Disclaimer: See chapter one
Lucius' gloved hand reached out to knock on the arched teak door that the couple now stood in front of. Upon arriving home after the Death Eater meeting last night, Lucius had promptly disappeared, and Hermione hadn't seen him until a couple hours before they were to leave for dinner at Snape Castle. When he finally had come to speak with her, he had been considerably less angry then Hermione had anticipated. Although he spent some time explaining why what she had done was a bad idea, he'd indicated that as long as Voldemort was amused then he had no complaints. Hermione had been relieved. While she'd been prepared to deal with an angry Lucius, it certainly didn't make her top ten things-to-do-before-she-died list.
As for Hermione herself, she had spent a good part of the day reflecting on what she had done the night before and everything had gone exceptionally well. She was more then pleased with her performance; her responses had been well placed, and used in the best way possible. Voldemort had even said he found her confidence enduring, which was, of course, exactly what she had been looking for. It was only the question about her parents that bothered her, and it was the question more then the response. There was no way that she was prepared to kill her parents for this, and it was important that Voldemort and, she realized, Severus as well as the entire Resistance movement, understand where she stood. What worried her was that Voldemort had even asked. If he was asking the question he had at the very best entertained the idea, and at the very worst was going to put some sort of plan into action. She had debated asking Lucius about it, but decided against that, knowing that he would be less then forth-coming with information about it. Her only option was to get a private audience with Severus at some point in the evening, and that plan had gotten easier as she and Lucius had been leaving the Manor.
Apparently, something important was going to happen at Malfoy Manor this evening, and Lucius didn't want her there. Draco, who had been coming in the door (returning from some sort of Death Eater raid) as she and Lucius were leaving, had informed her of this. Well he really hadn't told her so much as he had asked Lucius what he was going to do with Hermione this evening. Lucius had answered she was to stay at Snape Castle, and that was the end of that. Hermione had forged anger and shock, but really she'd been relieved. One Death Eater gathering a week was quite enough for her, and she still wasn't sure she could stomach watching Lucius torture someone that could so easily be her.
The door swung open in front of her, and the man beside her gently guided her into the castle. Hermione and Lucius were led to the small library to the right of the entrance hall. The room was full of fairly generic books, on topics that didn't even begin to scratch the surface of Severus' interest. There was a fireplace on the far wall. It was everything that one would expect in an old wizarding home. Ornately decorated, with a large mantle with several seldomly used liquor bottles resting on top of it. In front of the fire were several couches and chairs, the prefect room for receiving guests. It was there that the man that owned this library sat, a snuffer of brown liquid held delicately in his hand, and he was of coursed dressed all in black.
"Lucius," he drawled as he stood up to shake the other man's hand, "And Miss Granger, always a pleasure. Can I get you something to drink?" He inquired indicating that they should sit.
"Thank you," Lucius replied, dragging Hermione down next to him on the green leather couch opposite were Severus had been sitting. "I'll have whatever you're having."
"And for the lady?" Severus was obviously mocking her.
"Nothing, thank you." Hermione's response was curt.
"As you wish," he handed Lucius a glass, the same as his own only fuller, and resumed his seat. "That was quite the show you put on last night, Miss Granger."
"Please call me Hermione," she countered, "And Lucius said the same thing. I really wasn't trying to be amusing."
"No, I don't suppose you were, Miss Granger," the emphasis that Severus put on her name forced her to repress a shudder. 'That's not playing fair,' she thought.
Lucius snorted, "I find it hard to believe that you didn't know what you were doing, my dear."
"I find it hard to believe," Severus interject before Hermione could respond to Lucius, "That you would do something so very unGryffindor. What every happened to Misers Potter and Weasley?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at her former teacher, "I have no doubt that they continue to battle the forces of darkness in the same chauvinistic manner that they always have." Severus raised an eyebrow, smirked slightly and turned away from her.
"So, Severus," Lucius took up the conversation, "Where's your companion for the evening?" At that Hermione turned to look at Severus shapely, and thanked everything that was holy that Lucius was not looking at her.
"Miss Labelle should be joining us shortly," was Severus' nonchalant reply.
Hermione tilted her head to the side, "The Professor has a date? Will wonders never cease?" The shock, and slight repulsion in Hermione's voice was not entirely false.
"I suppose your proof positive of that, Miss Granger."
Hermione chuckled. "So who's the unsuspecting victim of your charms?" 'What the hell are you doing?' Her inner voice was shouting. She didn't have a reply for herself, or at least not one that she was willing to entertain at the moment.
"Tsk, tsk, my dear," Lucius mocked, "There's no need to get vicious with our host." Hermione glared at him.
"Babette Labelle is a recent graduate of Beauxbatons. She's come to me as an apprentice of my craft."
"Well isn't that lovely," Hermione replied, her tongue firmly planted in her check. "I suppose were going to have to listen to her accent for the duration of the evening then?"
Severus shook his head, and Hermione had the distinct impression that he wasn't just answering her question.
"Actually, Miss Granger," came a crystal clear voice from the door. Hermione jumped. "I've been working on that. What do you think?"
Hermione coughed uneasily, "Very impressive, Miss Labelle was it?" Hermione turned in her chair to better address the woman, and had to force herself not to gape. Standing seductively in the doorway was a tall sleek woman that reminded Hermione very much of Fleur Delacour. She was dressed in low cut blue dress robes that had silver silk cuffs, and a silver hem. Her long blond hair was secured in a ponytail at the base of her neck. As she pushed herself off the door jam, and crossed the room, Hermione noted resentfully that Babette had something that Fleur did not. While she moved with the same grace and poses of the other woman, Babette did not have the same arrogance that Hermione had always observed from Fleur. And Hermione realized that made this Babette character far more likable. Hermione instantly hated her.
Lucius stood as the woman approached, and taking her hand brought it to his lips, "Miss Labelle, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Babette smiled sweetly, and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Mr. Malfoy, your reputation proceeds you, and please call me Babette."
"As you must call me Lucius," Babette nodded. "Severus where did you ever find this beauty?"
"As I said before, she's here as an apprentice," the other man commented dryly.
"Yes," affirmed Babette, "I've always enjoyed the complexity of potions. I hear you're also quite talented in the area, Miss Granger."
Hermione's smile was obviously forced, "Yes well," she turned to Severus, "Perhaps I will have that drink after all."
"Let me get that for you." Babette crossed to the mantle.
"So how long have you been studying with Severus?" Lucius asked, watching her back as she retreated.
"For about at year." 'What,' Hermione thought mentally recapping the last year, 'but Severus never mentioned you.' "Would anyone else like a refill on their drink, Severus…Lucius?" Both men shook their heads.
Babette handed Hermione her glass, "Here you are Herm-"
"Its Miss Granger," she snapped, snatching the drink from her. Lucius laughed, but said nothing.
Babette looked at her slightly confused for a moment, and
then nodded, "Miss Granger then. But I would be much more comfortable if you
would call me Babette." She sat down next to Severus.
Hermione smiled, taking a long swing of the red wine, and sunk back into the couch. She tuned out all conversation, as she watched the young blonde sitting next to Severus, with his arm resting behind her head. She was jealous. Why she was jealous was unclear. But she was. If Severus had been working with this girl for a year, why hadn't he mentioned her? Technically her training had ended a year and a half ago, but still…! Unless…unless Severus was training this girl as a new spy. She supposed that was possible, but traditionally spies were not that pretty, nor did they get that cozy on the sofa with their trainers. Hermione took another sip of her drink, and glanced at Lucius. He was carrying on a conversation with Babette, and he appeared to be enjoying himself. Hermione was thankful for that, he would pin her jealous reaction earlier on his interest in Severus' date. Hermione mentally slapped herself, she'd preformed quite poorly. She was supposed to be in control all the time, and she obviously wasn't. It didn't help that she'd fucked up in front of her instructor either. 'Bravo Hermione. Bravo!'
Hermione was forced to concentrate again when she heard her name, "Miss Granger?" Babette looked concerned.
"Sorry," Hermione lied, "I got distracted. You were saying?"
"Oh, um, Severus was just mentioning that you and I will be spending the evening together." The blonde sounded genuinely pleased.
"What," Hermione cried, "You're staying here?" She forced her voice back to a neutral tone.
"Yes," Babette looked slightly confused.
"It better facilitates her training, Miss Granger," Severus continued for her. "Besides we wouldn't want you to be by yourself in the castle."
Hermione sighed, "No, I suppose that would be too much to hope for."
"Well, anyway," Babette continued, as if Hermione hadn't spoken, "I was thinking that you and I just have to go swimming in Severus' lovely pool. It'll be just wonderful, you can tell me all about you time at Hogwarts, and your job at the Ministry."
"I can't wait." Hermione recovering from her initial shock managed to make the sincerity of her response fairly believable.
Lucius smirked at Hermione, "I'm sorry I'm going to miss that." He sounded truly regretful. Hermione glared, rolling her eyes at him. Lucius' smirk only grew wider.
"Well," said Severus, standing up, "I think it's time that we head upstairs for dinner."
***
Dinner was served in the second floor dinning room. The ballroom had been blocked off and enchanted to look like any other floor. Severus, it appeared, had also rearranged the dining room, that could have easily accommodated four hundred, but now comfortably housed four. Hermione sat across from Babette, and did her best not to glare at the woman. She was almost succeeding. As they moved through the meal, Lucius and Severus exchanged family news and business information. Hermione, glad that she was not expected to make pleasant conversation, sat quietly and tried not to look bored. Eventually dessert and coffee appeared, and Hermione was beginning to think that she might actually escape this evening only slightly singed when Miss Labelle seemed to decide otherwise.
"So, Miss Granger," came the voice from the woman across the table, "How are things going at the Ministry?"
Hermione, desperate to save face in front of Severus, smiled pleasantly, "I like what I do."
"More like who you're doing," muttered the silky voice to her right.
"I beg you're pardon," Hermione glared indignantly at Severus.
"I'm sure you'd beg a lot more if I let you."
Lucius chuckled, "The man makes a good point."
"Oh," Hermione turned towards the blonde man, "Which one?"
Lucius considered, "Both."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at her escort and was about to reply when Babette, who was looking uncomfortable at the plate in front of her interjected. "So what exactly do you do, Miss Granger? I know you work in the scientific department, but…" she trailed off.
"Besides being the company whore?" Hermione turned from Lucius towards Babette, "I work on a research team that is responsible for breaking down the chemical composition of various magical agents." 'And as a side project,' she thought to herself, 'I'm fucking Lucius Malfoy.'
"How interesting," Babette did indeed sound genuinely interested. "And for a Muggle born…well that's just fantastic."
Out of the corner of her eye Hermione watch Severus for a reaction, and got none. She creased her brow, "I'm not certain what that has to do with anything." 'If he's training her, she would know not to bring up my Muggle parentage. Which could mean…' Hermione didn't want to consider that.
"Well with You-Know-Who, and all…I'm just surprised it has never been an issue." Babette tried to recover.
"Voldemort doesn't control everything, Miss Labelle. Whatever you may have been told," here Hermione allowed a quick glance at Severus, even though she was fairly certain that Babette had drawn that particular conclusion for herself.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, my dear." Lucius said, "Voldemort is far more powerful then you'd think."
Hermione shook her head, "I some how doubt that."
"Oh?"
"I don't get the impression that Voldemort is the type of individual who would conceal just how powerful he is."
"And you are the resident expert, Miss Granger," the Potions Master replied dryly.
"I didn't say I was an expert, Severus–" she earned a glare for that "–I'm just saying that he has no reason to hide anymore."
"Why not 'anymore'?" Severus asked, and Hermione got the distinct impression that he was testing her. 'Fine!'
"Well Dumbledore is a slip of the man that he used to be, surely Voldemort's not still afraid of him." It wasn't true, but Lucius wouldn't know either way. "And Harry Potter…well if he was going to destroy Voldemort he would have done it by now. And that," she turned to Severus, "I am the resident expert on."
"And now the lady makes her point," again Lucius chuckled. 'Point and match, Severus,' she triumphant.
"And of course now that you've joined the ranks we're unstoppable," mocked the Professor.
"I'm not a full fledged member…yet."
"So how powerful is Lord Voldemort then?" Babette asked.
"Powerful enough to be acknowledged by the Ministry and the wizarding community at large," Hermione answered.
"And feared by said community," added Lucius.
"I see." Babette considered, "And how does that translate on paper, so to speak?"
"It means," Severus explained, matter-of-factly, "That Voldemort all but runs the Ministry. Although, contrary to what Miss Granger would have you believe, he does not openly acknowledge that."
"Why not?"
"Because, and again contrary to Miss Granger, Dumbledore, and even Harry Potter, are still to be feared."
"Oh, I don't know, Severus," Lucius said conversationally. "Dumbledore is getting old, he can't protect Hogwarts forever."
"Perhaps not," the other man conceded, "But he's doing a find job of it at the moment. Now is not the time to underestimate."
"So how powerful is Dumbledore?" Babette seemed to be the only one not up to speed. 'Unusual for a guest of Severus',' Hermione thought, even if she was a little curious to see how he answered the question.
"Albus Dumbledore will one day fail, but I do not think that it will be one day soon. He controls his own part of the wizarding world, and those that grace his inner circle are completely loyal to him."
"It's unfortunate, my dear," said Lucius, "That you are no longer part of that inner circle. We could have really used someone on the inside."
Hermione smiled, "What makes you think that I ever was?"
"So it's a stalemate, then," Babette mused.
"Something like that," Lucius grinned at her. "This war, if that's even the right name for it, isn't one of heroic battles of good and evil; the lines of black and white are far to blurred for that. No, this war will be won by small gains and cleverly laid plots. It's become a game, of sorts."
"Like chess," Babette supplied.
Lucius nodded pensively, "Yes, a game of chess."
Hermione studied him closely for a moment, "And the final battle?" She inquired.
"Well my dear," Lucius voiced slipped out of the somber tone that he had been using, and into something more cheerful and mocking; more Lucius. "There will of course be a finale of sorts. Although I doubt it will be the grand scale affair that most are expecting. I some how picture it ending in a rather anti-climatic battle between Lord Voldemort and Mr. Potter."
"And the winner?"
"That, my dear, remains a mystery." Hermione smiled at him, he certainly was entertaining, on occasion.
"And on that note," Severus stood up from the table, and motioned for Lucius to follow. "We must bid you ladies good evening, and make our departure." Saying their goodbyes, the two men left the room.
"So…" said Hermione, watching as the dessert plates disappeared.
Babette stood up, "Shall I show you to your room?"
Hermione was grateful for the escape. "Yes that would probably be best." She also stood, and followed Babette down the hall, and up the stairs. Leading her past the third floor sitting area, Babette indicated that Hermione was to take the second of two guest suites, more specifically the only guest suite that had direct access to the secret stair case leading to Severus private residence. 'Interesting!' "Miss Labelle," Hermione said, catching the girl, as she was about to leave. Apparently they weren't going for that swim after all. "Did the Professor tell you what rooms to put me in?"
"Of course," Babette answered, turning and leaning slightly on the wall. Hermione thought she looked tired. "He specifically instructed me to put you in these rooms. Is there something wrong with them?"
Hermione shook her head, "No not at all. And where are you staying?" She didn't feel like justifying her inquiry, and fortunately Babette did not seem to notice.
"On the fifth floor. So it will be like you are alone in the castle after all, Miss Granger," and with that Babette was gone.
Hermione smiled at her retreating figure, she appreciated cleverness, and more then that subtly, and apparently Miss Labelle had a certain amount of both; pity that the two couldn't get to know each other under better circumstances. 'Oh well,' Hermione shrugged and let herself into her room. Glancing around, they were as she remembered them. The wallpaper was still crushed velvet and red, the furniture was still cumbersome and old, and the desk, the one that concealed the entrance to the staircase, was in exactly the same spot. Hermione had foolishly hoped that there would be some sort of note, or indication of what she was suppose to do, but of course Severus would never do anything quite so obvious. She supposed that he did intend for her to end up in his rooms at some point this evening, or he was planning to come and see her, why else would he have put her in these particular rooms when the one across the sitting area was exactly the same, minus one important detail. No, he defiantly intended for them to meet, and Hermione intended for it to be on her terms.
Removing her dress robes, she tossed them careless on the bed, and moved towards the bathroom. She would have a bath, if for no other reason then she had some time to kill, and then she would make her way up to Severus' rooms and wait for him to return.
***
Some time later, Hermione found herself climbing the stairs to Severus' chamber. The passageway itself was nothing spectacular; it was brick, brick, and more brick. And it was very, very dark. The torches that lit up as she passed gave off a minimal amount of light, and would go out again before she reached the next one, causing most of the journey to be in the dark. So Hermione was more then pleased when she felt the latch that opened the door of Severus' rooms.
Opening the door, Hermione stepped into the room that she had visited many times during her training. The familiarity of it all made her catch her breath, and she jumped when the door clicked shut behind her. Surrounding her was a state-of-the-art potions lab. Anything that he brewed for the Resistance was done here, as well as a few commercial products he was responsible for. "We all have to eat," he told her when she'd teased him about it. And while Hermione humored him his justification, she always figured it had more to do with Severus needing to have something in his life that had nothing to do with Hogwarts, the Death Eaters, or the Resistance. 'Perhaps,' Hermione mused, 'that explained Babette?'
Above the potions lab was a loft like floor the doubled as sitting room, and a library. Hermione glanced up from were she was standing, and saw that a fire was still lit in the grate. 'Severus wouldn't be away long then.' Reaching the loft, Hermione glanced around remembering all the times that she'd spent reading in this room, with Severus working just a floor below her. She'd been happy on those occasions, and he'd seemed far more relaxed. 'As close to domestic bliss as I will ever get,' Hermione supposed, and at the thought she let out a cynical laugh that echoed off the stone ceiling.
Shaking her head, and deciding not to dwell on that particular revelation, Hermione turned and climbed the spiral staircase, thankfully the last one, to Severus bedroom. It was similar to the one he had at the cottage, and Hermione supposed that he had used this design. It wasn't surprising. The dark burgundy walls looked almost black in the night. The furniture at the cottage was an exact replica of the pieces in this room: dark teak wood bureau to one side, the large four-poster bed in the center of the room, a chest of drawers against one wall, both in the same wood, a dressing chair with Severus' cloths draped over it. So familiar; and not just because of the cottage.
Hermione sat down on the black comforter, her head resting delicately in her hands, and took to studying the Persian rug that covered most of the floor of the bedchamber.
All she had to do now was wait.
Chapter Last Updated 03/02/03Author's Notes: For anyone who's interested there is a Hermione/Lucius group at Yahoo. Here's the web address . It's not much now, but hopefully with some support is should get going.
Jessica
