Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. I simply play with her toys.

Chapter Three

The next morning, Hermione took the entire day off. She anticipated it being a stressful day and did not want to try to balance work with it. She dressed to look as nice as possible, this time in a knee length navy blue dress with black blazer and heels. It was a little more modest than last time, but she didn't want Malfoy to think she was dressing for him…even if she was a bit.

The walk down the cell block was less eventful than last time. A glimpse into Dolohov's cell showed the man to be asleep, though he was crying softly in it if the gentle sobs were anything to go by. Otherwise, she kept her eyes on the floor as she was escorted toward the meeting room.

Lucius arrived minutes later to see her already seated at the table. The guard shut the door behind him once securing Lucius in the other chair. He did not look as put together this time as he did the last. His hair was hanging limply around his face and dark circles were under his eyes. He also seemed to be sweating slightly.

Nevertheless, he nodded at her with the most miniscule of smiles. "Ms. Granger, you are looking well. Have you made a decision?"

"I have, but first… are you okay? You look a bit ill," she inquired.

He smiled a bit more. "Your concern is touching and makes me even surer I made the right decision in asking you to do this. I am coming down with some kind of illness. It is going through the prison. Don't fear, I have been charmed to be not be contagious unless touched. Personally, I suspect Dragon Pox. A few of the other inmates are showing spots."

"Have you received the necessary potions?"

Lucius shook his head. "Supposedly, they are waiting on a new shipment as the last has expired. According to the guard, we should have something in a few days."

Hermione nodded. At least it was being taken care of. Dragon Pox didn't generally move quickly enough to cause huge problems if caught within a week. Still, Lucius's posture was a bit less rigid than last time, and he looked exhausted.

"I'd hoped to be spared the tediousness of repeating myself, but…. Have you made a decision?" Lucius urged again.

Clearing her throat, she nodded. "I have. I want to ask questions though."

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand to encourage her. "I expected nothing different."

Hermione deftly pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, unfolding it and putting it in front of her. Upon seeing it, Lucius chucked slightly. "I didn't quite expect a list somehow. Organization is not a bad thing, though."

She ignored him and read the first question. "If I were to go back in time…. Who would I be in that time?"

Lucius nodded. "A very obvious but necessary question. As it happens, my parents used to sponsor exchange students. The entire program ended with the wars, but before that it was a yearly thing to have an incoming student come during the summer to live with us before either starting their sixth or seventh year at Hogwarts. Generally, the students that came were interested in potentially relocating to England after graduation. She was also a seventh year."

"And I would pose as her? What would I do about the actual girl coming?"

"Quite simple. You will go to the train station to meet her and charm her to return home. You are quite good at memory charms, no?" Of course, he knew she was good at them. It was her entire job to be good at them. "We had no idea what she would look like- just a name and background. She got off of her train, and I personally met her there."

"How exactly am I supposed to get you not to be a pureblood elitist if I am one?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Lucius laughed. "My mother had a penchant for charity work. Our exchange students were impoverished orphans that showed promise, magically. They were generally half bloods, we believed, but it was unknown. When the time comes, I believe you will be able to come up with a reason of how you ended up there as a muggleborn that will satisfy my younger self. We paid for their year at Hogwarts and prepared them for a life in magical Britain."

"Okay. What was her name?" she asked, wondering if she knew the actual woman.

"Hera Elias. She was one of few students we sponsored from within Britain itself. She was from around Cardiff, I believe. Regardless, I know when her train arrived, so it shouldn't be hard to head her off."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, and this young witch… if I take her place I will strip her of the opportunity to have a better education and start to her adult life."

Lucius nodded. "That would regularly be true. Unfortunately, she didn't have much of an adult life. She was killed in the first wizarding war by Joseph Nott after being repeatedly raped by him and many others."

Hermione gasped at the information, a hand covering her mouth. Tears filled her eyes before resolve did. Simply going back would save at least one life.

"I assume this is what Draco meant when he said that it was as if history itself was preparing for this to happen." She murmered mostly to herself.

"Indeed," Lucius responded, smirking, before coughing lightly. "I assume you wrote more than one question on your…list."

Hermione straightened herself, returning her sight to the paper in front of her.

"What exactly are you wanting from me in regards to turning your sympathies toward muggles and muggleborns?"

Lucius nodded and smirked. "Whatever is necessary, Ms. Granger. I am comfortable to admit that it will probably be quite a feat to truly get me to change. It is ultimately up to you as I will, of course, not be there to shepherd you. Whether you become a great academic adversary, a study partner, a friend or more, I will leave it in your hands."

Hermione's eyes widened. "More?! I don't think you would ever want more from me."

Lucius looked her over, his gaze raking over her body as if he was imagining what was underneath. "Do not doubt, Ms. Granger, that if I were not in the predicament I am or with the rather unfortunate belief system I was raised to agree with, I would be very, very interested. I fully believe that as long as Lucius is able to get to know you before discovering your unfortunate heritage and likes what he sees… Ms. Granger, you will be the one deciding what kind of relationship is had. My younger self will want whatever you wish to offer if you play it right."

Hermione's eyes got even wider if possible. Impossible! She thought immediately of Narcissa Malfoy. Tall and thin with blonde hair and obviously pureblood outlook on life…

"And Narcissa? What about her? What does she even think about this whole thing?" It worked out to have asked because it was actually the next question on her list. Of course, she had written it down with the intention of wondering how the woman would feel if Hermione went back in time to change the man she loved. Not if she would mind if the man she loved wanted to bed her when she did!

It was Lucius's turn to raise an eyebrow as amusement sparkled in his eyes. "I wouldn't know exactly what she would think, but I assume not much. Narcissa and I were actually arranged to be married. Neither of us were each other's first choice, I assure you. We are not exactly each other's types. I prefer women to be a bit more…vibrant and my preference in regards to looks have been made clear. She prefers tall, dark, and handsome brooding types. There are several reason that Severus Snape was named Godfather to Draco. One being that it gave him the excuse to be around Narcissa. I have not told Narcissa of any of this, but I assure you that she would not attempt to stand in the way. Perhaps more happiness will come out of this for her as well. We are civil, distant friends and have been nothing more since Draco's birth."

Hermione blinked, slowly, several times. Of course she knew about arranged marriages in pureblood society. It was certainly not uncommon. However, it was strange to have arranged marriage presented to her so clinically by one participating in it. Most of the married couples she knew truly did love each other, or at least once had.

"Are most pureblood marriages like this?" she asked in shock.

"Some are. I am not sure as to percentages. You could ask Draco to get the other side. He was betrothed to Astoria when he was five. From what he tells me, he is quite smitten with the witch." Hermione nodded hesitantly. She hadn't even known Draco and Astoria had been arranged. He definitely did seem to love her.

"Finally, is there anything you know of that I need to avoid to make me more successful in regards to my task concerning you and my personal task to prevent the wars and save as many as possible?"

Lucius pondered that for a few moments, taking a break to have a rather pathetic sounding coughing fit. Finally, he nodded. "When the Dark Lord started recruiting my generation, he was quite brutal. The marking is the most pain I have ever been through, and I have always hated it. I despise tattoos and always have. In addition to that, before the marking one is required to cast the killing curse on someone they believe to be someone they care about. In my case, my father dragged in a muggle that had been polyjuiced to look like my mother. I was told that she had betrayed the cause and had to be killed. The woman had already been abused in a variety of ways and when I was told to kill her she actually nodded at me as if she wanted me to. I tried to resist for a while which led to many, many rounds of Cruciatus. My left foot twitches to this day, occasionally. It did make it easier to complete my task in the end, to stop my 'mother's' suffering, but it still haunts me."

Hermione listened in horror. How is it she never knew about this? It was….terrible. Lucius continued. "I was not the first that school year to be marked. At the very least, Antonin Dolohov, Roderick Nott, and Gregory Goyle were all marked before me. After it was over, we were all told not to tell or we would greatly regret it. I think if, perhaps, someone had told me what kind of man the Dark Lord really was ahead of time… maybe I wouldn't have gone."

Hermione nodded. "So I need to tell you what will happen if you go?"

"No…. I wouldn't know how you came by the information. If you can get one of the others to tell… you might save more than one of us. Please do not assume that we all start as brutal monsters. Necessity made many of us the way we became."

"Who are salvageable?"

Lucius seemed to think for another moment and Hermione grabbed a pen to write down names. "Dolohov, Regulus Black, Severus Snape, and Rabastan Lestrange would all be possibilities."

"No one else?"

Lucius shook his head. "I suppose it is possible, but I wouldn't know who. Dolohov is the only one from my year, though. Severus was a first year in my final one, and Regulus and Rabastan the year after him. They might know more than I did about the feelings of others, but I am not sure how you will get to know them well."

Hermione frowned. "Well, it isn't like I'll be rushed for time…"

Lucius nodded her point. "Lastly, greatly avoid Bellatrix if you can. Her sanity was in question well before Azkaban. She also harbored quite an unhealthy obsession with me in school. I think she would have killed any other woman I was with if it hadn't been her own sister I ended up marrying."

Hermioned blanched, remembering that she would have to live in a world with Bellatrix again. It seemed she would be putting herself in a great position to receive the dark witch's ire again if she befriended Lucius. Still, the benefits outweighed the risks.

She met eyes with Lucius. "I'll do it."

His body sagged in relief. "Wonderful. You cannot imagine how thankful I am for your willingness. I wish I could promise you success, but I cannot. However, I hope you know that if you do exceed that you will have my-" A coughing fit interrupted him, and Hermione was shocked that when he pulled his hand away a bit of blood was on it.

She approached him as the coughing started again and, unthinkingly, put a hand on his shoulder. His body slumped a bit more, and she crouched down next to his chair, her hand rubbing his back as he coughed. He sounded horrible, and she could hear his coughs producing what she assumed to be more blood.

"GUARD!" she yelled. The guard opened the door just as Lucius's coughing stopped for a moment. She met his eyes and a strange look overtook his face before he leaned in and pressed his lips insistently against hers. In shock, she stayed perfectly still as he kissed her, unable to process what was happening.

The sound of the guard yelling a curse followed by Lucius's hiss of pain as he was pulled away brought her back to reality. Lucius Malfoy had kissed her?! The guard wasted no time in pulling Lucius roughly to his feet.

Lucius smirked at her. "Lucius will like you," he said haggardly. "Watch out for Bellatrix." He started coughing again as he was pulled from the room. "Draco will contact you!" he said amidst them.

She stood in the room until the guard came back. He looked at her in confusion. "Why did you get so close?" he asked.

"He was coughing, and there was blood…. I was checking to make sure he was okay," she explained, dazedly.

"Well, it is probably best for you to take something. I would stop by St. Mungo's if I were you. The potions for here are due to arrive this afternoon, but coughing blood isn't usually associated with Dragon Pox." He looked at her as if she was crazy. But then, he probably didn't care one whit about an old Death Eater.

Hermione nodded her understanding, and the guard escorted her out. She went straight to St. Mungo's were they scanned to see if he had recently been infected with anything. Fortunately, it came back clear.

She went home and started to make a list of what she would need to do in the next month to prepare for her leaving. She purposefully tried not to think of all of the people that she'd be leaving behind.

She kept expecting Draco to show up, but he never did. He also didn't spend an explanation. An hour before midnight, she finally went to bed.

The next morning, she was woken up by knocking on her door. Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, she saw it was only 7 AM. She got out of bed and tossed on a robe before coming to the door. Draco stood there, eyes red rimmed. "Malfoy?" she asked, confused.

"I got an owl shortly after your visit with Father yesterday afternoon saying that you had agreed," he said, shortly.

She nodded. "Yes, I did. I thought you said you would be over last night... Come in, " she said, opening up the door wider and stepping aside.

Draco cleared his throat and stepped in wearing wrinkled robes that looked like he might have worn them the day before. "In Father's note he also mentioned he was sick and coughing a bit and that he wished to pass on that he hoped you would be okay. A few hours after sending it, I was floo'd and told that he had passed away. Apparently some sort of… blockage in his lungs. According to the report, he just started coughing in his cell and then was just… gone."

Hermione gasped and without thinking pulled the blonde man into a hug. "Oh, Draco, I'm so sorry…."

She felt Draco nod against her shoulder before pulling away. He walked to her couch and sat down, not seeming to really see his surroundings. "It isn't like we had the best relationships. I mean, I know he loved me, but he was definitely not a role model of any kind. I don't know why I am so upset."

Hermione sat down next to him and grabbed his hand. "Because at the end of everything, he was still your dad." Draco was quiet but gave her a thankful look.

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again. "Unquestionably, it was his last desire that you go through with this, so I am happy that you are. I'm sure that from wherever he is now, he still appreciates it. And I am happy as well, knowing that there might be redemption for him…somewhere."

She nodded again. "Yes…well…uhm… I am writing down everything I need to do ahead of time. Do you know a good way to make sure that my belongings go to Harry?"

Draco nodded. "I assumed you would leave Potter a letter of sorts. Enclosing the deed to your flat and a note telling him he could have it all should be enough. As long as it is inside of the house when rendered to the new owner, the Ministry will consider it to be included. To avoid headaches, it would be best to simply empty your vaults and leave the contents here as well."

"Thank you. I'll do that."

Draco pulled a miniature file out of his pocket and enlarged it before handing it to her. "This is all of the information we have on Ms. Elias. Father was quite thorough. She was not expected to bring anything with her other than her wand and whatever she was wearing at the time. That works as well, considering you can only take that with you as you travel back. Father also included what she would have known about the family before arriving, nothing more than names and occupation along with where to meet. Outside of a few brief letters, there is nothing. She mentioned no friends."

Hermione opened it up and flipped through the papers. "Where do we go from here?"

Draco cleared his throat, obviously a bit distracted. "On my birthday, June 5th, I will come here to get you mid-morning. You will come back to Malfoy Manor with me. We will get a bit of my blood, as the heir, to access the turner. After we have it, I will have to carve a symbol into your hand and add blood to the turner itself. Then, we will set it and find a good place for you to travel from. From what I have read it is not painful but… disorienting. You will arrive very tired. As you won't be expected at Malfoy Manor quite yet, you can take some time to get your bearings. Any other semi-pertinent information should be in there. Father was as thorough as he could be, as was I."

Hermione nodded, and Draco stood. "I need to be going. I have… arrangements to make."

Hermione stood with him and walked with him to the door. "Is there anything I can do? Would you like me to attend the funeral?"

Draco unexpectedly pulled her into a hug. "You are doing more than enough. Thank you, Granger. As far as Father…. I think it would be strange for you to come to his funeral. Please just focus on the one that will be living. Goodbye. Floo if you need anything else."

The next few weeks passed by a lot faster than Hermione had expected. She started to fill boxes with her friends names written on them, filled them things they would appreciate more than others. Any Herbology books to Neville. Several books on household charms to Ginny. Mythology and Magical Creatures to Luna. She divided the photos out to those who were in them with her, duplicating them as needed. The vast majority was going to Harry of course.

Her Gringott's account was closed with much bitterness on the Goblin's part, not that it mattered. At the same time, she tried not to make it obvious what she was doing. In her spare time, she took up knitting again and made three baby blankets. One for the Potters, one for the Longbottoms and one for the Malfoys. Hopefully, she would be remembered fondly.

The letter she was leaving, which she was sure would be widely read, was the hardest thing to do. She didn't know how to explain that she was willingly giving everyone she knew up for the hope of something….better. She also didn't want to give too much away and leave Draco answering for her decisions. Feeling slightly guilty for taking credit for someone else's idea, she finally decided to say she had come up with the time turner all on her own. She asked Draco, and he owled his approval to the idea.

She had tried to see her friends several times before she left, but for them life was busy and there would always be tomorrow. She had met Harry for a brief lunch one day shortly after Lucius's death, and he had shared the news as if it would be welcomed with enthusiasm.

"I mean, I know that it is rude to speak ill of the dead, but what if I have nothing nice to say?" he asked, jokingly.

She had looked at him with disapproval. "Well, one nice thing to say would be that he was willing to take all of the blame for his family on his own shoulders to spare their suffering. He might have been a Slytherin and a Death Eater, but he was certainly loyal to those he loved."

Harry groaned, "I didn't mean for you to take me so seriously, Mione."

She continued on, "I realize that, but I just want you to broaden your thoughts a bit. Also, you… we have no idea what Lucius's last beliefs were in Azkaban. Maybe he wished he had never done the things he did. Maybe he wanted redemption."

"To spare himself the rest of his life in Azkaban? I am sure he did." Harry retorted, quickly.

Hermione sighed and changed the subject a bit. There would be no understanding.

"At the very least, Harry, promise me that you will at least be kind to Draco. Regardless of who his father was, he was his father. You were ashamed of the person your dad was for a while and many of the things Sirius did, but that did not stop your love for them. Don't begrudge him his grief if you see him."

"That's assuming Malfoy is any better than his prat of a father," Harry said, scowling at the thought of his childhood nemesis.

"Considering you testified to that effect, I would hope you know that he is. Did you know he is opening a school for muggleborns? A primary school they can go to once they are confirmed to be witches and wizards? Think of how hard it was to acclimate to a new society. He is trying to help them so that they will be more widely accepted and prepared."

Harry grudgingly nodded at that. "That does sound like a good idea…"

"Yes. As a favor to me, I would request that you try to bury the hatchet with him and move on. He is trying to better himself and pave a new path for his family. Don't hinder him by publicly being his enemy. He has plenty of those and not enough friends."

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands. "You are lucky I love and respect you so much," he said softly.

Hermione reached across the table and put her hands on his. "Yes, Harry, I definitely am. Never doubt it… Or how much I appreciate it."

He looked at her curiously, but if he wanted to say anything about it, he thought twice. And if she hugged him a bit tighter that last time, he didn't say anything about that either. He simply hugged her back just as tightly.

Author's Note: Wow, I don't think I have ever written quite this rapidly before. After this one, I am planning to scale down how quickly I post. Hopefully, a new chapter every two or three days can be typical. I don't want to get to the point of having to turn out copy to make a "deadline". A big thank you to all who reviewed! I am so happy you are reading it as much as I am enjoying thinking it up. Please review and let me hear your thoughts! It is really encouraging, and I might need it once my writing high starts to subside. As of now, 33K down!