Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter...

Chapter 4

Crashing Dangerous Shiny Things

No sooner than Hermione had crossed the floor and returned to the bed had Lucius Malfoy returned to the manor holding a large bag of Hermione's belongings. Suprisingly, he carefully set them at her feet; and then muttered an incantation that unpacked all of her belongings and put them in proper locations. Lucius then looked at the magnificent Grandfather clock in the corner. The time stated that it was six o'clock in the evening.

"Come, Miss. Granger. I believe that it is time for dinner" Lucius instructed flatly.

With that, Lucius turned and started walking out the door. Hermione followed him obediently. The two ventured past the elaborate drawing room; through a long, elegant hallway; and eventually made it to the dining room. Both Hermione and Lucius looked at the empty table. Lucius gave the table a concentrated glance, and all-though he said nothing at all; it suddenly decorated itself. An emerald green table cloth with gold lace trimming was first to fall into place; followed up by a large center piece that some-what resembled silver vines with burgundy crystal roses intwined; and was designed to hold candles. A short while after, the center piece had fallen into place, six black candles landed into each of the holders and lit themselves.

Hermione stood in place gazing with astonishment at the way the table had shaped itself up. It was one of the most stunning sights she had ever seen. Lucius sat himself down at the table, and pushed out a chair directly across from his with his foot; kind-of signaling for Hermione to sit down as well. She did so, not paying attention that she could still be in danger.

"Miss. Granger - since you did not read the letter I had sent to you; I believe you must be highly curious to know why you are here" Lucius said in a questioning tone.

Hermione didn't want to seem demanding with how she answered, and she wasn't sure what the tone of her voice would be; so she simply nodded. Lucius took this as a form of a definite yes and started to further the discussion. Before he got very far, the dinner servers came in.

Most would expect that a high-class family like the Malfoys had many first-class hired witch nannies, but they did not. Their entire service system was fleeted with house elves. The moment Hermione took realization to this, she decided she was not going to eat dinner, or anything else that Lucius Malfoy offered her during her stay at his house. Lucius was taking the second large bite of his marionated chicken and scalloped potatoes when he noticed that Hermione had not so much as glanced at her food.

"Is something wrong?" asked Lucius.

"Haven't you ever heard of S.P.E.W?"

"Yes, Hermione. I know what a spoon is, but why would I eat chicken with a spoon?"

"Not 'spoon', you moron, S.P.E.W. It stands for Society Promotion for Elvish Welfare!" Hermione exploded.

"You will not raise your tone to me, this is my manor. You are lucky to still be alive. I would appreciate that if I were you. Who gives a damn about the welfare of those menacing creatures anyway? They are of no importance!" Lucius shouted back.

Hermione could no longer resist temptations. She knew how evil he was, and what he could potentially do to her; but she figured that he needed her and wouldn't entirely harm her. She picked up her spoon and hurdled it in the direction of his face. Lucius was furius that Hermione would dare pull such a stunt. Lucius no longer felt like dining with Hermione, and with the snap of his fingers, all of the elaborate decorations disappeared; leaving the table a dull chunk of wood once again.

"You disgusting, pathetic excuse for a witch! You are a disgrace to all of the proper purebloods who attend Hogwarts. Go to your room at once! I do not wish to see you for the rest of the night" shouted Lucius before apparating off to an unknown location.

Hermione sat on the floor too angry to actually be sad about anything. She reazlied Lucius had left the letter he originally intended her to read on the bed for her. Quickly, she grabbed it and threw it into the fire place. Using the Incendio incantation; she set a large fire in the fire place. Flames licked the sides of the letter, and the ink slowly melted down the page; dissolving into one large blob of black. Whatever Lucius originally planned to ask of her, she no longer cared. She decided then that she was not going to assist him in any way. Then she called Dobby, she knew that he liked his freedom and hated people like the Malfoys.

"Dobby." Hermione was whispering so Lucius did not hear her.

There was a crack,not loud, but extremely soft,that showed how powerful house elves were. Hermione jumped then realized who made the tiny crack. It was Dobby in extremely weird clothing. He had on various colors from head to toe, and a million of hats on his balding head.

"Missus Granger, how may Dobby serve you?" His voice was extremely squeaky that Hermione feared for her life if Lucius came to investigate the noise.

"Shhhh, call me Hermione, I don't want Lucius to hear us, does Dumbledore know that I am here?"

"Dobby does not know Missus Hermione. Now what can Dobby do to help Missus Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head. She was indeed now in danger, and Dobby refused to drop the Missus part. She decided on what to eat and told Dobby to wait.

"I'll like pasta and msahed potatoes please, thank you."

Dobby quickly obeyed and gave out another crack. Five minutes had passed before he came back.

"Here you go Missus Hermione, is there anything else?"

"Actually yes, there is, can you wait for a few minutes while I write a note to Dumbledore?"

"It's no problem Missus Hermione."

Hermione quickly took out an inkwell, a quill and a piece of parchment. She hastily started a note.

Professor Dumbledore,

I am currently trapped in Malfoy Manor. Lucius said not to come out of my room. He wants something to do with me but I do not know what. All I know is that he is a slimy Death Eater who pays his way out of everything. Also I found his Diary which he probably left in my room drawer by mistake. It tells about all the crimes he has commited and I haven't got to the rest of the things in there yet. Please send for help. I got your chocolate frog card so you can keep contact with me.

Respectfully yours,
Hermione Granger

Hermione folded the paper up and sent it with Dobby. She then jumped back on to the bed and started to read the rest of Lucius's diary. she flipped through the pages and stopped suddenly on one entry. It read:

Dear diary,

Today Narcissa became seriously ill. The doctors fear for her life. They say there can be a potion made but it is very complex. It requires a virgin witch and multiple ingrediants that are near impossible to get. I cannot ask the Dark Lord for these ingrediants because he is still in a violently angry mood. The only virgin witch that is smart enough to do this potion is Hermione Granger. Shame she is a mudblood, if she were pureblood then she could have all the power in the world. And that bushy mop of hers with her baggy clothes. Something must be done about this. I do not know how to get her to help me. Maybe I can offer her something, but she doesn't trust me because I'm as she would quote " A filthy Death Eater who has no life and enjoys killing other people." That is not true. Well maybe part of it is. Draco's calling, I'm afraid I must go.

Lucius Malfoy, Dated: May 15th, 1995

Lucius Malfoy was currently seated in a large arm chair in the attic of the Malfoy manor. The attic hadn't been entered in many years, but it still contained many old articles of furniture and a lighting fixture which made it somewhat comfortable. He sat in the same spot without moving a single inch for nearly an hour trying to decide what his "Plan B" was going to be. He had to have Hermione on his side, no matter what.

Lucius finally ended his vegetable stance when an idea hit him. He remembered Hermione ranting something about S.P.E.W. Draco went to school with her; so he would probably know something about it. if not, he would know somebody who did; or who could find a way to obtain information. Perhaps if he understood what she wanted, it would better help him get her to negotiate some kind of deal with him.

Doubting highly that Hermione had read his letter at all, Lucius decided that he definitely needed S.P.E.W. Without further heasitation, he began to walk down the attic stairs. He understood that he had to somehow lie to Draco about why he wanted this information - perhaps saying it was somehow blackmail would get him to dish over anything and everything that he knew. Even the smallest little particle of a word was helpful. If he could just use it to strike up a good buddy-buddy conversation with Hermione; he could tell her what he originally had wanted to. Once he managed to get that across; there was a chance that the thing most precious to him could be safe.

comments to the lovely reviews!-

prettybookworm-Thanks, Lucius will be a little bit more evil... will do.

darksecret1-Sorry, things will get more interesting. thanks, I wrote my story this way, beacuse that is how I percieve them when they are not working. If they are ooc it doesn't really matter to me, but I'll try harder..

chanterellesnape-hey, love the pen name it's cute, thanks, I got that phrase from my cousin

Gi Xian-I know he's married, but not for long...

jerseysaint19-me too, you'll find out more after this chapter...

carebearerin-he forgot about the journal and he has a new one now because that one is filled up. also he had more important matters to attend to.

Sachmet-my cousin is older than me by the way. and she has really good ideas, your chapter is here, enjoy

liddlegurlyangel-thanks, I know, I'm worknig on that, no problemo

Please review!

constructive criticism is accepted, flames are used to roast and burn marshmallows

Thanks,

Margeaux