Author's Note: When I got the prompts for Round 8 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition my first thought was a Dramione story. I mean, I have always wanted to write one since they were first big Harry Potter ship and the prompts worked really well with the idea. So I did, I wrote a completed Dramione story that I was pretty proud of. But, when I was editing the story I realized how generic it was. It was the classic story of them bumping into each other years after the war and realizing how much they loved each other, which is great but not very good for a competition. I needed to be different and unique. So even though I can still post the other story if you guys want, I opted to write a more creative one. That was when "Infatuation" was born. It has a lot of the same aspects that some of my other super successful stories have, but it is different. It had a layer of inappropriate love that is really only prevalent in this one. Therefore, with the prompts forgive, frustration, and falling in love with the wrong person/thing, I present to you "Infatuation." (Word Count: 1634)
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Hermione Jean Granger has never been one for real life crushes, instead opting for her fictional ones. Boys in books would never hurt you, never trick you, or even break your heart. They would always be there even when the real ones went away, Hermione just wished she realized that 10 years ago when she wasn't just content with boys in books. Because, you should always be careful of what you wish for.
—-
When the girl was twelve years old she met who she thought was her true love in Flourish and Blottes. He had come in quickly, and Hermione didn't even notice he was there until she ran into him on the way out. But when she did she was sure her heart stopped and started all over again. He was breathtaking, probably the most attractive person she had ever seen and would see. And, for the first time in her life, Hermione felt a feeling she never had before. Hermione first felt sexual frustration for none other than Lucius Malfoy.
—
But she was twelve and he was well into his early 40s. It was so wrong, or at least that is what she told herself to try and forget about him. But she couldn't even if she tried. She was in too deep, too deep to abandon her feelings now.
So when they accidentally ran into one another again, this time at the end of the year, Hermione didn't know what to do. Because, unlike the last time, they were alone in a long corridor with no one to disturb them. And, also unlike the last time, Lucius didn't just sneer and walk away. Instead he stopped and took a long look at her slowly reddening face. "Ah, Miss Granger."
"S…s…ir." The young woman stuttered out, not believing he was actually talking to her nevertheless that he knew her name.
He chuckled for a moment, and then lowered his voice. "Run along Miss Granger, you don't want to be out here alone. After all, you never know what will be waiting for you around the corner."
She shivered as he walked away, leaving the girl to stand alone in an empty hallway. All the while contemplating what exactly had just happened.
—
The next time the pair encountered each other was some time later, at the end of Hermione's 3rd year. Lucius was at the school for the dreaded hippogriff trial, and Hermione knew he was coming. Whether or not she planned to run into him, again, was up to debate. Whether or not he tried to run into her was another story altogether.
One minute she was peacefully walking down the hallway, and the next she had her back against the wall with Lucius's hands on either sides of her head. "What are you doing?" Hermione demanded, trying to sound more confident then she knew she felt.
Once again, she heard the older man laugh before whispering. "You act like I don't notice you Miss Granger, but I do. The blushed face, stuttering, beating heart, if I didn't know better I would think you were in infatuated with me. But that can't be true now is it?" The girl grew embarrassed as she became fixated on her shoes. "Because a small, young mudblood like you would never be associated with someone like me. Right?" Once again, the girl didn't speak.
"But," the man continued by saying, "if for some reason I was correct about your inner desires, write me an owl and I will see what I can do." He said so fast that the girl almost didn't know what had happened, and then just like that he was gone. Not to be seen by her until months later at the Quidditch World Cup where they met each other's eye from across the stadium. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she blushed a soft, rosy flush. Both of them knew it would be an important night, because both knew that Hermione's owl sent to the man a week prior would change both of their lives indefinitely.
Her owl read "What can you do about it?"
—-
Hermione Granger barely remembers the few hours after the game ended. It was a blur of passion and pleasure ending with loud moans they were both sure all other occupants of the bathroom heard very clearly.
—-
Luckily for the pair, they would have many meet ups over the next year. Because as illegal and wrong as it was, both of them enjoyed it.
Every single Hogsmeade weekend, Tournament task, and free moment possible it seemed the unlikely duo was together. Talking, kissing, touching, on repeat. Hermione Granger was almost positive she was deep in love. Lucius was almost positive he wasn't, after all he was still married man. Though he wouldn't tell the young girl that, knowing very well it would be over the second he did. So instead he kept his personal opinions to himself, choosing to bask in the passion of the moment. All while knowing very well that many would consider him a monster for playing the abnormally young girl, but once again he could care less. She was a good lay.
—
Fifth year was similar to the fourth one, the only difference being the difficulty in meeting. Before it almost felt too easy, especially with the Tournament. But now it was obscenely hard with Professor Dolores Umbridge walking around the school. Lucius had to start making an abnormally large amount of visits to the school as a member of the Board of Governors, but he did it anyway.
The only difficulty came at the end of the year when Hermione and her friends broke into the Department Of Mysteries. She didn't expect him to be there, but there he was looking as handsome as ever. Hermione had such a hard time acting surprised and disgusted at the band of Death Eaters in front of her when all she could do was get aroused.
Lucius Malfoy was expecting to see the young Muggle-born when he approached the group of kids in the Department of Mysteries, but he wasn't expecting how distracted he would be. So much so that it cost him the prophecy and the a Dark Lord's anger. But he couldn't help himself. She just looked so irresistible running away from him and getting all out of breath. He just hoped no one else noticed his obvious attraction.
—
Something happened to Hermione the next year, something that she wasn't even sure it was possible. Hermione was more in love than before. Something about how the fifth year ended must've changed her, because during that next year she was convinced she wanted no one else.
There was one problem though, Lucius as deep as ever in dark magic. And as much as Hermione told him that she forgives him for everything, Lucius didn't really believe her. But her rose tinted glasses didn't bother him, if anything it made her more appealing. He was now able to start feeding the lies he had wanted to from the beginning.
False promises were like a drug the girl couldn't get enough of, and kept her coming back for more. Fantasies about the end of the war, with children and a diamond ring was exactly what she wanted to hear. And Lucius was glad to oblige. It kept her coming back and it kept the Dark Lord happy. After all, you didn't think Lucius wold be bedding a member of the Golden Trio without feeding the rare tidbits of information he received to his Master. Tom Riddle did it to young Miss Weasley, why couldn't Lucius do it to Miss Granger?
—-
The lies continued until one fateful day, a year later, in Malfoy Manner. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were captured and were being held by the Death Eaters until the Dark Lord showed up. But, due to her status, Hermione wasn't kept in the Dungeon like her friends. She was left in foyer to be tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. She remembers crying out for Lucius to help her, screaming with tears running down her face. He didn't move a muscle, he just watched the scene play out in front of him with a stone face.
It wasn't until she was about to pass out that he finally crouched down and brushed her face with the back of his hand. "My sweet Hermione, oh how you cared for me and oh how I played you. Next time think twice about who you give your heat and soul to. You might end up giving it to someone like me."
She only whimpered before her eyes closed, pain coming upon her. He didn't love her, he used her. And she payed the price.
—
It was twenty years later, twenty years after the final battle, and twenty years after that Hermione was pulled in an unconscious state from Malfoy Manner by her friends on their way out. It has been 20 years since the love she had harbored so deeply in her heart was crushed into a million pieces.
It caught her by surprise, not expecting to see him on her way to work. She should've though, it was all over the papers. I guess she just never thought, even if it was an accident, that she would run into Lucius Malfoy on his way out of Azkaban after the war's end. But there he was a free man with no chains and all. He knew she was there, and they met each other's eyes. He gave her a soft look of recognition and fondness, and she only returned it with a scowl. She will never give him the loving look she once did. She learned her lesson, never to be twisted and used like that ever again.