Hermione and Ginny settled back on the sofa – the one that had become Lucius's sofa rather than a trigger for bad memories. Hermione took the place where he had sat all those months, and immediately dug into a chocolate frog.
"So let me just check that I've got things right here", Ginny began in a matter-of-fact tone. "You started out hating him, then you became attracted to him, then you started to like him and then you didn't see him for a couple of months. Then he showed up when you needed help and ended up staying here for six months – first helping you through the worst phase of emotional trauma and then basically as a piece of furniture. And then that awful man showed up and you fought him together, Malfoy cast a patronus like the fluffy teddy bear that he is, and then he simply left and you haven't heard from him since."
Hermione nodded. That just about summed it up. She stuffed another chocolate frog into her mouth.
"So why haven't you gone to his place and kissed him senseless yet?" Ginny asked, almost making Hermione choke. "It's what you want, isn't it?" she added.
Hermione chewed the chocolate far longer than necessarily, while looking anywhere but at Ginny, and swallowed it before she even began to answer. "I'm afraid he might not want me to", she finally admitted.
"Who cares what he wants?" Ginny huffed. "What do you want?"
"I want him to want me."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "In what way?"
"In all the ways", Hermione mumbled, picking at an empty packaging. "I want him to do whatever he was planning on doing that first night."
"I hate to say I told you so, but I knew that all along." Ginny smirked and playfully avoided Hermione's half-hearted attempt to pinch her arm. "So what's the problem?" Ginny asked with a shrug. "He won't argue with that, arrogant prick that he is. Sounds like a win-win situation."
"But what if he just feels sorry for me and does it because he feels obligated to?" Hermione whined. "And then doesn't look twice at me again. Or what if he just turns me down?"
"Unlikely."
"But possible", Hermione insisted.
"So you're waiting for him to make the first move, is that it?" Ginny clarified.
"I guess. I just -" Hermione sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I love him, Ginny. I love him and I want to have a relationship with him. Not just, you know, the physical part. And that wasn't the original deal. Even Draco knows how I feel, for Godric's sake! Why wouldn't Lucius have seen it too? And if he knows, it must mean that he stays away because he doesn't want that. Doesn't want me, that is."
Ginny shook her head with exasperation. "What are you, a Hufflepuff? Backing down is not an option here. Either you go over there and just ask him, or you make up another one of those twisted little games and manipulate him into admitting his feelings."
"If there are any feelings to admit to."
"You know, if he wants you in spite of your bleeding stubbornness, I'm starting to think it might actually be exactly what he deserves", Ginny said. "Do you want him or not?"
Of course she did. Hermione thought constantly about the intimacies they had shared. About his promise to her on that very first night when she had come home with him. About those kisses, about his fingers trailing down exposed skin. She wanted that. And more. But only if it meant something to him.
"Then just pick an option and go for it."
Hermione nodded slowly. Ginny dug into the rest of the chocolates while Hermione spent several minutes thinking through her options. Gryffindor or not, Hermione wasn't ready to just go up and tell him she loved him and hope for the best. She needed a plan. A way to offer herself to him only if she could be sure he wanted her he same way she wanted him.
She wasn't afraid of Lucius lying to her or trying to manipulate her. If she asked what he wanted, she was sure he'd be honest with her. The question was rather if she was prepared to let him go if his answer wasn't what she was hoping for? She wasn't sure. So what she needed was basically a way to make sure she stuck to her principles no matter how much it hurt, no matter how tempted she was. She needed a safety net.
An idea struck her then. She thought about it for a few moments, turning it over in her mind from different angles. It was simple, and yet efficient. It might just work!
Hermione looked up at Ginny, who grinned knowingly. "That's the spirit, Hermione!"
"Why are you trying so hard to get us together?" Hermione asked. "I thought you hated him."
"Don't you think I've asked myself that?" Ginny said drily. "I've come to the conclusion that I can live with the two of you being together, but on one condition."
"What?" Hermione asked suspiciously, quickly grabbing the last sweet from Ginny's hand.
"That I have your permission to use every opportunity to annoy him to death, since I guess you won't let me use proper curses."
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Ginny grinned.
"I'll make him my very best frenemy, you know. And the best part is: he'll never be rid of me!" Hermione laughed at that. Ginny being willing to spend any time with Lucius was a huge leap forward, even if the purpose was to annoy him.
Hermione slept surprisingly well, and when morning came, she began to set her plan in motion.
It had only been a week since Lucius had woken up, helped Hermione defeat her tormentor, conjured his first patronus and then left her alone in her apartment. It felt longer. Much longer.
He supposed he was doing rather well, given the circumstances. He had slept in his own bed and eaten more of Tilly's special biscuits than he thought possible, just to make up for his long absence. He had had a long talk with Draco, telling him quite openly how he felt about Hermione, about his past deeds and his plans for the future. That had gone surprisingly well. Draco had even hinted he would be welcome to his birthday celebration in a few weeks. Given time, he hoped they might be able to repair their relationship, to a degree at least.
Lucius had also met with his financial advisors, informing them that he wanted to make some changes in his investments and estates. He had awoken from his long hibernation, as Hermione had called it, with an idea firmly in his mind, and would waste no time in realizing it.
He hated the Manor. Since the war, he had only been there a handful of times – once to alter the wards so that the aurors could get free access to do their investigations and then a couple of times to deal with urgent matters of maintenance. Neither he nor Draco wanted to live there, and thus had no use for it. Yet, it belonged to the Malfoy family, and even if he could find a buyer, he was loath to sell it. There was too much history – good and bad – and too much magic that tied his family to that place.
And it was a fine estate. The gardens were lovely, his peacocks unique and the manor itself a beautiful example of late medieval architecture. It would be a waste – economically and otherwise – to have it remain empty except for the odd ghost and house elf. So he would put it to use. He would restore its former glory, eradicate every trace of dark magic and turn it into a place of recovery for those who had suffered trauma of different kinds. Not only for wizards and witches, but for muggles also. It would be difficult to keep the magic hidden from the muggles, but if it succeeded it would help them heal from their traumas in a way that no other environment could. He would find witches and wizards that were muggle born and willing to combine magical and muggle medicine and pshychiatry. And there ought to be a couple of medically competent squibs out there too.
The only problem was making people trust him, so he was going to establish a foundation that had no formal connection to his name. Within a matter of days, he had set up the founding statutes and employed an army of house elves to start working on the Manor. There was still a long way to go, but at least he had made a beginning. He had even contacted Kingsley Shacklebolt to tell him of his plan. Lucius had asked him for discretion and given him permission to do whatever investigations he wanted. Shacklebolt had been suspicious enough, but he had obviously heard about Lucius's patronus from Potter and agreed to support him, at least for now.
So, yes. Lucius was doing quite well.
And at the same time, at times he wondered if he was going mad. He had never felt this restless before. This anxious. Well, perhaps when Narcissa was giving birth to Draco. In either case, this back-and-forth movement between hopeful elation and near despair was beginning to wear him down. He recognized the feeling from novels he had read as a young boy. It was what always happened to the hero or heroine sooner or later, no matter how hard they fought it. And there was only one remedy – to be brave and try to gain the hand of the loved one.
Lucius Malfoy would never admit to having read those novels in the first place. Nor would he ever admit to taking advice from them. Still, he couldn't argue with the overall message. He had to do something. Not least because he was beginning to get on his own nerves. He kept glancing at the enchanted napkin and found himself studying the scribbles more often than he cared to admit. He could have lied and said it was because he was worried about her – but if he was honest, he knew he was acting like a lovesick teenager. He was looking for any sign that might reveal how she felt about him.
Lucius knew, in theory, that he wasn't the centre of the world. But this enchanted item connected the two of them, so surely it wasn't too farfetched to imagine that all those question marks and hearts amidst the books, vials, stars and wands, had something to do with him? If he was to venture a guess, she was undecided about him. But about what exactly?
But to get to the point: Lucius Malfoy was not a lovesick teenager. He was a grown man. He was done waiting. So, exactly one year after their chance encounter at that bar he summoned his patronus and sent it to her with a message.
The tiger had seemed eager to go, and Lucius experienced a moment of relief before all the arguments against what he had done returned with full force. What if she refused to meet with him? What if she finally put her foot down and said no. What if she felt nothing for him - not even the desire that had once burned like a beacon?
Whatever her answer was, Lucius knew his feelings wouldn't go away. The love and admiration that had taken root were too strong and too deep. Her rejection wouldn't change how he felt, but the very thought of it was a pain beyond any torture he had endured. Still. He needed to know. And if she told him no, he would do what he could to live a life that would make her proud.
Still standing in the darkness on the balcony and staring out at the lights of the city, Lucius thought of another possibility. What if she still wanted him as a lover, but wanted nothing more than this one night? Within a second, he knew the answer. He wouldn't deny her that. He would take her into his arms and give her everything he had promised and more, hoping against all hope that she would return for more.
Suddenly, he was no longer alone. A silver otter, jumping with energy and glowing with the ethereal light of a patronus, appeared, and carried with it Hermione's soft voice:
"I'll be there."