36.

4th May 2002. 12 Grimmauld Place. London.

Never had she been this nervous about a date before. The butterflies in her stomach would not go away and she was pretty sure she was sweating too.

She was standing on the steps just outside Grimmauld Place – not inside the house, just in case Harry or Ron saw her. Hermione doubted that very much – they were still in the middle of a particularly tense Wizard's chess match which had been going on for ages so they barely noticed that she had left.

For that, at least, she was thankful. She had offered to simply meet Lucius somewhere which might have made it easier for both of them but he had refused, saying it was only good manners that he picked her up from her house. She had rolled her eyes at him in irritation, but he refused to budge. So, there she was. He was expected in less than a minute.

Then, regular as clockwork, Lucius appeared right in front of her on the bottom step. He chuckled lightly as he realised he had frightened her.

'Apologies,' he said, before raising his eyes to her face and seemingly forgetting how to speak.

Lucius had told her to dress formally and she had done so – but he had never expected her to look so radiant. The dress she had worn on the night of the fundraiser had been beautiful; tonight, she was divine.

Hermione had bought the dress specifically for this evening (she didn't own much formal wear besides what she had for work). The dress was a sleeveless, V-neck, chiffon creation, with a chapel train attached. The colour – a deep, navy blue – looked magnificent against her pale skin and her deep red lipstick and Lucius could not help but notice her right leg peeking out from the large slit down the side of the dress. She had a small shawl over her shoulders and a beautiful silver purse in hand. Her hair was pinned up, a few small strands outlining her face, which currently was looking very worried.

'Is it too much? Should I have worn something else?' she asked him in a panic, gripping her shawl, 'We still have time, I can go back in and change –'

She was cut off as the man immediately climbed the steps that stood between them and took both of her hands in his.

'I would ravish you if I could, my dear - but I don't want to ruin your lipstick,' he said with a small smirk, 'You are beautiful every day I see you; tonight you are the epitome of perfection. You do not need to change anything.'

She smiled stunningly at him, framing his face with her right hand.

'I notice you're wearing a Muggle suit again,' she commented, glancing over him quickly, 'You should wear this every day.'

'If you so wish it,' he replied with a small bow of his head and a laugh, 'But for now, let us enjoy tonight. Shall we?'

He stepped back and held out his arm for her, which she accepted gratefully. He turned on the spot and with a crack they were gone.

4th May 2002. Somewhere.

They had appeared in the middle of a small glade. Tall, green elm trees surrounded Hermione at every turn but she successfully blocked out the images that they brought back – with Lucius beside her, she felt a lot more at ease. He began to steer her to the right and her mouth almost hit the floor.

A stage was set in the middle of the clearing. Small, bright lights had been hung over every beam that surrounded it and in the moonlight it looked magical. It was ten times more beautiful than anything she had seen in the West End; Hermione could hardly believe her eyes as they walked towards it. A table sat not far from the stage, beautifully decorated and with a bottle of champagne placed in the middle, lit by the candlelight. She turned to Lucius.

'What is this?' she asked, barely able to form words.

'You said you would be happy with dinner or a show,' he said, looking relieved that she was so pleased, 'So I brought you both.'

'You didn't need to do this, though –'

'Nonsense,' he interrupted, raising a hand, 'We can't particularly go out in to the Wizarding world at the moment and there are very few places I enjoy in the Muggle world, anyway. I hired the production so that we could watch it together, undisturbed. Do you like it?'

Hermione had to catch her breath for a second before she turned to him, her eyes very bright.

'Of course I do. It's stunning. Thank you,' she whispered and she couldn't help but lean in and place a chaste kiss on his mouth. He moved a hand to rest on the back of her neck, forcing her to stay there longer than she had intended but she didn't complain.

His eyes were heated as they pulled apart, and she laughed as she saw her lipstick had been transferred onto his mouth. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a small handkerchief and began to dab at his lips.

'So much for not messing up my lipstick,' she joked, trying to ignore the way he held on to her possessively, his hands on her hips, 'Red isn't really your colour, though.'

'I would happily walk around with red lipstick on my face if it meant I could kiss you every day.'

Hermione couldn't help but blush again and the butterflies in her stomach intensified.

'Like Draco once said, always the charmer.'

'I know,' he admitted, with a small smirk, 'But in my defence, I am only genuinely charming to a few people.'

'I sincerely hope I am one of them.'

'You will find out in due course.'

She rolled her eyes at him but let out a small giggle anyway, placing her handkerchief back in her purse. She felt Lucius place a finger under her chin as he began to lean into her again – she stopped him by pressing a finger against his lips.

'I have literally just finished getting the make-up off of your face. Don't even think about it.'

His eyes narrowed slightly but he kissed her on the cheek anyway.

'As you wish,' he replied, taking her hand to show he wasn't annoyed, 'Let us sit down and we can have dinner.'

He led her to the table set for two and pulled out her chair. She smiled her thanks.

'How on earth do you manage these things, Lucius,' Hermione wondered aloud, gazing at her surroundings once again, 'What you did for the fundraiser was amazing but this is practically a work of art.'

'Thank you, Hermione, I will take that as a compliment,' the man responded as he removed the champagne from the ice bucket and began to open it, 'It is amazing what you can achieve with a pocket full of money.'

'Well, I happen to appreciate the thought even more,' Hermione told him with a grin.

'It was nothing. I wanted our first official date to be something you would remember.'

'I doubt I will ever forget this. Where are we, out of interest?'

'That would be telling, I'm afraid,' Lucius smirked as he poured them both a glass of champagne and handed one to her, 'On the other hand, there is something I must tell you. Something important - it would feel wrong if I didn't mention it.'

Hermione sat up in her seat, looking intrigued and he gave her a small smile.

'A letter from my divorce lawyer arrived this morning. Narcissa has signed everything - I can confirm that we are now officially separated.'

Her eyes widened a little, shock covering her face as she held onto her champagne glass. Lucius felt rather bewildered - he had expected a much better reaction than that. He sat down again, waiting for her to give a response.

'Are you ... alright?' she finally asked him, looking concerned. He had to refrain from laughing. That was the last thing he would have expected her to say to him on such an occasion.

'Of course I am, Hermione. I am free to live my life as I please now. Free to be with you.'

She smiled at him shyly, raising her glass just as he did. It was like a weight had been lifted from his chest - she was happy for him.

'To you, my dear.'

'To us,' Hermione corrected, taking a sip, 'For finally coming to our senses.'

'Yes, rather,' Lucius chuckled, crossing one leg over the other and beginning to observe her once more, 'I feel I must apologise again for putting you through that. If I hadn't been so –'

'No, please don't,' Hermione interrupted, with a sad smile, 'You have nothing to apologise for. If I hadn't left you at the fundraiser it would never have happened in the first place.'

'You don't know that. You should not blame yourself – regardless, you had just had a panic attack. It was only natural that you felt overwhelmed.'

'A panic attack that you helped me to get through, as I've told you already! '

'I believe that I had been part of the cause as well, so I did nothing more than my duty,' he told her, smirking slightly.

'Why are we even talking about this?' Hermione asked him as she laughed, 'That is all in the past now, along with everything else.'

Lucius smiled at her kindly and reached across the table to grasp her hand.

'You have no idea how fortunate I feel to know you, Hermione Granger. You have given me another chance at life. An old, miserable man who once thought he would not get that chance. I can never repay you for that.'

Hermione shook her head, trying to keep her composure after hearing him admit something so personal to her. Lucius never spoke to anyone else like this – not even his son, really – that she was aware of and that just made his words all the more special. How could she have misjudged this man so much before now? She held his hand with both of her own.

'Lucius, I don't really know what to say … I am just - happy. More importantly, I am glad you are happy – and Draco too. I want you both to be happy so very much.'

He kissed her hand gently and rubbed it with his thumb.

'You are too good, as always, my dear. Believe me, I will be happy so long as you are here.'