With heaviness of the head, Hermione did not want to wake up, somehow she recalled a familiar situation that happened long time ago, when Diana got herself into trouble…
The sound of drizzling droplets rang in the bathroom.
I must be dreaming, thought Hermione. I didn't bathe yesterday, the shower should not be running.
She woke up and the sound stopped. Hearing that, she fell back to the bed.
The bathroom door swung open and she immediately sat up. A man walked out of the bathroom, half naked. It was Lucius.
Hermione gawked at her eyes fixed on his body. For a man in his age, he was muscular and fit, his translucent skin shone under the lights, and water glided all the way from his chest to the white towel that was wrapped around his waist.
Before she could scream, Lucius asked,
"How are you feeling?"
Her mind was swirling, what did he mean? Why would he be in her bathroom?
"Why…did we…?"
"A gentleman never takes advantages of an unconscious lady."
Hermione was relived, so she was still intact. Lucius added,
"Do you need some milk? It's still warm."
Lucius held the glass of milk to her face and Hermione took a sip. It helped alleviate the heaviness in her mind. As Lucius took the glass away, she asked,
"Did I do anything…inappropriate?"
"That depends on your definition of 'inappropriate'."
"So what happened after you helped me get back to my room?"
Lucius stared into her eyes, then softly said,
"You don't remember anything."
"What did I do?"
"To retain your dignity, " said Lucius. "It is best for you to forget what happened last night."
Hermione closed her eyes and tried to recall her memories. Fragmented memories flowed by, she could remember Lucius placed her on bed, then she remembered herself passionately kissing him. Shocked, she exclaimed,
"I kissed you!"
Lucius smiled and brushed her cheek with his palm, then he said,
"I have always had special attention on you, but then I never thought the feeling is mutual."
Hermione dazed with puzzlement, not knowing what to say. Then Lucius's face got closer, and his lips placed on hers, seeking for her response. Following her strange intuition, she responded, and the kiss got deeper, as if draining out her breath.
Her back fell back and the kiss broke. Lucius was on top of her, smiling and looking at her intently.
"Will you be mine, Hermione?"
His words were magical and irresistible, her mind went blank, unable to think. Hermione then wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered to his ear,
"Why not?"
Lucius chuckled and placed kisses on her forehead. His chest was on hers, she could feel both of their hearts pumping vigorously and her cheeks grew hotter and hotter. His hand stroked her forehead for a while, then stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I thought you might want some privacy when changing clothes."
Hermione blushed, and she nodded. Soon as Lucius left the room, Hermione ruffled her hair, taking deep breaths. She kissed Lucius again, for the third time! She had no idea what to do next, what could she possibly do?
Excitement filled her mind as she quickly dressed herself and went out of the room. Then she rang Lucius's room doorbell. Soon as the door swung open, Hermione asked,
"Do you have anything planned today?"
Lucius smiled and replied,
"Yes."
A huge wave of disappointment surged, but the smile on his face confused her. Lucius explained,
"A plan just for you and me."
"Me?" said Hermione, puzzled.
Lucius grinned and held her hand tight. As they went into the lift, Lucius said,
"First, we are going to have a decent breakfast."
He pulled Hermione towards himself, locking her tightly.
"Let me go," said Hermione. "What if someone comes in?"
"Then we shall let them see who is the lucky girl here."
"Stop it!" said Hermione and giggled, wriggling under his arm.
Just right before the lift door opened, she managed to push his arms off and walked out of the lift, pretending that she did not know Lucius. But his arm quickly founded his way to her waist, wrapping her and leading her all the way to the buffet restaurant. As they settled down at a table at the corner, Lucius asked,
"What do you want to eat?"
"I can get it myself."
"What do you want to eat?"
Seeing that he insisted to bring her food, Hermione replied,
"Some milk and toast. I don't eat a lot."
Lucius nodded and went towards the bar tables, not for long, he came back, with a pile of food on the plate. Hermione gawked and said,
"I can't eat that much!"
Lucius picked a syrnitki and held it before her face. Hermione did not know what to do, she had never been fed by anybody, not to mention a man who was also her superior. Lucius signalled her to open her mouth, and so she did. The moment when her lips touched his fingers, she felt nervous for an unknown reason.
Lucius did not stop feeding her until she refused to eat more. He then ate the remaining food and cleared the plate. Seeing that Hermione was uneasy for the whole breakfast, Lucius asked,
"Is this your first time?"
"Huh?"
Hermione was shocked by his question. Seeing her puzzled expression, Lucius added,
"Have you ever dated any man before?"
Feeling embarrassed, she shook her head and kept staring at Lucius. He seemed to be happier after hearing her answer, he said,
"Come on, let's go."
As expected, the car was waiting for them outside the hotel. When they got in, Hermione asked,
"Where are we going?"
"Island."
"Island?" repeated Hermione.
"A famous local music centre, thought we could exchange some ideas. After all, we are businessmen."
Hermione nodded.
Not for long, the car arrived at a red bricked building. It instantly reminded Hermione of an orphanage. She followed Lucius out of the car and he rang the doorbell. An old woman greeted them in the local language and they went inside.
If Indigo was grand, Island was extravagant. Despite of its plain appearance, the interior design was just like the Malfoy Manor, she tried to come up with the appropriate word to describe the place but was unable to do so. Chandelier lights were everywhere and the marble floor was polished like new. A few girls in black and white dress with white ribbons on their head stood aside and stared at them with curiosity and surprise. As the old woman looked at them, they quickly lowered their heads and went away. Lucius and Hermione went all the way upstairs and the old woman led them to the end of the corridor. Then she knocked on the door, she signalled them to wait outside before she went in. Seeing that she would not be coming out soon, Hermione commented,
"If I had not known this was a music centre, I would have thought this was a manor."
"Do you like our design or theirs?" asked Lucius.
Deep inside her heart, she knew Island's interior design was way better than Indigo's, but she did not want to upset him. But then, if she replied that answer, Lucius would know she was not quite telling the truth. So she avoided the question by saying,
"You know what I am going to say."
Lucius grinned at her, then said,
"Sometimes I wished you'd be less clever."
The old woman came out of the room and signalled them to enter. The room was larger than Hermione had expected and certainly it was larger than Lucius's office. The man in silver suit stood up and greeted them, then led them to a parlour. When they sat down in the couch, the old woman brought in some tea and biscuits. Unable to say anything in the language, Hermione smiled and nodded her head in return. The man said something to Lucius and Hermione felt like he was talking about her. When the man took a sip of the tea, she asked,
"What did he say?"
"He said you were beautiful."
Hermione chuckled. She was not sure if he was really telling the truth but she decided not to say anything.
It was a long talk, with Hermione knowing nothing, she tried to see if she could pick out certain words. She heard words like "a cappella", "concert" and "melody", other than that, she understood nothing.
She was glad when their talk was finally over, she had refilled her teacup thrice and she felt her bladder gradually getting filled. Soon as they walked out of the office, Hermione headed straight to the bathroom. When she came out, Lucius said,
"Are you alright?"
"I didn't know what did you talk to him," replied Hermione honestly.
"I apologise for making you profound and uneasy," said Lucius and he placed a kiss on her forehead, with his embrace locking her tighter. "We talked about the possibility of a joint performance."
"Joint performance?" asked Hermione, puzzled. "Did you agree to it?"
"I declined it."
"Why?"
"Joint performance would mean more effort and time are needed, I wished my effort and time could be spent on someone important."
He gazed at her intently, which made Hermione blush. To make herself feel less embarrassed, she said,
"You shouldn't misbalance personal life and career."
"I have already earned enough, it's time for quality life."
"Earned enough?" asked Hermione. "You know you have a manor and a large musical school to manage."
"Well if you think I don't have enough money to take care of my wife and my children, I guess no one will be suitable then."
His eyes kept gazing into hers. Hermione felt her cheeks growing redder and redder, it was surprising that Lucius had marked her as his wife, and yet it was even more shocking that Lucius said "children".
"Children?" asked Hermione, baffled. "I thought you only had Draco, you have some other children?"
Lucius was slightly shocked, but he remained calm and said,
"Draco is not my child."
Hermione was shocked. The huge resemblance of the two men was unable to convince her mind that the two were not related. Seeing the confusion on her face, he explained,
"His biological father was my brother, but he and his wife died in a car accident when Draco was young."
Hermione suddenly felt apologetic to Draco, though he had acted terribly at her every time they met, losing both parents in one time was traumatic, especially to a child. Nobody could ever imagine or understand the pain.
"Even though I treat him as my own son, I still want children of my own, especially when it is our children."
This was even more shocking than the truth of Draco's identity, she and Lucius had not even yet properly dated yet, and now he suggested having children with her. She was not quite ready for that . Furthermore, though she knew Lucius was in his fifties, she reckoned she was too young to be a mother. But upon seeing the smile on his face, she felt like she should not disappoint him.
