38.

10th May 2002. Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire. Gardens.

They appeared outside the Manor, only a few metres from the front door. Hermione could feel the anger radiating from Lucius and cringed slightly as he shouted.

'FLOPPY!'

The young House-Elf apparated in front of them directly, giving them both a small bow.

'Master, what can Floppy do for you?'

'Floppy, please take Miss Granger inside and make her a cup of tea. I need to speak with Master Draco straightaway.'

'Yes, Master.'

Hermione looked to Lucius in confusion – why was he leaving her? He noticed her expression and pulled her into a crushing hug.

'I will be gone only for moments. As soon as I have spoken with Draco and contacted Arthur Weasley I will come back to you.'

She nodded and he wiped the tears from her eyes with a finger.

'Please, go inside and rest. I shall not be long.'

He kissed her forehead before turning and rushing into the house whilst Floppy began pulling her in the direction of the nearest sitting room. She would be fine, Lucius thought, the Elf would probably be good for her right now.

Draco came out into the hallway with an irritated expression on his face, his hands in his pockets.

'Why on earth are you caterwauling, father? What is –'

'Draco, we don't have time. I need you to go and find Potter and Weasley.'

'Potter and Weasley?' Draco repeated, looking confused, 'Why?'

'Don't question me, Draco, I am not in the mood. I must contact Arthur Weasley immediately. There's been an incident. Viktor Krum got into Grimmauld Place and attacked Hermione – he was under the Imperius curse. He was also looking for Potter – you need to get to him and warn him now. Check all the usual pubs, Hermione seems to think they have gone out drinking.'

Draco didn't need further explanation and nodded, leaving without saying another word.

Lucius then wasted no time in storming into his office, barely able to keep the anger at bay. The shock and upset of the attack on Hermione had momentarily stayed his rage – but not now. He was absolutely livid, but had no idea what he could take it out on.

Grabbing a quill and piece of parchment from his desk, Lucius scribbled a short note to Arthur telling him to contact him immediately and gave him permission to use the Floo network to get here. Hopefully he would respond quickly.

Thankfully his owl was lounging by the windowsill, pecking on the remnants of food that the House-Elves had obviously brought her.

'Take this to Arthur Weasley as quickly as possible. It is urgent.'

His owl took the parchment from his hands and held it in her beak as he opened the window for her – she disappeared without a trace only seconds later.

Lucius had to push his anger aside as he realised Hermione was still upset. She was the most important thing right now.

He rushed from the study and made his way to the sitting room, feeling his stomach drop as the first thing he saw was Hermione curled up into a ball in an armchair, staring into space. She barely even noticed him walk over until he was kneeling directly in front of her, tucking strands of her hair behind her ears.

'Hermione, talk to me. You are in shock.'

She sniffled slightly and rested her chin on her knees.

'I can't deal with this, Lucius. I thought that time was over ... you know, living in fear of an attack. I don't want our lives to be in danger anymore. After all Harry and Ron and everyone has been through. It just isn't fair.'

He frowned but let her lower her legs so he could pull her into an embrace.

'I am afraid that being Harry Potter's best friend may not grant you that luxury – but I swear to you, on everything I hold dear, no one will touch you again whilst I am here. You must stay in the Manor for now. I cannot allow you to go home.'

'What about Viktor?' she asked, and Lucius's blood boiled again just thinking about him, 'Are you going to get him?'

'I'm not sure that is the most sensible idea at the moment as I would most likely beat him to within an inch of his life.'

'It's not his fault,' Hermione admonished, but still holding onto him all the same.

'I understand that, but he was still stupid enough to get an Imperius curse placed upon him. I will send Floppy, I think. He will be in no danger – he's a very smart Elf.'

She smiled unexpectedly and Lucius felt himself calm just looking at her.

'I love the way you talk about them, you know.'

He smiled kindly and rested his forehead against her own, their hands entangled.

'They are part of this family and represent the Malfoy name. Ever since we met again in January I realised just how important that was. I have gotten to know my House-Elves a lot better since.'

She chuckled and held onto Lucius even tighter, never wanting to let him go. He held in his sigh and thought about the task that needed to be done.

'Floppy.'

The Elf appeared out of thin air again, bowing. Lucius interrupted him before he could speak.

'Floppy, I would like you to apparate to 12 Grimmauld Place and pick up a body that should be lying unconscious in the hallway. Bring it back here, if you please, and lay him down in one of the guest rooms. Be sure to seal the doors so he does not have any means of escaping.'

Floppy bowed once more and vanished again – only a second before the sitting room door burst open.

'Hermione!'

The couple let go of one another and looked around to see Harry and Ron rush into the room, extremely harassed, whilst Draco wandered in after them, looking as nonchalant as ever. Lucius was standing in an instant, the mask of composure back on his face as he studied the two men in front of them.

'What's going on?' Harry said, gazing confusedly between the two, 'What happened to you?'

'Malfoy just said it was an emergency,' Ron added, his expression matching his friend's, 'What are you doing with him.'

Sighing, Hermione stood up, giving Lucius a small smile to assure him she was alright. He nodded and stepped back, looking haughtier than ever as the men sent him accusatory stares. She looked back at them sternly before beginning.

'It's Viktor.'

'Krum?'

'Yes, Ron, how many other Viktor's do we know? He came to the house only a few minutes after you left and he just charged in, saying he was looking for something.'

'What was it?'

'What the bloody hell did he want?'

'Well,' Hermione said, 'He wanted you actually, Harry.'

The two men gaped at her in silence and she took the opportunity to continue.

'He was acting rather manic, but at the same time he had no facial expression at all. He was completely blank.'

Harry seemed to come to the realisation quicker than she had.

'Imperius?'

'Imperius,' she confirmed, nodding sadly.

'But that doesn't make sense, how did you end up here?' Ron asked, still looking at Lucius suspiciously. Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly.

'It so happens that I had invited him round for a drink –'

'What?'

'When did this happen?'

'Stop it!' Hermione hissed at them, her arms folded and eyes flashing, 'That is not important at the moment! Anyway, if it wasn't for Lucius, I wouldn't even be here right now so keep your traps shut!'

They stopped protesting immediately, but still looked confused. Both men were trying exceptionally hard to keep their composure and thankfully Hermione did not notice their struggle – they did not fancy being on the receiving end of one of her hexes.

'As soon as I started to block his way and ask questions, he pinned me down and started screaming at me, demanding to know where you were. Lucius ran upstairs and knocked him out just in time.'

Harry and Ron looked over at the man who was standing in the corner, whose face was like thunder.

'Yes, just in time to stop that incomprehensible fool from hitting you again.'

'He hit you?' Ron shouted, looking furious, 'I'm going to kill him!'

'Form a line, Weasley,' Lucius sneered, grinding his teeth in a manner quite unlike him. His anger towards Viktor had most definitely not abated.

'Let's not get ahead of ourselves,' Harry reasoned, in contrast to the fury on his own face, 'As bad as this is, it wasn't technically his fault. It was whoever cast the Imperius. But how the bloody hell will we find that out?'

'My House-Elf has taken Krum up to one of the guest bedrooms,' Lucius elaborated, 'I strongly suggest you interrogate him – find out what he knows.'

'I second that,' interrupted Ron, raising his hand before turning to Hermione, 'Are you sure you're alright? We will quite happily maim him if you want us too.'

'No, that's fine,' she replied with a laugh, 'I just want to know the truth. We can't go home just now though, it's not safe enough until we know for sure what happened.'

'I have already taken the liberty of contacting your father,' Lucius interjected, looking towards Ron, 'I am sure he should be arriving very soon.'

'Why?' Ron asked, feeling rather confused. Lucius rolled his eyes.

'Hermione has already been targeted because she is Potter's friend – don't you think that the person who organised the attack would have had other options? Your family could be in danger too.'

Ron looked momentarily shocked at the gesture but then nodded, as he and Harry both rolled up their sleeves, preparing to take action.

'Right, well, perhaps it would be best if I stayed with Hermione for now and the rest of you –'

'I would prefer to stay with her, thank you,' Lucius said, not prepared to engage in any arguments about it, 'You two are the Aurors – take care of Krum. Draco, would you mind waiting for Arthur Weasley for me? Fill him in on what has happened and let him take his own action from there.'

His son nodded in acknowledgement and strolled from the room again with a small smirk playing on his lips that had evidently appeared due to the outraged look on Ron's face.

'Floppy will show you to the room.'

As if he had heard his Master's call, the small House-Elf appeared at the door, looking pointedly at Hermione's friends as if beckoning them to come with him. Harry and Ron took one last look at her. She smiled half-heartedly.

'I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Just find out what's going on here, alright?'

Harry smiled back at her and grabbed Ron's arm, pulling him forcefully from the room. The door was closed behind them with a small click.

Hermione sighed, falling back into the arm chair once more – she felt completely exhausted. Lucius came to kneel next to her again, back to his concerned self now that the other men had departed. He took her hand in both of his and patted it lightly.

'As if things weren't complicated enough,' she finally said, giving Lucius a smile as he chuckled, 'I don't think my life was ever meant to be simple.'

He kissed her hand and smirked a little.

'My dear, you are an extraordinary witch. When someone is capable of extraordinary things, their life is rarely simple. It just isn't meant to be.'

'You're not exactly filling me with confidence here.'

'That was not my intention,' he replied, laughing at the less than appreciative glance she gave him, 'Perhaps one day will come when you won't have to worry anymore. Until then, we can only continue on. At least, however, you won't have to walk alone.'

She patted his hand, smiling gratefully, and feeling a little bit better than she did five minutes ago.

'I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you.'

There was a small knock on the door and Lucius pulled himself away from Hermione just in time before Draco poked his head through. She bristled slightly.

'Weasley turned up. He's gone to inform the rest of his family. I think everyone is going to be on their guard from now on. Potter says he's going to see Shacklebolt as soon as he's finished interrogating Krum.'

'Good, good …' Lucius muttered, thinking deeply, 'Well, there is little more to do now other than wait. Thank you, Draco.'

'I will be with Astoria if you need me.'

And with a nod to his father and then Hermione too, he was gone, closing the door behind him once again and leaving the couple in an uncomfortable silence. Hermione tried to hold her tongue, as she felt annoyance bubble up inside her, but she needed to know.

'Why did you jump away from me like that?'

Lucius raised his eyebrows, evidently under the impression that he hadn't done anything wrong. In his mind, he certainly hadn't. She was sitting with her arms folded, an accusatory glare in her eyes as she waited for him to answer. It clicked in his head suddenly as to why she would be annoyed and he gave her a small smile.

'We agreed last week not to make this relationship public. Not only for reasons of privacy but I am still a married man to the rest of the Wizarding world, regardless of what the truth is. It would do well for us to exercise caution. That and the fact that I do not want my son, nor your friends, witnessing us being too intimate together.'

She looked like she was about to interrupt, but he raised a finger.

'Not for the reasons you think. We have been through this; I am not ashamed. Forgive me if I wish to keep my private life exactly that. I am not yet comfortable showing intimacy in front of other people.'

Hermione was pondering his words, not yet unfolding her arms as she chewed on her bottom lip. She sighed eventually, standing up to face him properly.

'I understand,' she admitted, smiling a little as he took her hand, 'Let's just focus on the next few months then. A combination of Percy and Audrey's wedding as well as the charity Quidditch match is bound to tip me over the edge at some point.'

Lucius smirked at her, pulling her closer as he kissed the palm of her hand.

'I am more than willing to help you relax.'

Hermione laughed loudly. The distress she had felt since the events of this evening was practically gone. He did that for her … whenever she was around him she forgot everything else. Harry and Ron would deal with Viktor, she would go back to work and she would be with Lucius. What else could there possibly be to fear?