Hermione felt strange as she followed Lucius through a door off the parlor and into what she assumed was the dining room. He turned to look at her before pouring him a glass of what she thought was whiskey and downing it in one go before he immediately poured himself another, but she was caught off guard by the state of the room. There were cobwebs scattered on almost every nook, a good layer of dust on every surface, and a strong smell of something foul coming from somewhere that Hermione was sure whatever it was, it was on fire.

"Is something burning?"

Her words must have struck Lucius because he choked on his drink and dashed from the room, Hermione hot on his trail. Following him through a door, she was promptly met with black smoke that instantly made her cough. Her eyes stung and began to water as she watched Lucius open the oven door, which caused grey smoke to pour into the room. The additional smoke made it almost impossible to see, but she was sure she saw him remove a pot from the oven and throw it into the sink. Taking her wand from the sleeve of her jacket and with a wave of her wrist, the smoke cleared.

"Thank you for that." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Where are your house elves?" Hermione was concerned. She noticed he was skinnier, but she thought it was from stress.

Lowering his head, Lucius refused to meet her worried gaze and turned around to look at whatever he'd been cooking, his hands gripping the edge of the sink. Taking a cautious step further into the kitchen, she caught sight of the scorched bird in the sink, some smoke still coming off its blackened skin. Feeling pity for the former dark wizard in front of her, she removed her jacket and placed it on the counter.

"What else do you have to cook?" Her heart ached for him, and she realized that some people didn't have it that great after the war. Lucius was one of the only wizards to get ten years' probation for cooperating with the authorities.

"Don't worry about it. I'll eat later." Lucius quickly masked his emotions, turned around, and folded his arms over his chest.

Not buying his words, Hermione mimicked his actions and stared him down. It was officially a game of who would break first, and she was determined not to be the one that did. Noticing a crack in his usually cool features, she moved closer until she was directly in front of him. Avoiding her penetrating gaze, he looked down at the sleeve of his cloak and wiped away some imaginary dust.

Sucking on his teeth, Lucius knew she wasn't going to drop it, so he walked around her and began opening cabinets that were almost bare but did have some food inside them.

Noticing a lot of vegetables, Hermione thought it would be a good idea to make a simple salad. She gathered some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and purple onion after grabbing the food. She brought it to the small table in the center of the room.

"Here." Lucius held a knife out, and she grabbed it. He observed as she made the first slice into a tomato.

Hermione could feel his grey eyes on her as he took a seat right in front of where she was working on the salad. The silence stretched was a comfortable one, but something was still bothering her. He had not answered her question about the house elves, and the worst things began playing in her head. What if Voldemort or his followers had killed them?

"The ministry took them away."

What? Hermione scrunched up her nose and looked at Lucius, who gave her a pointed look as if it was apparent what he was talking about.

"You asked me before about my house elves; well, with my probation, I can't have any magical creatures or my wand on the premises for half of my probation, so five years." His tone faltered, explaining the rules he now lived under.

She couldn't fathom how a wizard who grew up in such luxury was supposed to survive without magic, which explained quite a bit. She always wondered who else had to live like this.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Snorting at her apology Lucius got up and walked to a small cabinet opening it and revealing a container of fire whiskey. He also procured two glasses, filling both of them. He held one out to her, but she just shook her head and scooped up the chopped tomato, and threw it into the bowl beside her. Shrugging, he downed both glasses effortlessly. She wondered how many of those he had today.

"Maybe I do belong in Azkaban, though?" His words began to slur, and he began swaying on his feet. Hermione felt panic start to rise in her, so she dropped the knife and grabbed Lucius's arm, helping him to the seat he had just vacated.

"No, you don't." She helped him sit down, and when she was sure he was stable and wasn't going to fall out of the chair, she went back around the table and began to chop up the lettuce, but she kept a close eye on him. He seemed to be staring into space, but Hermione didn't know what to do.

Shaking his head, Lucius snapped out of it, eyebrows furrowed. He looked her up and down before saying, "Why are you here, Ms. Granger?" His slurred words and his body swayed. He reached out and grabbed the table to keep from falling.

Deciding now was probably better than later, she paused her chopping, putting the knife beside her on the table. She took a deep breath and looked across from her, and said, "I'm pregnant, Lucius, from that night we spent together."

Her words seemed to sober him up because his swaying stopped, his eyes seemed more focused as they grew, and his mouth hung open. He didn't say anything, which made her nervous, so she raised her hand and waved it in front of his face, but nothing changed. She moved around the table until she was beside him. Reaching out, she gently took him by the shoulder and shook him lightly, but nothing changed. Great, you broke him. Shaking away those thoughts, Hermione leaned forward and began calling him by name, hoping he would snap out of it.

Suddenly she saw movement when he blinked a few times. Thank God I didn't kill him. Then he opened his mouth and said, "You're sure?" He was now whispering at her as if he thought he was going to scare her away

She didn't know if he was asking because he wanted to know or if he was trying to convince himself but either way, she nodded at him. He moved his head up and down with her.

"Are you going to keep it?"

Taken aback by the question, Hermione didn't think he would care if she kept it or not.

"Yes, I'm going to keep it." She smiled when the look of relief showed on his face.

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