A Spark of Defiance
Lucius's hands ghosted down the girls bare sides, as if scared he'd shatter the flawless porcelain of her skin. He didn't entirely understand how he'd got here, in to this situation.
The girl underneath his hands wasn't his wife.
The girl underneath his hands was a mudblood.
The girl beneath his hands was barely of age. It would be more fitting if it were Draco's hands that were skimming over the girl.
Lucius couldn't really comprehend when this situation had started, had it been the first time they'd met? No, the girl was barely 12 years of age when he'd first seen her. Lucius remembered thinking that she was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, a stain upon society.
Had it been when he'd seen her lifeless body being pulled from the lake?
No, she had only been 14. But it had intrigued Lucius how she'd snared the affections of a boy like Viktor Krum. What had she done to make him view her as a suitable partner...
Perhaps it all began in the Ministry of Magic, when she battled him for her life in a room surrounded by clocks. He only cast disarming spells at her, she didn't seem to notice that the jets of light weren't green. She grew tired of throwing protective spells.
Her wand went flying in to his hand. His eyebrow raised quizzically at her.
'tsk tsk Miss Granger... One would think you'd know how to protect yourself from a mere disarmament'
Hermione's chest rose and fell in great breaths, her anger palpable.
'Give me my wand back' She demanded.
'You think that's how it works?' Lucius laughed mirthlessly.
'This isn't funny'
'Oh, but dear, you are funny. You had the stupidity to lose, and then the completely foolishness to ask for your wand back'
'I wasn't asking' Hermione said defiantly, though she was visibly shaking.
Lucius sneered, this mudblood was quite ridiculous. Though a part of him longed to see her try to get her wand back.
'Well then, come and get it'
Lucius held her wand out in his flat palm. Hermione eyed him with suspicion.
'Don't trust me?' Lucius said.
He put his wand in to his robes and inclined his head to her, still holding out her wand. Hermione lifted her chin high and took a few steps closer to Lucius. She reached her hand out, tightening her fingers around the wood, Lucius's fingers curled around the other end. Lucius didn't relinquish his grip, instead he jerked his hand and snapped the wand. Hermione let out an audible whimper, tears rushing in to her eyes.
'You've killed me' She said.
'What?' Lucius whispered harshly.
'I won't be able to get out of here alive with out a wand!'
Hermione's eyes were wide with fear, a crashing noise sounded at the other end of the room.
'Then, my little mudblood. You'd better run' Lucius said seriously, though a hint of amusement played around his features.
Hermione stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes wide with fear, almost comically so. Then she turned on her heel and ran stealthily from the room, leaving Lucius with the remaining shards of her wand.
Lucius didn't think it had started then.
Perhaps it had started during his year in Azkaban, during the constant darkness he'd found himself thinking of her. The brightness of her defiance shone through, it angered him often, that she was still free whilst he withered in this prison. But anger was at least something, it wasn't despair. It burned within him.
Then he saw her again. After a year and a half of pure anguish she showed up in his home, a prisoner. Had it started then? When had the anger melted in to something softer?
It had been the moment he saw her, bleeding and broken on his floor. He pitied the mudblood, until he saw the fiery defiance in her eyes. It was then that he'd felt an upsurge of emotion for the girl, that he wanted to grab Bellatrix and throw her away from the mudblood. It was then that everything slotted in to place, he was fighting on the side of monsters. He'd suspected it for a long time, that he was on the wrong side, but it was now that it was so painfully evident. He wasn't ready to enroll in the Order of the Phoenix and preach for an inclusive society, but he wasn't comfortable with fighting for the Dark Lord either.
It was that night, that he ventured down to the prisoners long after his wife had drifted in to an uneasy sleep. His heart did not bleed for the goblin, Ollivander or Luna quite as much as it did for the mudblood. He wondered why that was.
'I would like to see the mudblood' Lucius's voice rang steady across the cellar. Four pairs of eyes turned towards Lucuis, all wide with fear, apart from the goblins which showed nothing but hatred.
'Oh.. No, no more. Haven't you done enough to her?' The old man's voice was weak, wavering. Lucius had to suppress a flinch at the sound.
'The mudblood' Lucius said again 'Come over here'
'I have a name'
'I believe I just called you by it' Lucius drawled.
Something sparked inside him at the defiance in her eyes. He cocked his head at her, inviting her to walk towards him. His memory flashed back to the Ministry of Magic as Hermione stared furiously in to his eyes.
'Don't trust me?'
He could tell by the way that her eyes widened that she remembered.
'Of course I don't' She snapped.
'I didn't kill you. Did I?'
Hermione sighed, closing her eyes. She rose to her feet shakily.
'No, Hermione, don't' Luna implored.
'I'll be okay Luna. Stay safe' Granger whispered back.
'You too' Luna smiled.
'Don't harm her!' Ollivander said 'Poor girl has suffered enough today'
Lucius ignored the other prisoners and waited patiently for Hermione to walk over to him, he let her exit the cellar ahead of him. Leaving her fellow captives utterly bewildered.
'What do you want from me?' Hermione snapped.
'You'd do well to mind me with respect Miss Granger'
'And what was all that, I didn't kill you?' She said, ignoring him.
'If you'd had a wand that night, would you have run from danger?'
Hermione spluttered.
'I expected an answer Granger' Lucius said sharply.
'Well, no. I would have..'
'Fought' Lucius interrupted 'Exactly, all I did... Was make you escape. I saved your life Miss Granger'
'Where are you taking me?' She asked.
'Shh..' Lucius said.
His hand closed around her upper arm as he led her along quietly, in to an inconspicuous room. Hermione remained quiet as he filled the room with light. She watched in confusion as he cast protective charms around the room, silencing them from the outside world.
'why?' She asked, strangely empty of fear.
'Sit down' He gestured towards a chair.
Hermione sat, looking at her surroundings, it seemed to be some kind of study.
'Is this your study?'
Lucius ignored her question and poured two glasses of firewhiskey. He downed his, Hermione didn't touch hers.
'Why are you giving me a drink?' She asked suspiciously.
'If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now'
'There are things worse than death, as Bellatrix so kindly taught me earlier'
'You're in pain, yes?' Lucius asked, withdrawing his wand.
'Why?'
'Relax'
'How can I? What are you doing?'
Lucius knelt before her, his eyes never breaking contact with hers.
'Take off your robe'
'No' Hermione said, her brown eyes diluted with fear.
'You're dressed beneath it, are you not? I am not going to assault you Miss Granger. Trust me. Please' Lucius said.
Hermione waited a few seconds, staring at the man before her. Then she began to remove her robe, revealing the grubby t-shirt and jeans beneath. Her arms were littered with bruises and cuts.
Lucius held his wand to one of her arms and was surprised when she didn't flinch away. He quirked an eyebrow at her.
'I'm trusting you. For now' Hermione said.
Lucius fingers traced along her forearm, his wand trailing it, healing as he went. Cleaning the mud from her clothes, the blood. His finger traced along her cheek, healing the bruise there.
'You have more?' He asked quietly.
Hermione began to peel away her t-shirt wordlessly. Revealing the mass of bruises along her right side, the oozing gash that spanned her back. Lucius healed them all, his ghosting fingers replacing the marred mess of skin with flawless porcelain.
Hermione removed her jeans, not really caring that she was sitting in her underwear. She could almost fall asleep under his healing touch, it was the feeling of stepping out of a well needed hot shower. She wanted to wrap up in sumptuous fabric and fall asleep.
Lucius cleaned the dirt from her clothes and robes, he removed the grime from her hair and Hermione felt normal for the first time in a while. Her clothes were slightly warm as she put them back on.
'Thank you' was all she managed to say, though her mind was bursting with unuttered words.
'You mustn't tell a soul'
'I understand' Hermione nodded.
She found it amusing that the only good part of him she'd seen was the only part he wanted to hide away.
'Why?' She asked again.
'You have a spark, do not let it go out Hermione' He said.
'I don't understand...'
'Neither do I' Lucius smiled.
She smiled back, her features relaxing. Lucius wondered what it would be like to have her look at him like that all the time, with out a trace of fear.
'Can I drink this?' She asked.
Lucius nodded. Hermione bought the drink to her lips and downed it like he had. The grimace on her face was enough to bring a laugh from Malfoy.
'That's vile' she laughed, coughing slightly from the strength.
'An acquired taste' He smiled.
A comfortable silence descended, the two reveling in a feeling of comfort, despite the war raging on outside their haven. After a while Lucius checked his watch, a look of resignation upon his face.
'I have to go back to the cellar now don't I?'
Lucius nodded, almost sadly. He opened the door and gestured for Hermione to walk ahead, to be swallowed in to the darkness of the corridor.
Reviews would be loved, constructive criticism welcome.