Song for this chapter: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody by Fergie
HPOV
The task of keeping track of Peter Pettigrew turned out to be far more difficult than I could have anticipated. I had taken one day to myself, in order to process everything I was feeling at the discovery of what had happened, but I quickly came to wonder if that was one day too long. I couldn't say for sure if something had been done to him by Sirius or James or perhaps even Lily. It was a possibility, but then it seemed just as likely that he had pulled a runner. I found myself scouring the muggle papers to see if there had been any unexplained ruptures in the sewer. If he had been keen on repeating a variation of how he sacrificed the Potters who was to say he wouldn't also been keen on what had once been his chosen means of escape.
Nothing had been in the papers, and I had not seen him anywhere. I would have nothing to report to Dumbledore if he asked me about him, and I didn't want to imagine how that conversation would go as I was supposed to be the resident spy in this timeline. I couldn't say for sure if he was going to make it to the initiation ceremony tonight after the party, just as I couldn't say for sure if he was even alive.
"Tonight is the night," Severus said edgily from where he had sprawled out on the bed, drawing my attention away from the closet.
"It is," I said quietly, turning to face him. "As I cannot think of any other way to get you out of this, I have one last offer. Would you like to take polyjuice potion tonight and go to the party as each other? I know that you have some down in your lab."
"So the solution is to instead force you to do the unthinkable?" he scoffed. "That sounds even worse than doing it myself."
"I am no longer a fresh innocent lily," I shrugged, not allowing myself to think about what such an act might do to me emotionally. "Surely I would not like it, but I would do that for you Severus."
"You have been unable to find any trace of him," Severus hedged. "Let's hold on to the hope that the rat will not even show up tonight, and then go from there."
I nodded and then turned back to face the shower.
"What is so interesting in there?" he asked me. "Or are you still marveling over how our clothes look hanging together in the closet?"
"I do like that, and the same with the dresser and everything else now that my room became our room," I mused as I flipped through the clothes I had. "But what I am doing is trying to find something appropriate for a formal party at Malfoy Manor that will also allow me to conceal a probity probe somewhere on my person."
"Wouldn't a secrecy sensor be more sensitive to the location of a horcrux?" Severus asked with a lilt to his voice that made it impossible to determine if he was toying with me.
"By all means find me the dress that can hide one of those and you have a deal," I laughed. "Then of course there is the small matter of procuring one on short notice. I was able to purchase the probity probe from a somewhat shady shop in Knockturn Ally while looking for Peter. It did prove itself to be working when it came into close proximity with the owner and began to vibrate. That man definitely had a dark aura about him."
"Well Probity probes are what a foot and a half long?" he asked as he through back the covers and climbing out of bed to approach me. "So we need a fair bit of space to conceal it. Do you have it up here?"
"I do," I nodded, going over to the dresser to dig it out of my underwear drawer.
It was still sheathed in its black microfiber container, but I pulled it out and handed it over to Severus. He turned it over and over in his hand while I flipped through all of the dresses I had either purchased or transfigured.
"It's lucky you found one without that ridiculous bauble on the top," he mused as he held it out from his body, squinting with one eye as he looked between the rod and my body. "It will be easier to conceal without it."
"The gentleman who sold it to me knew it too," I grumbled. "Charged me an extra galleon for its value he did."
"What about a jacket?" Severus asked, still all business as he closed the distance between us and pressed the cold rod against my bicep. "Oh maybe not."
I could see what he meant. The probity probe ran from my shoulder to about two inches before my elbow. There was no way I could go the entire night without moving in just the wrong way and revealing that there was something hidden up my sleeve, and it would be a hard pass to convince people I had stowed my wand in a place it would be so difficult to remove it from in a pinch. No hiding the probity probe in the sleeve of a jacket was out of the question.
"I was thinking if I had a dress with pronounced ribbing, I could remove one of the ribs and put the probity probe into that," I suggested as I looked through the closet once more. "Only I don't have a dress like that, and I haven't the first idea how to create one."
"What about something fluffy," he asked as he began to look through the closet as well. "You could wear it close to your body inside the dress, and the frills or puffs or whatnot would hide the straight line. Maybe against your torso like this."
He held the rod against my side, and I had to admit it was a pretty good fit. With the top of it nestled just under my breast the tip ran down to my hip and sat nicely. I could easily bind it in place with only a slight restriction in movement that could be explained away as a stiff back. The only real issue was that it would break my curves, but again Severus was right, a dress with a lot of frills would hide that somewhat.
"I have the perfect dress," I told him pushing everything in the closet aside so I could reach the purple dress at the back.
It was one dress that I had actually purchased on my own. I had been looking through things at Madam Malkins, with thoughts of potential outings amongst the death eaters in mind, and I had seen it. It was girlier and far more purple than anything I had ever owned, but I could picture how Ginny would have badgered me into buying it and that had been the deciding factor. I pulled it out and Severus looked at me with a raised brow.
"That reminds me of one of those muggle dancers from that book you brought home when you were still working at Flourish and Blotts," he chuckled as he held out the skirt of the dress.
"A ballerina?" I laughed.
I could sort of see what he meant though even without the pink. The main skirt of the dress stopped a few inches above my knee, but the puffy tulle skirt went to my calves. It created more length, but you could still see my legs through it. The tulle formed small clouds around my hips and served to create curves where they didn't exist, which would work if I needed to hide a suspiciously straight line inside my dress.
"It will do quite a bit to hide it," I told him. "But I don't think it will be perfect. If I pair this with a jacket though, no one will have a clue what I am carrying on my person."
"And then you will still have a place to hide your wand," he nodded in approval. "There is the added benefit of how nice that color looks against your skin."
I blushed a little at that and set the dress out on the bed and returned to my open underwear drawer to find something appropriate to wear. The dress called for a strapless bra, though I was wearing a jacket so it didn't much matter, but I went with the black lace strapless one I had seen Severus oogling when he was looking for a drawer to put his own underwear into. Nothing fruitful was likely to happen in our own relationship tonight what with the stress and danger we were walking in to, but knowing that he would know what was underneath and find it attractive would give me a boost in confidence. I grabbed a set of black lace panties that matched the ones I had worn before our wedding and I knew that I had his full attention.
I then drew on every bit of courage and brass I had in me and I began to strip out of my pajamas knowing full well that Severus was standing in front of the closet watching me with rapt attention. Instead I watched him coquettishly through my lashes as I dressed down to absolutely nothing. I could practically feel his eyes as they drifted over my skin and it sent tingles down my spine. I let him watch as I dressed in the matching knickers and bra and then I walked over to him.
"Will you help me to attach the ends of the probity probe to them so it does not fall?" I asked him with a slight pout because I knew how much he enjoyed the visual.
"Of course," he said in a deep voice as he lightly pressed one end of the probity probe against the base of my bra and the other against my knickers.
My skin lit up with pleasure when he took advantage of his hand positions and made small swooping motions across my ribs with his thumb. I was so focused on the feeling of his skin against mine that I almost didn't notice when he carefully pressed his wand against my bra and coaxed the lace to grow out and around the top of the steel rod to create a cup to hold it in place. He did the same at my hip and soon enough he no longer needed to hold the rod in place.
"Move around a bit and see if it will hold," he instructed me when he stepped back.
I paced back and forth between the bed and the closet and I did not seem to have any issue with it shifting about. I varied my speeds between a casual walk and a brisk jaunt as either might be needed tonight and there was no issue. I nodded my head with a smile as I turned back to Severus.
"Shall we?" he asked as he swept my arms up into a waltzing form and began to sweep us about the room. "We will of course need to dance tonight."
At first it was fine, but when I swung my arms up just a bit to high the top of the probity probe sprung free of the cap it was resting in against my bra and it clattered to the floor.
"Damn," Severus sighed, scooping it up from the floor.
"I have an idea," I thought out loud as I replaced the rod where it had been. "Can you make the lace grow once more like you did for the cap? Only this time create a loop that goes all the way around the top so it holds it in place even if it slips from the cap?"
"I think so," he nodded before focusing intently on the base of my bra. "There we go."
"Thank you," I smiled before returning to the bed to put on the dress.
While I could move without knocking the rod free it did restrict my movement somewhat. It was enough of a hindrance that maneuvering myself into the dress. I managed to get it on with a bit of struggling it, but there was no way I was going to get it zipped on my own.
"Could you?" I asked, but Severus seemed to have already understood my struggle and his hands were on my zipper before I could finish asking for help.
"That is… unpleasantly tight," I sighed when the zip was pulled completely to the top.
It made sense of course; the dress hadn't been designed with the idea of hiding anything inside it in mind. Severus chuckled a bit as he directed his wand at my clothing once more. I felt the dress loosen and drift away from my body a bit as he cast a slight engorgement charm on the dress. Let us hope no one cast an infinite near me tonight.
"You'll turn me into a seamstress yet," he chuckled.
"Oh damn," I said looking down at the dress and realizing quickly what I had forgotten to put on.
"What is wrong?" he asked me with a quirked brow as he swung around in front of me to see my face.
"This dress is meant to be worn with tights." I laughed. "I forgot to put them on. Also to pull them out of the drawer, which might actually be impossible with this thing in my dress."
"Which ones do you want?" he asked me, still laughing at the predicament I found myself in.
"I have a set that are a dark greenish blue." I mused, my face scrunched up in concentration. "They should match the jacket fairly well actually."
"These ones?" he asked fishing out the exact pair I had been speaking about without much trouble.
I nodded.
"Would you like some help putting them on?" he asked, his voice going a bit husky once more.
I had no voice after that so I simply nodded once more.
"Hold up your dress," he directed in a husky whisper as he knelt before me.
I did as he told me too and he quickly scrunched up one of the legs of the tights before tapping his thigh in a clear direction to place my foot there. I leaned over slightly so I could use his shoulders to balance myself and then I did as he directed. He momentarily lifted my foot up so he could slight the foot of the tights over it and then he began to pull them upward. I could focus on nothing other than his fingers trailing up my legs as he moved them. I had never been in a position where putting clothes on felt erotic, but the way his hand trailing up the inside of my thigh made it impossible for me to think of the act in any other way.
I released a shaky sigh when he directed my foot back on to the ground and I did not hesitate to comply when he reached for the other leg. He proceed to work his way up my flesh again and I felt a fire burn to life deep in the pit of my stomach. What was this man doing to me? If his somewhat labored breathing was any indication his actions were having just as much of an effect on his as they were on me. He pulled the tights completely into place and I had never felt so dressed and underdressed at the same time before.
He did not immediately remove his hands after pulling the tights into place. Instead his hands came to rest so that he was cupping my behind and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against my lower abdomen. It created a delicious pressure that elicited a small moan from me as I buried my hands in his hair and attempted to breathe through the distraction he was causing me.
"I would like to skip this night entirely and simply burry myself inside of you," he whispered into the folds of my dress.
"I would love to do that more than anything," I admitted. "But we may not get another open invitation into Malfoy Manor with enough other people present to keep our searching actions under the radar."
"I know," he groaned. "I just can't help but think about what I could be forced to do tonight. Hermione this might break me."
"It isn't too late for polyjuice," I groaned, pained by the very idea of what tonight could mean for him.
"Yes it is," he sighed, releasing me and making his way back to the closet.
An hour later found the pair of us completely dressed and standing in the living room. My hair was styled, my jewelry on, and Severus look regal in his black dress robes. We were the picture of a well-manicured pureblooded couple despite the fact that neither of us fit the criteria. Severus had banished every emotion he was feeling from his face, but I could still feel the echo of them washing off of him and I was grateful for the connection forged through our mental link so that I could know what was happening with him through the night. I was also glad that I had erected my own occlumentic walls so that he would not be forced to endure the wash of my own emotions if this night took the horrible turn he was expecting it to.
"The floo will ruin your dress." Severus said as he toyed with the locket I was wearing and did not quite meet my eyes. "We should apparate instead."
"I agree," I nodded extending my hand out to him. "Shall we do slide along?"
"We shall," he nodded, firmly clasping my hand.
He turned to the left and pulled me along with him as he disappeared into the void. I endured the whirling sensation as well as the terrible pressure for only moments and then with a slight pop we found ourselves standing outside the wrought iron gates that lead into the Manor that without a doubt still made my blood run cold in my veins.
It was different than the last time I had been here though. The sun was out and shining brightly. The lawns were even more immaculate, with the peacocks strutting about as if they knew that company was there and assumed everyone was there to see them. Music that was playing inside the house found its way out of the open door and floated on the breeze toward us at the gate.
"Anywhere else this would feel almost welcoming," I mused as we started down the path to the door. "Instead I feel as if I am walking to the gallows of my own volition."
"Mmm," Severus hummed offered me a tight smile and placing his hand on the small of my back as we continued forward.
I pretended not to notice the way his nerves shot higher with each step toward the manor. Instead I kept my eyes focused forward and plastered a smile on my face as we mounted the stairs. Narcissa was standing just inside the door and the smile she had on her face looked just as forced as mine felt.
"Welcome, welcome," she said in a chipper voice as she made a grand sweeping gesture toward the house behind her. "There are drinks and nibbles in the drawing room on your right with dancing in the ballroom just a bit further down on the left. Pease make yourselves at home."
It was honestly a fairly good act of happy host. If I hadn't moved just a little too close and accidentally forced her to take a step back to avoid being touched by me I might not even know that she wanted to crawl out of her skin. Narcissa was the consummate Slytherin and hid whatever must be troubling her well enough that someone not in the know would assume the strain to her smile had to do with disliking who she was looking at.
Of course that was distinctly possible wasn't it? It was possible that she blamed me for being forced to take the mark, and she wouldn't be entirely wrong. I offered her a smile of my own and let Severus lead me off toward the drawing room to collect a glass of something to carry about with us. It would also give us a chance to look about the room and see if the diary was hidden in there.
"Ooh," I gasped the second we stepped into the drawing room, causing Severus to look at me in concern.
I dropped my eyes quickly to my torso in explanations as I gathered my wits. I hadn't quite been prepared for what it was going to feel like to have the probity probe vibrate where it was positioned. It also hadn't occurred to me that at a party full of dark wizards something more than a horcrux might set the sensitive rod off. It seemed that something about Rowle was particularly dark, because the second I angled my left side away from him the probity probe stopped vibrating.
Not three steps later however I came in close enough proximity to Rodolphus to set it off once more. I was somewhat annoyed to discover that I was truly going to have my work cut out for me tonight. Of course it did make me wonder about Narcissa. She hadn't set it off, and yet she was sitting right in the middle of all this darkness. Did she not cast dark spells? Or was it something more? Did she not conform to her husband's paradigm?
"I think I will wait over here while you grab us drinks," I told Severus delicately when I saw just how many death eaters were congregated around the table by the wall.
He nodded discreetly and left me be as he went to procure two glasses of what looked to be red wine. I met the gaze of people around me and offered kind smiles as I discreetly walked along the wall allowing the probity probe to scan each shelf and table that I met. When my body was angled toward the furnishings in the drawing room it remained silent and still, but when I turned toward most of the party dwellers it lurched back to life and emitted a warning that I was surrounded by dark magic.
"There are quite a few people here," I said casually when Severus returned and handed me a goblet of wine. "It is good to know that they are loyal to our cause."
"It is," he nodded taking a small sip of his wine and looking around. "Can you tell just by looking?"
"Oh yes, it's quite clear that they all believe in our Lord," I nodded, very casually brushing my hand along my jacket as if there were a bit of lint. "I think I'd like to join those loyal followers who are dancing however."
Severus nodded, and he looped my free hand through his arm and led me out of the drawing room. It was ingenious positioning really, holding the cup up allowed me to create a bit more space around myself that detoured people from coming close enough to feel the probity probe vibrating beneath my dress. I kept my elbow out a little further than strictly necessary to be certain of that and followed where Severus went.
The ball room really was stunning. There was another chandelier like the one hanging in the drawing room, only this one was far more grand, with three levels of dangling jewels that were lit from within. It had diamonds, or what I assumed were diamonds, like the one that had fallen on me in another time. But it appeared to have emeralds and sapphires mixed in to create beautiful swirling designs. It paired well with the green walls and hard wood floors.
The music was louder in this room, but my attention was focused on the revelers as the spun to and fro on the floor. It reminded me of the Yule ball in my forth year, save for the fact that these people were much better dancers than my classmates had been. I watched them dance as Severus quickly tossed back the contents of his glass and handed the empty goblet to a house elf that was lingering near the door. He turned to me with a question in his eyes and I realized he was asking for my glass as well. I wasn't particularly interested in the wine, so I didn't mind giving it to him, but I was concerned about him getting terribly drunk while we were in such a precarious position. I handed the glass over however when it occurred to me he might be attempting to numb his senses should he be forced to participate in an initiation ceremony later this evening.
"Shall we dance?" Severus asked me when he had drained my glass as well and handed it to the house elf.
"Yes," I said with a tight smile.
Severus spun us out onto the dance floor where we quickly melted in with the others. The vibrations of the probity probe embed and flowed with each spin we made. I was able to discern rather quickly without even looking which dancers had the mark and which didn't. At least I assumed that was what denoted which wizards were inherently darker than others. There were not many women who set it off, but more than half the men present did.
Severus was quite strategic with the way he moved us, and soon enough we were dancing along the edge of the group. We turned in great sweeping arcs that allowed me to direct allowed me to scan the different nooks and crannies of the room. The ball room was much larger than the drawing room, with far more people in it, so it took longer to scan everything. Within about fifteen minutes however it became clear that this was the wrong room as well. When we found ourselves near the door we had come through once more Severus gave me a questioning look and I shook my head.
"Do you know where the restroom is?" I asked him, lest anyone be listening to us.
"Yes, I can show you," he said with a smile and we stopped dancing so he could lead me out of the room once more.
We walked casually through the hall listening with what would seem to be half an ear to those around us. I was in fact intensely focused on the conversations around us trying to denote from them if anyone was watching us. Severus was also casually glancing about the corridor as we went, but there did not seem to be any attention on us. We casually walked past the room I knew in fact housed a bathroom and instead proceeded down to the end of the corridor and slipped into the library.
This room was thankfully devoid of people. We quickly disengaged with one another and proceeded over to the shelves to look for the diary. Severus conducted a manual search, pulling out any book that looked remotely like the description I had given him of the diary. I moved close to the shelves, all but pressing my left breast into the books to get a scan off of them. There were a few books that must be full of the darkest magic that set the rod to vibrating but on closer examination did not turn out to be the diary after all.
We were so focused on our search that we did not at first hear the sound of footsteps approaching. It was a weezing giggle that drew my attention to the approach of another and I quickly crossed the distance between Severus and myself. I hastily draw my wand from my sleeve and cast a disillusionment charm over the two of us as he pulled us behind a large marble statue of a wizard that I did not recognize. It was a sloppy disguise and even the slightest movement would give us away. Even hold absolutely still and remaining silent as we were there was no guarantee that we wouldn't be found.
The door was pushed fully open and a couple that was engaged in intimate touches and kissed stumbled inside before kicking the door shut behind them. I watched on in a mix of fear and disgust as Lucius Malfoy pushed a woman that was not his wife against the wall and latched onto her neck which creating grotesque suckling sounds. I looked away from the hand that was pushing her skirts up and likely slipping into her knickers to look at the woman's face.
I had always pegged Lucius as a man who would not settle for anything less than the best, yet here he was with a woman whose only beautiful feature seemed to be her shinning read hair. At first I did not recognize her plump face and her stout form, but when her eyes opened and I saw the steel gray eyes that had met mine with anger in them in the department of mysteries I realized I knew who she was. That was Alecto Carrow that he was rutting against like a teenager in heat.
"Lucius, your wife is just down the hall," she whispered huskily, almost sounding as if she didn't want what was happening, though her body made it clear that she was lying in the way that she writhed beneath him.
"Narcissa will not let me touch her yet," he growled and with a slightly wet thwacking sound and a moan from Alecto it was quiet apparent that he had driven his point home rather quickly.
I fought the instinct to vomit as I watch the pair of them copulate against the wall of the library, and I prayed they would not realize they were not alone in here. Alecto made the most awful sounds as he fucked her against the wall, but they seemed to be just the sounds Lucius wanted to hear when his face was buried against her neck and his hips were thrusting away.
Thankfully they did not take long to finish, and only lingered long enough to clean themselves up. They left the room one at a time, going in opposite directions when they exited the room. We stood stalk still for a few moments longer behind the statue before I released the breath I had been holding and dropped the charm that was hiding us.
"You'd think he would have no need to slake his lust when he knows what is coming later this evening," Severus spat angrily as he stepped away from me and stiffly readjusted his robes, clearly uncomfortable with what we had just witnessed. "Of course he could be so aroused by what is to come that he simply cannot help himself."
"I would like to say that he couldn't possibly be that twisted, but I think I would be wrong," I said quietly before looking around the room once more. "Well, I think we've established that the diary isn't in here. Shall we search somewhere else?"
"There aren't many other rooms on this floor," Severus said thoughtfully as he turned his attention back to me and attempted to control his emotions again. "There is the playroom that Draco spends quite a bit of his time in while being watched over by that house elf of his."
"He has his own house elf?" I scoffed. "How typical."
"Would you like to search there?" Severus asked, a tiny smirk appearing on his face at what I had said.
I nodded, and he offered me his arm once more. We swept out of the room as casually as possible and we were almost immediately spotted by Narcissa. She walked quickly over to us, looking a bit peaky but keeping her smile in place.
"Hello you two," she chirped. "You haven't seen Lucius have you?"
"The last I saw he was in the ball room," Severus lied smoothly. "Is he no longer in there?"
"No he isn't, and the Dark Lord wishes to speak with him," she fretted. "Perhaps he went upstairs."
Just as quickly as she had appeared she drifted away and I was left trying to hide my own panic. The Dark Lord was here? What if we did find the diary and he sensed that it was in his presence? The was absolutely no question now that it could not be on Severus's person now, he would be forced to come into close proximity long before I would and that would surely give us away. I tried to think of a place on my person where I could hide it as we walked as casually as possible toward the playroom.
The corridor that ran from the front door down to the playroom and what I assumed as an entrance to the house elf quarters was completely empty, so it was simply a matter of slipping into the hallway without being noticed. I opted to err on the side of caution and cast a notice me not charm as we moved as casually as possible out of everyone's line of sight. When we were in the clear we hurried quickly down to the room.
I had assumed perhaps that Draco would be in his nursery or in another part of the house under the care of his house elf. I hadn't account for the possibility of him being in his playroom. Nor had it occurred to me that his house elf was Dobby. It was strange to be in his presence after such a long time of not seeing him. It was inexplicably stranger to see him than it was to see Sirius or even the Potters.
"Hello Miss and Mister," Dobby said cheerily as we swept into the room, though he discreetly positioned himself between us and his charge. "What's you needing?"
"We wanted to see the baby," I lied quickly. "Narcissa is a bit busy entertaining, so I thought we might nip in and meet the lad without her. Would that be alright?"
"Master Draco is sleeping," Dobby said carefully his eyes wandering to my torso and I wondered if he could hear the probity probe vibrating actively beneath my dress. "We shouldn't wake him."
"I wouldn't mind simply watching him sleep for a few moments," I shrugged. "You could go ask Narcissa if it is okay if that would make you feel better."
"Yes Misses,: he said respectfully, though it wasn't lost on me that he erected a vivid blue shield around Draco's playpen before he disappeared with a crack.
"It's in here," I said in a rush. "It has to be in here with how badly the probity probe is vibrating."
"I can't believe they would put something so dark in their sons play room," Severus scathed as he began to search the room. "We haven't got much time before either Lucius or Narcissa appears."
"Here, it's in here," I called out when I stepped up beside the toy box and the rod began to vibrate so intensely that I could hear a humming sound issuing from beneath my dress.
Severus knew that I could not really bend over in my current state so he hurried over and threw open the toy box. He shifted stuffed animals and toy blocks aside, and then his hand emerge tightly clutching that little black diary.
"We've got to hide it," he said, and I wasted no time in hiking up my dress once more.
He worked quickly and quietly to shove the diary beneath the waist band of my tights, and then pull my dress back into place. We had just a moment for Severus to stand back up and for the pair of us to assume a position that suggested we had simply been watching Draco sleep before the door swung open and Lucius ambled in.
"You aren't think about creating a little Snape of your own are you?" he drawled with a smirk on his face.
"You know that sleeping babies do have a tendency to make women swoon," Severus quipped.
"I will make sure your wife doesn't get any funny ideas about breeding," Lucius said. "The Dark Lord is in the parlor upstairs and he wishes to speak with you."
"Yes of course," Severus said with a quick but respectful dip of his head.
I saw the way his jaw tensed with worry while his head was bowed, but when he looked up once more his face was the picture of calm. It was strange to see him look so collected when I felt the fear rolling off of him but I fought not to react to any of it. Instead I focused on keeping my own face the picture of control as I turned to offer a polite small to Lucius though the last thing I wanted was to be left alone in a room with him.
"You really do have a lovely son," I offered politely.
"Most people say he looks just like me," he said as he boldly stepped closer to me, and I attempted to hide the fact that I had taken a step further from him.
"He does have your coloring," I offered in what I hoped was a convincingly chipper voice as I attempted to create more space between us.
"You are a very lovely woman Hermione," he said silkily as he quickly closed the distance between us and trailed his fingers along my jaw.
"Thank you, I think my husband agrees with you," I said tersely as I turned my head to the side in an effort to force his hand off of me.
Instead he dropped his hand to the column of my throat. His career was gentle enough, even if it raised goose bumps on my flesh, but I daren't move this time. I was frighteningly aware of how easy it would be for him to tighten his fingers and cut off my air supply.
"Does he tell you that enough?" Lucius asked in a whisper as he swept closer leaving only an inch of space between the two of us. "Does he make sure that you know that you are sex on legs? Does he know how lucky he is to have you?"
I didn't answer him. I was choking on the paniced thoughts that he might feel the vibrations of the probity probe as they grew more and more pronounced. Or worse yet he might feel the outline of the diary if he pressed any closer to me. I tilted my head back and tried to step back but he put his hand on the small of my back and I was unable to stop the squeak of fear that fell from my mouth.
"Really Lucius," and icy female voice said from the doorway. "Just how many skirts do you intend to stick your hand inside tonight?"
We both turned to look at the door and I had never in my life been so utterly relieved to see Narcissa Malfoy. The detached look had disappeared from her eyes and they were now burning with anger. She stepped in to the room and closer the door quietly behind her before turning those blazing eyes on us once more.
"I suppose I was asking for too much to expect fidelity from you after what I have done on your behalf," she spat. "But forcing yourself upon a woman who clearly isn't interested in your advances? That's a whole new level for you Lucius."
"She was just playing coy Cissy, Hermione wants this just as badly as Alecto does," he drawled with a smile.
I scoffed gaping at him. I could not find the words to express just how much that thought disgusted. He attempted to touch me once more and I jerked away from him and tiny convulsion of disgust running through me.
"Do not touch me," I spat at him.
"I think she's made herself quite clear," Narcissa said with a dark laugh. "You had better hope she doesn't tell Severus what you've done. If I remember correctly he is quicker on the draw in a duel than you are dearest."
"I think I'd like to go join Severus now actually," I said carefully. "I'm sure the two of you would like a bit of privacy anyway."
"Yes," Narcissa said tightly. "In the future we might avoid this situation if you simply have me come with you to the playroom. That way my lecher of a husband cannot corner you while you are alone."
"I have certainly learned a valuable lesson today," I nodded as I pulled the door open and walked as casually as I could manage out of the room.
It took all the self-control I possessed not to sprint away from them once I was free. My heart was thrumming wildly where it seemed to have lodged itself in my throat. It would not be possible to get closer to exposure than I had just been and I was nearly feint with relief that I had gotten away without the entire world falling to pieces.
When I stepped into the foyer once more I found Severus coming down the stairs with a bit more bounce in his step than had been present earlier. I wondered what interaction with the Dark Lord could put that there, but I didn't dare ask considering our company. He swept down the last of the stairs and took my hand in his, placing a quick kiss on the top of my hand before sweeping us off in the direction of the ballroom once more.
"We must stay and enjoy a bit more dancing," he said in a chipper voice, though it was clear that this was a direction from the man upstairs. "You'll be interested to know however that our dear friend Peter does not seem to have been able to grace us with his presence tonight."
"Oh?" I questioned lightly, though I suddenly understood the lightness that had been reborn in his eyes as he was freed at least temporarily from the threat of shredding his soul. "That's a shame."
"Yes, our master is quite displeased with him," Severus nodded as he led me into the ballroom once more. "But that's no reason not to enjoy the wonderful party the Malfoys have thrown for us."
"Hmm I don't imagine they are much interested in the party anymore," I whispered as he spun us back into the jostling crowd and we kept pace with the quick dance everyone was doing.
I tried to be discrete about the way I pressed my body against his to keep the diary in place as we moved, but it was a difficult task.
"Why is that?" he whispered in my ear.
"Lucius made a very pointed pass at me," I told him quietly so no one else would hear. "Thank Merlin that Narcissa walked in when she did, because he was about half an inch away from discovering some very interesting things."
I felt Severus stiffen with rage, and then he pulled me tightly against his body in a crushing hug that momentarily stopped our dance, before he quickly spun me away and back to him.
"Are you alright?" he asked me quietly as we moved through the quick steps our counter parts were using.
"I had a moment of panic, but I think I am under control now," I told him.
"I do think our hosts would understand if we were to leave though," he said as the song drew to a close. "I think it best we bow out while we have the chance."
"I couldn't agree more," I nodded as I all but drug him off the dance floor.
We kept a calm air about us, but there was no denying that we were quick about exiting the ballroom and heading toward the front door. Narcissa was just coming down the stairs as we neared the door and she called out to us. We reluctantly stopped and waited for her to approach us with that unreadable smile in place once more.
"I've tucked Lucius in to bed for the night," she said careful, glancing around to see that no one was listening to our interchange. "I am deeply sorry for his behavior around you earlier. I will do my best to see it does not happen again."
"It is no fault of your own," I told her with an apologetic smile. "I did put myself in a bit of a vulnerable situation in there, and I need to take ownership of that."
"Even so, I hope you won't let this put you off coming to any of our parties," she said quietly. "I rather like you and would hate to see you disappear like all my other female friends seem to do."
"Oh of course not," I said not sure if I was completely lying or not. "Perhaps we could go out for tea sometime soon."
"That sounds wonderful," she said and a true smile lit her face. "I'll send you an owl."
"I look forward to it," I lied, plastering a smile on my face. "Until then."
She nodded, and then Severus turned as and we walked casually out of the door. I squeezed his hand tightly to keep myself from getting nervous as we walked the path between the door and the gate. We were so close to getting out of the manor with the diary in hand and I was worried I would somehow give us away and draw suspicion toward our behavior in the worst way.
"Almost there, almost there," Severus murmured comfortingly to me as we marched ever closer to the gate.
At long last we took two steps out of the wrought iron gate and Severus immediately pulled me tightly to his side before wrenching us to the left and using slide-along apparition to take us home. As soon as we were standing in our living room once more I jerked my dress up, tore the diary out of its hiding spot, and threw it on the floor. I felt as if I needed a shower after that party, and there were some dark things I might not be able to wash away with a thousand showers, but I could at least get that nasty bit of the Dark Lord's soul away from my body.