February 6th

"I'm going to obliviate Lucius Malfoy from your memory."

The words hit Hermione like a bucket of ice cold water. They took away her ability to breathe, to think – to do anything really, except stare at the wizard in front of her. To Hermione's eyes, however, he was starting to look a bit blurry.

"Hermione?" His voice was concerned, but also distant - as if he was speaking to her over a bad phone line. "You look pale."

She closed her eyes and leaned forwards, desperately trying to get control of the spinning in her head. Trying to stay conscious. Distantly, she heard him speak, but she couldn't hear him properly. She needed air and clawed at the collar of her coat.

He was going to remove Lucius's existence from her mind. No, surely that's impossible. How could he possibly succeed in eradicating every memory she had of him, the good and the bad? How could he imagine he could make her forget the way Lucius's hand had felt when she first took it at the pub at the beginning of their re-acquaintance? The way he'd provided her with safety and comfort when the trauma of Ed's actions had caught up with her? The way he'd cried when he thought she'd leave him? The way he made love to her? The joy in his eyes when he realised she was carrying his child? Surely, it was impossible!

And yet, she had obliviated herself from her own parents' memory. It was possible. Patrick could do it, and he would do it. Nobody knew where she was, no one expected her until an hour from now, and by the time they started to worry, it would be too late.

No. Hermione took a strained breath. She wouldn't let him. She and Lucius had come too far to allow someone so insignificant as Patrick to ruin their lives. She had fought against bloody Bellatrix Lestrange and survived. She was Hermione Granger and she would fight!

She took another breath. She was strong. She had to stop focusing on her own weaknesses, and start to consider his.

Another breath, deeper this time. Her mind slowly started cooperating with her, and suddenly it was crystal clear what she had to do. She knew very well what Patrick's weaknesses were: his hatred of Lucius and his so-called love for her. He was obsessed with them to the point where he would not listen to reason. She was his weakness.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hermione's head began to clear properly, and her panic abated as hope began to grow. She knew what she must to, and she would do it. She would get out of this office with her mind and memory intact. One step at a time, she would get out of here and fight her way back to Lucius.

Hesitantly, Hermione opened her eyes, finding Patrick crouching before her with a worried look on his face. She was surprised to find that she was leaning forward heavily, and that the only thing stopping her from keeling over completely was his hands on her shoulders.

"How are you feeling?" Patrick asked.

Hermione slowly sat up and, satisfied that she had regained her balance, Patrick let her go. Before he could even think of picking up where he left off, however, she caught one of his hands and held on to it tightly. As she had predicted, he didn't pull away. He did look rather surprised, however.

"Do you mean it, Patrick?" she asked, searching his eyes. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, but that was a good thing. She was afraid, and she wanted to look it. Even a poor actor such as she should be able to pull this off.

"Mean what?" he asked guardedly, gently stroking her hand with his thumb.

"That you'll save me", she said, almost inaudibly.

His eyes widened as he took in her changed behaviour. A few moments ago, she had pulled away from him, now she leaned closer. She had to make it believable.

"I'm afraid", she whispered.

Patrick grasped her hand closer, letting out a deep breath as if he finally heard something that made sense.

"Of him?" he asked.

She nodded. A tear conveniently dropped from her cheek onto one of his hands. "He - he said I couldn't trust anyone. That nobody really cares about me. That nobody would fight for me." She paused, hoping he'd fall for her useless acting. "I didn't believe you'd really do it."

Patrick swore under his breath. "He's a monster, Hermione! It's him you can't trust!" he barked.

Hermione flinched, another wave of fear crashing over her at the violence of his resentment. Patrick's expression immediately softened at the sight, and he reached up to cup her cheek in his hand. It made her stomach turn, but she forced herself not to shy away, but rather to lean into his touch. Just be who he wants you to be, she told herself.

"I'll take care of you", he vowed. "I'll -"

Hermione quickly interrupted him before he could lay out any more plans. She grasped his hand tighter and glanced around the room, leaning forward to whisper urgently: "We need to get out of here. Now! He might be listening..."

Patrick rolled back on his heels, startled by her outburst. "He's been watching you here, at work?" he asked, frowning.

Hermione nodded, biting her lips anxiously.

"How?"

"I - I don't know", she stammered. "Do you remember that time when he came to see me at work?

Patrick nodded.

"I think he hid something in here", she whispered, grateful for the lie that sprung to her lips. "That's why I couldn't - I didn't dare trust you."

"Shit." Patrick quickly stood up. "Let's get out of here", he said, pulling her to his feet.

Patrick quickly pulled her to her feet. Hermione made sure to lean heavily on him when she rose, and put her hand on her belly for good measure. The weaker and more fragile he thought she was, the better. Weak and vulnerable, just as he wants me.

"Are you all right?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah", she said weakly. Glancing down, she noticed that one of her gloves had fallen to the floor. Perfect. "Could you...?"

Patrick smiled indulgently, and quickly bent over to pick the glove up, giving her a quick peek at his back pockets. And there it was - her wand. She quickly averted her eyes, pretending to be looking around the room in search of Lucius fictionary surveillance device, and then followed Patrick out of the room. He kept one hand on the small of her back, and his wand raised as if expecting Lucius to indeed show up at any moment. If only. When they passed his office, he briefly opened the door and summoned his own cloak, and folded it across his arm, before they went on.

Keeping up her charade, Hermione leaned into him and kept her pace as brisk as she was able, just as eager as him to get to the elevators that would take them down to the Atrium. She remained quiet, quickly devising a plan of action. It was almost ruined when Patrick seemed about to put his cloak on as they waited for the elevator.

Quickly, she clasped his arm and looked up at him. Weak and vulnerable, she reminded herself.

"Patrick?" she said worriedly. "What about clothes? My books... my cat... I can't just leave everything behind."

"I can't do anything about your cat, I'm afraid", Patrick said. "But you won't miss anything else. I've got clothes and toiletries, and I'll get you any books and things you want."

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"Don't worry, I've got it all sorted."

To her relief, the elevator doors opened just then. She nodded in pretended resignation, relieved to see Patrick's cloak back over his arm, as they stepped in and took a hold on the handles. Off they went - one step closer to freedom.

To her relief, the security guard was still on his post. He glanced up tiredly at them as they left the elevator, before he - apparently finished with his chess game - continued to amuse himself with transfiguring a pen into different exotic plants. Hermione braced herself and put her plan into action. Pretending to misstep, she stumbled and immediately felt Patrick wrap his arm closer around her. She looked up into his eyes, turning toward him demurely. When he didn't stop her, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Thank you", she mumbled so quietly he'd have to lean closer to hear.

"Oh, Hermione", he responded with a happy sigh and wrapped both his arms around her, "I'd do anything for you."

Hermione nodded into his chest. He smelled of soap and firewood. Then she took a deep breath as her hands gently travelled down his back. Now. With determination, she put her hands on his buttocks and squeezed, making him jump slightly and look down at her in shock. He clearly wasn't expecting that. Hermione smiled sweetly, and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"What are you doing?" he asked breathlessly.

"Taking back my wand", she responded, and pushed him away as forcefully as she could.

Unfortunately, Hermione lost her balance as well. She called out to the security guard for help and only barely managed to throw up a protective charm when Patrick recovered enough to throw a stunning curse in her direction. Soon, they were locked in a strange duel where he would try to disarm, stun or immobilize her while she was focused on either defending herself or incapacitating him in any way she could. She had little use for he security wizard, who had approached them with a confused look upon his face and quickly been rendered unconscious by one quick hex from Patrick when she was busy regaining her footing after a near hit.

Once again left alone with Patrick, she was frustrated by her own inability to get the better of him. Had circumstances been normal, she was fairly certain her training and experience would have enabled her to take him down. But her current lack of agility, and her fear of being disarmed again, made it hard for her to be as offensive as she would have liked. One hit from Patrick, and there would be nothing to stop him from taking her away from here to Finland or God-knew-where.

Patrick slowly forced her to retreat, but seemed equally frustrated by his lack of success in subduing her.

"Why are you doing this?" he ground out through gritted teeth, sending a body-binding hex her way.

Hermione threw up a shield and responded with a stupefy that very nearly caught him.

"Because Lucius isn't the one trying to tamper with my memory, deprive me of my child and kidnap me to Finland!" she hissed.

"He's a murderer!"

"He's a human being!"

Patrick laughed mirthlessly, effortlessly blocking another one of her hexes. "He'll only end up hurting you!"

Hermione ducked behind the large gold fountain and felt a spell fizz past her.

"I'd rather be hurt inadvertedly by him than live a fake life with you", she called, gathering strength for her next move. When she looked up, however, Patrick wasn't were she expecting to be. Swirling around, she found him only a few feet away. Their wands pointed at each other, as they found themselves at a momentary standstill. Both were panting from the exertion, and Hermione realised there was a great risk that he'd prove the more resilient of the two. Sooner or later, she wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Protego!" she called out when he once again raised his wand, and then pleaded: "Please let me go, Patrick! I don't want this."

"I'm doing this for you", he said with obvious frustration. "I'll never hurt you."

They both flinched as another voice suddenly called out:

"How about me, then?"

The voice - his wonderful cool and rich voice - echoed through the atrium. Lucius, her heart sighed contentedly. Hermione could hear his slow steps approach them across the dark polished floor. She hadn't heard him arrive, and had no idea how he'd found her, but by Merlin, she was grateful!

She chanced a glance in his direction. She knew she couldn't afford to loose focus, but needed to know where exactly he was, as if he was alone. But what she saw made her too astonished to immediately look away. There was nothing very surprising in his appearance, seeing as he looked just as he had when she'd left him at home: casual and yet stylish in his dark grey trousers and a white shirt with rolled up sleeves. He was alone - but that wasn't what surprised her, because in spite of his calm demeanor, she couldn't help but to notice one thing: he came unarmed. His hands were empty and his wand was nowhere in sight.

"Expelliarmus!"

For the second time this evening, Hermione felt her wand slip from her grasp. Cursing under her breath, she looked back at Patrick, and thought she caught a momentary look of triumph in his eyes before his expression grew darker as he turned to regard Lucius.

Lucius, on the other hand, remained unimpressed.

"How unchivalric of you, Griffith", he said coolly. "To attack a pregnant witch when I am here to speak to you, unarmed as you see."

Lucius had come close enough for them to form a sort of triangle, each standing several yards apart, and paused for a moment as Patrick made a threatening motion with his wand.

"I'm taking her with me, Malfoy", he challenged. "You wouldn't have been able to stop me even with a wand, so why are you here?"

"To have a little chat", Lucius said. "I have something to say to you."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Patrick mocked. "An apology?"

Lucius raised one of his eyebrows. "Yes." Patrick only stared at him, so he continued: "I killed your mother because of mistaken beliefs and a desire for power. It was wrong. I had no right to end her life." He took a breath. "I realise it can make little difference at this point, but you do deserve an apology and I am sorry. I regret what I did to her, and others, more than I can say."

Lucius's voice was calm and collected, but grew more hoarse as he spoke. Hermione could see what this admission cost him. Not long ago, he had been adamant that he regretted nothing, too afraid of the pain of remorse to allow it. But here he was now, putting himself at the feet of a young man he had injured. A young man he had no very cordial feelings toward, and whom he would have thought beneath him in the past.

Patrick seemed in equal measures affected and angered by Lucius' speech, and for a few moments Hermione wouldn't have been able to guess which emotion would win. Finally, however, he clenched his jaw in determination, and she knew making him back down was a lost cause.

"You've grown a conscience, then, have you?" he taunted. "Then I'm sure you'll do the right thing and let Hermione come with me."

"I would, if it was the right thing", Lucius answered calmly.

"It is the right thing!" Patrick shouted angrily. "She belongs with someone good, who'll never hurt her!"

"No", Lucius said simply. "Hermione belongs with me."

Patrick seemed on the brink of cursing him, but Lucius continued: "She's never been insensible of my faults, Griffith. She fought me every inch of the way, until I was ready to accept responsibility for my actions myself. She chose me just as much as I chose her, and until she casts me aside, I will never leave her or suffer her to be taken from me."

Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears, and she thought she saw Patrick hesitate. His blue eyes flickered to her momentarily.

"You don't deserve her", he insisted, tightening his grip around his wand.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that plainly spoke what he thought of Patrick's worth in that respect.

"I never said I deserved her", he answered in an irritated voice. "But she wants me. Accept it."

"No", Patrick ground out stubbornly. "Back off, Malfoy. You've had your fun."

Lucius rolled his eyes.

Even though Lucius never looked directly at her, Hermione had a feeling he was intensely aware of where she was and her every reaction to the conversation. And she could scarcely take her eyes off him, studying his every move, pleased to see him face Patrick with such confidence. When Patrick's hand tightened around his wand, however, she thought she saw something in Lucius eyes that concerned her. A flash of emotion that ought to have been fear, but wasn't. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was happy with Patrick's increasing agitation. What was he at? Didn't he understand that Patrick hated him enough to want him dead? What if Patrick -

Suddenly, Hermione understood. Lucius still wasn't looking straight at her, but when she nodded minutely in approval of his plan, she thought she saw the beginnings of a smile. A smile that was quickly hidden beneath an arrogant smirk. Patrick was about to say something, when Hermione took a step in Lucius's direction.

"Don't move", Patrick ordered, and Hermione - still worried of being stunned or something similar - paused.

But when Lucius in his turn stepped closer to her she was certain she had understood his plan correctly. Unlike her, Lucius blatantly ignored Patrick's orders and continued to approach Hermione in spite of the wand that was aiming straight at his heart. And even though he was still speaking to Patrick, his gaze now turned to her.

"In one week, Hermione will be my wife", Lucius said confidently. "She'll soon give birth to my child, and they'll both take my name. Hermione Malfoy, doesn't that sound lovely?"

To Hermione's ears, it sounded magnificent, and for a moment she almost forgot about Patrick. Lucius was almost by her side now, and she could tell Patrick was about to snap. She felt a churning anxiety within her, knowing they were risking disaster, and saw worry in Lucius's eyes too. But more than that, she saw pride.

His every word was an open provocation to Patrick, she knew he spoke the truth. He was proud of her, and even though he had never been a very trusting person, she knew he had learned to trust her. He knew she was his. And she was.

Turning his back on Patrick, who was almost growling with anger, Lucius reached out to touch her cheek, smiling softly at her. "My love."

"Hermione, don't!" Patrick called.

But she did. She kissed Lucius. And Patrick finally lost his self-control.