Chapter Four

The Dark Lord swept from the room, leaving Lucius utterly astonished. For a few moments, Lucius couldn't move, his Lord's last words circling in his head: 'Seduce her, befriend her … just get it done.' His eyes focused in on crackling fire, as he brooded over his choices. Neither of them thrilled him exactly, he would much rather torture her into submission, but he would just have faith in his Lord's decision to keep the girl alive, and concentrate on gaining her trust. Lucius closed his eyes briefly, exhaled a deep breath as he formulated the beginning of his plan, and then stood up. He'd start by her quarters, moving her into one of the Malfoy Manor's nicest guest rooms, then work gradually until she fell for his charm. Sickened at the thought of it, he hurried out of his study and down a hidden staircase that led straight to the dungeons.

As he approached her cell, he could hear her frustrated groans and the whispered attempts of wandless magic. There's no way that Mudblood wench could perform magic wandless, he assured himself, she shouldn't even have magic to begin with. He pulled open the door, hiding a smirk as the girl spun around to face him, unintentionally backing up against the wall.

"Nothing to fear, Miss Granger," Lucius said smoothly, "I'm simply here to move you to your new lodgings."

Granger's eyes flickered with suspicion, "What, better than these?" She replied, sarcastically.

"Hilarious," Lucius shot back, "Come." He strode up to her, taking her loosely by her arm and leading her out of the room. Herding Hermione towards the secret staircase, he struggled to make sure his grip wasn't too tight. Neither of them spoke until they reached her new room; one only a few doors down from Lucius'.

"Here we are," he told her, pushing open the door with his free hand. He lightly pulled her into the room, closing the door behind them. Lucius didn't miss her awed expression as she gazed around her lavish room. It was completely decorated in silver and green, a king size bed sat at the far wall, with large windows on either side of the bed, looking down over the Manor's sprawling grounds and in the distance a forest was visible. At another corner of the room there was an unlit fireplace, with two green armchairs surrounding it.

"Bathroom's there," he pointed at one door, "closet's there. There is protection on this room; you cannot harm yourself or anyone else with any sort of object--."

"Why would I harm myself?" Hermione shook her head, "That's ridiculous."

A Crucio was moments from escaping his lips, but he kept his mouth shut until his anger started to subside.

"This door will not be locked, and you're welcome into any rooms in the house except for my study," he continued, noting that Hermione was now curiously wandering around her room, "but you will not be able to leave the grounds. I wouldn't even try it if I was you, the spells to keep prisono--guests at the Manor are very strong ones."

"Guests?" She scoffed, "I'd hardly call myself a guest."

"I'm going to ignore that comment," he replied, "Breakfast is promptly at 8:00, you are welcome to attend, though frequently my friends are there, and though I can promise you will be in no harm, I cannot say with complete certainty that you will be respected or treated well, however I will try to keep it civil," Hermione nodded, looking kind of shocked at his almost kind demeanor, "Lunch is at noon, and dinner at 7:00," he glanced at his watch, "It's already around 10:00, so good night. My room is only two doors down if you need me."

"Thank you…?" Hermione replied, shock still noticeable on her face. Lucius nodded curtly and strode quickly out of the room, glancing behind him to see Hermione ambling over to her closet, which had already been stocked with clothes.


Only moments later, Lucius was stripping down to his boxers and slipping into a bed that his wife had been sleeping in only twenty-four hours ago.


At exactly 8:00, Lucius strode into the kitchen, seeing his sister-in-law Bellatrix, along with her husband. Crabbe Senior and Goyle Senior were also present with both of their sons and surprisingly enough, Severus was there. Lucius stepped over to Snape; who was currently watching Hermione Granger; she was seated across from him and a few down.

"I didn't get a chance to congratulate you last night about your…capture," Severus began, his gaze never leaving the girl, "I assume you've received word on the rest of your assignment?"

"Though I'm not sure how it's any of your business, yes, I'm aware of what I need to do."

Severus nodded, offhandedly, "And are you alright with that? If you're not, I'm sure the Dark Lord wouldn't mind handing the assignment off to me."

"Why do you want to seduce the Mudblood so badly, Severus?" Lucius snapped, quietly enough that Granger wouldn't hear, "Do you want to have relations with that girl? Because if you do, arrange it with the Dark Lord. You certainly don't need a mission to bed the girl; she's completely under our will."

"Are you serious?" Snape replied, looking slightly tempted but mostly shocked, "that would be unbelievably bad for your assignment, and she'd never--"

"Actually," Lucius smirked, a plan coming to mind, "I think there's a way for both of us to get what we need…"


Once breakfast had ended, Lucius watched Granger walk from the room, and knew that she would be going back to her room, probably still too uncomfortable to venture about the mansion alone. With a nod to Severus, Lucius also saw Snape follow the girl, again up to her room. He followed soon behind; having to make sure the job was done right.

Lucius got there right on time, just as the door shut behind Severus, "Hello," he heard Snape say. Moments later, he heard the sounds of struggling, and a muffled scream.

"What are you doing?" The Mudblood shrieked, and Lucius had to figure that she was pinned to the bed by now. Severus works fast, Lucius thought, when he heard grunts and moans coming from Snape, and still muffled screams from Granger, "Why…are you doing this?" She whispered, as Severus let out a particularly pleasured moan.

"Oh, there'll be more where this came from, Granger," Snape assured, cruelly, "Remember where you are right now. Your life doesn't even belong to you anymore. We can take what we want from you, and if Potter ever finds you, we'll make sure all he finds is an empty shell of a girl, or better yet, maybe he'll find a corpse. It all depends," Lucius could only assume that he was kissing her now, "on how well," another kiss, he'd guess, "you cooperate. Keep in mind your place here. You're nothing, Mudblood, nothing, unless we ask you to be." A few moments passed, before the door swung open. Lucius dodged out of the way, careful to make sure Granger hadn't seen him.

"Have fun?" Lucius asked, mockingly, low enough so he wouldn't be heard.

"You have no idea," he replied, "Even when she's fighting it, she's very… good. How many more go's do I get with her before you 'catch' me in the act?"

Lucius shook his head in disbelief, "Tonight, after dinner. I'll interrupt about half-way through. Let's make it seem believable, shall we?"

"Always, Lucius," Severus smirked, "always."


Author's Note:
Man, I'm queen of the short chapters tonight. My chapter for What's the Lure of the Dark Side was also ridiculously short, but I guess for different reasons. I just really wanted to leave off on a cliffhanger here, plus it's 3am and I'm tired. Good excuse, huh? Anyhow, I'll try to keep the updates coming faster now that it's almost summer. Three more days of exams, and I'm free. Wish me luck :D