Once they'd reached the landing, Molly rushed up to the door, lifted the coiled snake knockers and rapped loudly several times. There was a long pause, so she knocked again.

Finally, the door opened slowly to reveal Hermione, clad only in a rumpled, spaghetti-strapped, short nightgown that only served to call attention to the several love bites on her neck. She stared in wide-eyed shock at the group on the landing, not noticing her parents standing in back.

"Oh, thank goodness we found you," Molly said, reaching to grab Hermione's hand. "Let's get out of here before that bastard realizes you're gone."

The young woman jerked her arm back, avoiding the older woman's grasp. At that moment, Lucius appeared behind her, wearing only a pair of silk pajama bottoms that rode low on his hips. Putting his arms around her from behind in a possessive gesture, he said in a deceptively calm voice, "What's going on here?"

The Grangers, standing behind the Weasleys, looked at each other in fearful apprehension. This was the same man who'd gotten into a fistfight with Arthur in the bookstore just before Hermione's second year.

"We're here to check on Hermione's welfare," Arthur said firmly, looking Malfoy straight in the eye. "We read in the Daily Prophet that you and she entered into a consort relationship, and we want to make sure that she did so of her own free will. I wouldn't put it past you to cast an Imperius on her."

Lucius regarded Arthur with a crocodilian smile. "Not that it's any of your business, Weasley," he said lazily, "But feel free to use your wand to check, if that will make you feel better. You'll see that she's not acting under the influence of any spells."

Arthur did so, and soon discovered that Lucius was telling the truth. His miserable expression at this discovery only delighted Lucius Malfoy.

"Satisfied?" Lucius asked. When he heard no reply, he drawled, "Now, if you'll all excuse us, Mrs Granger-Malfoy and I will return to what we were doing when you so rudely interrupted us." The suggestive expression on his face left no doubt to the group that they'd interrupted the couple in the middle of sex.

"No, I'm not satisfied," Molly Weasley said, unable to restrain herself any longer. Looking up, eyes narrowed in disgust for the smug wizard standing before her, she spat out, "You vile predatory goat! How dare you molest our little Hermione!"

Before she could continue, Hermione turned on her, eyes blazing, losing her temper. "I'm not your 'little Hermione'! I'm a grown woman and I can make my own choices!" Taking Lucius' hand, she continued, "He didn't 'molest' me or take advantage of me! We chose each other! We want each other! Lucius is good to me -- he treats me like a queen!" Pausing to gulp a lungful of air, she continued, "If you'd have had your way, I'd have married George or Charlie or Percy. It didn't matter who to you or that none of us were attracted to each other. Just as long as I married one of them and you could keep me under your thumb forever, you'd be happy! I didn't tell you about us because I knew you'd react this way!" She emphasized her point by reaching up to kiss Lucius on the cheek.

After a moment of stunned silence, Molly finally understood that Hermione had indeed acted of her own free will, which stung her more than the notion that Hermione had been acting under the influence of the Imperius spell. Looking at Hermione as if seeing her for the first time, she said, "How dare you shame Ron's memory by letting this filthy bastard put his hands on you! It's because of his kind that Ron is dead in the first place! I thought we'd taught you better than that! You're nothing but a..."

Lucius had had enough of Molly Weasley's mouth. He pulled his wand and quickly cast a silencing spell on her, cutting her off in mid-rant. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to insult my consort in that fashion in front of her own home," he said casually. Turning to Arthur with a supercilious smirk, he observed, "Now isn't that better, Weasley? I've improved your wife for you. I can't imagine how you've lived with that battleax all these years without going deaf!"

Arthur did not reply but threw himself at Lucius, much in the same way he'd done that day in Flourish and Blotts. Before he could connect with Malfoy, however, the blond wizard flicked his wand at him, and calmly said, "Stupefy!"

The older wizard collapsed backwards, but Harry caught him before he hit the floor, glaring at Lucius Malfoy, who was smirking in amusement, with sheer loathing.

As the group turned its attention to help Arthur, Hermione noticed her parents standing in back, one step below the landing. "Mum! Dad!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were in Australia!"

"We'd decided to come home to England for good," her mother said. "We thought we were going to surprise you, but it turned out that you surprised us, instead."

"Mr and Mrs Granger," Lucius said, addressing Hermione's parents for the first time. Swallowing his instinctive disdain for muggles, he said quietly, "I think we need to have a talk."

"That's an understatement," Kenneth Granger agreed.

"Won't you come in, then?" Lucius said smoothly, standing aside in a gesture of invitation. "We can talk over lunch."

"Yes, thank you," Jane Granger said, instinctively realizing that reacting as Molly Weasley had done would do nothing to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner.

As the Grangers stepped over the threshold to the Malfoy penthouse, the Weasleys and Harry moved to follow. The stupefy spell had worn off Arthur and he followed on shaky legs, supported by Harry.

"Not you lot," Lucius said, barring the door. "This is a meeting for family only, which all of you are obviously not."

"Wait just a minute," Harry exclaimed, "Hermione is every bit part of the Weasley family, just as I am. You've no right..."

"I have every right," Lucius said coldly. "I am her legal consort, so am I her family in law as well as in deed." Softening his gaze slightly to the young man, whom he realized had truly been Hermione's friend and who had saved Draco's life in the Room of Requirement, he said in a quiet voice, "Just go for now and attend to the Weasleys. Hermione will owl you later when all of this has calmed down. If you want to show that you care about Hermione, you could make arrangements to have her cat, Crookshanks, delivered here, as she's been missing him terribly."

"All right," Harry said dully. "I'll make sure that Crookshanks is brought over here."

"Thank you," the older wizard said.

"But this isn't over yet, by a long shot," Harry vowed.

"No, I don't imagine it is," Lucius replied, entirely unfazed by the young man's implied threats. "Now, if you'll excuse us..."

And with that, Lucius shut the door in his face.

--
A/N Much gratitude to all my faithful readers..
A/N There's a new entry in the blog, "What to Wear to a Confrontation". As usual, it can be accessed from my blog.
A/N Next chapter: Meeting the Parents. (Note to those who like a bit of smut -- there will be a bit in this chapter!)