Big chapter here, everyone, which is why it took me so long to write it. The next chapters will come more quickly, but I knew that this chapter had to be written properly for it to make any kind of sense. Tell me what you think, and as always, hope you enjoy!
Chapter 10
Hermione hardly slept that night, and when she did, her dreams were full of the sounds of typewriters clacking and the sensation of Lucius's lips on hers.
This had gone too far. She just kissed Lucius Bloody Malfoy on the middle of the street in London and…liked it? But what did she like? The attention? The revenge? Or the fact that it was…him?
And was she in too deep to back out?
Finally waking after a restless night, Hermione dragged herself out of bed and made her way downstairs.
She knew Lucius was sitting there, sipping his coffee like usual, but she didn't dare look at him. She couldn't stand to see his smirk this morning. Instead, she sat down and focused on her meal in silence.
Lucius said nothing initially, but toward the end of the meal, he asked, "Care to see the headline?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, finally looking at him. He was extending the morning's issue of The Daily Prophet to her. She begrudgingly took it and muttered, "You should have offered this to me before breakfast."
Lucius snickered. "Didn't want to ruin your appetite, that's all."
As she unfolded the paper, Hermione felt her jaw go slightly slack. There she and Lucius were, kissing for the whole world to see. Watching herself on a loop, she could see she was initially taken aback, but then she fell so naturally into him…
Merlin, did she actually kiss him back like that? And surely if she saw that, he had seen it, too.
As would Ron…
A twinge of guilt stirred deep in Hermione's gut, but she pressed on, reading the article quickly so as not to lose her nerve.
Gryffindor Girl Goes in for the Kill
It's official: Hermione Granger was spotted in London shopping with none other than the eligible, granted more mature, bachelor Lucius Malfoy at her side before the couple shared this moment outside a local shop. It certainly seems that Malfoy is having no problems moving on from his former wife, Narcissa Black, and Granger seems to have developed a certain taste for older, or at least wealthier, men. And if this kiss is any indication, it also seems that blood status is not an issue for the pair, either. Although we have yet to discover how this bizarre couple came to be, needless to say, we are intrigued. Will they last? Or is this just a fling? What are these two playing at? Stay with The Prophet to stay informed!
"That's so unnecessary." Hermione tossed the paper aside.
"Yes, I know you wanted to seek some revenge, but they did lay it on a little thick-"
"They didn't have to bring your wife into it."
Lucius's smirk faded, and he looked genuinely surprised. "What?"
"Narcissa…they could have left her well enough alone and not made it sound like you had just thrown her away."
Lucius sniffed and regained his composure. "I'm sure she wouldn't care."
"Just like you don't care about her?"
Before Lucius could retort or Hermione could say something even more stupid, she quickly left the dining room to bury herself in the library.
She couldn't flee for long, however, because not even an hour later, Lucius arrived bearing a letter.
"Only one, today. For you, at least."
Hermione tore the seal and rolled her eyes.
Floo. Now.
~Ginny
Why did it feel like she was being scolded by her mother when talking to her best friend?
"Can I use your Floo, seeing as you won't let anything of a Weasley nature into your home?"
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Weasley…?"
Hermione scowled. "His sister."
"Ah, yes. Ginevra would probably not be too keen on stopping by the estate of the man responsible for her near death experience in the Chamber of Secrets, and I would not be keen on having her. Use the fireplace in the study. It's connected to the Floo Network."
Hermione ignored his comments about Ginny and made her way across the mansion to the study.
When she finally reached the fireplace, the green flames nearly exploded out of the grate as Ginny's face burst forth.
"Hermione Jean Granger! Lucius Malfoy? Lucius BLOODY Malfoy? Hermione, you CANNOT be serious!"
"I'm not! Listen…I told you there was more to the story, right?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "There is literally nothing you can tell me that will make this okay."
Now it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.
"Listen, after I left your brother, which is a topic we will avoid entirely," she added as Ginny opened her mouth to interrupt, "I was lost and somehow ended up in Wiltshire."
"Somehow ended up in Wiltshire? From London? Hermione, what-"
Hermione cut her off. "Long story short, Malfoy let me take shelter in the Manor and then offered me a job straightening up his library."
"I have a feeling you're doing more for him than straightening his library-"
"Ginny, hush!" Hermione scolded, and she fell silent. "Malfoy has lost a lot of his influence due to people seeing through his prejudices, and I kind of wanted to get back at Ron, so we made a bit of an accord…"
"Merlin's beard, Hermione, you really struck a deal with the devil."
"Nothing like an Unbreakable Vow or anything…come on now, Ginny, I'm not that stupid."
Ginny nodded and barely managed to keep her mouth shut, waiting for Hermione to continue.
"Well, we appear like a couple to the public. That way, he looks like he's moved past his blood supremacist past and I get to ruffle some feathers."
Ginny shook her head. "'Mione, your brains with the cunning of a Slytherin behind them is a terrifying creature to behold."
Hermione shook her head. "Listen, I should get back to work. Save Harry the owl and try to explain everything to him. But make sure this doesn't get around! It will ruin the ruse."
Ginny nodded begrudgingly. "But Hermione, you're not…not actually with him, right? Like when the cameras are away you two don't-"
"Ginny, NO!" Hermione said firmly. "I told you, nothing's actually happened. The whole thing is staged. The appearances, the kiss…it's all just for show." Hermione hoped saying it out loud it would make it real, but only a part of her believed her words.
"Well, maybe this will finally make my idiot brother come to his senses."
Hermione said nothing but shook her head. "Goodbye, Ginny."
"Hermione, be careful…I know you can take care of yourself, but…even I can see you're in dangerous territory here. Just…proceed with caution."
And the Floo flickered out.
*break*
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, entering the study that evening to find Lucius standing by the end table in the corner, holding an intricate decanter.
"I merely thought we should toast to our successes." He poured a small portion of the aged firewhiskey into two crystal glasses and extended one to her.
Hermione approached cautiously and took the drink, eyeing it somewhat suspiciously.
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Merlin's beard, Miss Granger, surely you still aren't expecting me to poison you?"
Hermione looked up at his cold, grey eyes, the same eyes she had seen glaring at her from behind a metal mask in the Department of Mysteries… "You can never be too careful."
Lucius let out an indignant breath through his nose and took a deep drink from his own glass.
Hating to admit that he was right, Hermione took a sip from hers as well. The whiskey burned all the way down, but she didn't hate the feeling.
She wandered aimlessly to the other side of the room, looking over the various shelves holding dark bound books and Dark Arts objects.
"The Ministry let you keep these?" Hermione finally asked in spite of herself, eyes landing on The Hand of Glory tucked away in a corner.
"Mere trinkets of my past, really," Lucius responded. Hermione turned to face him; he was still standing on the other side of the room, leaning up casually against the wall and pouring another drink. "The real paraphernalia resides in a secret chamber under the drawing room floor."
Hermione's jaw went slack. "Wait, are you serious?"
Lucius merely set the decanter down and took another sip, obscuring his smirk with the edges of the glass.
"Mr. Malfoy, if that's true, I could have you…Remember, I work at the Ministry-"
"Not anymore."
Hermione was silenced by this.
"…Why did you leave, Miss Granger?"
Hermione looked up from the hearth. Lucius was staring at her with a mixture of intrigue and sincere curiosity.
"Why do you want to know?"
Lucius grinned a thin-lipped smile. "Curiosity, Miss Granger. Always innocent curiosity."
"I doubt anything about a Malfoy is innocent…" Hermione muttered, but she sighed. She had already told him just about everything…why stop now?
"Well, it was Harry who suggested it initially…" Hermione began, sitting down heavily on the Chesterfield. "He said it would be better for my…health."
She heard Lucius slinking toward her. "Your health, Miss Granger?"
Hermione shook her head. "It's stupid…I don't even…"
She felt Lucius's weight sink into the seat next to her, but she still didn't look up. She knew his eyes were on her, waiting…
"…After the war, I had a lot of…anxiety, I guess. Nervousness, panic attacks, paranoia. I felt so much guilt for surviving the war when so many did not, and that led to even more pressure for me to succeed. But I was suspicious of my coworkers, didn't trust their compliments, and always suspected the worst. I knew many of them were probably associated with Voldemort during the war, and that some of them would not like the fact that someone of my blood status worked alongside them… It made me miserable, and everyone else around me miserable, too. I stopped eating, worked excessively to try to keep my mind off everything, and largely isolated myself… Finally, Harry suggested that I take some time off. I had started talking with Ron about…having a family of our own, but I knew in my current state that it would never happen. So I took his advice, put in my two weeks, and planned on focusing on living my life outside of the shadow of the war. I started to feel better and get my life back on track, but then I found Ron with Lavender…and now I'm here."
The silence was broken suddenly. "I'm sorry."
Hermione jumped. She had forgotten Lucius was even beside her. But when she looked at him, expecting to see his satisfied smirk, she was taken aback. "What?"
Lucius's gaze was fixed on the fireplace, but there was a genuine sadness in his expression.
"I will admit that I never had the highest opinion of Mr. Weasley, but I must say that now it is even lower. To betray you during such a time in your life and to do so little to help you when you needed it most…Mr. Potter, on the other hand, I cannot fault. He does have your best interests at heart, no matter how tactless his approach."
Hermione just looked at him in shock. In that moment, she saw his grey eyes were no longer reflective. There was a depth, a humanness, to them. His mask was slipping, and she could see a softness taking over his features.
"A part of me doesn't blame him…" Hermione murmured, looking away from him. She saw Lucius lift his head in her periphery. "Ron, I mean. Of course what he did was dreadful and stupid, but I don't know if I would have stayed either..."
Suddenly, Hermione felt a warmth on her knee. Looking up from the rug, she found a hand, Lucius's hand, gently squeezing the exposed part of her leg. Her eyes swept up to his, looking at her with sincerity.
"From what I'm seeing…he should have."
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. She had kissed him before, and yet this moment was somehow so much more intimate. And Lucius could no longer pretend; there were no cameras, no paparazzi to impress. Just her.
Suddenly, something dawned on her, and when Hermione found her voice, she finally managed to stammer, "Narcissa…" as tears threatened to burst from her eyes.
Lucius immediately withdrew his hand, and his features hardened once more, as if he was sobering from a pleasant dream. "Miss Granger, remember what I said-"
"That's what happened, isn't it? With you and Narcissa?" she murmured, finally seeing the connection. "After the war, you weren't the same, and she left you…"
"That's not what-"
"I think it is, Lucius. I think that's why you feel for me, because you understand exactly how I feel, being abandoned by the person I loved when I needed him most."
Lucius launched up from his seat. Hermione wouldn't look at him; she felt the fury radiating off him. "Don't even for one second pretend to think you understand me!" he spat.
"Then don't do the same with me!" Hermione snapped, rising as well to face him.
Lucius's face was flushed, and the grip on his cane was shaking. Hermione vowed to not cower, however, and drew herself up to full height to meet his gaze with defiance.
He was no longer the imposing figure he once was.
She knew he was just a man.
Still, she felt a thrill of fear rush through her as he seethed, "You have no idea what I endured-"
"What you endured, Lucius? What about what I endured? What about the years I spent fighting for my life against people like you, fearing for my life just because of how I was born?" Hermione pulled up her sleeve to reveal the faint but still ever-present scars of the word Bellatrix etched into her skin in that very home years prior.
In response, Lucius ripped his robes back to reveal the Dark Mark on his forearm. It seemed slightly more faded, no longer alive, but still very real. Thrusting it into her vision, he snarled, "I risked my life and my family's life for this. I've been tortured in ways you can only imagine. I served time in Azkaban, missed my son growing up, lost my wife, all for this!"
The pair stood, their faces mere inches apart, both fuming.
"You chose the mark on your arm!" Hermione finally hissed, trembling. "I did not!"
Lucius glared at her with white hot fury for a moment before yanking his arm back. Hermione shot one last lethal glare at him before turning and all but running out of the room.
As she slammed the door behind her, Lucius let out an angry cry, and she heard his whiskey glass shatter against the wall. Hermione fled, locking herself in her room, throwing herself on the bed, and finally allowing her tears to fall.