Allo, cordyangel speaking! Here to bequeath an extra long chapter by yours truly. Read, enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: We all know I'm only without Draco to keep me warm at night, do we really have to rub it in?

Chapter 10: Well You Never Asked!

At last Lucius had retired to his rooms. As he sat back in his armchair he went over the last evening, sighing wistfully. It had been dull and tedious, full of handshaking and kissing up. The only highlight had been the minor scene Kylie had caused which led him to another point. The fact that Kylie knew at least a bit about magic. He understood that that fact didn't automatically make her a witch but it was suspicious. More often than no, a squib is sent to live with muggles. It was highly unusual for a squib to be taught anything pertaining to magic. Then again, she might've picked up a thing or two from the clientele she serviced. But he doubted that too. Lucius refused to forget the power he had sensed from her the first night she'd arrived. In Lucius' experience, knowledge and power is only a good combination if it's on your side. So the question would be he mused is whose side is Kylie on?

Hermione and Draco avoided each other for over a week. But their fight came to an end with Draco waking up Hermione at a very naughty hour.

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night. Correction, a certain someone woke her up in the middle of the night. She was being shaken violently by a pair of pale arms.

"Hermione" Draco hissed in a loud whisper. "Hermione wake up goddammit!" A look of concern flitted across his face. "We don't have much time!"

Hermione sat up and glanced at the clock. 3 a.m. "Much time for what? Leave me alone!" She growled groggily.

"Voldemort has scheduled a surprise test. He's going to break into the mind of every occupant of the Headquarters. Its his way of ensuring loyalty."

Hermione was now fully awake and panicking. "What am I supposed to do? I can't block my mind, they'd know!"

"Calm down" Draco placated her. "It depends on who is performing the ritual tonight" Draco willed himself to see out of the eyes of others who were out in the corridor. Finding the information he needed he turned to Hermione. "No such luck. Sometimes Voldemort sends dolts to break into our minds, dolts who don't have enough brains to plot against him. But not tonight."

"Who is it?" She asked, her impatience clear in her voice.

"My father" he confessed. "He's about" Draco squinted his eyes. "About eight suites away."

"Avada Kedavra!" They heard someone boom. "Okay," Draco amended "seven suites away."

"Okay I can do this. I just need to think of a way to get through this."

"Okay, I have an idea!" Draco's eyes lit up. "Have you ever guided anyone when they were inside of your mind?"

"What?" Hermione was confused again. "I've never heard of that!"

"I didn't expect you to have. It's something I picked up from places that one might consider 'unsavory'. The trick is to only allow them to see what you want them to. It's hard but I have no doubt you can manage it."

Hermione was flattered that he thought she could do it but she still had her doubts. "But if Voldemort is so protective and strong, would he have found a way to foolproof Occclumency?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes that's why I can't use that trick. But you are supposedly a squib so Lucius won't be expecting any resistance."

"But how will you protect yourself?" And why do I care?

"Don't worry about me" he smirked. "I can take care of myself. Now, get ready."

Their door burst open and Lucius stepped in.

"So sorry to disturb you son but, you know the drill." Draco smiled easily.

"No problem. But do you really have to test Kylie?" He asked as if he was wondering whether the lunch menu ended at four or five o'clock.

"Again, I'm sorry but it's the Dark Lord's order that everyone be tested." He didn't look the least bit sorry at all. In fact he seemed giddy at the prospect of breaking into Kylie's mind. But he went towards Draco first.

"Legimens!" Lucius' voice was strong and silky as ever.

It seemed that he was granted an easy passage into his son's mind. Also, because this wasn't a forced entry Draco didn't end up on the floor shaking like she knew Harry had when he'd been learning Occlumency. It was done in a matter of moments. For a second Hermione was worried that Draco didn't pass this test of loyalty but Lucius passed by him with a nod of approval.

It was her turn. Hermione took a deep breath and cleared her mind. Her eyes were pinned by Lucius' icy gray gaze.

"This may hurt a little." Lucius warned and then he plunged into her. Hermione felt him inside her mind and she gave him images of her early childhood, her summers, leading him away from her Hogwarts years and what she had been doing for the past three years. She allowed him to discover the initial attraction she'd felt for him and she allowed him to see what had been going on the past few weeks, censoring only here and there. But Lucius sought out one memory that Hermione did not want him to see.

It was at her parents' house, over the summer. Lucius could see Kylie lying on a bed beneath a boy with jet-black hair. It was a private moment though Lucius couldn't tell whether or not Kylie was being paid for this session or whether she was a willing participant. The boy turned over but Lucius could only make out one facial feature.

A scar.

Chapter Close

In surprise, Lucius broke the connection with a start. The men traveling with him peered at Lucius with silent questions.

"She's alright, let's go," Lucius said looking purely confused. After he left, Hermione sank to the floor.

"What did he see?" Draco asked urgently. "What?"

For a moment Hermione was too drained to speak. Then slowly she explained.

"He saw Harry."

"That's not so bad," Draco was relieved it wasn't something worse. " You can say you met him once, or you saw him in a magazine."

Hermione swallowed. "No I can't. Your father saw Harry and I together."

"Just out of curiosity, how close together did he see you?" Fear crept into Draco's voice.

"We were having sex!" she groaned.

Draco was speechless. He had never considered whether or not Hermione was a virgin. He had always just assumed that she was. Not that she was undesirable. She could have had sex with any boy she wanted to. She had become officially shaggable in their fourth year after the Yule Ball. Even he, the mudblood hater had taken notice. But she hadn't given any guy the time of day or night. Of course that had only increased her appeal. In fact unbeknownst to her, she the Boy Who Lived- It was sickening. Not that I care, he thought. But still, all that sex appeal wasted on Potter.

Hermione noticed Draco's shocked face and chuckled softly." That must come as a shock to you."

"It's just, I had no idea that you and Potter were groin buddies." He faked nonchalance beautifully. "Does he mind that his girlfriend is posing as the hooker of the infamous Draco Malfoy?"

"First of all, Harry and I were not, am not and will never be 'groin buddies' as you so sweetly put it. Secondly I am not his girlfriend and thirdly, only Dumbledore knows I am here." She poked Draco in the chest with every point she made

Draco caught her finger gently and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.

"I'm glad we got that cleared up," he murmured softly.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat. He was so close that she could feel his sweet warm breath falling on her shoulders. What is he playing at?

"And now I'm exhausted. See you in the morning" he yawned and resumed his position on the couch.

Hermione crawled back into bed in a state of pure confusion. She was about to offer Draco the bed back again before he had pulled that crap. Maybe she had imagined the sexual tension that could be cut with a knife. A few seconds later she bolted upright again.

"Draco, you still haven't told me what I should do about what your father saw!"

She could hear Draco turn over on the couch.

"Tell him Harry paid for it."

Chapter 11: Sleepless in Paris

"I need your arms around me, I need to feel your touch."

-Cake

Though Draco idea was flawless (tell him Harry paid for it) Hermione couldn't help but feel worried. What would Lucius make of what he'd seen? It was impossible for her to know.

Just like Hermione had feared, Lucius was pondering over what he'd seen. The ritual with Kylie had been strange, that much he knew. In fact, he'd experienced a guided feeling throughout the whole thing. But that feeling got pushed out his mind by what he'd actually seen.

Jet-black hair. A scar. Lucius didn't have to see the bespectacled emerald eyes to know who the boy atop Kylie had been

Harry Bloody Potter.

What was less clear to Lucius was why he hadn't told anyone what he'd seen. Any other Death Eater would've murdered her on spot, no questions asked. Any undivulged association with the Boy Who Shouldn't Have Lived was considered a bad one. At the very least, Lucius should've brought her in for an inquisition. But he hadn't.

Why?

Who was he fooling? He knew why. As much s he distrusted Kylie, that's how much he wanted her. It was embarrassing to admit that he was lusting after his son's hooker it was true. It had been almost three years since he'd seen his wife, Narcissa. Oh, he had had countless women since he'd seen her, many women found him attractive. But most lacked the basic skill to turn a match into a needle.

But Kylie, had power, Lucius was sure of that, whether she knew it or not. Which made her dangerous.

And irresistible.

Lucius was growing more uneasy by the day. He still hadn't told Voldemort about what he'd seen during his and Kylie's trip down memory lane. But he was far from forgetting about the event. He was becoming ever surer that Kylie was a witch. But how to prove it? If he could just search her stuff, something like that, he was sure he'd find something. But Kylie rarely left the room.

He had to get them out.

But how?

"I have good news," Draco burst through the door. Hermione's head lifted up. If there was anything she needed at the moment, it was good news.

"What?"

"Father and Voldemort are sending me on a trip to Paris, for business."

That was good news? He was leaving her all alone in the pit of despair? Yes, she was practically giddy.

"That's great," she lied through her teeth. "How long will you be gone?"

"We will be gone for a whole week!" He gushed.

"We?"

"Well they couldn't very well send me there without my favorite companion, now could they? Of course you're coming as well."

"Are you serious?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "I'm going too?"

"Is this a face that would lie to you? Anyway, we're supposed to Floo to the hotel around seven so we must get packing! How many times do you suppose we'll be eating out?"

But reality was beginning to catch up with Hermione. "Oh Draco, I'd love to go, but I can't. I'm supposed to be here, doing my job."

"Nothing is going to happen within the week that will be late breaking news. You've been here what, a month, and nothing really important has happened. You deserve a little fun after this hectic work schedule." Draco cajoled her.

"I just can't-" Hermione began.

"Yes you can, and you will. Besides, it would arouse suspicions if you weren't to go."

Hermione was rather suspicious of why Draco was so intent on her going. Apparently, Draco could tell.

"I just don't want you here, all alone. There are several people here who would love to get you alone. One of them being my father."

Hermione let that comment slide. It was actually sort of sweet of him to try to protect her. After the banquet he'd really been trying to make up for the fact that he had let her to the wolves. Besides, she couldn't stand the prospect of spending another day in the Headquarters if there was a way out.

"Okay," she agreed. "I'll go."

Hermione and Draco left a bit early, Hermione was so eager to leave. It wasn't only that she was leaving the Headquarters, she was going to Paris! She had been there before of course, it wasn't too far from London and her parents made it a point to travel as much as possible. But ever since the war, traveling had been severely limited to wherever she was needed by the Order. And where they usually needed her was home.

Lucius had made all of the arrangements and gotten them rooms in a hotel that was accustomed to having magical guests. But for some odd reason, he had booked two separate rooms for the couple. Hermione thought it would be nice to have a bed to herself without being mad at Draco, but soon found she liked it better when he was in the room. She lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She caught herself wondering what Draco was doing several times which angered her. She finally fell into a fitful sleep, repeating over and over inside her head:

Get a grip girl, you know he sure as hell isn't wondering about you.

She was wrong of course. Good job at being subtle he commented on his father's choice to put them in separate rooms. Why don't you just admit it already, you're jealous of me! Which Draco found ironic, because he and Hermione were doing absolutely nothing with each other. A fact that was starting to irritate Draco a bit more each day.

But what could he do? She obviously didn't think of him that way. But he wished they were still sharing a room.

He tried to go to sleep but found it hard without the steady rhythm of Hermione's breathing. The king sized bed felt so big without another body in it.

Draco watched television, took another shower and wrote to Dumbledore before he tried a sleeping potion to get to sleep at 3 a.m.

A morning call woke him up at seven.

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