The fizzling sound of the fire released the young witch. Lucius was about to ask her how her day was but closed his mouth again. He mustered his witch. Stepping closer he touched her scratched neck. Hermione flinched but remained otherwise motionless. The former Death Eater stared at her. Why was she always so difficult? He healed her with his gentle touch.
"What have you planned to serve our guest for dinner?" he asked.
"I haven't really planned a menu..." she answered staring at her feet.
He exhaled loudly. "Than call Soso, or whatever this elf of yours calls itself and find it out," the dark wizard said walking into the formal dining room.
Hermione waited a few seconds before following her husband. This didn't go well. He barely entered the house and was already dissatisfied with his wife. She should have married within her social-class. It would have prevented her from feeling like a fool every time she made an effort.
He stared at the display. It was so far from what he expected that it took him a while to sort out his thoughts. The dining room was deprived from any display of wealth and power. Instead he found family photographs. The aristocrat should not have been surprised after all he knew his new wife was not from an old wealthy family but it was still challenging to figure out a way to use it.
"You have forgotten the flowers," the older wizard commented dryly.
"Huh?"
"It is customary to decorate a room with seasonal flowered," he explained.
"Should I go and pick some from the garden?"
"No, mixed bouquets are easily considered offensive, a single flower in a small vase should be sufficient... Do we have more frames?"
Hermione handed him the remaining ones. He wondered if she purposely purchased matching ones or if the set was simply the cheaper option. It did not really matter anyway. He added a photo taken at the celebration of his tax-reform. The tall platinum blonde stood out from the Japanese witches and wizards who represented the 27 clans. He even had a picture of Draco in which the ferret looked actually cute in his Quidditch-robes. It must have been taken in their second year just when he made it into the team. The young wizard smiled proudly.
Lucius lifted the photograph of the unfamiliar couple. "Are these your parents?"
Hermione nodded. She bit her lip. Lucius had met them once. He insulted her in front of them and got into a fist-fight with Arthur. It wasn't something her muggle parents could easily forget. The young witch overheard them talking to their friends wondering if they should allow their daughter to go back to school when she was there confronted with so much rejection and hatred. And Lucius didn't even remember them. That stung.
Sensing that something was bothering her he inquired about her parents. He knew they were not killed by Death Eater as their names were never crossed off that list.
"I obliviated them the summer after Voldemort's return. I've been trying to find them but I haven't made any progress so far," Hermione explained with tears running down her face.
"I am certain that they are well."
He placed a notice-me-not-charm on the photograph of the couple and placed it somewhat in the back of the other images. That bothered her. Hermione had always been proud of her parents and the way they raised her. She loved and adored them. She only wished they were still a part of her life.
Also, their guest knew she was a muggle-born so what was the purpose of hiding them anyway? Hermione wanted to throw both insults and hexes at the Death Eater. But when he added an old picture of him wearing his Quidditch-tricot, the team captain- next to the head boy-badge, holding the House Cup. The witch remembered that this wasn't a dinner among friends but an occasion to show off and brag about one's greatness. Now she was relieved that her beloved parents weren't a part of that.
Lucius made sure the young witch put her Order-of-the-Merlin first-class medal on display next to his recognition for his conservation-efforts in the Amazonian rainforest. Apparently he had collected over 5 Million Galleons in donations for the Lucius-Malfoy-reservoir. He also made sure that hers and Draco's OWL-certificate were visible as well.
Monsieur Fukui arrived three minutes late which bothered Hermione greatly. While she knew Asians were more flexible with punctuality she also knew that the floo-network worked with close to no time delay. When muggle were a little early or late it was usually due to traffic or something unexpected occurring but she could very well expect from a wizard to plan his departure to the minute and arrive exactly in time.
But when the handsome Japanese was at his most charming it was hard to remain angry with him for long. He entered the formal dining room and handed Hermione a book over Indian American Wizarding-culture a friend of his wrote. The young witch was delighted by such a thoughtful gift.
Fukui studied the room. If the lack of luxury irritated the aristocratic wizard his face betrayed nothing. He commented on their wedding-photo telling the blushing witch that she made a breathtakingly beautiful bride.
"Indeed, my bride is simply stunning," Lucius answered for her.
Hermione had a decent conversation over dinner with the Japanese wizard. He was relentlessly working on closing the gap between east and west. After all, they were one magical people and needed to stick together. The young witch found it easy to agree with him.
As their talk went on Monsieur Fukui asked the newly-wedded couple to stand in for him and represent him at the upcoming Quidditch World Cup in Congo. Hermione found it odd that foreigners would be asked to represent Japan and Lucius was reluctant to accept.
His relationship with the young witch was still fragile and he worried what exposing it to the world would do to them. Technically they could maintain a low profile but the risk of running into someone British was very real. Also, he had other plans and the dark wizard did not feel like canceling his holidays.
Unfortunately for him, Hermione had already accepted for both of them. The dark wizard was sure that the girl didn't even know she did it. Turns out he was by far not the only wizard who used her ignorance against her.
Once their guest left. She leaned against her husband's shoulder. "This was rather pleasant, wasn't it?"
He grumbled.
"I like him," Hermione said.
The older wizard remained silent.
"You don't like him," she laughed.
After a short pause, her husband answered her. "There is something off and I do not have anything on him."
Hermione moved away from him. She was so upset that couldn't even look at the Death Eater. This was so typical. She felt so stupid and used. "You're such an ass. I enjoyed myself and you hate him because you don't have any blackmail material and not because he flirted with your wife!"
"You are not stupid enough to fall for a pretty face."
Mustering Voldemort's former right-hand man she shook her head. "Apparently, I'm exactly that kind of stupid," she said walking away.
He smirked. "Pretty face? I greatly enjoyed serving our guest dinner on the very table I fucked you on in the morning," he said however this seemed to only offend her further.
Lying in his bed he waited for her. But she did not come. He loathed it when she was difficult and all emotional. Lucius also did not quite understand what he had done wrong. She enjoyed herself well enough in the morning.
He was exhausted. Marriage was a lot harder then he remembered. He just wanted to sleep. Tossing and turning the older wizard just could not get comfortable. The futon felt oddly cold without the witch by his side, even in summer with the best bedding money could buy. It has been only a couple of nights he could not have gotten used to her that quickly.
After another hour of trying he gave up. He grabbed a pillow and blanket and walked towards the library. It was hard not to get stuck in the narrow hallways.
Arriving in the generous space, he began looking for his wife, cursing the girl in his mind. Lucius found the young witch lying in fetal-position on the floor. The former Death Eater did not really know why but he covered her with his blanket and laid down next to her. Even though it was not cold, not by a long shot, yet the couple of degrees difference between his body temperature and the outside were enough to make him shiver.
When Hermione woke up, a little warm under the blanket, to find the proud pureblood sleeping on the floor next to her she felt happy. He was still trying therefore he hadn't given up on her just yet. She closed the gap between them, cuddled up to the older wizard, and covered them both with the blanket. The young witch fell quickly back asleep.
Lucius woke up from Hermione's soft hair tickling his nose. The hard wooden planks were not at all comfortable. The sound of his young wife purring was soothing and he relished the feel of her warm body. He wiped her hair out of his face and placed a kiss on her head. The dark wizard toyed with her long bushy hair for a while. It fascinated him. It was so soft and fluffy. He wanted to brush and braid it like he used to do when he was just a boy...
Hermione yawned and stretched herself. She opened her eyes to find it dawning which was a rare sight in mid-summer when the sun rose early. "Lucius," she whispered.
"Mmm. My back, hurts. I am definitely too old for this."
The young war-heroine giggled. "Isn't everyone who started Hogwarts too old for sleeping on the floor?"
"Good point. We could have a cup of tea and take things to our bed," the Slytherin suggested.
"What's in the tea?" Hermione asked biting her lip.
He kissed the sensitive skin on her neck and whispered into her ear, "Nothing that would not satisfy you."
The young witch nodded blushing.
Lying on the soft futon was much better than the hard wooden floor. After a couple of heated kisses, the young witch looked up to her older husband. "You won't leave me afterwards, will you?"
Looking into her wonderful eyes he promised to hold her. The former Death Eater felt oddly committed and found himself actually looking forward to cuddling her. He loosened the kimono further and studied the witch lying in front of him.
Her mane was wild and untamable, her eyes dark and filled with lust, her lips swollen and parted and her pale skin glowed golden in the morning sun. He watched her half-exposed chest rise and fall and was delighted to find that she did not wear anything beneath his yukata.
He parted her legs and trailed kisses from her knee up to her womanhood. He vanished his own clothing, loosened the obi, and placed kisses on her exposed flesh below the navel. With his tongue, he applied a bit of pressure in her belly button sending a weird tingling sensation through her body.
Continuing his upward movement he inhaled her scent while his large hands played with her breasts. He cupped her head and forced her mouth to open up a little further with his strongest muscle. Their tongues met and caressed each other.
"Look at me," he commanded as he positioned himself at her entrance.
The teenager obeyed without protest. He slowly buried himself in her. He felt her tight walls relax a little to allowing every long inch of him to enter her. Once he was fully in, he started to move slowly not breaking the eye contact.
Hermione pulled him closer and kissed the older wizard her tongue slowly massaging his. They broke off to breath and he smiled at her. Moving his hips a little faster he felt her trying to hold onto him. He applied a little more force and Hermione purred beneath him.
"My tiger," he breathed into her ear.
The warm air meeting the sensitive skin sent shivers through her spine. Her small soft hands petted his shoulder and when he hit just a particular spot the young witch grabbed his upper arm and scratched his white skin. He replied by hitting the same spot again and again and again in an even faster pace.
Soon her breathing became louder. Her inner walls squeezed his shaft. She was so tight around him he did not know how long he could last. But he need not have worried about it. She was so full of him, her skin was on fire even the smallest touch could push her over the edge.
She shivered and contracted abound him. As she exploded her long claws tore the skin in his back open. Desperate to hold him in place as her orgasm took her away she used her legs to lock him in place.
The feeling of his young wife's climax was all it took for him. He exploded spilling himself inside her wet cavern. Fully spent he could not stop himself from collapsing onto her. She kept him firmly in place and magically covered them with the blanket. He was worried he would crush the petite little witch but she did not allow him to move off her.
Lying on top of her, his flaccid cock still inside he savored her petting his head. She took a long strain of his long platinum blonde hair and tucked it behind his ear. Their breathing slowly returned to normal and they dozed off.