Chapter 13

The lunch ended and Hermione returned to the house for a chance to wind down and relax. Lucius had gone somewhere, she didn't know where. Seeing Narcissa had been stressful, but in actuality not as bad as she had anticipated. There weren't any clear signs of hostility, but perhaps Narcissa just didn't show emotions, but her emotions were blatant when she talked about Draco. Maybe she just didn't really have any when it came to her marriage, which was in itself a fairly sad state of affairs. Then again, being married to an utter bastard like Lucius, maybe one couldn't harbour great expectations. And Narcissa going googly-eyed over Draco was sweet although utterly revolting, Hermione thought. Maybe Narcissa will be the only one of the Malfoy clan that turned up halfway decent, maybe because she was only a Malfoy by marriage. She was related to Sirius after all and he was awesome.

The heat was really intense outside at this point so there was nothing for it but to stay inside or in the shadows. The sea was sparkling and beautiful, and Hermione could lie on her bed and watch it. Before long she had drifted off to sleep.

She woke up about an hour later when she heard someone enter the apartment and walk about. There was a knock on her door which Hermione had to drag herself out of her comfortable bed to answer.

"There will be a dinner party tonight where the formal announcement of the engagement will be made," Lucius said as she opened the door.

"I remember."

"We will leave at seven. Wear the black sateen dress with the thin straps," he ordered before turning away to walk towards his own room. Halfway he stopped and turned, "I understand you have a discussion with my ex-wife. Nothing untowards, I presume?"

"Nothing, it was fine. She suggested I explore muggle Venice in winter. I thought I might go tomorrow."

"As you wish," he said before continuing to his bedroom. Hermione stared after him for a second then returned to her bed for a spot of reading. The apartment was quiet from then on.

About half an hour to seven, Hermione dressed in her little black dress. She wanted to wear the other one to spite him, but in hindsight, it was too warm for this climate. She managed to tame her hair somewhat with a few clips and applied a little lip-gloss. Her face had managed to develop a nice tanned glow from the sun.

She realised that it might well be time to check in with her parents and pulled out her mobile from her luggage. The signal was too weak. She searched all over her room for a stronger spot, but couldn't find one. From there she searched the whole apartment, then the balcony but still couldn't find a good spot.

"What are you going?" she heard from behind her.

"Trying to get my phone attached to a network, but there doesn't seem to be any that reach out here. I want to call my parents."

"Send an owl," Lucius said.

"They prefer muggle communication methods, so much easier and owls look strange in their neighbourhood. I'll just have to call them tomorrow from Venice."

With that they made their way back to the Greengrass house for a second time that day for the dreaded formal dinner. Lucius was dressed in his typical black robes which looked so much more severe than the light gray he had been wearing for the last couple of days.

The house was lit up and the effect looked magical as the warm colours of the setting sun made everything look golden. It really was a beautiful island, Hermione thought.

Inside the cream of wizarding society was dressed to impress. There was enough jewellery to outshine Christmas decorations. They really made her little asymmetrical necklace look demure, but that was alright with Hermione. Astoria Greengrass wore a Slytherin green dress, which Hermione thought was pretty sad. She was as loyal a Gryffindor as they came, but she certainly didn't want to make her engagement about school loyalties. Draco wasn't far away. Hermione decided to bite the bullet as Lucius was in discussions with Mr. Greengrass.

"I want my wand back," she spat at him under her breath.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"I saw you on the shore. You took my stuff and I want it back."

"I can't help if you can't keep track of your things, Granger." He smirked before walking away.

It certainly would have made a scene if she followed him and yanked on his arm like she wanted to so she had to let it go for now. She chewed her lip for a bit to try to think up a way to get her wand back. She needed it if she was going to go to Venice tomorrow.

A bit further in the room, Narcissa was being escorted by an attractive Italian man. He must have been her date, because he didn't seem to leave her side. Perhaps Lucius could take some pointers on being a date because he seemed to dump her at the first opportunity. He wasn't far away, but like always discussing business. Didn't he ever stop working, she wondered, she had been accused of never relaxing, but Lucius made her look like a country club pool boy. She tried to recall when she had seen him do anything that wasn't work related or for the purpose of achieving his agenda and she couldn't think of any much times. Granted she didn't really know him that well, perhaps he had a hobby stashed away somewhere.

The evening dragged along for some time. Then something seemed to be up, as Lucius joined her and Narcissa and her date came to stand nearby.

"May I have your attention." Mr. Greengrass spoke forcefully from the top of the stairs. "I have a very exciting announcement to make."

Mrs. Greengrass had joined her husband on the stairs, as had Astoria Greengrass and Draco. Mr. Greengrass went on to announce the engagement to various 'ohs' and 'ahs' from the gathered crowd. Draco didn't look very excited at all. Astoria was more so, she was actually beaming at the attention. Hermione realised that this engagement had obviously been arranged. If she didn't hate him so much, she could almost muster some sympathy for him, because he didn't look like he was enjoying this as all.

Mr. Greengrass went on to praise the merits of the Malfoy family and their honour of much an advantageous connection. Lucius raised his champagne glass in response to the compliments, while keeping his free hand on Hermione's back. In the end everyone raised their glasses in a toast and Hermione followed suit.

"To Draco and Astoria." The consensus sounded. Hermione raised her glass along with everyone else and was rewarded with another killing look from Draco. God, he can't overlook the presence of a mudblood for anything, can he, Hermione thought.

People were gathering around to congratulate Lucius. As they were excitedly chatting around them, Hermione could feel Lucius' hand burning on her back. It slowly started to move down towards the curves of her behind as if he was absentmindedly feeling the material of her dress. She couldn't deny that the touch was radiating in all directions for her, so she distracted herself by taking some large swigs of her champagne. She was feeling suffocated by the heat of the Island and the heat coming from Lucius' body next to her wasn't helping. His hand remained in place until the dinner bell sounded and Hermione was rewarded with a cool breeze of air as they moved apart.

Hermione wasn't placed down in the kiddy section this time. She guessed that Lucius being a guest of honour meant they didn't want to upset him by placing his date in the Siberian section of the dining table. She was seated across from Lucius, but the table was too large to encourage much discussion across the table. Draco was seated with his now official fiancé further down the table.

Conversation was pretty dry and drab around her, so Hermione focused on the food and the wine. The food was exquisite, as was the wine. As she looked up she would be greeted by Lucius watching her as he listened to the conversation flowing around him. At one point he raised his glass to her and Hermione had to reluctantly follow suit.

At the conclusion of dinner, Hermione was a bit tipsy. She had a bit of a chat with the Ravenclaw boy and she was enjoying herself a little bit. He was telling her about some of the crazy things he came across while healing the general wizarding public. She scanned the room and found Lucius again in a cluster of wizards. He looked up at her as if he felt that she was looking for him. He held her gaze for a moment before returning to the conversation.

Before she knew it, it was time to go home. All in all, it hadn't been as bad as she had expected. The women weren't friendly, they tended to ignore her. The men were often salacious in their looks, but Hermione had grown accustomed to that.

Hermione's voice had lost some of its sharpness and her speech was a little slower than usual. To her the lights were bright and the wind was caressing her skin as they walked home. Hermione walked ahead of Lucius, in a languid stride that would not immediately let passerbyers know that she was well on her way to being inebriated.

Lucius grabbed her elbow as he pulled out his wand and unlocked the door to the house. He guided her up the stairs towards the apartment. In case she should fall he told her, which Hermione thought was ridiculous, because she was feeling completely steady. His hand was burning on her bare skin as he showed her into the apartment.

"I am a bit drunk," she said as she made it inside.

The lights weren't on, but the moon lit up the whole room sufficiently. Actually it made him glow, Hermione noted. He fucking glows, she thought.

"I've noticed."

"What?" Hermione asked, not sure what he was referring to, hoping like hell she hadn't said that out loud.

"You've had a bit much to drink," he clarified.

"I don't normally, you know. Well sometimes, but ..." She trailed off watching the skin where his neck met the dark black material of his robes, remembering the white skin underneath.

He was watching her, she couldn't make out his eyes in the dark, but she knew he was watching her.

"You always watch me."

He didn't answer. Hermione noticed that he still had his hand on her elbow and the thumb was stroking her bare skin slightly. The movements caused sensation to travel up her arm to her neck. She knew she wasn't supposed to revel in the sensation but she did. There were some warning bells that went off in the back of her mind, but had no mind to pay them heed. Instead she stepped slightly closer and stroked the waistband of his pants with the knuckle of one of her fingers.

With that, Lucius stepped forward and kissed her, demanding that she open her mouth for him. The kiss was deep and hard leaving Hermione's senses reeling. Fire ignited in her belly and she drew a little closer seeking more sensation and heat. Before she knew it, her skirt was being pulled up over her thighs and his hands were stroking her thighs and the sensitive flesh in between. As his lips departed hers to explore the lengths of her neck, her legs were travelling up to envelop him based on the support from his hands pressing her to him. Somewhere in the muted back of her mind a voice was saying, what the...

She didn't notice how but they were laying on something soft. The weight of him only increased the painful tension that had taken over. His lips returned and Hermione couldn't fight his deep exploration of her mouth. She wanted more, needing release. She could feel the head of his cock between her legs begging entrance. Hermione's tug of his lower lip between her teeth was all the invitation he needed and he drove into her to the hilt. Hermione gasped from an indiscernible mixture of pleasure and pain, but the tension was unbearable. Another couple of deep thrusts and Hermione was starting to come. Another couple and so was he, finishing with a still moment of brutally hard togetherness which brought a fresh set of waves as she convulsed around him.

He let out a shuddering breath as he collapsed on top of her and Hermione let the sated and heady feeling lead her into sleep as his heavy weight constricted her breathing. As her mind was slipping into its sleeping state, the ever-present voice in the back of her mind told her that there would be hell to pay for this. She was gone before she noticed him get off her.