight of her and for a split second; he panicked, but then remembered he knew where she was going. He retraced his steps at a quick jog and made a sharp left. Up the stairs two at a time, he reached the fourth floor and threw open the door just in time to see the bright spark of curses being thrown. He took the short hallway at a run; his witch's shrill voice berating the victim of her temper.

Thinking quickly, Blaise cast "Protego!" over Ronald Weasley to keep him from serious harm, though, the way that the sobbing redhead was cupping between his legs, the serious damage had already been done.

When Hermione's curse dissolved into a shield she didn't conjure, she stopped her tirade and looked around with eyes ablaze.

Blaise quickly holstered his wand with a twirl of his fingers, and backed up a step. "Hermione, we aren't allowed to kill our patients." This admonishment was delivered with soft eyes filled with a twinkle of proud humor. It made Hermione smile at her husband before she fully faced him and nodded. Sighing and putting a sweet smile in place, she walked to him and hugged him.

He opened his arms and hugged her back, but his smile fell the instant that her words penetrated the wedded bliss. "I don't like your tone, dear husband, but we can discuss it later." Hermione pulled away, still wearing that sweet smile and focused her attentions back on her childhood friend.

***Calling*** Five minutes prior

Hermione took the Portkey tunnel up to the EC. She knew that Blaise was hot on her heels, but she couldn't wait for him. She was sick with concern. She stumbled out of the tunnel and ran down the corridor to the bay. Skidding to a halt, she looked frantically around for any one of her husbands. She heard huffing then a grumble and turned to find herself staring at a disgruntled Weasley. Hermione's immediate response to seeing him was to clench her jaw and grind her teeth. She couldn't speak and was mildly ashamed that even after all this time she was still very cross with him. As she turned to walk away, thinking of ways to teach Blaise how to frame his statements to her, Ronald spoke. "I just want some pain potion. Why is this hard? Pain. Potion!"

Hermione closed her eyes quickly then opened them. "What hurts, Ronald?"

He made an exaggerated hand motion towards his foot and his expression asked her if she were blind.

She was not blind, in fact and had noted that his middle toe was slightly swollen and a little pink. It looked like an in-grown toenail, but that was not a reason to hand out potions for pain; it could be remedied by a simple spell and looked like it had been. So why was he here? A curious look back to him had him swearing and shaking his head.

"You never just helped. Always asking questions, never just trusting me." He looked hurt and then angry, and it only served to fuel Hermione's anger. Through a stiff jaw and clenched teeth, she responded, "I trusted you until you betrayed my trust, Ronald. Did your Healer release you?"

Ron sat up then and leaned forward. "I want some pain potion, you mental bint!"

Hermione didn't realize when exactly she had bared her wand, but it was in her hand, ready. The curse that left her lips was also a surprise. It just came tumbling out with all the anger and rage she felt towards him. She cursed him again, unable to stop herself, but the second curse didn't hit its mark. Someone had protected Ron; Blaise.

***Calling***

"She cursed me! She cursed me! Get an Auror! I'm afraid for my safety!"

The hall was chaos; red lights were blinking, the intercom was calling, in a feminine mechanical voice: Code Blue. Code Blue.

Any magic performed other than the healing color of purple sounded alarms. Healers and hospital security came running, looking for danger.

When all they found was Blaise, Hermione, Ron and his Mediwitch, they started asking questions, but no one could concentrate with Ron's shouting. A quickly cast Healing Stunner by the Mediwitch quieted the noise. The security wizard looked at her afterwards and she just shrugged.

Theo arrived just as the questions were awaiting the answers. He quirked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, just stood next to Blaise and behind Hermione. His gaze shifted briefly to the Weasel, who was unnaturally still. Blaise must have read the expression and leaned over to whisper, "the Mediwitch stunned him." Blaise was clearly making a valiant attempt to keep from chuckling.

The security guard cleared his throat. "Healer Granger, what happened exactly?"

"I-I couldn't," she sighed, "I don't know. I cursed him. He'll be fine …in a while. I only removed – erm… His… penis." Upon a gasp from all of the wizards present, she rushed on, "there was no pain! I used a healing charm to remove warts. I just, you know, tweaked it a bit. It'll grow back!"

There was really nothing to say after that. Hermione felt terribly guilty about not feeling guilty, and they were all fairly certain, after Healer Granger's assurances, that Ron's manly bits would indeed grow back… eventually.

Blaise and Theo shifted balance a few times each making a mental note to tread lightly where their wife was concerned.

A cord struck Theo, and he wondered if there wasn't some part of her that wanted to prove how not submissive she was out of the bedroom. He tilted his head; perhaps she was what they called a switch; someone who was both submissive and dominant at times.

***Calling***

"They fired me!" Hermione cried. She was sitting in the leather chair by the fire with her husbands sitting in various places around the den.

Severus cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but Lucius shook his head as subtly as humanly possible. It was effective in quelling Severus' urge to explain in a rather blunt manner that she deserved to be fired.

Hermione's head turned sharply to face Blaise. "You said he was a bit beat up! He looked fine to me!" She was almost accusing him of lying to her and that seeing Ronald without bruises was a disappointment – it was, but it was a rather callously blunt thing to think and say even for a Gryffindor.

Blaise cleared his throat and pushed off the wall where he was leaning. "He was, Hermione. His ribs were bruised and his ankle was sprained. It just so happened that his Mediwitch didn't want his toe to get infected, so she removed the ingrown nail."

Nodding, Hermione slumped in her chair and gulped the last bit of her drink. "He's a cad," she said, referring to Ron.

Draco happily nodded in agreement, but didn't speak.

"I always forgave him his terrible decision making skills. I made a honest effort to understand where he was coming from; his insecurities, his accusations, his stupid closed-minded shite!" Lucius quirked a brow when her hair crackled with angry magic.

Severus wanted badly to share his low opinion of the youngest Weasley boy, but once again Lucius quelled the urge with a quick glare.

Theo missed the silent exchanges between the elder co-husbands and stepped forward. "Why do you even bother feeling anything for the idiot?" Theo also missed the slight stiffening of her posture, so he continued his Ron bashing. "No manners, never treated you like a lady. He was always-"

"I know, Theo! I don't need a run down of Ronald's and my dynamic during and post Hogwarts; I was there! I was there each and every time he called me mental. I was there each and every time he talked Harry out of my recommendation. I was there when he demanded that I…" Her breath hitched and she swallowed down the lump in her throat.

"Hermione, what did he demand?" Charlie asked, now concerned and on edge.

Marcus frowned and rose to pour her another drink; she clearly needed another.

Hermione took the proffered glass of firewhisky. Marcus took her small trembling hand in his larger ones and kneeled at her feet. Charcoal eyes met the soft cinnamon of hers. "What did he demand, princess?"

Her fingers closed around his in a tight grip. Focusing on him, she answered. "My virginity."

They could have heard a pin drop as the mood shifted from active listening to actively plotting the slow, painful demise of one Ronald Weasley.

As Marcus' previously emotive eyes hardened, Hermione swiftly explained. "We were on a date; our first real date after the war. He'd had a few drinks, and I'd had one too. It was a lovely summer night; we had Apparated back the Burrow. We were stargazing and talking. The mood turned romantic. It wasn't his fault. We were kissing," she was shaking her head and looking at Marcus' and her intertwined hands, "and it got heavy, and I …just couldn't do it. I didn't want to do it. He didn't want to take no for an answer. He thought it was just first time jitters."

"You weren't ready," Charlie supplied.

Hermione countered. "I was ready! I didn't want my first time to be with him; and he knew it."

Severus could no longer remain quiet. "Did he… take no for an answer?"

Hermione avoided the question. "He asked me why I'd led him on. He reminded me how I had wanted him our last years at Hogwarts. He couldn't understand why I'd let it go so far. I didn't have any answers for him." The tears that had pooled in her eyes spilled down her cheeks in crooked paths. She finally looked up into the grey gaze of Lucius' keen sight.

Gritting her teeth and drying her eyes, she removed her hand from Marcus' and took a drink. "Harry caught me crying afterwards. I told him everything. I was angry and hurt and ashamed… One thing about Harry; he's loyal to a fault. He became very cross with me for feeling the way I did. Ron could do no wrong in his eyes.

"I stayed up all night thinking about what happened and the type of woman I wanted to be. The next morning, I started preparations for Healer training. I kept in touch for a while, but received no response. When I got back from University, they confronted me at dinner the first night back. That was the end of our dialogue. I'm certain Ron still has no idea of any wrongdoing that night."

"I remember that night," Charlie said. "Mum said it was just a lover's quarrel."

Hermione felt very tired of a sudden. "I'm going to bed," she said after a few moments of silence.

When she left, the wizards remained quiet until Charlie spoke. "He's like a dog. You have to punish him at the time of the crime, not years after. He doesn't know that he hurt her." This was the first time in a long time that he'd felt fear. These were not forgiving men. If they got his youngest brother alone, they would permanently incapacitate him.

Lucius was not ready to comment, and decided instead to check on his wife. He …needed her; needed to comfort her.

He walked out, and up the stairs to her room.

She was sleeping; so small in the large bed. She had recently showered. Lucius slipped off his robes and crawled into bed beside her. "Lucius," she whispered.

Pulling her into his body, he felt at peace. His magic hummed with pleasure as it mixed with hers. Lucius closed his eyes and together they slept.