Disclaimer:As soon as I do own Harry and company I'll let you all know.

A/N:I can't believe how many reviews I've had. I should have done this story sooner. Still no flames in there.....thank god. Thanks to someonelse, jay, Marashino, Dragonmaster kurai, Tracy3, Kala - glad you think it's original, and Supernova - As soon as I catch up on the sleep I missed out on from this convention I will get to reviewing your stuff....PROMISE:-). I'm glad everyone is liking this story even though it is an unconventional pairing. Please read on. Big thanks to my beta for being my beta.

Chapter Three

Hermione mentally slapped herself. How could she think that about a man who was old enough to be her father and thinks nothing more of her than dirt on his shoe? Lucius took her into the bathroom and placed her on the marble side by the sink. She sat there as still as she could, watching him.

He grabbed a towel from the side of the bath while he flicked his wand. She gasped when a small stool appeared under her feet causing her to bend her bloody knees. Another stool of the same height appeared in front of the first one. He placed the towel in the sink and turned the hot tap on. Wringing out the excess water, he sat on the spare stool and with his wand in one hand and the wet towel in the other; he looked up into her watery eyes.

"Ready?" Lucius asked looking back down at her knees that were the size of quaffles. She nodded slowly as he placed the wet towel across her knees causing a fresh wave of tears to sting her eyes. He gently pressed the towel against the cuts. "I need to clean the blood up to see where to heal." He had no idea what made him explain that to her. She nodded her head, causing the tears at the brim of her eyes to fall. One solo tear landed on his hand. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. He stood up, leaving the towels on her knees and putting his wand back in his robes. He placed his hands on her face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Stop crying."

"I'm s-sorry." She apologised through sobs.

"What are you apologising for?" He pulled her into a warm embrace. Hermione completely broke down. She couldn't handle it anymore. In less than twenty four hours, she had been kidnapped, tortured, had the Cruciatus curse performed on her for the first time and had been in more pain than the whole of her life put together. To top it all off, Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort's right hand man, was being nice and caring. Was he ill?

Little did she know that he was thinking the same. All the times he had seen her before with Potter and Weasley, he had nothing more than hate for her, a mudblood who was outsmarting his son in school. But now, his heart was pulled at when she looked him in the eye. His stomach had lurched when he saw the mess of her knees; he had caused that. His heart broke when he saw her cry. Why was this happening now and why with her? He had not had any compassion for any one since he was fourteen and had been publicly humiliated by his crush.

Hermione slowly stopped crying as she pulled away from Lucius.

"Feeling better, Miss Granger?" She nodded mutely at him as he held on to her shoulders. She looked into his eyes and there was that pull again. He let go and walked over to the cabinet behind the door. Hermione looked down at her knees as she listened to him move bottles around. She took the towel off and bent forward to examine them. Pain shot up to her hips and she leaned forward but she ignored it to look at the mess. The cuts were quite deep but then the floor was quite rough and there was no rug surrounding the bed.

Lucius walked back over to her with three potion vials. He placed them on the side next to her as she sat back down. Picking up the dark blue one, he looked back up at her.

"This one is to heal your cuts so brace yourself as it will sting." He explained to her in his usual slow drawl. She tensed her body in preparation. The pain wasn't as bad as the Cruciatus curse but it was bad enough to bring yet more tears to her eyes.

"Oh, for crying out loud." She said to no one in particular. "Will these tears never end?" Lucius looked up and caught himself smiling as he continued to rub potion into her cuts. Hermione took in a sharp breath at the feeling of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Had his smile caused that?

"What is it? Have I hurt you again?" Was that concern she saw in his face? She shook her head. Lucius looked back down at her knees to find her cuts were completely healed. He took the wet towel and wiped up all the blood that was left on her legs. He threw the towel in to the sink and walked into the bedroom. Hermione tried to climb down from the side but found pain was still a big problem. There it was again, a sharp stabbing pain in the centre of both thighs. Lucius came back in from the bedroom to find Hermione's face had gone pale and she was clutching her thighs. "What is it?"

"It still hurts here." She pointed to the pain as he sat back down on the stool. He gently felt around her legs, feeling rather awkward as he went along. He took his hands off her legs and took out his wand. He touched each leg with it and muttered an incantation for each one. Hermione let out a breath she had being holding as the pain subsided. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"Broken bones are easy to heal, Miss Granger." Hermione's eyes widened. Her legs had been broken? How on earth had she even managed to walk on them? She looked into Lucius' eyes and chose not to ask those questions. Something in his eyes told her not to. He got up, taking the two stools with him and placed them by the bath. Hermione looked down at the two remaining vials.

"What are these for?" She asked, picking them up. He walked back to her and took the purple one off her.

"This one is a dreamless sleep potion." He placed it back on the side and took the green one off her. "And this one is to ease that dull ache from the Cruciatus curse, which I'm sure you're feeling." He placed that one next to the other vial and turned to face her. Hermione jumped slightly as he placed his hands on her waist. "Ready?" She gave him one nod as he picked her up with such ease and placed her on the floor. She instantly started walking to the bedroom when her feet touched the floor. Lucius followed her in, making sure that she was capable of walking ok after the breaks she had received in her femurs. She smiled as she saw that the bed had been changed into silver silks. She climbed onto the bed as he pulled the covers back for her; she felt like she was three years old again when her mother would put her to bed.

Hermione lay back on the pillows as Lucius pulled the covers over her. He turned to go back into the bathroom but stopped when she grabbed his hand. Instinct made him snatch it away and he actually regretted doing it when he saw her flinch.

"What is it?" He asked coldly.

"Thank you." She said barely more than a whisper as she looked into his eyes. Lucius stalked into the bathroom and leaned over the sink. He felt a rush course through his body. His heart was beating wildly. What was she doing to him? Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the two vials on the side. He walked back into the bedroom to find her with her back to him, singing softly to herself. It wasn't a song he has heard before but it intrigued him.

Lucius coughed slightly after a few moments to let her know he was there. She turned around instantly, shock all over her face.

"Sorry. I sing to myself when I feel upset." Hermione told him softly as she sat up; taking the green vial he was offering her. She drank it in one go and felt a feeling of instant relief wash over her body.

"No need to apologise." He said to her as he gave her the purple vial. She lay down a little, knowing that she probably wouldn't finish the contents of this vial before falling asleep. She felt compelled to smile at him and did. She started to drink the potion and slowly sank down as unconsciousness took over. Lucius grabbed the vial as it started to fall from her hand. Placing the two vials on the bedside cabinet, he knelt down slightly, leaning forward onto the bed, just looking at her. He had a million thoughts running around his head about his out of character behaviour when the worst one of all went through his head. He had an irresistible urge to kiss her. He tried to force himself to leave her bedside but couldn't. Instead, he found himself leaning forward, wanting to kiss her. His lips finally met hers and he felt a warmth he never knew wash over him. He pulled back quickly and raced out of the room. Whipping his wand out of his robe pocket, he tapped the door three times as it shut behind him and then sank to his knees. What was happening to him?