Hermione and Lucius had an affair in the summer of Hermione's fifth year. When they see each other again, what will happen now Narcissa is out of the picture?
Hermione smiled at her boyfriend, life was going pretty well. She was graduating Hogwarts and was going to travel the world to decide what she wanted to do next with her life. As for Ron, her boyfriend, he was trying out for the Chudley Cannons in two days' time. Harry was going to train to be auror and he and Ginny were going strong, they'd got engaged only a week before and were ecstatic. The guests for the graduation, mainly parents, were still arriving. Hermione's parents couldn't come but had sent her their best wishes. Hermione surveyed the crowd looking for a parent she recognised, then her heart skipped a beat, she'd forgotten Lucius Malfoy would be here. He was talking to a wizard she didn't recognise. As the wizard moved away Hermione tried to tear her gaze away but couldn't. She had forgotten how striking Lucius Malfoy was. His long blond hair was tied back with a black ribbon, his clothes, as ever, were elegant without a wrinkle in sight. He caught her eye and she froze, unable to move, he smiled at her and she tore her eyes away. He chuckled to himself, she hadn't changed. Hermione was still beautiful, intelligent and she still looked at him the same way, the way that had made him realise she'd transformed from a child into a woman, and what a woman! He smiled at the memory, she'd surprised him in more ways than one and it had by no means been unpleasant. The unpleasantness was already there in the form of his wife, or rather, his ex-wife now. He was relieved she had never known about him and Hermione, it made the divorce settlement easier when he'd caught her with Macnair one night when he'd come home two hours earlier than expected. He surveyed the crowd, the Weasleys were here, and some people he recognised from the ministry. He couldn't see any former Death Eaters in the crowd but some of them were still distrusted, even he wasn't fully trusted by a lot of the wizarding world, despite his last minute conversion to the Order of the Phoenix. He spotted Snape out of the corner of his eye and moved to talk to him.
"I see Narcissa isn't here, Lucius." Snape commented as Lucius reached him.
"Afraid of a scene I believe, Severus. It isn't exactly a secret why our marriage ended. She hasn't been seen much in public recently, though I can't say I'm surprised, her indiscretion has made her somewhat of an outcast. It's rather unacceptable in our circle to get caught with a lover." Snape raised his eyebrows.
"Caught?"
"Many a loveless marriage is rife within the pureblood community Severus, she tired of my money soon enough. I couldn't divorce her without just cause; luckily being caught in the act is just cause."
"And you being ever faithful must have been in your favour." Lucius laughed.
"Dear me Severus haven't you guessed? Just because I wasn't caught doesn't make me free from sin." He moved away. Severus smiled, he had guessed, so had half the world. He, like so many others, was wondering who Lucius had taken as a lover, or even if perhaps he had more than one mistress. Many witches would jump at the chance, especially now Lucius was free to marry again. Status and money still ruled many peoples' minds. Lucius wasn't a bad looking man and had come over to Harry Potter's side early enough to contribute to his victory and earn the respect of even many cynical individuals. Snape turned his head and saw Harry looking at Lucius. There was clear respect in the boy's eyes as both he and Lucius nodded their heads to each other as means of a greeting. It made Snape suddenly think of a possibility, quite an amusing one as he thought about it. Being acknowledged with respect by Harry Potter meant you met his standards. Overall they weren't high but he did not hold in regard those who still valued the purity of blood. If Harry and Lucius were openly civil in public it meant that either Lucius had changed his outlook on the muggleborn and half-blood members of the magical world or Harry had changed his views. It didn't take a genius to work out which was the more likely of the two. The interesting and slightly amusing thing was that, if it were true that Lucius wasn't so rigid a believer in purity being important anymore, the potential lovers doubled in number. Snape smiled to himself as he scanned the multitude of female faces in the crowd. Could the lucky witch be here?
Harry looked around, he saw Lucius Malfoy, he still didn't quite trust him, though he'd surprised everyone by divorcing his wife and freely admitting why, rather than hushing everything up and carrying on. Many people saw his openness bringing shame on a pureblood family, it made a lot of people rethink whether or not they should be so dismissive of his allegiance to the Order, he'd made more friends that way. Harry still wasn't sure though, it was true Lucius had contributed greatly to their sides victory, and hadn't once betrayed them, but Harry had never found it easy to forgive and forget. Lucius' eyes met his and they nodded in acknowledgement of each other. One thing about Lucius had made Harry keen to trust him. He seemed to have changed his views on the muggleborn and half-blood witches and wizards. This had made Harry believe that Lucius probably had changed; Harry found it a lot easier than Ron. He and Hermione were arguing again, there'd been tension between them for a few weeks, despite the masks of contentment they wore people had noticed. It sounded like things had finally reached a head.
"Say another word about it Ron and I shall lose my patience!"
"I don't know why it bothers you so much! He's a Death Eater."
"He is not! How dare you! He joined our side Ronald; he's not some evil nobody you can insult for no reason!" Their fight was becoming heated, and had caught quite a few people's attention.
"Why are you defending him? He's a Malfoy!" Several more heads turned at this information, including both Malfoys'.
"What has that got to do with anything? I'm a Granger, Harry's a Potter, and you're a Weasley, what's a name? It doesn't define people any more than blood! If you weren't such a stubborn infuriating ass maybe you'd be able to see people can change, you never can admit it when you're wrong can you?"
"Well, if that's how you feel about everything fine! Be friends with Lucius Malfoy, just don't expect me to wait for you to come to me when you realise how stupid you are!" Ron stumbled backwards in shock when Hermione's hand came into contact with his cheek.
"I've had enough Ron, you just don't listen. I can't continue with this farce anymore. We're over, goodbye!" She spun on her heel and angrily walked away, the crowd quickly averted their gaze and started talking, not daring to look at either the Malfoys or Weasleys. Lucius' eyes followed Hermione, it had been quite an honour to watch her defend him so fiercely, he wondered. He turned away from the crowd and peeled off to follow Hermione from a different angle, there was something he dearly wished to know.
Hermione was livid, it had finally happened, she had felt it coming on for a while, Ron just wasn't for her. Even if he hadn't been so difficult, any man would have found it hard to please her after a man like Lucius. She leant against a tree and took a few deep breaths, her anger leaving her. She'd always found it hard to hate Lucius, she'd seen his good side even through the insults he threw at her and the coldness with which he seemed to treat everybody, even his equals. When she'd been with him, she'd seen how warm he could be, how gentle and kind and vulnerable. He had shown her a side of himself no-one else saw, and she'd fallen for him, however hard she tried not to. She had known all along it wouldn't last, if nothing else he had a wife. Of course that had changed now, though it would never do for him to marry someone who wasn't a pureblood witch. She let her thoughts drift to the memories she had of him, some good, some bad, all she treasured. She frowned, however bad it may look to some people if he married a muggleborn, he himself seemed to have changed his opinion on the subject. She laughed shortly at herself. Whatever Lucius' views, he wasn't going to marry her. What they had, had had been wonderful, but it was a fling, an affair, a short term thing with a younger women. Lucius probably had a queue of women vying for the chance to be his mistress, or the future Mrs Malfoy. With such a wide choice, why would he look at her? An old flame who'd appeared to have moved on. Even if he did still feel for her, he wouldn't take on someone who'd just come out of a relationship and after today, it was unlikely they'd see each other more than once a year if that. Lucius was going to have plenty of time away from her to find a more beautiful and suitable woman to take on in his life. She sighed, she'd made the mistake of managing to fall for him and it was going to haunt her for the rest of her life. She could see it now, measuring every man against him, losing every potential lover due to their inferiority to Lucius, ending up old and alone all for the sake of a short affair one summer. It was ridiculous.
"Hello, Hermione." She jumped and turned her head sharply to see the man himself looking at her, leaning against a nearby tree.
"Hello." She replied quietly. Glad he couldn't read her mind she kept her eyes locked with his, hoping he wouldn't notice that her legs were shaking slightly. He smiled at her.
"It has been awhile my dear." She swallowed hard.
"Nearly two years." She was surprised she managed to keep her voice even, if quiet. He took a step forward.
"I have missed you, Hermione." She blinked in surprise but said nothing. He continued. "Do you know how hard it is to sleep alone?" Was he teasing her? It was hard to tell. It almost felt as though his words were a cover for a question he wanted to know the answer to but wasn't prepared to ask, she chose her words carefully.
"I have never found it a particular hardship Mr Malfoy, but then I suppose I am more used to it than you."
"Do you really believe that? What makes you think you were not the first?" The first what? She was not the first woman he'd lain with she knew that. Did it mean she was his first mistress? Probably not. He must mean the first muggleborn.
"I really don't know what you mean. If there is something you wish to say Mr Malfoy just say it."
"When did I become Mr Malfoy again? Is it so abhorrent to you after what we shared to use my real name?"
"What we shared? You make it sound like a past relationship."
"Well it was hardly just about sex was it?" Hermione swallowed, no, it hadn't just been sex, for either of them. However he felt about her there had been talks, shared meals, shared stories, shared laughter and, on her part, shared tears. The only thing really that made it different from a relationship was the secrecy it demanded due to Narcissa's position as Lucius' wife. If they had not been together at the time, Hermione supposed it would have been a relationship. That did not change the fact that it was over. They had been together for one blissful summer, then they had parted and never seen each other again, except in passing. When Hermione had seen Lucius for the first time at an order meeting her stomach had flipped. He however, had greeted her with a curt, impersonal nod of the head, so she assumed it had meant more to her than to him. She wasn't about to let a few words convince her otherwise.
"So it was a secret relationship Mr Malfoy. Call it what you will. I wouldn't think it particularly mattered."
"It matters to me, Hermione." She tried to suppress a shiver at the way he caressed her name.
"What do you want?"
"You."
"Don't tease me."
"Who said I was teasing you?"
"We're over! We were over two years ago. Why are you trying to banter with me like we used to?" Her voice had gone slightly high. Hermione knew she was teetering precariously on the edge of becoming hysterical, but she couldn't help it. Seeing him again was hard enough, but she didn't need him to remind her of their time together. She had spent two years trying to forget it. While she hadn't succeeded she didn't need it so blatantly rubbed in her face. Whether he was teasing her or baiting her she didn't know, she just wanted him to stop and leave her be. He'd already ruined her for every other man in the world. Wasn't that enough? He hadn't answered her question, she wondered absently if he thought it was rhetorical. Silence stretched between them, until Hermione thought she may scream with the tension.
"Can you honestly tell me that you feel nothing for me?" His question broke through the silence and caught her off guard. Her answer slipped out before she could stop it.
"My feelings haven't changed." He was shocked by the sadness in her voice. She sounded as he felt, everytime he imagined never seeing her again.
"Then come to me Hermione. Stay with me. I still care for you."
"Still!" She shouted incredulously. "It was an affair Lucius! I'm muggleborn. I mean nothing to you!"
She was suddenly pushed roughly back against a tree. Lucius' face was inches from hers. He had fire in his eyes.
"Never dare to tell me I don't care about you! He growled at her, anger and sorrow mixed in his voice. Hermione felt her heart beat speed up. "I cared about you then and I care about you now! You have never meant nothing to me!" They were inches apart, their breathing fast. Hermione felt her skin on fire beneath her robes where his fingers touched her. The world around them seemed to fall away and all she knew was he was there, in front of her, close enough to kiss. The silence between them stretched as they stared into each other's eyes, not daring to break the moment. It seemed like hours passed, yet it was only a few minutes, then Lucius spoke.
"Come back to me Hermione." Hermione swallowed, then lent forward. Their lips met in a bruising, passionate, desperate kiss. Two years apart had taken its toll on both of them. Their kiss screamed two years of need, two years of longing, two years of pain. Hermione's arms wrapped around Lucius neck, her hands clinging to his shoulders. Lucius' arms were around Hermione's waist, holding her body firmly against his. They could have gone on forever, kissing each other with the fervency of people who'd been starved of love their entire lives. But a gasp brought them back to reality and they broke apart. They turned their heads in the direction of the intruder upon their reunion to see the startled furious face, of Ron Weasley.
A/N So there it is! So go on, ask me to continue it! You know you want to. If I get enough requests and lovely reviews I will!
Kindest Regards
ER xx
