Chapter 7- A Penchant for Peanut Butter

Hermione stopped, and leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. This was all maddening.

Harry/Lucius

Lucius/Harry

Sure, it all made sense now. Thinking back to the time Lucius had kissed her before her wedding, she had noticed how oddly Harry-like his actions had been.. His breath had also tasted like Peanut Butter cups.

Slinking quietly, she walked into her room, and, after checking on Fiona, slid her photo album from out of a drawer. She flipped through the pages, until she discovered her "wedding picture". It was her, dressed in forest green robes, and Draco, in black, surrounded by a group of Death Eaters. The one on her right stuck out, as a lock of pale hair was covering one of the eyes of his mask. So that was him.

Minerva had inquired to Harry's whereabouts previously, but he had been vague, saying he was "around" and things like that. He had been around, all right.

"I'm so sorry."

She whirled around, and saw Harry standing there, tail between his legs. "It was just, so hard. I had to be him all the time…."

Her heart melted. "I know," she whispered, and she hugged him. "I cant imagine not being myself. How did you do it?"

Rubbing her hair gently, he grinned. "The body too some time to get used to."

She choked, stifling a laugh. "I never thought of that!"

"Lets just say, if im half as healthy as he is at his age……" Harry trailed off, letting Hermione giggle. Most didn't realize that when one took Polyjuice, they don't just end up with the face of the person…..

"He has a very large…." He felt Hermione gasp, "……arse."

She let out a breath. "I thought you were going to say, um, something else."

"Do you really want to know?"

"NO!" she shrieked. Fiona awoke with a little cry, and Hermione instantly went to her side, and picked her up.

"How did you stay in that form for so long?" she asked, curiously, cuddling her daughter.

Harry pulled out a small bag from his rather volumous robes. Taking a wand in one hand, he pulled out what seemed to be a cream filled chocolate. He muttered a quick charm, and the chocolate snapped in two, and began oozing a green goo.

"Snape would guard my house while I slept, and I would take one of these on the hour, every day, for four years." He wrinkled his nose. "I hate chocolate."

She laughed, and put down Fiona, letting her crawl around a bit. This was the reason Hermione loved Harry, he was so funny, and easy to talk to. She always felt safe withh im, which was the reason he had been her first. Blinking quickly, she dismissed that memory, and smiled slightly. He had nothing on Draco.

Speaking of which…… "What are you gong to do with those?" she asked, motioning to the chocolates. He laughed.

"Want one?"

"No way!" she squealed. He pulled out another one, winked, and shoved it into his mouth. Hermione scooped up Fiona quickly, covering her eyes, and watched, enthralled.

Harry's pale face wrinkled slightly, and his emerald eyes became slightly light and cold. His eyebrows thinned and arched, and his scar sucked right into his forehead. The black, untidy hair sprouted past his broadening shoulders, and turned a brilliant white blond. Hermione laughed as his lank frame shot up a couple inches, as his body began to fill into the robes he was wearing.

She uncovered her daughter's eyes. Fiona squeaked, then extended her arm to the long hair.

"Da!"

Harry laughed, a cold calculated chuckle, and took her in his arms. "No, no, Fiona, I'm not your…..father."

She frowned at his voice. "Da," she said, and nearly gouged out one of his pale eyes.

"They have the same eyes," Hermione said distantly. "Draco, Lucius, and Fiona." She shrugged. "It's a Malfoy thing, I guess."

"As well as other things," he said, through gritted teeth, as Fiona had grabbed ahold of some of his long, blond hair.

"Draco thinks she might end up a brunette," Hermione said, stroking her daughter's soft head. Harry smiled, Lucius's lips curling up slowly, then he kissed Fiona on the head. He kissed her, with the exact same lips that he had kissed Hermione with on her wedding day.

"Hey Harry?"

"Mhhmh?"

"Did you talk to Ron about you being…..him?"

An evil grin spread across his face, which looked very malicious with his current features.

"No."

Ron smiled at Seamus.

"Queen to B5. Checkmate."

Seamus groaned, and took another handful of Reese's pieces. Ron poked him in the shoulder, and gloated;

"That makes 4 games in a row! 1 more game, and I win the match, eh Seamus? Seamus?" He looked over at his bud, who's mouth was half open. Partially chewed crunchies fell from his teeth, and his eyes were the size of snitches. Apprehensive, Ron slowly turned, and looked behind him.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

It was Lucius Malfoy, wearing only a pair of purple plaid boxers, hair in pigtails, and chest covered in……….peanut butter?

His hands were nearly around Ron's neck.

"GAH! AH AH AH!"

Ron jumped off his chair, landing face-first into the chess board. Seamus gave a high pitched scream, and dived under the table.

Suddenly, Hermione ran through the door, and she and Lucius (?) burst into fits of laughter.

Seamus peeked up from the table, and Ron stared at the both of them, while trying to remove the rook from his nose.

"Its me, Ron! HARRY!"

Ron looked at Hermione, who nodded. The wheels began to turn, albeit very slowly, in his head, and he lunged at Harry, knocking him over, and getting peanut butter on his hands.

"RON!"

"Quiet Hermione!" Ron looked livid. "Don't you understand? HE was Lucius, the one who kissed you and was so weird!"

Harry chuckled. "We've been over this, her and I. I took a Polyjuice potion that turned me into Lucius Malfoy, so I could keep and eye on her, and…."

"SO YOU COULD WHAT????"

This time it was Hermione. "Keep an eye on me? What did you think I was getting myself into?"

Harry pushed Ron off him, and stood up. "I was just there to protect you!"

"From what? From DRACO?"

"Well….."

"You seemed to be doing much more than just protecting her," Ron muttered cynically. Hermione turned on him.

"Shut up! That is NONE of your business."

"Hey!" Harry yelled, "You weren't there for her at all."

"You didn't give me a chance, peanut boy!"

"Why would we want you anyway, mega nostril?"

"Oh SOD OFF, the both of you!" Hermione screamed. "Why on Earth would I need either of you with me? I'm a big girl now, ok? I can handle myself! Besides, I had Draco with me!"

She stormed off, leaving the two of them with their petty insults. Taking her wand, she drew a stroller in the air, which fell lightly to the ground. She fetched Fiona, and strapped her in, then, ran out the door of the complex, and into the brisk Muggle world…..

Hermione noticed Draco picking lazily at his cheesecake. Though usually schooled and unreadable, his features betrayed that he was unusually nervous and afraid.

"Are you not hungry?" she asked, smoothing her napkin on her lap. He sighed pensively.

"I….um….um," he stuttered, his face warming.

She was shocked. Almost an entire dinner had gone by, and he had not insulted her, teased her, or poked fun at her all night. Something had to be wrong.

"What's the matter, Ferret?" she asked. He hated that term, so she used it even more, and it had turned into almost a pet name. He looked up, and Hermione noticed a small bead of sweat trailing down his brow. Intriguing.

"I, well. How long have we known each other for?"

She laughed. "Trying to make small talk, are we? Alright then." She cleared her throat. "I have known you for around eight years."

Letting that sink in, she took another bite of pie, savoring the sweet apples and flaky pastry.

"Ummmm. Ok, uh, well, yeah," he said, in a very un-Draco like manner. She looked up, curious.

He blushed. "I bet you're wondering why I asked you out for dinner." She shook her head. They were friends, after all, and friends ate together, didn't they?

Laughing nervously, he took his knife and started prodding his cake again.

"Well, you actually don't know why I did because I haven't told you yet, but I'm going to tell you now." He cringed. 'That sounded stupid."

She swallowed her pie. "Sorta. Continue."

"Well, I asked you here because I needed to tell you something important." He stared at her, hoping she got the hint, but she was just sitting there, waiting. He swallowed. "I love you."

CLANK! Her fork dropped onto the plate, and her hands flew to her mouth.

"WHAT?" she mumbled, shell-shocked.

He jumped up from his seat, and took one of her hands, kneeling on the floor. "I love you, Hermione." The words were as delicious to say as the cheesecake was to eat. She looked down at him, tears in her eyes.

"I love you too," she said, and then their lips finally met.

Kissing Draco was the most amazing thing Hermione had ever done. Their joining seemed to make everything around them disappear, including;

"That old couple is staring at us," Draco murmured into her lips. Blushing, she pulled away, and noticed that the taste of his cheesecake lingered on her tongue. It was chocolate. Creamy chocolate. And was that….? It was. She smiled, and kissed him again.

Peanut butter.

A/N: silly, yes, I know. The next chapter will be slightly dark, and will merit an R rating, I think.

Jolene Smith: A yes, here it is! The flashback with Draco! Yes, I suppose it would be creepy if my father in law was hitting on me……

Anasazi: Finally, someone sees the fact that it is indeed Lucius Malfoy, the sexiest over-40 year old after Johnny Depp!

Jbanana: sorry about the creepiness…..