Disclaimer: see Chapter I

A/N: This isn't beta-ed. My apologies.

Grey

Chapter XIII

Lucius kept his frigid stare locked with that of the madwoman kneeling before him. Her eyes were telltale of her insanity and her haggard appearance only added to the fact that Bellatrix Lestrange was slowly sliding into a complete and utter madness.

Lucius felt some sort of distaste and disdain for the fact that Bellatrix Lestrange gave herself wholeheartedly over to it. Did it gave her a sense of freedom? A larger sense of pleasure?

She swiped at him but he carelessly booted her in the face and the woman flew back and slid a couple of feet over the old, worn-out stones that made up the floor.

She worked herself to a sitting position again, hissing at him. "Really, Lucius... No refinement."

"I'm not aiming for it. It's the result that matters. Don't you think?"

"And please tell me what kind of results you have attained with me," Bellatrix sneered. She ran her tongue over her split lip and cackled. "You've made me bleed... Is that all you wanted to achieve?" She asked mockingly, watching him with a disturbing cheer on her face.

"Among others," Lucius said coldly.

"It's all you get out of me, Lucius. You don't think I would betray the confidence our Lord bestowed in me?!" Her voice rose to a screaming pit and she lunged at him again, only to be viciously backhanded into the floor again.

She raged at him with words as she picked herself up again. "Do you think you can go against our leader. Ours! You have given him your Oath. By betraying it, you're betraying the honour of your family! You're lower than a filthy Mudblood now! All will look down with scorn at you!"

"I think not, Bellatrix. Voldemort was the one that broke the Oath between us by attacking my son. He had no right to go against Draco for his refusal. You know well enough that it is a family matter and therefore mine to deal with. Voldemort showed his dishonour by going around my back, by ignoring my right of the Head of my family! Therefore, by forsaking this ancient right, the Oath is broken and declared naught and void" Lucius said coldly, quietly, but his whole body betrayed his fury and outrage at the harm and insult done to his family!

"So don't try and keep up this outrageous lie; it is an insult to me and my family. You know what our tradition tells about such crimes. No, Bellatrix, I wasn't the one doing the betrayal. Voldemort is the one who has ignored our traditions and our honour."

"Your son deserved it for denying him his loyalty!" She shrieked. "The brat was lucky the Lord even considered him! The boy is a complete disappointment!"

"I really don't care about your opinion about my son. He only has to prove himself in my eyes. And he does, even if it's not with the kind of... volatile action you so much prefer."

"He's a disgrace," Bellatrix snapped and her face showed the loathing she felt for the boy. "He's a disgrace to you. He's a disgrace to Narcissa! It's a pity he hasn't been given some Black traits... He wouldn't be such a failure if he would show some traces of our ancestry!"

"Ah yes," Lucius said almost casually, walking towards the woman with slow, measured steps, circling her with predatory intent. "It's such a shame he doesn't resembles Narcissa's beloved family. I know she would have liked to see him with the dark hair and eyes of the Blacks and with a touch of their madness too."

"He would have been great." Bellatrix mused, watching the dangerous wizard with no trepidation. Instead, her eyes flickered with anticipation. "He would have earned our esteem and affection. Your cunning and viciousness together with our commitment and dedication to our Lord... Draco would have been more than just a weak imitation of you."

"But for being a true Malfoy, he has never received anything of you, but disdain and poorly hidden disgust. He has been treated as an inferior as far as his memories go back... Can you tell me what it has done to him?" Lucius asked as he stopped right in front of her. She was on her knees again, but the subservient position didn't seem to bother her and she stared back at him with all her pent up fury.

"Did you expect her to treat him any better? She was reminded of her own mistake and failure every day." Bellatrix stated uncaringly, watching him for an opportunity to strike. "He is beneath her by bearing your looks and character."

"I do regret the day I agreed with our fathers' ridiculous plan."

"But maybe you choose the wrong sister... If you had just chosen me... Ours would have been splendid." She said almost wistfully, dreamily.

"Ah. I guess it felt very good to take out your spite about being scorned on the son of the man that scorned you... But I think that it gave you no small satisfaction that you were the one killing off the offspring of your own sister, who was being chosen over you!" Lucius smirked hatefully at the twisted expression of fury and impotent resentment.

"Maybe so...But still," she chuckled softly at him, "she found him lacking. A failure. Disgrace. Unworthy. Filth. Oh yes, isn't it wonderful? Your son attacked, dying as we speak... I was chosen to do the honours. I told her about the faith of your son, what was to be his faith now he had betrayed his own blood and guess what..." She watched his face closely as she tried to hurt him with her next words.

"Your own wife didn't mind!!" She shrieked out with grating, harsh sounding peals of insane laughter. She was silenced by another hard slap across her face.

"Ah..." Bellatrix touched her cheek. "So much control, but oohh... when you let go... Narcissa never could appreciate you and the unpredictability of your temper. Hot and cold yet always with such grace... She always had a thing for the wildness of her cousin, you know. She loved the fact she could play him so well. She never could manipulate you, Lucius." His name became a twisted, husky whisper and she licked her lips, tasting her own blood. "I never understood how she could stay so frigid with such a intense man like yourself... I say it again, Lucius... You choose wrong. We... We would have been something else..."

He smiled at her, coldly, derisively. "Really?" He grabbed her jaw with a bruising grip and she smiled at him.

"Yesss..." She closed her hand around his wrist, stroking the skin while almost purring the next sentence. "Don't you see we are a perfect match for each other? I would never submit and you... You would never relent. Ah, yes, a constant fight for dominance. So much pain and fire and want... Delicious..." her eyes glittered with a mad passion.

"And what about our spouses? What about Rodolphus, hmm?" He said coolly, almost sounding bored. He callously squeezed her chin making her moan with the pain and lick her lips again. "What about your dear sister?"

"Why keep her? You need an heir and I doubt she can give you one again. But most of all, why let her go unpunished as she betrayed your family? After all, she was most helpful to me; she told me quite some things..."

"Ah," Lucius didn't show the impatience he was feeling on his face. Finally, she was saying something useful! He smirked indulgently at the woman, a vindictive quality in it and she shivered and cooed at him. "So she did... My assumption isn't farfetched then?" Lucius drawled, sounding indifferent.

"She thought it was the least thing she could do. A contribution to the deed. A proof of her loyalty to our Lord. She was actually quite eager... I knew you'd figure it out soon enough. I knew you would not let it go... But let that brat just rot away. You can get a new heir..." She suggested slyly and watched him with hungry eyes.

"That brat is my son." Lucius snapped at her, cruelly digging his fingers into her hollow cheeks. How she disgusted him. Yet, this was a game was a fitting way to play with Bellatrix; it was the one thing she had never forgiven him, nor had she forgiven his wife. And yet she had always relentlessly pursued him, waiting for the moment to strike. Her husband he had never understood as the woman had never been faithful, always chasing something no man could seem to offer her.

"Why keep fighting for such an incompetent child? Don't tell me you love him!" She mocked and smirked at Lucius' warning scowl. "Love! Such a ridiculous notion! It's a rather pathetic state I find you in, Lucius. So proud and strong; let me cure you of this stupid sentiment. It has addled your mind. If you want something to hold and cherish, let me give you something worthy of your affection." She offered, voice rasping as she hastened to pounce on this sudden opportunity that had presented itself to her. If she could convince him of the foolish mistake he was making, if she could make him realise he was being unreasonable about the brat... She could have him just where she wanted him; back into the fold, and then... Voldemort would give him to her, oh, he would! Just so she could have her satisfaction for his misplaced, but understandable, escapade.

If she had him... She would have him entangled soon enough into the web she was spinning, the soft but unbreakable threads ensnaring and trapping him firmly with her and she would never ever release him. He would be hers, like it was supposed to be. She would teach him for scorning her but after... Together burning in anger and hate and pain and heat so strongly... Never ever letting up until they had destroyed each other and would rise out of the ashes and start all over!

Lucius watched Bellatrix with repulsion. The mad but distracted look in her eyes, almost dreamy, made him want to gauge them out. He couldn't understand why Voldemort nor her husband had never once tried to curb her insane tendencies. He knew Voldemort delighted in the madness she displayed and that made her such a manageable tool. She was mad in her loyalty, blind to how she was loosing her own dignity and pride as she let herself being used and abused by her so-called Lord.

Without warning he pushed her back, using the firm grip he had on her head. She smacked into the wall and sank down onto the floor. He was satisfied with the glazed, puzzled look in her eyes. He sneered at the crumpled form.

"Nothing that you could give me could bring me any pleasure. You don't think that you could make me feel anything but contempt and hate for you?" He crouched down in front of her, carelessly brandishing his wand but she eyed it warily but at the same time with a perverted anticipation. She was snarling at him again, her whole face twisted into a hateful grimace.

"You're insane, Bellatrix, and it is a most pathetic sight. But what I find the most revolting is the fact you let it have its way with you and that you give it a free reign. Though I have to admit it's in my advantage this time... I can manipulate you so easily. Your sick obsession with me and your spiteful animosity towards my wife, your own sister... You are so proud of your family and yet you Blacks are the most vicious towards your own relatives... Yes, I have yet to see a family more twisted than yours."

With a enraged shriek she tried to lance herself onto him from her lying position on the floor. She slipped on the slick stones and lost her grip, sliding back down. With an amused smile he watched her trying to get her calm back. She was breathing heavily and her mouth was hanging wide open, unarticulated sounds escaping her. A red blush on her hollow cheeks emphasised the sickeningly paleness of her skin. Her hair was tangled in knots and dirt was rubbed into it. Her whole appearance together with her animal like sounds and insane light in her eyes made him sneer in contempt.

Finally, she managed to get herself under control again. "You're a fool, Lucius, a fool! Don't you know what I'm offering you?! You could have everything to make it all perfect- Make the Malfoy family perfect..." She hissed and grunted heavily, while she tried to work herself in a sitting position again, visibly straining at something Lucius couldn't see nor imagine. Maybe a lack of food, he mused. He had to remember to feed her a bit more.

"Yet... Yet you're obsessed with your pitiful revenge!!" It seemed a real good joke to her and she nearly choked on her high-pitched laughter. "Like you could fool our Lord. He knows everything! He sees all- So perfect my Lord is..." She sighed suddenly, then swung back to her rage again. "Why not take me up on my offer?!" She screamed with frustration. She stared up at the bored looking wizard, trembling because she could hardly control the maelstrom of her raging emotions. "We could be his most trusted and most esteemed followers... Lucius... Just forget about the brat and think about the future- Forget about Narcissa! Kill her for her sins against you!! She's much worse than me! She is!! You have to see, Lucius! Laughing and watching as I did it without remorse- that's true, I know! I enjoyed it, you know he wasn't worth anything more than that and I... Let me make you forget them: I could make you forget anything but me and what our purpose in this world is! Please, Lucius," she begged shamelessly, crawling towards him, caught by her own need for something she knew only the haughty and cool blond could bring her... "Together, we can purify this whole world and create something worthy of us! You and me, we-"

"Enough." Lucius interrupted her rambling coldly, the force behind his command enough to shut her up. She blinked, almost appearing dazed and yet... Her eyes followed him with hunger and fierce obsession as he brought himself closer to her. He pointed his wand at her and she licked her lips again, an almost giddy look in her eyes as she watched him with hope. He laughed cruelly and murmured softly. "You poor woman. Stop deluding yourself. Never I will touch you with anything else on my mind but causing you pain. Never will I think of you as a worthy mate. Never will I look upon you with anything but disdain and pity. I think I'm pitying you. Though it won't stop me from using you to how I see fit. Remember, Bellatrix. You disgust me. You will never be my wife, nor the mother of any child of mine. I will never make you a Malfoy. Satisfy yourself with thoughts of your husband and your beloved Lord. Because that's all you have left."

He turned around and went for the exit of the cell, paying no mind to the frantic scuffling behind him. He closed the door behind him at the moment Bellatrix managed to reach the door. He walked down the dimly lit, dank hallway and listened to her shrieks and cries. "Lucius!! Bastard! Come back and finish... Come back! Traitor!" Yet her cries were full with the hopeless, pained frustration. Again, she sounded wistful despite her rage.

He shook his head at her pathetic sounds and closed the heavy door that gave access to the hallway soundly, cutting of her pleading. Truly, he intended to make the most of the time he had to make her pay. And he was hearing so many satisfying things while he played with her. His amusement disappeared from his strong features and his face became a mask. She had answered many of his questions and confirmed a few suspicions he had... Now there was time for action, to get payment from those involved.

Almost finished. Then, she could go to bed and get some much needed, much desired sleep. Hermione rubbed her eyes, trying to alleviate the sting in them from squinting too much at the small letters of the old tomes. But now she was almost done with her conclusion. Just to affirm this last statement she had made and then she was finished!!

It had been a very interesting but also trying project till now and she was sure there was much more research to be done after she had handed in her assignment. Because it wasn't done yet. Of course she had answered the questions that had been in her assignment and she had reached the goals and conclusions that she had needed to make, but the assignment itself had been incomplete. The assignment had stated to find any Deliverance Potions, also called Deliverance Rituals, and to divide them into two groups; those who had substantial evidence to indicate that once they had actually been performed and the other group that lacked such facts and could be called merely legends and exaggerated myths.

However, one of the potions she had indicated as a possibility of being a real ritual would probably be chosen to be used against Voldemort. The research Hermione had already performed had been so elaborate already and she had only researched the history and general workings of the ritual and nothing about the actual potion and ritual itself! She had scribbled down lists about what each possible potion likely included as far as she could verify an ingredient or spell. Most things involving the rituals itself however were vague and .... and would need much more research.

She sighed as she thought about the lots of work that still had to be done and yet she hoped she would be included in the research and preparation and... She frowned as she thought to where it would eventually lead..

She didn't know if she could find the courage to face Voldemort... Death Eaters frightened her to the point where her mind barely functioned; could she be of any use in a fight against their master? And yet... Harry was probably going to be in the middle of it. And, she knew more than anything, she wanted to be there with him. Harry was frightened too... But together, they should be able to do something, right?

She thumbed through a book she had just received today. She encountered the Headmaster in the hallway and he passed her this fairly large but otherwise plain book. He had given her a cheery smile as he handed it to her. "Maybe you'll find some different viewpoints in this work, Miss Granger. I think it will be quite useful to you."

Now she was looking for the page on which she read that small paragraph about the Celts and their use of the so-called 'Purity' potion, which had caught her attention when she had leafed through it. However a rather inconspicuous entry attracted her attention and she curiously read the title. "Death Delivered hath no Escape (in Latin)"

As it looked quite intriguing, Hermione took the time to read the first couple of sentences and was immediately caught up in the long and most of all, very detailed description of a very old Ritual. It was the stuff of legends, yet the whole Ritual, Potion and entire history and reasons around it were painstakingly written down for those who "suffer under magic wrongly used and seek to bring an end to the perversion of nature's gift." She mouthed the words and felt a shiver run down her spine. These words felt right and she eagerly read on. After having finished she felt relieved, anxious and above all strangely exited; maybe, this could work...

"Finished, Miss Granger?" Came the snide remark as she entered the Potion classroom. It's only occupant was the sneering Potion Master who was going through some essays, scratching down some undoubtedly cruel commentary.

"Yes, sir," she quickly reached his desk and produced her finished project, quite happy with the results she had managed to achieve in such a short time span and with such a ill-defined, illusive subject. She felt a bit tense as she waited for him to scan through her subject; she didn't expect him to start reading it now but she wanted to have it a good first impression on him. Quite eagerly she looked at his face, hoping to see some reaction there.

Suddenly, he snorted, a rather condescending sound and he looked up from the scroll to grace her with a smile so full with contempt it looked more like a grimace and unwillingly Hermione flinched.

"S-something wrong, sir?" She asked carefully while he continued to regard her with that same derisive look on his face.

"You can say that, Miss Granger. Once more you prove to me that your so-called common sense is almost non-existent. Indeed, if I could show this project to your Head of House, or any other teacher for that matter, they will see themselves forced to reconsider all that praise they directed towards you." He chuckled with a perverse glee and mentioned with disdain at the scroll lying in front of him.

"Really, Miss Granger, even I had given you more credit than this! For you to fall for such a fairytale... It's almost embarrassing." He shook his head and thrust the scroll back into her hands.

"Sir?" She frowned, wondering what was so offensive to him in her project. And despite her confusion, she felt irritation too; it was typically Snape to ridicule her mistakes, instead of pointing them out and helping her to rectify them, like a good teacher would do. He was so vicious in his temper and so clearly spiteful in the way he treated his students, that Hermione wondered what Dumbledore had wanted to achieve by making Snape the Potions teacher. She always showed her teachers her respect because to her they all deserved it... However, with Snape she had to try her hardest to keep her mouth shut and treat him with politeness.

"I'm talking about the Death Delivered, of course. It's a very old tale, Miss Granger, a fairy tale," he mocked her.

"But sir! It has several historical figures as well as references to actual facts and historical events! And the whole procedure is too well described and the writer has taken too much trouble to safe this ritual to be a mere fairytale!"

"You're a fool, Miss Granger, to fall for something like this! Have you read the ingredients required to make this potion? The whole potion resolves around three ingredients; the first two are almost impossible to get by, but the third... Impossible! An ingredient supposedly gifted by a goddess herself!

And before you start whining; yes, people have tried to reproduce the potion and to imitate the Ritual, often with disastrous results. The Potion is deceptive, as it gives a promise to the brewer of a great power. They have tried to find an ingredient that could be a substitute for Morrighan's tail feather, that would encompass the strengths that feather would posses, yet nothing worked. It really is only a bard's tale," Snape finished with a scowl. His eyes showed his impatience as Hermione opened her mouth again.

"Shut up," he snapped. "I have no time for this. Leave your project here and I can see if the rest of your work provides a few adequate answers. And if you really are so taken with this child's tale, look up the diary of one Ferdius. F. Frolic, who believed in this myth as much as you do. Read about his tragic end, Miss Granger; I'm sure you'll get over this silly notion very soon."

"But-"

"Out!"

Dumbledore leaned back in his comfortable chair, keeping his eyes fixed on the dancing flames of the cosy fire burning in the large hearth. At once, the flames roared and turned green and Severus Snape came through the fire, an annoyed scowl on his face as he swept the dust of his immaculate robes.

"Severus! How nice! Care for a lemondrop."

"No thank you, Headmaster." He replied curtly. He strode to a chair near the desk, sat down and tossed a scroll on the large Headmaster's desk, which was already littered with papers, books and scrolls.

"How about a Twix, then?" Dumbledore offered optimistically.

"A what?! Never mind. No, thank you." Snape leaned back in his chair, uncaring about Dumbledore's disappointed expression. "Here's Miss Granger's project. Except for falling for that ridiculous Death Delivered tale, she has gathered some useful information. There are two or three options that we could take. However..." Snape didn't continue and seemed to be lost in thoughts as he stared at the scroll.

"However what, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, looking a bit concerned about the absent-mindedness of his Potion Master; it was very unusual for Severus Snape to not be fully concentrated on a conversation.

"I don't know if any ritual will be enough to destroy Voldemort completely. I've looked them over and I know that the only possibilities we have may not be enough to really kill him this time. I... I am afraid that might destroy his body but that his soul will escape us again. And then, everything will start over again, never letting us rest, always on the look out for another rising. And we know that somehow, he will manage to make himself another body." Severus Snape looked weary and grim, facing the possibility that he might never be freed of the hold Voldemort had over him... And how would the Magical World fare under the constant threat of danger and violence?

"It's so sardonic; the only Ritual that seems to hold the promise of a complete victory seems that silly Death Delivered. However came up with that tale has caused many to suffer under false hope!" Bitterly, the Potion Master sneered at the pondering look on the Head Master's face. He stood up, quite abruptly, and made his way to the fire. "I leave it to you to come up with the best way to go about this. Read my notes if you want my opinion." That said, Snape threw some Floo powder in the fire and was gone.

Dumbledore continued to stare in the flames. The Potion Master had uttered a fear that had taken hold of the Headmaster's heart too. He didn't know if there was any magic strong enough to undo the dark and twisted magic Voldemort had used, But certainly, there was no way Darkness could triumph over Light?

"Really, that Head of House of yours! Urgh!"

Of course, the blond boy didn't answer, but it felt good to vent some of her anger. Angrily, she pulled out a copy of the project scroll and the book she had received from Dumbledore.

"Really, I can see why he should think this Ritual is a fairytale and impossible to perform, but... What if that ingredient did exist? What if we could somehow manage to get it? Do you think Snape would give this Ritual a try then? It is the most potent Ritual I could find..." Hermione bit her lip as she read through the account of the Ritual and his history again.

"It happened in the days after the heroes were lost... It was then that a fair-haired, black-eyed man appeared one day in the village ... Rumoured was he came from the clan far in the west and the townsfolk welcomed him into their houses, supplying food and drink. A traveller, the man said he was, and accepted their invitation to stay the night..." Hermione read aloud to Draco, immersed into the story. "the next morn, a cold had settled over the lands and had invaded the houses. No fires burnt, nor could they be kindled... It was then the mothers discovered their children silent and waxen faces as they lay into their beds. All breath had left their body, yet their eyes still seemed to speak to their distraught parents; they told a tale of horror.

Every child in the village had suffered the same fate and their lives seemed to have drained away. Their faces had fallen in and the flesh on their bones had disappeared...

The stranger was gone too, the bed in which he had laid ice to the touch and the sheets were stiff and unyielding, like death itself had settled in them.

The mourning village sent out messages to surrounding villages, yet they were too late; the children's lives were taken away, and their soulless eyes seemed to stare up at their parents with accusations for taking in the strangely charming traveller..." She took a deep breath before continuing, the story still managing in unsettling her a bit. "Soon, the people from the villages chased after the stranger, searching for him, yet they never found him. Until one day at dusk, a small party of tiring men stumbled upon him, in a small glade, where the grass and shrubbery had wilted away and the tress surrounding the glade were frozen in their winter sleep.

The man was waiting for them.

Only one villager managed to leave that glade. His eyes were wild and his clothes torn by his own nails. That was how another band of pursuers found him. He couldn't tell them of the horror he had seen as his tongue had shrivelled up in his mouth...

That was only the beginning of the terror the warlock unleashed on the land. The elders of the villages and the wise druids gathered and could only watch powerlessly as the man turned the power gifted by nature in all living things, into a dark, twisted and sacrileged abomination of the once pure Light. Those who could see and sense this Light in the beings around them, would weep at the desecration of the once bright Essence in the defiled landscape the stranger had travelled through.

He could not be stopped.

Warriors tried to engage him in combat and Druids tried to take away his power or to undo whatever he had done to the Magic.

None succeeded and soon despair spread as the warlock fought and killed all those who sought to bring an end to his terror.

Then, the oldest and wisest of the druids gathered and they implored the gods for understanding why this abomination was laying waste to the land. They implored the Gods for help.

And as the gods saw the complete desecration with which the warlock handled their gift and the utter contempt he held for the sacred Life and Light, they grew angered and gave their help. Morrighan herself appeared before the gathered elders and she was terrifying in her rage. She told the druids the warlock wasn't a man, like them, anymore. Death should have taken him away a long time ago, and yet... He managed, with the most tainted of Magics, to hold off Death's grip and escape the notice of those who look after the souls of the departed. But, the goddess vowed, this time Death would be unrelenting.

She would be unrelenting.

For the magic the druids had to perform in order to bring him into Death they required an element of it... She gave them one of her very own tail feathers. The crow, her Message of Death. She instructed the druids on the Magics to be used and assured them of her divine intervention when the time was there to perform this Ritual of the Sacriledger.

The druids heard these words and took them to their hearts. The invoked the Magic and Morrighan fulfilled her promise: the warlock was seized by Death. Death hath no escape, certainly not for those who have lost their respect for the Life, Light and Magic, given to us by the merciful gods."

She slowly closed the book, still impressed by the detailed tale. It sounded so... So truthful to her. Somehow, she knew this very old Ritual could actually work. Maybe the right substitute for the tail feathers just hadn't been found. It could well be a metaphor. Her mind drifted to the additional books she had read about Celtic gods, druids, legend and magic.

"Well, Draco... I won't let Snape dismiss this as easily as that!" She said stubbornly. "We're going to come up with an ingredient that works! I just know it! Because I still think this is our best chance to get rid of Voldemort, permanently! I see you tomorrow." She stuffed everything back into her bag and determinedly walked out of the small room. She was going to find that ingredient!

Review Responses:

Alynna Lis Eachann: Not very close, sorry. But things are progressing, I assure you.

Shyngr8: I'm preaching to the converted? I like this expression! I'm going to remember this one!

Athena Linborn: He he he... Of course, you are correct. Very stupid of me to forget such a fact! Certainly as the dungeons are just perfect for them, don't you think? Thanks for pointing this out. I will rectify it.

SnapeSeraphin: Love you too, certainly now you're updating your fic so frequently!! And I hope this chapter will be enough Drama/angst to sustain you for a while!

Wackoramaco87: Ron's real intentions? I think the poor boy doesn't know them himself.

Moonjava: I know you have to wait quite a long time for my updates. I just won't make any promises anymore, because every time I do that, things are conspiring against me!!

Harry Hippie: What happened between Lavender and Ron? You'll find out, I promise. Just.... not yet.

CharmedLeolvr: Thank you. I try to make things a bit believable. And sorry... NO, you can't have him! I grabbed him first!

Saiyachick: Oh, I have to go and read your newest fic!! I will!

Mrs Alfred: Sorry for the wait!

The Mad Madame: Thank you very much for your comments and remarks. They certainly are very helpful and made me think about my plot and story. Don't worry, Draco won't forever be in stasis.

Dixi: Thanks for reading!! And yes; Lucius and Hermione will get things going!! I promise that, yet it won't happen the next chapter or two. This plot is rather lengthy, and yet I don't want to rush things. Please be patient with me?

Jheopardize: Actually, I should be encouraging you, as a teacher-in-training, to keep writing English because it's the only way it will improve your writing skills. Really, I don't mind the mistakes (and look at me: I make tons of mistakes!!) and if you explain to people English is not your native language, they will like you more for simply trying!! But I won't preach (uhm... what is this called then?!) and of course I'll read Dutch reviews too !! Thanks for reading!

Peachygirl31: Thank you very much. I hope the wait was bearable .

MiSSxMELON: Just wait for a few more chapters, all right?

Shivawn T: I hope you still think the same...

Meave: I won't tell just yet. I like torturing people by making them wait, can't you tell?

Imiryoku: Are you getting antsy yet? I hope this chapter comes in time!

Drusilla3: I think I'll try to find some British slang sites. Not only for this story, but also for Britifying my own English.

Evan M: Do you have the adress of that community? I would like to check it out! And no, I don't have a livejournal (yet) because I'm simply terrible at doing things like that. Thank god for the ICT course at school, which will teach me many, many new and exciting things (I hope).

Belladonna: Don't you worry too much. This fic will be a LM/HG fic!

Strawberry22: Oh yes, that present... It will turn up again, that I promise.

NOXlumos: Thanks for the review!! I feel real flattered because even if you don't like the pairing you have read the entire fic so far! Again, thnk you!

Procella Nox-noctis: I really like your penname. Noctis, genitivus, right? (I'm too lazy right now to look it up) It's been a couple of years ago I had Latin. Beautiful language though. And sigh Jason Isaacs... I have a hard time explaining to my sisters why I am impressed by this actor, but his style is just... Well, I think I hardly know an actor who can play the bad guy better than him. Ralph Fiennes? I will look him up, because I ahven't heard from him before.

Pantspie: Lucius and nancy boy? I think they shouldn't even be in the same sentence! Glad you agree with me.

Shiro Ryu: Yep school and personal life. Things haven't been great and stuff happened. I hope you enjoy this update!

Star-Angel23: Thanks!! Narcissa is a story on her own. This chapter will give you some more insight.

Cherry-sama: Thanks.

Laerwynn: Bows thank you!!

Artemis Moonclaw: This chapter is just for you!!

Cerulean Sage: Thank you very much for both reviews. I'll try to work with your comments.

Tatiana: I hope this chapter comes in time for you to continue breathing? And I promise: no sappy Lucius!

Hotskittles: Sorry, no Draco/Hermione fic. Lucius is just as yummy, don't you think?

Katherine: Here's another update. Enjoy!!

Slytherin: I like reading odd couples too. For example, there are a few Hermione/Voldemort stories I like to read. Not many, but they are out there.

Aq2u4ever: And, did you enjoy this chapter too?

Pyrochic: Nice to know people are getting into this couple. It might be a somewhat odd couple, but so much fun!! Spread the word!!

Anna: Your review is a really big compliment for me: you don't like the pairing but you kept reading just because you like my writing style... I am deeply honoured!

DarkRoseBlood: I wish I had a mirror just like Maggie too... I think it would do wonders for my appearance, as I am usually too lazy to do anything more than apply some mascara...

Sesshomaru's Angel: Don't worry !!