Thank you as always for lovely words, reviews, favourites and follows. Glad you are enjoying this little bit of fun, combining two of my favourite literary series. Chapter title comes from Casino Royale for anyone interested.
So apologies for any errors as ever and please continue to enjoy...
Hermione wasn't entirely sure if she was surprised by Lucius Malfoy's admission or not. She was however more than a little shocked that under these circumstances Ralph Messervy had chosen this particular location for her long weekend. Maybe he, and the Ministry were unaware that the former Death Eater was the proprietor, she certainly had no idea, but then she'd hardly kept tabs on the man's activities in recent years, but she very much doubted the Ministry had been so lax. Suddenly it occurred to her, perhaps that was precisely why she had been sent here … but surely RM would have said something … wouldn't he?
The blonde man was still watching her intently, although those pale blue grey eyes of his seemed have taken on a much more indolent look as his sipped his Firewhiskey. Hermione contemplated her response carefully, two years as an Unspeakable had taught her, many things, thinking before you spoke, and not rushing into situation were up there near the top.
Lucius Malfoy was a wizard with an ego, a large one as she recalled, to pander to it would definitely be the best way of getting the most out of him, but whatever you thought about the man, he was also nobody's fool. Their personal history, albeit brief, was hardly affable, pander too much and he would see right through her, Hermione had to find some middle ground, something that would both pander and possibly offend him, just a little bit, at the same time. She lifted the tall wafer thin flute to her lips, taking a mouthful of the recently replenished glass. Her third she silently reminded herself. Hermione's eyes glanced appreciatively around the room before once more coming back to meet his.
"It is a beautiful place." She observed quietly, leaning forward just a tad flirtatiously in her seat.
"You have done very well for yourself Mister Malfoy." She gave him a small smile, allowing her red lips to part slightly.
"But then I would expect nothing less from you." Hermione ran the very tip of her index finger along her bottom lip before moistening it with her tongue.
She wasn't averse to using her femininity or her wiles, but always with caution, weighing up both the situation and the subject with great care. Even if she wasn't on assignment, Hermione Granger knew Lucius Malfoy would be as extremely a formidable adversary as he was a man.
His pale eyes watched her every move over the rim of the heavy tumbler, as he lowered it Hermione noticed a decided curve to his cruel mouth, his eyes had darkened and narrowed. Bullseye, she mused silently, waiting for his response.
He too leaned forward in his seat, his body language equally if not more flirtatious, his lustrous blonde hair falling over one shoulder with the slow deliberate movement. Hermione was immediately ingulfed in a waft of spicy, very masculine cologne, she didn't move or react, but could not stop herself from inhaling deeply, an action she also tried to conceal. From an early age Hermione Granger had not been intimidated by Draco's arrogant, self-important father, she had to admit though, if only to herself, now she was much more aware of him and it was not just the cologne which exuded such latent masculinity.
That same indolent look she had seen in his eyes was back, and this time it certainly wasn't fixed, it travelled lazily from her red glossed mouth, down her neck, flickering over the deep vee of the black silk shirt she wore. Part of Hermione wished she'd done up that extra button after all, as with the same indolence, he took in the creamy, lightly tanned valley it revealed. The other part of Hermione felt her skin flush sensually, heat rising and not just in her face. She fought every nerve in her body, every instinct that urged her to move, shift in the chair, but she didn't even blink.
"Thank you, Miss Granger." He said, his grey eyes finally drifting just as unhurriedly to meet hers once more.
They had both leaned towards each other to speak, and he remained almost threateningly close as he continued to do so. That pale gold hair of his cascading freely, stark against the blackness of the shirt he too wore.
For the briefest of moments Hermione's gazed dropped, his shirt was also unbuttoned at the neck, ridiculously expensive cotton, she thought silently. Heat once more suffusing not just her face as she noticed the merest smattering of dark blonde hair peeping from beneath an extra button that he too should have fastened, how very Mugglelike, she observed, her eyes quickly coming back up to his, just as grey with that hint of blue twinkling in their cold depths.
"I could say the exact thing about you." He said slowly, almost drawlingly.
"Quite beautiful, and you have done very well for yourself, but then I too would expect nothing less."
Compliments? No he was mocking her! But his strong features were mirthless, his tone laced with an oddly flat sincerity.
Of course he was the owner, he had to be nice to his customers, she was also a Ministry employee, but when Hermione had envisaged a little verbal sparring with the Dark Wizard, this certainly wasn't what she'd expected. Undoubtedly, he was playing her at her own game, the trouble was Hermione wasn't exactly sure what her game was. Or if it was as a game she could afford to play.
When she was on assignment for the Ministry, her lines and parameters were very well drawn and exceptionally clear, as was what was expected of her. But she wasn't on assignment, not that she was aware of anyway, whatever she might have wondered. There were no well-drawn lines, no clear parameters, and nothing was expected of her, not professionally at least.
"We have obviously both done very well for ourselves." Hermione said, glossing over his compliment with a little sarcasm.
He remained ominously close to her, lifting the glass back to his mouth and taking another slow, deliberate mouthful of his Firewhiskey, the gradually melting ice still chinking musically in the glass. His smile was equally as slow and just as menacing.
"People like us know how to survive." An almost sly undertone laced his aristocratic tenor.
It was an odd thing to say, and she knew he was alluding to more than just himself.
Those outside of the Ministry of Magic didn't know what Hermione actually did. Since the Second Wizarding War, the Unspeakables section had gone very much undercover, their identities were fiercely protected and kept a closely guarded secret, for their own safety and for the success of the missions that they undertook, on paper and to those outside, they all worked for the department of Import and Export of Magical Items.
Hermione's instincts rarely let her down, and she got the distinct impression from not only his turn of phrase, but from the lingering glint in his eyes, Lucius Malfoy knew a lot more about what she did for a living than he should. The possible how, posed yet another question the young witch would very much like answered, she was gaining quite a list, the elves and their chic t-towels aside.
Whilst she might have been the one with a plethora of unanswered questions racing around in her brain, they remained unasked. The Dark Wizard obviously had his own level of curiosity was clearly not so reticent about voicing it.
"So Miss Granger, what brings you to Firefly?"
There was that small curve to his mouth again, as if he knew precisely why she was here, but simply wanted to hear what she had to say.
"If it is business then I would know all about it." He went on without waiting for a response.
"Which leaves pleasure, in which case I definitely should know all about it."
The gentle emphasis and the way he uttered the word pleasure, the last part of his sentence and a now, what Hermione could only describe as wicked glint in his eyes, sent a tingle of apprehension dancing along her spine. However it wasn't apprehension which raced to other parts of her body, and she silently chastised herself for that third Kir Royale. Also blaming the cool, fizzy cocktail for the warmth which flushed her chest, crept gradually up her neck and threatened to sting her cheeks. She also felt uncharacteristically flirtatious, something else the alcohol was no doubt responsible for, she twiddled the base of her glass, the scarlet nail polish shimmering back at her. Again Hermione banished the ridiculous notion about the effects it had on the wearer, magical or not it was just polish.
"Well, if you definitely should know all about it … my visit is strictly pleasure."
Baiting Lucius Malfoy might not be her wisest course of action, but right now it was rather enjoyable, fraught with perhaps more than a little danger, but nonetheless entertaining. And nothing she couldn't handle…
"Enforced pleasure." She added teasingly, watching a curious brow rise.
"Hmm enforced pleasure." He repeated, a second brow joining the other.
"Now that does paint a very intriguing picture Miss Granger."
Hermione could only but image the picture her words had painted in his mind, it hadn't exactly been her intention, that had simply been to increase his curiosity, that mission had certainly been accomplished.
"Alas Mister Malfoy not perhaps as intriguing as you might imagine."
Best to rein his thoughts in before they got too much out of hand, but just a little.
"Apparently I am very naughty." Her tone was husky and a little conspiratorial, her words loosening the reins just a little once more.
"I don't take enough time off from work, so my boss gets annoyed with me. I've just returned from a particularly busy trip overseas."
She watched his reaction carefully, all she saw in his pallid face was further intrigue, pondering just where his imagination was taking him.
"He insisted that I take a few days off, knowing exactly what my reaction would be, he had his assistant, arrange this." She gestured around her for effect.
"That way, I simply couldn't say no."
Although she wasn't on assignment, Hermione always stuck to as much of the truth as she could. She had an excellent memory, she had to have, but why make life any more difficult, sticking as close to the actual facts made life a lot simpler.
"It was somewhere warm?"
His question caught her off guard, again not the response she had anticipated. Wondering what he meant, her own neatly plucked brows knitted together questioningly.
"Your trip overseas, it was somewhere warm. Even in this light your skin looks …"
Those silvery blue grey eyes of his accentuated his point, taking in the skin he could see, her face, her neck, perhaps a little too much of her breasts as they rose and fell against the black silk of her shirt and that retched unfastened button. The rest of her skin warmed at the thought of what he couldn't see.
"Sun kissed." He said seeming to relish his own choice of words, his lips curling in another small, knowing smile, as he raised his glass to them once more.
Under the heat of his gaze, Hermione felt as if her clothing had either fallen away of become transparent, but stood or rather sat her ground serenely, answering his questions easily and without preamble.
"The Caribbean." She offered, not narrowing down the location any further.
"So yes it was very warm, even working I managed to catch a little sun."
"It's very becoming."
Normally if she wanted to, Hermione could hide a little behind her hair, allowing it to fall across her face or perhaps run her hands absently through it. After an afternoon in the spa, even wrapped in a towel, and following almost a month in the sun and a certain amount of sea, Hermione's slightly shorter, but still wilful mane of hair was not of a mind to be tamed. So after a couple of failed attempts to straighten it, she had secured it severely in a ponytail and applied some ant frizz serum, the two things left her nowhere to hide from Lucius Malfoy's second forthright, uncharacteristic and totally unexpected compliment.
"We have an excellent solarium here at Firefly, should you wish to keep it, topped up, I think is the expression they use."
Hermione suddenly found a smile tugging at her lips, whilst the Dark Wizard, seemed more than at home in his own bar and she felt certain in the more traditional rooms of his hotel, she really couldn't envisage him enjoying the benefits of the spa. Those silky blonde locks tethered in one of the fluffy white towels as green slime was applied to his face, although looking at his flawless complexion perhaps it was not so far removed from the realms of possibility. Her line of vision immediately shifted to the long fingers clasped around the crystal tumbler, his nails were short, blunt and well buffed, his hand looked ridiculously soft. Perhaps Lucius Malfoy did indeed indulge in the odd treatment or two after all, come to think of it, he'd always been a vain man, preoccupied with his appearance, and actually the more she thought about it, the more she could see it, it was perfect for him. Even if he might not be averse to a facial, or a manicure, she very much doubted the pale skinned former Death Eater was a regular visitor to the solarium. She might be able to picture him draped in a small towel with that vindictive pigmy troll tap dancing on his broad back, but even her powerful imagination could not stretch to seeing him languishing on a sunbed, wearing the requisite blackened goggles getting an all over tan… Naked, her brain swiftly supplied for her, the small towel from the massage vanishing and a graphic image of a completely naked, prone Lucius Malfoy manifested itself.
"It's first rate so I am told."
His words confirmed her suspicions that the pale skinned Dark Wizard, had indeed not frequented the solarium. This affirmation however did little to dispel the picture which seemed to have engrained itself on her brain. She took in the man seated, still very closely before her, clad just as she was from head to toe in black, the expensive cotton shirt, the well-tailored trousers, and the fine leather boots, clothed, she assured her brain, but still the image would not go away. She licked her suddenly very dry red glossed lips, noticing Lucius Malfoy's eyes watching the action attentively. That same wicked indolent look in them, and a now very definite curve to his mouth.
"Have you eaten Miss Granger?"
