Come the Maëlstrom
Chapter Twenty Seven
Severus knew he had virtually no right to feel this way. Everything was finally going right in his life. He still had a good job, was due for a much needed vacation after one more school term. Hell, he even had someone who was very interested in him. And, by all rights, he should have been paying attention to what she was saying to him at the moment. But his mind was elsewhere.
He knew something was wrong when Lucius didn't even send him an owl after receiving his verdict. The elder Malfoy had looked momentarily perplexed when Severus had taken the stand and spoken in his defence. What Severus was expecting was a letter demanding to know what he wanted in return. But no such letter had come. There was just an unusual silence that had made him more and more uneasy with each day that passed, and it had been a few days already.
"Severus, are you all right?"
Hermione's voice startled him and he looked up. She had a slightly worried expression on her face and her food was barely touched. He sighed and looked to find his own plate in a similar condition. They had been talking for awhile before he had drifted off. If they weren't going to eat, why on earth had he brought her to a restaurant? It seemed like tonight was going to be one of those nights when he ended up regretting something.
"Severus?" her voice sounded more anxious as she reached over and placed her hand on his. "What's wrong?"
"Lucius…" he murmured as he frowned.
"What about Lucius?"
"He hasn't demanded anything of me."
Now complete confusion came to Hermione's face. "Huh? I'm afraid you've lost me."
"He hasn't asked for anything since I testified for him…" Severus frowned. "I haven't heard from him at all. It's as if he vanished from the face of the earth."
Hermione made a sympathetic sound. "Harry's been acting like that as well. We saw him once since he up and left Hogwarts and that's the end of it, nothing more. Maybe we were too harsh with him."
"I highly doubt that. He's probably planning something perhaps…" Severus mused.
"Would you like to go check up on Lucius then?"
Severus looked at Hermione in surprise. "Surely you aren't referring to right now."
"Yes I am. I know you're trying for my sake, but if this is preoccupying you so much, it's better if you take the time to ease your anxiety. We'll have better dates than this one."
"And you'll want to stop in and see Potter afterwards?"
"No. He made it perfectly clear that he needs space of some sort. I can understand that. I had a devil of a time explaining it to Ron though."
"Hm," Severus snorted. "You're sure you don't mind?"
"Of course not. I'll still be here when you get back."
"I beg your pardon?"
Hermione blinked and then chuckled. "You expected me to go with you? To Lucius Malfoy's manor? Don't be silly, the man hates me. I distinctly remember that day in Flourish and Blotts. I intend to stay as far away from him as possible." Hermione snorted and took a drink of her water. "I'll be right here when you come back."
"You suggested this in the first place. And there is no way that I am leaving you here on your own," Severus glowered at her.
"Well, I'm perfectly comfortable right here."
Severus took a deep breath. Harry had asked one simple thing of him. Simply whisk Hermione off her feet and nothing more. He had been doing a good job but now it threatened to collapse into shambles around his feet now. The bloody girl had suggested this in the first place. But surely she didn't expect him to leave her here alone until he got back. That was nothing short of churlish. And if this was another one of her tests, then he wasn't about to bloody well fail. After a moment of thought, he signalled over the waiter and had their dinner packaged to go and discreetly paid.
"May I ask just what you are doing?" Hermione demanded when her dinner vanished.
"I am not leaving you alone," Severus said curtly. Their dinner reappeared on the table, neatly packaged in containers and bagged. He grabbed them both and rose, offering his hand. "And you are most certainly coming with me. If Lucius utters one slur against you, he can face my wand. Besides, it's not like we were eating much anyway."
"The conversation was excellent until you started tuning me out," Hermione said with a small smile as she took his hand and rose. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you would have carried me out of here over your shoulder."
"We're not a married couple." He grumbled as they walked to the door
"Of course not." Hermione replied demurely.
Severus gave her a sharp look as he held the door open. "Wonderful, you have long term designs for me." It would take a complete and utter idiot to miss the inflection.
"And you have none for me?" Hermione looked genuinely shocked. "That's awfully lax of you; I thought you had a plan for almost everything."
Severus pursed his lips as Hermione ran her hand suggestively down the buttons of his robe when he stepped outside after her. "Aren't there job applications you could be filling out instead of tormenting me?"
"None. I already sent them off and did the interviews." She gave a mischievous smile.
"Even Gringotts?" he took her hand and tucked it under his arm as they started walking.
"Even Gringotts. Honestly, I don't know why some people find the twenty five page application such a bother," she smirked up at him. "I have plenty of free time until I get some replies."
"Lovely," Severus said, half pleased and half disappointed; if Hermione kept up these little games of hers, they'd end up in bed far too soon.
"Are you really that worried about Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione asked after a moment. "I would imagine that he's fine."
"That man has an affinity for attracting trouble," Severus snorted. "And a greater affinity for slithering away from it. He's worse than Potter I daresay."
"Meaning he's perfectly fine then," Hermione countered with a smile. "It's not like someone's pointing the finger at him again."
"I certainly hope not; who knows how he would react to any more slander."
"Yes, I would imagine having you being portrayed as the homewrecker is doing wonders for both your images."
Severus pressed his lips together tightly. That rumour was annoying, infuriating and all together impossible to halt. If people didn't read about it in the newspaper, they'd spread it through word of mouth. If there was one good thing to the constant saturation of the 'illicit liaison between the aristocrat and the Potions Master' in the tabloids, it was that it had to die down sooner or later. Severus was hoping for sooner, but the rumour seemed to possess some tenacity about it. And undoubtedly once someone caught onto the fact that he was dating an ex-student fresh out of Hogwarts, he would have a few new labels as well.
"Come on," Hermione said, tugging on his arm gently. "The sooner you check up on Lucius, the sooner you can relax and enjoy yourself."
Severus couldn't argue with that logic. He allowed himself to be steered into the small pub they had arrived at by Floo earlier on. A few glances were directed at them, but Severus hurried Hermione along and slipped in beside her. This place was making him distinctly uneasy. Not to mention that haggard looking couple in the corner that was directing nasty looks at him and Hermione. He glanced at Hermione and found her scrutinising them with a squint before she gave a dismissive snort and looked away. He wrapped an arm around her and reached for the Floo powder. A moment later they were hurtling along before being deposited in the main foyer of Malfoy Manor.
"Those people were odd…" Hermione mused as she stepped onto the polished floor and dusted Floo powder from herself. "They were looking at us like… they knew us somehow."
"Or they're simply old, bitter and paranoid," Severus said with his usual scowl in place. "Lucius will probably be in his study."
"All right."
They walked up the stairs, the silence only broken by the whisper of their shoes against the floor. Hermione was looking around at the various things decorating the ledges and shelves as well as the portraits that remained stoically silent and looking haughtily down their nose at them. Severus could have sworn this was another place that didn't change. Its occupants aged, died, and left a new generation but the place itself was a constant. But there was something distinctly wrong about it now. There was an aura that it never possessed before; it was something highly charged and volatile, like something had exploded. For a place that was solemn practically all the time, this was definitely odd. He looked around continually, trying to see what could be causing it.
"Severus, what's this?"
Hermione's voice sounded oddly dreamy and soft. When he looked over, he found her reaching out to touch what appeared to be a withered blackish plant nestled in a dark corner. He reached for her hand and pulled her back sharply. There came a ripping sound as she lurched into his chest and shook her head as if to clear it. Torn and thin black vines receded from where she was standing and small ends still attached to her shoes wriggled feebly before remaining still. He could feel her shudder against his chest and shake the vines from her feet rapidly.
"That," he said quietly, watching as the small pieces go flying. "Was a forget-me-not plant."
"Aren't those supposed to have little blue flowers?"'
"The harmless ones, yes. This kind of plant is only covered during post Hogwarts studies. It requires carefully controlled lab work, as it's somewhat… sentient. Some house owners like to use it as a… burglary deterrent."
"What does it do?" Hermione asked, still peering at the plant as Severus started guiding her down the hallway.
"It wraps up its victims in an airtight vine cocoon and then proceeds to inject them with liquefying venom. Then it sucks up the resulting mush for sustenance."
"Wouldn't that be classified as a Dark plant?"
"Yes; but it also fits under the classification of home security. That's the only reason why it survived the Ministry's purge of the manor. Besides, I have no doubt they had a hellish time trying to get near it without being injected with poison," Severus said. "Now stay close to me. Merlin knows Lucius has other things in here that are just as deadly."
Hermione nodded and moved in closer to him. "Just how does it inject the venom into someone? Via barbs or something like a syringe?"
"Barbs; they scratch the skin deep enough for the venom to work its way in. It usually takes a victim about a week to die. It's a very slow and painful death." He finished in a deadpan voice.
"You sound like you've seen it first hand." Hermione said quietly.
Severus didn't reply to that but his tensed almost instinctively. The Dark Lord certainly had an odd manner in which to amuse himself and his Death Eaters. Hermione didn't say anything but moved in closer to him. They continued along until Severus paused in front of a set of heavy oak doors.
"Ignore anything he says to you. If he looks at you funny, resist the urge to hex him," Severus said looking at Hermione.
Her lip quirked upwards a bit. "I'll do my best, but I am making no promises."
Severus gave a wry sort of smirk and opened the door. The study that greeted then was silent and empty. It looked like it hadn't been used in days. He furrowed his brow and stepped into the study. This certainly was odd. Lucius' study was much like an inner sanctum. When he wished to be alone, or to have some time to collect his thoughts, anything, he came here. So as to why it was oddly deserted, he was at a loss. This was getting stranger and stranger.
"Severus, would you please come for a moment?"
He turned to find Hermione standing at the door, leaning out, and her head tilted to the side slightly. It seemed as if she was listening to something very faint. He came and looked down the hallway, seeing nothing.
"What is it?"
"Shh," she murmured quietly. "Listen."
Silence came once more as he gave a disparaging snort and listened as well. It was very faint, and he didn't hear it right away. It took a few more seconds of straining his ears to hear it. It was the sound of voices. He couldn't tell who it was but he definitely heard voices.
"Do you think Lucius would be there?"
He shot Hermione a look and was rewarded with a smug expression on her face. Shaking his head, he stepped out and motioned for her to follow him. The voices grew louder as they approached and Severus became certain of a few things. There was a voice that definitely belonged to Lucius. And it was loud, as if the elder Malfoy was yelling at the top of his lungs, along with everyone else in the room. He could hear Draco, Valerian and Tonks as well as a voice that was Potter's. Well, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Potter's; that last one certainly had to be his imagination. He didn't see that boy stepping foot into Malfoy Manor on any grounds. He could see the door more clearly as they approached and he found himself wondering just what kind of argument was taking place.
When he and Hermione paused outside the door, the voices were still well muffled, but much more audible. He glanced at her and she motioned to the door with a resigned expression on her face, as if she were expecting a disaster on the other side. Severus felt very much inclined to agree with her and didn't want to open then door. Still he reached for the doorknob and turned.
A solid wall of angry sound greeted him from a small crack. Frowning, he threw the door open. He could barely hear Hermione's gasp of complete shock as he stared at the scene in front of him. There were a grand total of eight people in Lucius bedroom, including Lucius himself. Blaise was barely restraining Draco while Tonks did her best to calm him down. Valerian, Remus and some woman were engaged in some sort of yelling match about something while a newspaper was being waved about. And, to cap it all off, Harry and Lucius were in the bed, naked save for the bedsheets wrapped around their waists and yelling just as much. Severus couldn't figure out who on Earth was yelling at whom. All he knew was that the room was filled with a ludicrous amount of noise and the entire situation wouldn't be resolved until something of the truth came out.
Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him since she stepped forward and easily cast a silencing spell. The abrupt quiet that descended over the room was startling and caused every one to look in their direction. He watched as Hermione tucked her wand away and surveyed the occupants slowly.
"Now, once you all calm down, I will remove the spell and let you explain what's going on here."
"And you two, put on some clothes," Severus snapped at Harry and Lucius, finally managing to find his voice. What Harry and Lucius were doing in bed that merited nakedness and to clothe themselves with a bed sheet he didn't want to know or deal with at the moment.
Harry scowled, muttered what could only be an expletive, and slunk off the bed with a sheet still clutched around his waist. He hurried to the bathroom and slammed the door behind himself. Lucius was still on the bed and looked supremely arrogant, even with a sheet bunched up at his hips. It was as if he was daring anyone to say anything to set him off. Draco shook Blaise off him and crossed his arms with an impressive scowl. Tonks wandered back to Valerian's side while Remus and the woman looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"All right," Hermione said, drawing her wand once more. "I'm going to break the spell now. A calm explanation of what happened would be nice."
She jabbed her wand sharply and looked around. Severus stood there beside her, arms crossed with a displeased expression on his face. Draco and Blaise squirmed uncomfortably, while everyone else bar Lucius simply didn't look at him at all.
"No one is going to tell us what happened at all?" Hermione ventured.
At that precise moment Harry came stomping out the bathroom, clothes wrinkled and obviously thrown on. He had a black expression on his face.
"I'll tell you exactly what's going on!" Draco exploded, pointing an accusatory finger at Harry. "This little slut –"
"I am not a goddamn slut!" Harry bristled. "Why don't you shut your stupid trap, you bloody –"
"Hey, don't you talk to him like that! I'll hex your balls off!" Blaise snarled.
"You'll do nothing of the sort." Lucius growled as he got off the bed. "You'll –"
"Oh, and you're a good one to talk!" Blaise snapped at the elder Malfoy. "You got him in your bed," Blaise's finger swung to point at Severus. "And then when he," his finger was now swung to Harry. "Comes slinking in, you welcome him with both legs spread?"
Severus gritted his teeth at that comment and rubbed his temples slowly. It was Witch Weekly entire fault and not his, Lucius' and certainly not Blaise's. But he was getting bloody sick of hearing comments like that.
"Now look, this is hardly the issue at hand," Valerian began loudly. "This –"
"This is the issue at hand, to hell with your wretched concerns!" Draco roared.
"Well sorry for my efforts to keep your father out of jail, you little brat!" Valerian snapped. "Maybe you shouldn't be so self-centred you –"
"Better self centred than a workaholic!" Draco shot back. "You have Nymphadora mooning after you and you don't even notice it! Who's worse off, huh!"
Tonks' face went bright red with embarrassment but she looked livid, as if ready to hex Draco into nothingness. Severus thought this an excellent opportunity to step in but he was cut short when Tonks spoke.
"Cripes Draco," Tonks began. "If we don't address this issue, Lucius could be facing Azkaban this time. Who knows what the judges might decide; they might even re-examine the case, with new evidence introduced."
"That bloody little Weasley bitch has nothing on him! She went to the Quibbler of all papers! She discredited herself the moment the goddamned bloody story hit the press!"
"But it still needs to be addressed!" the woman finally spoke and it was with a loud voice that commanded attention. "Your father's philanthropic efforts could be completely ignored and –"
"Who are you! What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Draco snarled. "I'll bet you're just here to get your filthy paws on more of our galleons!"
"I suggest you watch what you say," Remus growled. "Especially to this lady."
"Why don't you go and maul someone else, werewolf?" Draco snapped.
"Hey, don't you talk to Remus that way!" Harry stepped towards Draco angrily.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Draco sneered as he turned around and jabbed Harry in the chest with a finger. "I'll bet you're the one who spread your legs first, didn't you, s-lu-t?" he drew the word out with a nasty drawl
Harry's face contorted as he launched himself at Draco and they fell to the floor in a pile of flailing limbs and cursing. Both Lucius and Blaise moved to separate them but ended up drawing back, unsure of just how to accomplish that. After a few seconds, Lucius disappeared to the bathroom and reappeared with a silk robe tied on tightly. His face was grim as he attempted to separate Harry and Draco. Blaise stepped in once more, his face equally set. It took some help from Valerian and from the woman to pull Draco off Harry and for Remus and Tonks to help Lucius get Harry to his feet.
Severus didn't say anything as Harry wiped away the blood from his cheek and the corner of his lip with the back of his hand. He wondered if anyone else noticed that Harry instinctively drew back closer Lucius. Or those long scratch marks on Lucius' back before he went into the bathroom.
"All of you shut up and listen," Severus began loudly. "Pointing fingers won't do any good. Harry, go home. Valerian, you and the rest of your entourage can go wait downstairs in the parlour. Draco, go to your room. Lucius, you and I are going to have a talk."
Loud sounds of protest came at once and Severus closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
"Now!" he barked. "I certainly don't mean later, you blithering fools!"
Sullen muttering came but people filed out of the room. Hermione stood on her tiptoes and whispered that she'd go with Harry and try to find out what was going on. He simply nodded his head and she gave him a soft smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. He watched as she hurried after the skulking Gryffindor. This was officially their worst date ever; there would be nothing that could, or would, ever top this fiasco. But it couldn't be helped and now they, more or less, had to pick up the pieces. The room cleared out with surprising slowness and it was a good five minutes before he was alone with Lucius.
"Now then would you care to explain the cause of this chaotic argument?" Severus asked dryly.
"I believe that's none of your concern, Severus."
Severus didn't reply for a moment. Lucius was speaking in that silky soft voice that said to tread carefully lest he make you regret sticking your nose in his business. He decided to ignore that and keep on.
"This may come as a surprise to you, but I do know something of the manner in which you interacted with Potter in the room for a month; oddly out of character for you. You actually were nice to the boy. Not just tolerable, but actually nice. You both interacted like you were old friends."
Lucius stared back impassively at him.
"Of course, I was too engrossed in the Cruoris potion to pay much attention to it then. It came to my attention later on when Potter was buying his wand. Of course, the manner in which you didn't blackmail a testimony from Potter or myself made me wonder. However, that train of thought was interrupted at the time as well. And now, in light of your recent state of… deshabillé," he placed a delicate emphasis on the word that caused Lucius to frown slightly. "I'm starting to wonder just how it was managed."
"How what was managed?" Lucius asked in a cool voice.
"How you both managed to behave yourself for a month in the room. Potter already trusts you, implicitly as well. It wasn't very apparent before but it was blatant a moment ago"
"And what makes you say that?"
Severus arched an eyebrow. So Lucius was going to make him fight for it. "I find it rather interesting that he's known Lupin longer than he's known you. Yet it was you he moved closer to once he and Draco were separated. Not Lupin, as he probably should have."
"So your eyes work." Lucius stated simply.
Severus didn't say anything for a long moment. "How long has this been going on Lucius?"
"Long enough." Lucius finally said.
"So," Severus began slowly. "You've both been playing me for a fool this entire time?"
"No; you just happened to get caught in the middle." Lucius said simply with a deadpan expression. "If you must place the blame on someone, place it on Dumbledore."
Severus gave a mighty sigh; Lucius certainly was being a stubborn bastard tonight. Some volunteering of information would be nice, but he could pry it from the elder Malfoy one way or another. He didn't care how urgently Valerian needed to speak to Lucius.
"Neither of us is stupid," Severus said finally. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. This is entirely your choice."
Lucius simply regarded him with that deadpan expression and Severus found himself hard pressed to resist the urge to sigh once more. He knew he'd end up regretting something tonight.
"Just who the hell does he think he is? Where does he get off calling me a slut? Draco's got some bloody nerve, I can tell you that!"
Hermione didn't say anything from her spot on the couch, simply watching Harry. He huffed and started pacing back and forth again once more. This was the last thing he needed to happen. He knew he had to tell Draco about him and Lucius one day. He'd planned it enough times. Hell that was the reason why he invited over Draco and Blaise to his flat. But when he went to speak the words, he was immediately filled with the sense that it was nothing more than a bad idea.
But of course it wouldn't be pleasant. Saying something like, 'Draco's I'm sleeping with your father and we've been in an intimate relationship for about a year now' was not the sort of thing that wasn't easy to bring up in any situation. And then there was the fact that he really did appreciate Draco's friendship. This was a surefire way to lose it. And he probably lost it tonight. Merlin knew they flung enough nasty words and accusations at one another, both explicit and implied. Too many people knew about it now. The next thing he knew, when he looked at Witch Weekly, the new headline would read, 'Boy-Who-Lived in tryst with Lucius Malfoy!' or some other garbage like that. In short, one of his worst nightmares splashed right out there for the entire Wizarding world to see in its full chaotic glory.
"Harry."
Hermione's quiet voice broke through his mental musings. "What?" he snapped testily.
"Perhaps you're overreacting a bit?"
"Overreacting? I'm overreacting!" he stared at her in disbelief. "Oh, I'm sorry that I didn't tell Draco sooner. I'm sorry that I tried to explain it rationally to him when he walked into the room and found us in bed! But I am not bloody sorry that I decked him when he called me a slut for the thirty-third time tonight!"
"You actually counted?" Hermione's lips curled up in amusement.
"This is not funny!" Harry bellowed.
"Of course not," Hermione said, sobering her expression immediately. "It is far from funny, I do agree with you."
"You're not acting like it."
"The situation is quite serious. I just find it amusing that in between all the yelling and stuff, you counted the number of times he called you a slut."
"Why the hell did you come with me?" Harry demanded. "You're no help at all!"
Hermione gave him a mildly disapproving look. "You're only saying that because I won't badmouth Draco with you. And that's all you're doing. I can't constructively help you unless you calm down and explain what happened."
"Goddamn it 'Mione," Harry snapped, his voice suddenly going hoarse. "Would you be calm if everything you wanted just slipped through your fingers?"
He turned away from her and proceeded to kick the stones of the fireplace. All he ended up doing was stubbing his toes and cursing loudly. But the pain was sobering and he didn't want sobering up at the moment. He wanted to be angry and blame somebody. Hermione rose from her seat and went to him.
"Oh Harry, it'll be all right."
Hermione's words were accompanied by a hug. For a moment, he stood there stiffly before he relaxed and tentatively hugged her back. She patted his back every so often and made soft cooing noises. After what seemed like forever, she drew back and smiled at him.
"Feel better?"
Harry nodded his head curtly. He felt marginally better but was still pretty riled up. But he wouldn't tell Hermione that. He let her guide him to the couch to rest.
"Now then, you can tell me what happened when you feel ready."
It took Harry a good five minutes of deep breathing before he started to speak. "Well, Lucius and I were in bed and we'd just… er…"
Hermione nodded her head. "Continue."
"Well, we were lying there and kissing when all of a sudden the door bursts open and there was everyone and they all froze and stopped speaking when they saw us and then Draco spoke and then Valerian cut him off and then Draco tried to drag me from the bed, and Lucius got mad so Tonks stepped in and Blaise did as well and Valerian and that lady tried to get our attention again and Remus was trying to get me to calm down, but it was too late by that point and then we were all yelling and then –"
"All right, calm down Harry," Hermione said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You can breathe when you speak you know."
Harry nodded and took a deep breath.
"So I gather that when Severus and I arrived, the argument was only getting started?"
"It was well on its way."
"And it all started because you were caught in bed with Lucius?"
Harry nodded his head in silence. Hermione didn't say anything for a long moment as she thought.
"You know Harry, I seriously doubt that it's all slipped through your fingers. You had some reason to be in bed with Lucius Malfoy. And, judging from the way you both interacted, you wanted to be there and he wanted you there. I really do think he would have retaliated if Blaise made good on his threat."
"But after all this…" Harry groaned and held his head in his hands. "The entire Wizarding world is going to know."
"I really do doubt that." Hermione said as she rubbed his back soothingly.
"Oh come on, do you mean to tell me you're not expecting to see it in the next Witch Weekly."
"For starters, Witch Weekly is garbage, nothing more, nothing less. And there are a few things working in your favour. This relationship must have been going on for a long while. If Valerian does utter a word of it, Lucius could simply cite client confidentiality and get Valerian disbarred. Valerian doesn't want to lose his career and I'm sure Lucius doesn't want to lose an exemplary lawyer."
"But Draco –"
"Probably won't want any more attention on his family and himself. I heard there was some mention of something involving Lucius in the newspaper. I'll bet you that even if he was considering the idea of going to a paper with this, Severus is probably convincing him otherwise right this moment. Blaise won't go because he'll get dragged into it as well."
"But what about –"
"Surely you don't suspect Remus? You know he'll protect your privacy. And Tonks… I don't think she'd want to create more work for herself by speaking about it."
"No, I was going to say Ravenna."
"Ravenna?"
"Valerian's sister. Apparently, she runs a werewolf organisation that Remus helps out with from time to time."
"Oh," Hermione fell silent for a moment with a thoughtful look. "I don't think she'd talk. It sounds like Lucius' galleons are the main reason why they're afloat at the moment. If she spilled, he would more than likely withdraw support and that could cripple them. No, I don't think she'd talk."
Harry didn't say anything for a long moment, regarding Hermione. "How is it you can make anything seem less worse than it actually is."
"Well, if you'd stopped panicking, you'd realise the same thing too." Hermione smiled. "I know you're scared but it's not that bad. You can make it through this and no one else will know."
Harry snorted. "You know, I was half expecting you to chew me out."
Hermione laughed. "Oddly enough, I thought you would chew me out when you caught me and Severus. I was a horrible bundle of nerves for days afterwards. But you never showed up and lectured me. And when I did see you again, you never even mentioned it. You have no idea how grateful I am for that."
"Yeah, well, if he makes you happy…" Harry trailed off gruffly.
"And that's why I am not lecturing you. If Lucius is what makes you happy, then so be it."
Harry gave a massive sigh. "Thanks 'Mione. Honestly, it does help that you keep a level head."
"Merlin knows what you and Ron would do without me," she laughed. "You'd both be a right mess."
Harry smiled and laughed. He trailed off, shaking his head and opened his mouth to speak when a gush of flames came from the fireplace. Both he and Hermione looked to see Ron pop out of the fireplace and lurch forward, crashing right into the coffee table with a spectacular amount of noise. They both went over and Hermione pushed the table out of the way while Harry bent down and dusted the bits of wood from Ron before helping him up.
"Jesus Ron, I didn't think you'd destroy something in my flat," Harry said dryly. "What are you in such a hurry fo–"
"This!"
Ron proclamation echoed through the living room as he practically shoved a newspaper right into Harry's face. Harry pushed him away a bit before taking the paper from him. Ron was already pacing back and forth, running a hand through his hair. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice that he was working the Floo powder in further.
"And what's this?" Harry asked, waving the paper.
"Just… Merlin, I can't believe she did this! There's no way that she can take him on and win! It's that stupid new friend she got for herself; I'll bet you anything she had something to do with it!"
"Ron, really, I think it's good that Ginny's got herself another friend," Hermione chided. "Do you do remember how hesitant she was about going back out and doing stuff again?"
Ron made an incredibly frustrated sound. "Yeah, but this… she doesn't stand a Flobberworm's chance in a flock or Fwoopers!"
And with that, Ron fell into the single chair and held his head in his hands. Harry looked at him before he motioned Hermione over and snapped open the newspaper. What greeted him was a lone picture of Ginny, looking absolutely miserable and sniffling every so often. And right above that in big black bold letters was the headline of 'Lucius Malfoy killed my lovers'. He swallowed and glanced at Hermione. Her brows were furrowed and she quickly snatched the newspaper away from him and settled herself down on the couch, reading intently. Harry looked over at Ron and found him plucking at his sleeve.
"Ron?" he asked, coming over to the chair and perching on the armrest.
"Merlin, what am I going to do?" Ron moaned, plucking at the fabric more. "We were supposed to have a nice family dinner tomorrow night. Charlie and Bill weren't expecting this! And Percy has so much to deal with already, let alone this! I'll be lucky if I don't get fired for this!"
"I don't think you'll get fired over something like this Ron." Harry said as he reached over and stilled Ron's fingers.
"Harry, my sister is suing Lucius Malfoy! How do you think that's going to look to my boss? I'll be lucky if I don't get sacked tomorrow morning!" Ron moaned and hung his head.
Harry looked back at Hermione, who had conjured a pen and was scribbling all over the newspaper, and shifted a bit uncomfortably. He wasn't too sure what to do or say now. He rubbed at the back of his neck a bit fretfully, batting the strands of hair away.
"All right, look," he finally said. "You should go home and try to relax. Have dinner with your family tomorrow. You should think over just what you're going to do very carefully."
Ron nodded his head a bit absently. "That's probably the best thing to do. Christ, this was supposed to be a happy day. I think the only ones who'll be happy will be Charlie, Bill and Ginny; Ginny's getting what she wants and Charlie and Bill certainly won't know about it yet."
"I think you should try and be happy too. This is something Ginny has to do by herself. The most you can do is support her if you agree with her."
"Yeah…" Ron said giving Harry a funny look. It disappeared a moment later before Ron sighed heavily. "So what time are you getting there?"
"Huh?" Harry blinked.
"To dinner tomorrow. I sent you an owl about it last week."
"Really?"
"Yeah; Pig came back with nothing, so you must have gotten it."
Harry frowned for a moment. He certainly didn't recall a letter from Ron last week. But he did get a lot of mail that he couldn't be bothered with last week; and he had burned an awful lot of letters
"Er…" Harry began in a hesitant voice.
"Well?"
"I think I may have burned it by mistake," Harry said sheepishly. "I've been getting so much mail from witches and wizards that I have to burn them to cope with it. I'm only 17 for Merlin's sake; there's only so many love letters and marriage proposals that I can stomach."
Ron goggled at him. "Seriously? You need to find someone again. That'll put them off your trail."
"Really Ron, that's not –"
"Leave everything to me, all right? You'll be all set after tomorrow!" And it seemed like a second later that Ron was bounding towards the fireplace and reaching for a pocketful of Floo powder. "Just come with 'Mione and her boyfriend."
And with that, Ron stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a burst of flame. Harry watched the fireplace for a moment before he made his way over to the couch and sat down beside Hermione.
"Did you know?"
"Hm?" Hermione looked up at him. "Know about what?"
"The dinner at Ron's tomorrow."
"Harry, Ron sent owls last week. So far as I know, all the Weasleys will be there, their girlfriends, Ginny's friend, you and me."
"Ron's under the impression that Severus is coming."
"I told Ron that my boyfriend would have no interest in coming. Ron's convinced that I can convince him. I'm convinced that I can't convince him so why waste my time convincing him to be convinced into attending just because Ron's convinced that I can convince him in the first place? Besides, we're not at that stage of our relationship yet."
Harry had lost her after the first 'convince' so he simply nodded his head. "How good a matchmaker do you think Ron is? This should be someone I can get rid of easily, right."
"You should be able to. Ron's not very good; he picks obvious things. You know, maybe it's a good thing he hooked up with Parvati; she can understand that side of him, but she can prod him to go a bit deeper when necessary."
"That's very blunt."
"I'm his friend. That's my job, to be brutally honest when necessary." Hermione pronounced as she pulled out the inside section of the Quibbler.
Harry slid the front page from her grasp, looking down at the headline and Ginny's picture. When he looked back up, he found Hermione looking at him with a soft smile.
"You never do pick the easy path do you?"
"That wouldn't be as much fun." Harry replied back a bit flatly.
Hermione reached over and slid an arm around his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "You'll get through this; the both of you."
All Harry could do was nod his head back mutely as he looked back down at the front page.
Lucius rubbed his temples tiredly. The only time he had for himself was when Valerian graciously allowed him to change before commencing this small… meeting. It had taken all night and it was now almost four thirty in the morning; all in all, it was going very badly. When he managed to get a word in edgewise, Remus would snipe at him. Then Ravenna would snipe at Remus. Valerian would chide his sister and then Tonks would join in. Thankfully, Severus had elected to not stay around long after getting some reluctant answers from Lucius. What had promised to become another round of great sex of Harry became nothing more than an interrogation, first from Severus and then from Valerian and company.
"Cripes Lucius, are you even paying attention?"
Lucius snapped out of his thoughts to find Tonks looking at him expectantly. "Yes."
"You don't look like it." Tonks grumbled.
Lucius flashed Tonks a mildly displeased look while Ravenna cleared her throat.
"Lucius this needs to be dealt with; preferably tomorrow morning as this has been printed in the evening edition of the Quibbler."
He glanced down nastily at the front page article that got him into this new whack of trouble to begin with. "Of course it needs to be dealt with. A statement should be issued. Both regarding young Miss Weasley's accusations and the manner in which they implicated your organisation Ravenna."
"Maybe a small press conference is in order," Remus suggested. "You can address any other questions and nip any potential problem before it starts."
There was a murmur of assent to that but Lucius was watching Remus carefully. That was the first bit he'd said since this entire meeting had started. And the sandy haired man was now watching him carefully, as if he could pick him apart until there was nothing left to hide.
"I do believe that's the most constructive thing said all night," Lucius said in a quiet voice. "And if I do have a press conference to hold later on, I think it would be best if I didn't look like I didn't sleep the entire night."
"Good point," Valerian said wearily. "Just firecall us when you're ready for that press conference. I'll work out the –"
"Oh no, you won't!" Ravenna said imperiously. "If I catch you working anymore –"
"Well, you're certainly not in any state to organise something of this – "
"I think neither of you are," Lucius interjected calmly. "Since you both look like you've spent a few pleasant days with a Dementor close by."
He caught Remus glancing at him before he looked at away. Lucius sniffed but didn't say anything. Valerian had more than likely been working for at least eighteen hours straight and Ravenna looked equally haggard; there were circles under their eyes, a general slump to their shoulders… overall they looked like they had stretched themselves far too thin during the past few days.
"Ravenna, you go home and sleep as well," Remus said, rising from the table. "I'll make the arrangements for the press conference."
"Remus," Ravenna began tiredly.
"Am I not part of the organisation? Do I not I have certain responsibilities that this could entail?"
"Well… yes, but –" Ravenna began.
"Go home. You're both spreading yourselves too thin." Remus said.
Lucius didn't say anything as Remus ushered them to the door and closed it after them. He didn't say anything, simply looking at the Quibbler article. 'Lucius Malfoy killed my lovers', indeed. No one would pay much attention to the part about lovers; no, they would see 'Lucius Malfoy' followed up by 'killed'. It did warrant damage control, even if it was in the Quibbler. And the fact that Ginny had pointed the finger at Ravenna as well, claiming that her werewolf organisation was sheltering him only complicated matters. What he truly wanted to know was how that young Weasley girl found that out. This was the precise reason that he made himself a philanthropist who insisted on the utmost privacy. So far as he knew, Ravenna had upheld her end of the bargain as much best she could. He rubbed his temples slightly with a disgusted snort.
"I think it's time you and I had a talk Lucius Malfoy."
Remus' quiet voice broke the silence in the room. Lucius looked up from the front page article and found Remus taking the seat in the opposing chair.
"Regarding your adopted charge?" Lucius asked mildly.
"Yes, about Harry," Remus narrowed his eyes slightly. "And your intentions."
Lucius arched an eyebrow. He was half tempted to say something like, 'I intend to serve my parole before we go globetrotting and have constant hot, steamy sex every night' but refrained. "Quite frankly, my intentions are none of your business."
"No, I think you've misinterpreted mine," Remus said crisply. "I've already had a talk with Harry about you. And really, Harry's opinion is the only one I want. What I meant was in regards to Harry and this situation. You know he doesn't want any more publicity."
"Obviously I intend to keep him far away from it as possible."
"I see. Then what do you plan to do if he ends up supporting the Weasleys?"
A scowl settled on Lucius' face before he rose from the table and strode over to the fireplace. He tossed the newspaper in and set it on fire. He watched the parchment curl and blacken before becoming ash.
"I'm not a stupid man," he said finally. "I can't make his decisions for him and I certainly would be an idiot to force my opinions on him."
"I see."
Lucius turned his head and glanced back at Remus before snorting dismissively. "Yes, I'm sure you do."
"I know, anything coming from me might seem worthless, but I do have Harry's best interests at heart and I do what I can for him."
Lucius felt a sharp stab of irrational anger flood him for a moment. "Of course you do." He replied with biting sarcasm.
"You know," Remus said after a long moment in a slightly exasperated tone. "I didn't stay behind to suffer your pissy attitude."
"Forgive me if I find your words to be the height of hypocrisy."
"What are you talking about? I haven't contradicted myself in any manner."
Nothing was said for a long moment until Lucius turned around and drew his wand. He watched as Remus tensed, ready to spring, and cast a silencing spell on the door. Remus' expression was slightly wary and mystified. Lucius regarded him.
"Haven't you? Tell me, did the Order make a unanimous decision to place Harry with the Dursleys? Or was that all simply Dumbledore's actions?"
Remus' eyes narrowed. "Harry told you about the Order?"
"Yes. And it hardly matters as the sole reason for the Order's existence is now dead for good."
Remus frowned but didn't say anything to that comment. "That was Dumbledore's decision. Besides, where else would he have gone? Sirius was in Azkaban and I certainly wasn't fit or stable enough to raise a child in any manner back then. Believe me, if I didn't have this condition, things would be very different right now."
"And no one raised any objections whatsoever?"
"Minerva had some reservations but so far as I know, Dumbledore addressed them. She never raised them again."
"And what about later on?"
Remus didn't say anything for a moment on. "How much later on are you talking about here?"
Lucius' eyes narrowed as a flicker of apprehension showed on Remus' face. After a moment, Remus sighed heavily and slid a hand over his eyes with a smile.
"Just what are you smiling about?" Lucius demanded nastily.
"Took him long enough to tell someone."
That was the last thing Lucius had been expecting as a reply. He crossed his arms with a sour expression. After a few moments, Remus rubbed his face briskly and regarded Lucius.
"Really, I couldn't do anything about it. He didn't want to talk about it at all, even when I hinted to it. And unless he told me himself, I could do nothing. It would be too easy for him to feel frightened and simply deny everything."
"Surely that Mudblood noticed; she's always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."
Remus frowned. "Hermione never noticed. Neither did Ron or anyone else. It's like they refused to believe that such a thing could happen to Harry of all people. It made it that much easier for him to hide it from them."
"But he couldn't hide it from you." Lucius stated baldly.
"It's kind of hard to hide the scent of blood from a werewolf," Remus said dryly. "He'd clean himself up and heal everything as best he could, but I just had to see him once with Vernon at King's Cross to know something wasn't right. The scent of fear and blood told me all I needed to know. You know, perhaps I should be thanking you."
It seemed that Lucius was constantly being surprised tonight. "How touching."
"Before, it seemed like Harry was losing something that kept him going. When he vanished, everyone else panicked and worried that he would come back irreparably damaged somehow. He came back much different, but I'm thinking whatever happened between you two changed him for the better."
Lucius didn't reply, simply watching Remus for a moment. "Don't you have a press conference to be arranging?"
"Quite right," Remus said rising. "I'll firecall you when it's all been arranged. You might want to get some sleep. You'll be having a trying day tomorrow."
Lucius gave him a dismissive sneer. "Lupin."
"Yes?" Remus paused at the door.
"Make sure it's early afternoon. I want it on the evening edition of every paper. I don't care who you have to curse. And if someone mentions Severus or Potter, make sure they regret it."
Remus didn't say anything for a moment before he coughed politely before saying in a strained voice, "I'll tell Severus that you said hello and Harry that you send your love."
Lucius narrowed his eyes and Remus quickly slipped out the door and closed it securely. How dare the werewolf put words in his mouth; it was only even more infuriating that they were the truth. Grumbling to himself, he stalked out the door, and made his way back to his bedroom. It was now dark and quiet, but there were faint beams of light coming in from outside. The bed linens were still rumpled and he raised his wand to fix them before he thought better of it. He stripped down and laid his wand on the bedside table before pulling the sheets straight and getting it. It didn't take him long to fall asleep.