The public demanded so who was I to deny? Here you go, lovelies. This chapter also has a brief part from Lucius' POV.
Let's take a rewind first.
…..
Hermione
Hermione strolled down a short hall in the restaurant. She had never been to this restaurant before with it's hidden location and ancient yet beautiful style. It was even separated into five large rooms, three on the first floor and two on the ground floor where Hermione was headed to the one at the back of the building. Candles were scattered around every room, hung next to the wall with magic with single candles hovering in the middle of each table in the room, the wax disappearing before it dropped on the wood. It was like Hogwarts in the sense that the candles floated and the dim light gave a relaxed atmosphere. Each room had a high ceiling and was about the size of about a restaurant themselves, all crammed into one building yet, somehow, it worked. It was all elegant and beautiful and she wondered how Ginny found the place and why she chose it.
The latter was obvious. The place was so beautiful, it looked rather like a museum with each room having a different theme. Maybe they were themed on the Hogwarts houses? she wondered ludicrously. The first room at the front of the restaurant had a deep blue theme with silk chair coverings and blue wallpaper and paintings of boats and the sky midday and the room she could see only a glimpse of was a deep red with hints of gold spattered on the table tops. Golden candles, red chair covers, paintings of trees in the middle of autumn with mahogany frames or gold or beige or white. The colour themes were mesmerizing.
She had only just walked through the restaurant and had not taken a look upstairs. One of the rooms must be green, she mused, and the other yellow. But the last one? She couldn't picture it so she pushed it to the back of her mind and kept walking.
She and Ron had broken up only a couple of weeks before because he had accused her of cheating, with whom he, surprisingly, didn't have an answer. Hermione was enraged and hurt at first, wondering why the hell he would shove that on her. It was preposterous but Ron wouldn't let it go, even after sex and even after trying to discuss it calmly. He had made up his mind about her betrayal and broke up with her. Hermione was crushed at first, she had to admit, but after a couple of firewhiskies she realised he was just really paranoid and had been like that since before they even got together! She could vividly remember him screaming at her about Harry and herself. Also nonsense.
Ginny had told her to meet her and Harry for dinner and she was more than happy to see her two best friends.
But then she turned the corner and hurried backwards again, cursing and breathing heavily. In those two seconds she came to a sudden and heavy realisation: Ginny was either trying to get them back together or she was trying to sooth things between them. Either way, it was too soon for her and her heart hammered in her chest. She had a strong feeling Ron would have only yelled at her in front of everyone and she really did like this restaurant, even though she hadn't had anything from here, yet. Being publicly humiliated would have only meant she couldn't come back for at least a month. Good God, Ginny, why? she thought, harshly.
As quick as the thoughts came they had disappeared when her back bumped into something solid and warm. She gasped.
Lucius
Lucius was bored, even while sitting here with his son, enjoying a nice meal and a handsome glass of wine.
Narcissa was caught up at work and had insisted they spend father and son time together. It had started out as a pleasant evening, discussing whatever topics came to mind, even briefly passing the subject of women, before landing on the food from their favourite restaurant. It was not a cheap place but that wasn't why Lucius liked it so much. Not even for the Slytherin themed room they always came to. No, it was the food, the elegant company that made Lucius' attire fit in perfectly. It was also the calming atmosphere and the wine.
Just then a man walked up to the table and greeted Draco with a stupidly large grin on his face. Draco smiled back, called, "Crabbe! It's nice to see you again." He excused himself from the conversation and turned to talk with Crabbe. Lucius took the opportunity to excuse himself, explaining about needing to use the lavatory. Really, he just didn't want to sit there and listen to the men talk about what they'd been doing the last few years.
Lucius left his seat and walked from the room. To the left of the entrance was a small balcony of glass and deep mahogany. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed hair. Normally, he would have ignored the faded brown shade of it and kept walking but he stopped and turned his head to look. The hair was long and light with only a slight bushy frizz to it. Hermione. It had to be. Heat built under his collar and his hands grew wet but he wasn't nervous, not at all.
He had seen the young witch around Diagon Ally and The Ministry and noticed, without meaning to, just how much she had changed since her Hogwarts years. Her chest had filled out and her legs become long and sleek, shown off by skirts and fitted trousers. Her face had filled out to a more womanly shape and her curves swayed tantalisingly whenever she walked. Without wanting to, he found he had an attraction for the woman and tried to shut his feelings off. She was a mudblood! He couldn't be attracted to her, he couldn't! And yet when he saw her walking down the corridor, away from him, his mind was made. He walked ahead, down the steps and walked around the corner, near the front of the restaurant to the back, where Hermione was.
He couldn't help but feel like some sort of predator as he walked quietly behind her, again, observing the sway of her hips, the swish of her hair. He was right behind her now, mere inches. He reached out to touch her shoulder when she cursed, jerked back and slammed herself into him. He resisted a gasp, having not expecting her to jump back. He dared not to touch her yet, not to scare her off so he stood very still until she tried to turn around and then he wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her facing away from him.
Lust filled up inside him as he leaned over her shoulder and spoke low in her ear.
"Who are you hiding from?"
…
Hope you all enjoyed that. I wasn't planning to make the flashback this long but I really like how it turned out.
