Disclaimer: It still belongs to other people…thank heavens. If it were mine it wouldn't be nearly as good.

Opening author's note: This chapter was exceedingly difficult to write, which is why it took me so ruddy long. The next one should be out sooner. Also, I've been revising the story as well, fixing all the messed up HTML from my evil mac days, fixing sentences I didn't like the sound of and generally beefing everything up. I've done the first two chapters, as well as the last one written. The ending is changed, and I like the new version a lot better. What can I say, it's a work in progress! If you like this story, you might want to read the revised chapters because not only will they be better, but they'll be a little different.

This chapter is dedicated to my lovely Australian friend Cathie, who will blush when she sees I've dedicated it to her, and again when she reads through it and realizes why (…or when I have to explain it to her). It's also dedicated to all of you who have thought my Lucius is nice.

Oh and lastly…go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban if you haven't already!

CeilingFan, thank you so much for your kind review. I'm really flattered that you felt my little fic deserved a re-read. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter! RunespoorOracle – good to see ya back, kid:) Good luck with the computer problems…I want an update on Blanc et Noir! Patience and Iolanthe, eh? Well, I could be evil and make a joke about the latter and our beloved wizard, but I'll refrain. ;) I generally listen to Beethoven and Mozart while I'm writing this story. I tried my Return of the King soundtrack once, but that's when I ended up working Tolkien into the story. Laudate dominum from Vesperas Solemnis is my absolute favourite for writing the more…er…intimate scenes, if you know what I mean. Leafling: Thanks for the awesome review. I can see you absolutely 'get' my little story, and that thrills me beyond anything. It is all about the psychology, which I feared would be very dull, but I'm thrilled that so many people seem to enjoy it anyway! I do hope you like the longer portion of this chapter written from Lucius' POV, because it was very hard to write! Electryone, after you read this chapter, I'd be interested to know if you still think Lucius is out of character. If you don't wish to review, you could always email me – my email address is in my profile. :) Thanks for the review! Slink: Why did you read it when you obviously hated it (unless you only read the first couple chapters, in which case, I thumb my nose at you)? And why, oh why, did you review? That wasn't constructive, it was just criticism! ;) But thank you for saying I have potential as a writer, even if I'm not sure how you can say that since you pretty much ripped apart every single aspect of my story and writing. AuroraNoctifer: I'm so glad you like it…you had me worried with your last review there toward the beginning of the fic, I thought maybe I'd lost you due to a couple of complaints. ;) Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you like the developments in this chapter. And you're absolutely right about smut being like spice…mh! RaiDorian, having my story compared to chocolate is about the highest honour I can possibly think of! Thank you most kindly! There should be a few more chapters, at present I'm thinking maybe…four or five. So it's not over yet. ;) Thank you for the compliment on my characterization of Hermione…I quite like her as well, lol. D.Domin: No in fact, I don't tire of hearing you say that. Thank a million! ;)

To everyone else who reviewed: Thank you so much for your kind words and commentary. I'm so immensely pleased that you all enjoy my writing and my story. It does my heart good, and my ego even better! ;) With such a good response, perhaps someday I'll have the confidence to begin my novel (it's already planned out, imagine that).

Chapter 12: In Spite of the Warning Voice

The pair hardly surfaced past the bedroom door the following day, and it took only two more nights before they gave up pretending Ginny slept in a different room. Lucius awakened her with a kiss that morning, and immediately asked her if she'd like to move her things into his room. She could do nothing but smile and nod - the gesture pleased her immensely.

Happy as she was, the adjustment period was no shorter. Ginny had shared a bedroom with other females all through school, and sometimes even her bed with Hermione at the Burrow. She was used to the way girls behaved at night, all the rituals of femalehood performed before nocturnal rest, and of course the talking – and oft times, giggling - that occasionally occurred after lights out.

But this wasn't like that.

Lucius was her lover, hard as it was to get her mind around the concept. If she giggled at all, at was for entirely different reasons.

For one thing, she found sharing a bathroom with him – even a very large, very ornate bathroom – rather difficult at first. She'd always been a modest girl, even living with six boys. Their mother had trained them early on to give their sister as much privacy as she needed. Lucius, on the other hand, had been married before and felt rather nonchalant about the whole business, therefore he had no qualms about walking in on her if he had any need to do so, and never seemed to notice the blush that crept into her cheeks.

Also Ginny had never before been aware of the large amount of time he spent grooming himself. It was rather sickening, if she didn't look at it with the proper amount of humour. Perhaps it could be fun to stand in front of the mirror, carefully brushing and arranging your hair with your man, working equally hard on his own – it was certainly a new experience, anyway.

However, all in all she liked the situation. Lucius never failed to amaze her with his fluctuating moods, but he'd been surprisingly even of late, and quite pleasant. It just showed that even the most steadfast grumps melted a bit when plied with the proper amount of amore of the physical variety.

And most of all she enjoyed sharing a bed with him. It made her feel secure to know he was by her side all through the night. He was a rather good bed mate - he didn't snore or steal the covers, and he didn't seem to mind her occasional bouts of restless tossing and turning. Strangely enough, he seemed to fall asleep as soon as he wanted to. It was true they didn't do much sleeping for a while, but when they did, she noticed he dropped off almost right away. She'd never been capable of getting to sleep quickly, even exhausted and spent she found herself staring at the ceiling for a while in bored contemplation. Sometimes she turned her gaze to the sleeping man next to her, and enjoyed the play of the moonlight on his pale face and hair, as she listening to his steady breathing. He seemed peaceful, at least, though she doubted that was really so - he was haunted by too many demons.

Over all, Ginny reflected on one such occasion, she was very pleased with the current state of affairs.

Sunlight streamed in narrow beams through the uncurtained window, illuminating the room with the distinctive glow of early morning. Lucius heaved a sigh as his eyes fluttered open and caught sight of the small, red-headed figure beside him. He couldn't resist a self-indulgent smile. Such a sweet revenge, he thought.

It was true, she had worried him when she mentioned the mutual vendetta he and her father had possessed against each other since their school days. Too close to the real truth, once again…she was clever, sometimes too clever by far. But he had no doubt that his lavish gifts and his charm – that charm that had moved mountains in its prime – had won her over for good. I'll be damned if she isn't falling in love with me, he gloated.

He had to admit to himself that he enjoyed her company immensely. What had begun as a shrewd move in an old private battle had blossomed into a surprisingly pleasing companionship. Sometimes he wondered if he'd be able to dispense with that pleasure when the time came for the payoff he'd planned - the longer he lingered with her, the more unlikely it seemed.

But he certainly couldn't keep her, could he?

She's too young you fool, and look at her, he prodded himself, a bloody Weasley.

And yet…

What a tremendous lover the girl made, especially for one so young and inexperienced. The women in his past had never opened up to pleasure the way she did; certainly not in the way she completely surrendered herself to him over and over again. She was amenable to trying new things which he found immeasurably exciting. And the sweet way she responded to his touch, sometimes he felt there was no greater paradise than her alabaster arms. Every time he took her he was reminded of the first time, secretly delighting in the knowledge that it had been he who had deflowered her. Someday they would certainly part, but he would always hold a piece of her, his mark upon her for all time. She would never entirely escape him.

His thoughts were jarred back to the present with a mental snap when he noticed her stirring beside him. Her brown eyes opened slowly and she stretched, flashing him a smile as bright as the sunlight that illuminated her ginger hair.

"Sleep well?" she asked, resting her head back on the pillow.

"I don't recall, so it seems so," said Lucius absently, running his long fingers over her exposed flesh.

Ginny laughed softly. "Why are men always so randy in the morning?" she queried, though the look in her eyes told him his touch was not unwelcome. She slid toward him on the smooth sheet and put her arms around his neck, resting her body against his. He kissed her cheeks and chin, then came to rest on her lips, plying them with soft ardency. He loved her lips, full and susceptible, and the way her red hair caught in his hands and drenched the pillow with crimson.

He ran his kisses down her neck, seeking to elicit a response. She always loved the feel of it and let him know through her moans and sighs. Even first thing in the morning, she was completely willing and open to him, a bright vessel seeking to be filled.

After a moment she pushed him away, only to catch him again, this time with kisses of her own. He loved this, when she took the initiative and explored him like some choice delicacy. He was perfectly aware of his appeal, but there was still some novelty in her approach – almost as if he were being worshipped. He'd never known a woman who did this, though many had been attracted to him; he put it down as a sign of her youth, which did not lessen his enjoyment in any way. He surrendered to her passions entirely, a slight smirk spreading over his generous mouth.

Pushing him back onto the bed she levered herself onto him, seating herself on his abdomen before she continued her ministrations.

Lucius caught a lock of her red hair in his fist and slid his other hand along her thigh. A mysterious draft ruffled her hair and cooled his burning skin, and for a moment Lucius felt as if he were somewhere else entirely, in a place he hadn't been for many years.

There, another redhead sat astride him, her innocent emerald eyes fixed on his face. He felt the ground beneath him, the soft grass on the exposed flesh of his arms and neck.

Ginny kissed down Lucius' chest, moving her body down his as she did so. She massaged his pale skin with the tips of her fingers, her long hair caressing his belly.

His eyes closed. In his mind's eye, he saw the sunlit field and the green-eyed girl, felt the breeze as if it even then blew upon him. He stared up at her face, enchanted with her and delighted with his own wickedness in seducing such a heavenly creature so much younger than himself.

Back in the present, Ginny positioned herself carefully, straddling his thighs. Beneath her, the blond man pulsed and writhed. His fingers curled around the excess material on the pillow his head rested on, his eyes still shut tightly.

Behind his closed eyelids, he was still in that field, feeling the breeze and drinking in the scent of the spring flowers. In his mind the two redheads, the green-eyed girl in his past, and the brown-eyed girl in the present had become one. She moved over him in a slow but steady rhythm, crushing the last frail petals of her virginity. He moaned, sighed; felt the wind caress his face and the sunlight warming his bare skin. He gloried in her innocence lost, the blossom of her fragility captured in his own hand. Those green eyes stared at him like the gaping maw of infinity. He reached up to cup her face in his hand and drank in her full, soft lips, losing himself in her sweet scent.

In response to a particularly strong wave of pleasure, his eyes snapped open and his mind lurched though nearly twenty-five years and into the present, to see a different girl astride him. His Ginevra, her body leaned back, supported on her hands, skin glistening with sweat, rosy breasts thrust up to the sky. She was crimson all over in her passion, and her moans were as music to his ears. He thrust up toward her, his own ecstatic moan harmonizing with hers.

Who was that girl in his memory? He remembered her green eyes as if he'd seen them only moments ago. He bent his mind back.

Ah yes…her, of course. He realized with a shudder that in fact he hadn't taken her that day. She was three years his junior and a fiery and beautiful mudblood, which made her conquest all the more interesting. She was sweet, innocent, naive, and wholly unspoiled. Something within him made himself let her go, if only to prolong and therefore heighten the moment of actual surrender. But she caught wind of his reputation after that, and wouldn't again speak to him, let alone put herself in a position to be seduced. To his chagrin, he lost the prize forever, and later it was won by a man who would become his enemy. Now they were both dead. It was an ironic world.

Ginny cried out as her body contracted in ecstatic pleasure. With a wave of excruciating pleasure, Lucius felt himself release also. The redhead took a deep breath, her eyes closed, unmoving. After a long moment she lowered herself onto him and clasped her arms around his neck. She whispered something, but in his hazy state he couldn't make it out, and in fact didn't particularly try. He said nothing, but stroked her hair as she laid her head contentedly on his shoulder.

Closing A/N: …So he's had an ulterior motive all along. I couldn't tell you that too soon, now could I? He may seem nicer, and he may seem changed, but in truth he's only more cunning and a little less blatantly malevolent.

Anyone who can figure out where I got the chapter title will be rewarded with some extra insight into Lucius' current state of mind. Yes, that's a challenge!