Chapter 3: Moonlight revelations
Rita gave a short laugh and offered him her hand, rising. "Well, I suppose the first thing I'll show you will be the marvellous view from the balcony. – C'mon on." she said softly, with a mild smile around her lips. If she expected a look of puzzlement or surprise in Malfoy's features, she was of course mistaken. Malfoy could perfectly well imagine that, if she wished them to have a really pleasant evening, she would have to do the considerable rest of the necessary cleaning by pure magic, which was bound to take a few minutes. And for those minutes, the balcony was definitely the best place to stay.
And sure enough, when she begged him to the small glass door, and outside onto the small balcony, he noticed her aim her wand at the still chaotic scene behind them, muttering a quite complicated series of spells, all starting with "Detergenza Uniomnia...", which, as he realised when he flung himself around in bewilderment, shot into the living room in a tremendous speed, some heading straight through the door, for the small room on the other side of the corridor, some bouncing off the living-room walls, spreading numerous white and lemon-coloured beams that did the tidying up and cleaning of a week or more in merely a quarter of an hour.
Which was quite a long time for a magic spell.
Squeezing himself next to Skeeter on a bright white, wooden bench which was – like the couch inside – covered with innumerable red and pink roses, Malfoy shot the occasional look back in the now brightly lit, flickering living-room, which was still being processed from a rubbish dumping place to a place worthy of human habitation.
However, his main interest was not the living-room at the moment. The bench was rather small, so Rita was sitting very close to him, which he didn't dislike at all. In fact, he was almost stunned by her gorgeous appearance and the disturbing way she was smiling at him. Almost. Not stunned enough to hesitate to retort to his usual ways in case his soft approach wouldn't work, but still, her beauty seemed to be even enlarged by the atmosphere here outside, in the moonlight, with the magnificent sight of London at night. Thousands of little street-lamps, houses and Muggle vehicles were competing with an even higher number of glittering stars. It was not quite full moon, but nearly, which granted the whole scene a discreet silvery touch, conjuring up a slightly unreal, elated appearance.
To the right of the almost full bright moon, Malfoy recognised Saturn, which was, for the untrained eye, concealed among the other shining little spots at the firmament, even slightly paler than most of its companions. For someone with a NEWT level in Astronomy, however, watching the night sky did prove fairly helpful from time to time, and the present constellation was not difficult to decipher. In fact, throwing the occasional, careful glance upwards, Malfoy felt very much confirmed that his plan for tonight would work.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when she followed his gaze and muttered: "Wonderful, isn't it? – I often sit here at night."
---------------
Malfoy laid his arm around her and was just about to bent down and caress her blushing cheek, when a tiny bright flickering light flashed across his vision from the side, making him blink. In confusion, he looked around, searching for the cause of the disturbance. But before he could see anything, Rita waved if off. "Never mind, Lucius, just ignore it. – It's the neighbour on the balcony over there, see? – Freaky guy..."
Malfoy's glance followed her outstretched hand, until it reached a dark figure on the opposite side of the street. It was obviously a man, who was looking through a huge telescope, which was, as Malfoy realised in amazement, not directed to the sky, but was pointing directly at himself and Rita. Immediately, he sat up straight and took a closer look. Still, the other man was watching. "Uh, never mind about him, Lucius," Rita repeated, slightly embarrassed, "He's really a nuisance, I admit. But just ignore him.
Malfoy gave her an inquiring look, glanced over to the observer, then back at Rita.
"You mean to say..." he began, "that you're under observation?"
Rita rolled her eyes and gave a short sigh. "Not...as such."
"Who is that man?" Malfoy wouldn't allow her to evade that question. He couldn't afford any more public attention after all. "From the Ministry or what? Rita?"
Rita seemed to fight an inner struggle, but finally decided to answer.
"He's not...he's nawdawisd." She muttered, looking in front of herself and rather embarrassed, while her voice was hardly audible.
"Come again?"
"He's not a wizard." Rita repeated pointedly, a little louder this time.
It took Malfoy an instant to process that unexpected information, and he still had no clue how to interpret her statement. He cleared his throat. "And why, pray tell, are you under observation by a ... Muggle. – Haven't got into trouble with Mudbl...Muggle authorities, have you?"
"NO!" Rita was mildly annoyed now, and her voice grew considerably more unnerved. "It's ... it's just him. He's been doing that since he had bought that telescope on a sale, and he's never ever used it to watch the stars."
Malfoy blinked a few times in confusion and gradually, realisation set in. Slowly, his mouth half open, he turned his head back to the opposite balcony.
His face was a blank mask when he was watching the other man who was bending over his enormous telescope, but his mind could not accept the mere possibility that a humble mudblood would dare...
"I can't do anything about it." Rita continued angrily, which he noticed only absent-mindedly. As a journalist, I have to be extremely cautious not to aggravate the Ministry by using magic against a muggle, and... well, I tried to complain to muggle police, but as long as I can't prove what he's using his telescope for, they can't act. – This is a muggle neighbourhood after all. - Just ignore that pervert."
But Malfoy didn't feel inclined to ignore that outrageous invasion of their privacy. He couldn't believe what that guy was doing. Even as he was watching over the street to the other man, his opposite did not retreat, but seemed to handle a little button on the side of his telescope, possibly adjusting the vision.
"You mean to say, he has done that before, Rita? That despicable mudblood dares to ... no witch or wizard would stoop that low! – Just wait..."
He drew his wand and aimed it at the other man, but was stopped by Rita. "No, Lucius, be careful, if someone sees...Just put it away. – This is such a beautiful night, so let's ignore that git. Look, Saturn looks so bright tonight, what an amazing constellation, though, isn't it? You only have that every 127 years."
"Yes, I know" Malfoy snarled, "why don't you tell him that?"
He stood and built himself up to his full size, planting his hands in his waist, staring at the other guy threateningly.
The man opposite waved and gave him the thumbs up, before he adjusted the telescope's vision again.
"What the h..." Malfoy muttered, dangerously slowly, his eyes narrowed to thin, foreboding slits. .
"Lucius, don't let him provoke you. – Please, come back here, ... oh my God, not now!"
Rita's last exclamation referred to the action of the man opposite.
Malfoy's mouth went open in shock and fury, when he became aware that the guy had left his place behind the telescope and stood up, and was now opening his long coat, under which he was completely, as Malfoy realised with contempt, undressed. The muggle was now holding his coat with both arms outstretched, displaying everything Malfoy did not want to see, and grinning over to them expectantly.
"I will curse that bastard into oblivion!" Malfoy hissed, drawing his wand, and this time, Rita couldn't stop him. "Don't worry, Rita," he comforted her, aiming his wand at the pervert muggle, "I've got influential friends at the Ministry. As long as I don't kill him, they won't mind."
Rita's glance wandered from Malfoy to the opposite balcony. Malfoy, however, was looking down on the street, where a dozen of black-clothed men stood lazily around their motorbikes, smoking, discussing with each other in grunting sounds and helping themselves several large crates of beer. After a second of deliberation, Malfoy aimed his wand at the telescope, behind which the pervert was hiding again, and muttered a Summoning Spell, causing the telescope rising into the air and over the fence of the balcony. The man shot up and was looking around in utter confusion, when he watched his precious device hovering over the street for a moment. Without thinking too much, he leaned over the fence and almost managed to grab it, shouting: "NOOO, MY TELESCOPE!" He couldn't be aware what a bad decision that had been, for all the men down on the street were now attentively looking upwards. With a mild grin, Malfoy lifted the spell and to his opposite's shock, the device fell down and landed with a loud CRASH! on one of the highly polished motor-bikes. As there was little space between the bikes, the first fell on the second, and eventually, the whole row of a dozen magnificent vehicles was lying on the floor in a shiny heap of gridlocked handlebars and loose metal parts.
"Oh-oh." Malfoy heard Rita behind him, but didn't turn around. The scene was too enjoyable to watch. While several of the bikers downstairs had apparently started to count the windows to find out on what floor the obvious offender was, the others showed him their fists and threatened him, bawling with loud, furious voices.
"Nooo," the guy shouted down to them, careful to wrap his coat around his body, "that wasn't me !"
Then, the whole gang was heading for the entrance of the house and soon disappeared from view. "Well," Malfoy said, giving the terrified man on the opposite balcony a friendly wave, "that'll teach him."
He turned back to Rita and sat down again, laying his arm around her. "Sorry, what did you say? – Yes Saturn looks brilliant tonight.!"
"Yeah, Lucius, " she answered, half smiling, "but I reckon we'd better go back in now. – C'mon."
-----------------
Inside, Rita glanced around the room with satisfaction. "That looks better, doesn't it?"
"Indeed," Malfoy muttered, truly astonished by the unbelievable change in the living-room's decor. It almost looked ... comfortable. Well, still rather tiny and poorly equipped, and surely not worth of being visited by a self-respecting member of the wizarding community under normal circumstances, but still, compared to the state 15 minutes before, it was a significant improvement.
"Indeed," he repeated, giving the balcony door a mild push to close it and planted his hands in his waist. "...it does look lovely, Rita. Very charming." He made a polite gesture to her to indicate she should go first and muttered into her waiting ear: "It says a lot about its owner."
She giggled childishly and led him over to her S-shaped sofa. An inviting silver tray had been placed on the little coffee-table and was laden with two crystal glasses and three rather small bottles of which one seemed to be wine.
"Thanks", she said modestly when they sat, "not to sound conceited, you know, but I hear that quite often by guys who visit my place."
Malfoy managed, without Rita noticing, to alter the traitorous grin that was threatening to flush through his face into a very convincing smile of mild interest, mingled with a subtly indignant raise of his eyebrows. "Guys? – You mean to say you made a habit out of luring strange men to your home? Rita, you amaze me, you really do."
He leaned back comfortably and laid his arm on the back of the sofa behind her. Well aware of that, Rita gave a short laugh and asked in fake innocence: "Lucius, what are you saying?". Still smiling, she pulled the tray towards them and grabbed one of the bottles. For a tiny second, her hand tightened around the bottle's neck and hesitated. She loved the feeling of being in control of a situation, but yet she couldn't deny the thought that, if she carried out her plan, she'd be in severe danger. If Malfoy found out about that one ingredient he would certainly be very displeased. And – that was the moment when it grew considerably harder to ignore her alarm-bells – if only half of the Potter boy's story was true, she would be dead.
"Anything wrong?" Malfoy's voice sounded slightly suspicious under the facade of polite concern.
Her decision was quickly taken. After all, there was a splendid story to be written after a possibly romantic night before. And, that was for sure, Malfoy's explanation back in the bar had sounded far more logical and credible than Potter's.
"Nothing!" she turned around, throwing him a beaming smile, making up an enormously quick reply. "I just had some doubts that ... we're doing the right thing...you know, it all went so ... – dunno..."
Malfoy leaned forwards and gently laid his arm over her shoulders. Truly appealed by her fairy-like appearance – although he was sure that dress was enchanted to create that effect – he moved his lips to her cheek and planted a soft kiss on her flawless skin. His mouth moved a few inches back to her ear and muttered: "Does that feel wrong to you...Rita?"
It didn't. On the contrary, Rita felt a wave of something beyond her vocabulary rush through her body when his mouth wandered towards hers, caressing every part of her face on the way. Even though she couldn't put it into words, she could tell that it had been a long time since she had felt like this. For a moment, she forgot about the potion she had been about to administer to him, and leaned into his kisses, relishing in her body's reaction to his signs of affection, still not returning them.
She closed her eyes and swallowed when he reached her lips, stroking them with a soft touch of his, but retreating when she didn't kiss him back. "Are you sure you want this?" he whispered into her ear again.
Mildly annoyed about this unwelcome interruption and his inability to interpret her reaction properly, she opened her eyes and gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, I'd tell you if I didn't. – Why don't you continue where you stopped just now? – I admit, you're quite skilled in that kind of thing, for a married man."
He snorted in spite of himself and didn't even stopped chuckling when she leaned back against the sofa, pulling him with her. "Yes, well, married doesn't mean dead, you know?"
She moaned happily when their lips finally met, and, as if to stop him from retreating, she laid her arms around his neck, where her fingers took hold of his blonde, soft hair. The first kisses were like a cautious introduction. Playfully, he explored her lower lip, while she leaned into his embrace, relishing in that joyful sensation. She gave another low sound of excitement, which he interpreted correctly this time. His mouth went a inch upwards to cherish hers completely. She could feel the tension rising when she began to respond, and after every cautious kiss, their lips drew apart, only to meet again, like someone in the desert would drink slowly and carefully.
Rita gave a soft smile, realising that he was obviously an expert in this. Her hand grabbed his hair when they were finally holding their kiss, unwilling to part.
When they did, it took her a moment to focus on her next steps.
------------------
"We...maybe we should have another drink before..." Rita began with a mild, slightly nervous smile. Inwardly, she had made a decision. She wanted this man. She wanted to explore his wonderful body, to feel his skin, his embrace. More kisses. With him, she would go further than she had gone for months with any man. She inclined her head and cupped his cheek with her hand, stroking it softly. Malfoy was looking up at her, blinking surprised, but not uncomfortable. He didn't speak, but threw her a look that expressed that he was not disinclined to share with her whatever that night had in store for them. His glance grew even softer when her hand went further down and was stroking over his shirt. He took hold of it and gave it a courteous kiss, watching her challengingly. She locked eyes with him and gave him a hardly perceivable nod, smiling mildly. Yes, it would happen. This would be their common adventure and they would both enjoy it. Tonight.
But first things first. So... "Red...red wine, Lucius? It's my favourite drink...– Or would you rather fancy another whiskey, or a soft drink?"
He sat up, much nearer to her than before. "Hmmm, red wine sounds good. – Shall I?"
She nodded gratefully when he reached for the bottle of wine and poured it in both their glasses.
"Thanks." She mouthed and cleared her throat before taking her glass and tipping it to his.
"To..." he started thoughtfully and slightly ironically a toast, leaving it to her to continue.
"Mmmh," Rita went, thinking about an appropriate subject to toast at.
"Come on," Malfoy encouraged her, "anything but the Quibbler!" He grinned when she started giggling, and continued, only half seriously, "the Quibbler...or the Potter brat,... anything but those!"
"Okay," Rita laughed and said in a rather official manner, holding her glass in front of her face: "The freedom of the press!"
Malfoy laughed and met her glass with his. "Yeah, that's always the first thing that is threatened, isn't it?. – The freedom of the press!"
She watched him drinking half the glass of the delicious wine, excited and curious about how her harmless little truth potion would work. Just in case, of course, she had poured a few drops of it in every one of the three bottles, glad that the potion itself didn't have an aftertaste like the antidote had, which she had taken before in the kitchen.
"Like the wine?" she inquired, trying to urge him on. "Don't be shy." She smiled, grabbed the bottle and re-filled his glass long before it had been quite empty. "I love it when men get a little bit tipsy."
"Well," he grinned and took another sip of the dark red liquid. "I'll do my best."
"Lucius," Rita set her glass down and closed the distance between them, leaning against his shoulder and crossing her legs so that her left ankle was touching his leg like unintentionally. The dress was enclosing her body so tightly, that while moving towards him, she couldn't but let the dress slip upwards a bit, again revealing her knees. He hadn't been aware of the long slit in the dress before.
"Lucius," she repeated, "I hate to be nosy, but maybe you wouldn't mind if I asked you a question? – Of course I do hope you don't consider me too intrusive."
He grinned at her playfully and stroked over her cheek to pull her face nearer to his own, so that he could kiss it. In a soft and gentle voice, he answered: "My, Rita, that's a bit of rich of you, don't you think? In fact, you're the most intrusive person I've ever met."
He blinked in confusion at his own words and forgot for a second to stroke her cheek. Shaking his head at his own lack of control, he made a mental note to be more careful with hard drinks the next time.
Rita's impression, however, had merely changed. She would ignore his unjustified criticism and launch her next attack.
She leaned up to him and kissed away the apology that was forming on his lips. Finally, she pulled back, purred with enjoyment and gave him another seductive smile. She had him where she had wanted him, it was only a question of time now. But first, she reckoned, a little distraction of her real intentions was in order.
Slowly, she removed the shawl from her shoulders that seemed so light that it almost glided through the air before it landed on the table, so transparent that is was hardly visible. "Better put that away, that uncomfortable thing, it's so thick I can hardly breath under it. – Oh dear, that alcohol always warms me up."
Malfoy swallowed at the sight of her daringly low-cut decolletage, which seemed to reveal more than it actually did. The enchanted dress allowed him the occasional glance beneath the tissue, and then covered it again, like real waves of cold, refreshing water that were rising and falling where a non-magical garment would have set a clear limit. Despite the thought that his own reaction could be at least partly due to the effects of alcohol on him, he couldn't deny that he was stunned, and indeed appealed by the breath-taking sight.
Rita licked her lips, fast enough to make her look bold and blatant, and slow enough to leave him time to imagine what her tongue would prefer to touch right now. She grabbed the glass with the potion again and held it to his mouth, moving her chest suffocatingly near his body. "A little more wine, love?" she whispered. He opened his lips and let the drink flavour his mouth, running down his throat, like a delicious starter for what was yet to come. He felt slightly dizzy, but didn't take too much notice.
"Right", Rita said, after setting the glass back on the bedside table, "do you like what you see?"
She would make his mind swirl a little bit before she would return to her actual field of interest. Smiling with preliminary satisfaction, she waited for his answer.
"Uh," be began, his glance wandering over the plains and hills of her body, "I reckon every woman looks stunning after all the drinks I had." He stopped, clearly startled by his own speech.. That was not what he had intended to say. In fact, someone could interpret it as an insult. Hurriedly, he made a new start to make up for the damage and continued: "Even you." No, that didn't help, he scolded himself. Somehow, the connection between his brain and tongue must have been disturbed. No wonder that everything seemed blurred.
Rita narrowed her eyes and sat back in astonishment. Why would he say such a thing? But then, she reckoned, probably the truth potion needed some more seconds to kick in. This might have been just a moment of confusion on his part, as his brain was processing the potion.
Malfoy cleared his throat. "Err, Rita, I didn't mean exactly..." he began, but she laid her finger on his mouth to silence him.
She shook her head softly. "No, it's alright, don't worry. – Ooops, clumsy me!"
A few drops of the precious wine had slipped from her glass on the visible part of her cleavage, and she began slowly to wipe them away with her hand. Afterwards, well aware of the look on his face, she licked her fingers. "Mmm, really good wine, don't you think, Lucius?"
"Yes." He confirmed her in a low voice, slightly absent-mindedly. "An excellent choice."
"Thanks. – Err, Lucius, about that Quibbler story, you know what went through my mind while I was writing it?"
He shrugged. "Dunno, Rita, maybe something like 'I wish I had chosen a decent job' or 'I'm such a disgrace for my profession that only the Quibbler will take me on.'"
Malfoy sat up straight, massaging his forehead, hardly believing his own words. "I...I'm sorry Rita, I didn't mean to say that, I assure you. – Maybe it was the alcohol, I don't know. I didn't want to say that."
Rita inclined her head and narrowed her eyes. "Don't worry about it," she said, "wine and whiskey have never been good companions."
Inwardly, she didn't understand why the potion didn't work. Usually, it would set in immediately, after all, it wore off after only a few minutes. Every potion that would last longer, would have been much more likely to bring her into trouble, so she normally relied on that one.
However, she gave it another try. "Lucius, I was wondering what you think about You-Know-Who's return... I mean, do you reckon it's completely unlikely? – You know, it seems to me rather difficult for a school-kid to make this all up. But even if most of it were lies, do you have any clue why Potter would choose you and those others as the bad guys in his...tale?"
All of a sudden, the blurry look had vanished from his face and, for a second, he looked more threatening and dangerous then she had ever seen him. He leaned forwards and took a firm grip of her chin, not painful, but not as gentle as before. He pulled her head towards his mouth and whispered into her ear in a soft and silky voice that didn't seem to fit to his words: "Rita, my dear, never bite off more than you can chew. – I'm afraid I'd rather ... hurt you than to tell you that."
When he let her go, Rita gave a helpless shrug and looked sadly to the side.
What a depressing experience, she pitied herself inwardly, not only had she failed in making him reveal useful information, but had got threats and – even worse – the most ridiculous and blatant insults on top of it. Surely, he hadn't meant anything of what he had told her, the whole potion must have been a failure, no wonder, considering that it was rather weak anyway. It wasn't very difficult to disturb the results. Obviously, the alcohol had reversed its effects and had made him say the very opposite of what he had meant to. Rita gave a hardly perceivable nod. Yes, that was the only possible explanation. Mildly flattered, thinking of Malfoy's real view and admiration for her, she decided to give it a new try, without any herbal help. She was Rita Skeeter, for goodness sake, she would make him chat about everything she ruddy wanted to know.
--------------------
"Let's just forget it, Lucius, we don't need to talk about that." She assured him. She would try later again. "I mean, some of the boy's statements were so unlikely that I couldn't but leave them out."
"Oh, really," Malfoy said suddenly, "I didn't realise. – Did he tell you something of his godfather, by any chance? - I mean, surely, the poor boy's mind is still affected by that brain-wash to which Black had subjected the kids."
"Brainwash..." Rita gasped, "Yes, sure, I've heard, but ... Dumbledore said that was just a rumour..."
"And you believed that, just because Dumbledore said so?"
"Lucius, I..." she shook her head in confusion, "it's not that I haven't done any research for myself, you know, but it seemed to me rather unlikely ... there was no reason why Black should have done it, was there?"
Malfoy shrugged and gave a soft sigh. "Who can figure out the lines of thought of a criminal mind? – Certainly not me."
Rita narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and listened with more attention when he continued: "But for all I know, Black was the Da...You-Know-Who's second man, so... can't say it for sure of course...but maybe he had planned to abduct Potter to help resurrect the ...You-Know-Who. And who knows, perhaps that is still his plan."
Rita blinked and took a few moments to think this outrageous possibility through. She wasn't aware of Malfoy's cruel grin, didn't see his satisfied smirk on his very own sense of humour. Her experience had told her never to turn down an unlikely theory before doing her own research. If it proved true – brilliant, and if not, it would still make a splendid story.
"That would explain Potter's obvious confusion right now, maybe he's really convinced of those stories he keeps telling, but I don't consider it improbable that that's exactly what Black has planted in his mind..." Malfoy prompted.
"Yes," Rita began thoughtfully, observing her interlocutor slowly. "on the other hand...what Potter told me, was not too unlikely either..."
Her expression was blank when she locked eyes with him, for a moment all love and affection had been perfectly replaced by the professional attitude and inquisitiveness of a Daily Prophet reporter.
She was waiting for his answer patiently.
However, if Rita had expected to make him uneasy and unsettle him a bit by that sudden turn of the conversation, she had been wrong.
"No," he conceded, after only a second of cool silence, "not for Quibbler readers, anyway."
She didn't laugh.
"You want an answer." He said in mock disbelief. "You really want an answer to this, you do, don't you?"
She cocked an eyebrow. "Surely the world would love to know what one of the main suspects – in Harry's view – has to say to this. – But wait, I'll just get my quill an..."
"Forget the quill. I'm telling you and no-one else." He was mildly amused by Rita's too obvious excitement. "I can't believe I have to defend myself against accusations such ridiculous as this, but alright. - The answer is no. Tell this to your readers, because I'll only say it once. I do not know where Potter was and the other kid was killed, but I had nothing to do with it, and neither had any of my friends. I beg you, Rita, on a graveyard? How fitting. I didn't trust my eyes when I read that... me, standing in a circle around the Potter boy and You-Know-Who watching them duel? God, Rita, I was in my study at that time, preparing the annual list of magical possessions for the Ministry of Magic. Believe me, if Potter had any idea of how tedious that work was, he would have used that instead as the main ingredient for his fantasies. – And besides, the last time I was "disguised" was at Nott's wedding, where they forced me into acting the best man. – Violet was never my colour."
He gave a pityful sigh, and looked at Rita with a mock suffering expression.
She couldn't but laugh. He was right. This sounded much more probable. Had she been mad to listen to Potter? After she herself had revealed his emotional disturbance in her former articles. If Malfoy had told her the truth, she had made a complete fool of herself with that Quibbler article. But still, she was too much a journalist and too much used to lies and deceit to trust him fully.
-----------------
"Well, you know, it's not that incredible," Rita said slowly, half grinning. "I remember one of my best birthday-parties...there were indeed around twenty cutely disguised people encircling me and one of those man-sized cauldrons. And...", she had difficulty to continue, putting all her effort in suppressing a giggle attack, "...and there, too, was a naked man who jumped out of it. – And then, he...he had to perform a piece out of a Muggle musical before he got his clothes back."
She let herself fall backwards against the back of the sofa and covered her eyes with her hand, giggling still more loudly. If she had opened her eyes, she would have realised that she was the only one laughing. Indeed, Malfoy looked more cold and dangerous than he had ever since he had met her tonight. For the fraction of a second, pure loathing and fury had replaced his former charming features, but he was used to regain his composure astonishingly quickly.
Almost unable to speak, and her eyes still closed, Rita hit him on the arm a few times in amusement, encouraging him to join in.
"You know," she said between chuckles, wiping a few tears of joy away, "Bobo had lost a bet. – Poor guy." A few last waves of her laugh attack convulsed through her body while she enjoyed sweet reminiscence.
She didn't see that Malfoy looked like he was about to give her a few well-aimed blows in the face.
Finally, Rita recovered and sat back up. She realised, slightly embarrassed, that her attempt to release the tension of the situation hadn't worked. "Well," she shrugged and cleared her throat, "I reckon you'd have to be there to get the joke."
------------------
"C'mon, Lucius," she began in a soothing tone, "You know I didn't..."
Her eyes grew wide when she heard a soft, screeching noise and she stopped mid-sentence. She made a movement to prop herself up, using his chest for support, and Malfoy grabbed her by the arms and pushed her down on the sofa, gesturing her to remain silent, while drawing hiswand. Instinctively, she was searching for her own wand, but soon remembered that she was wearing the sort of dress that allowed no further equipment, which she told him with an apologetic wave of her arms.
Malfoy merely shook his head, as if to inform her this was on no importance and again, gestured her to remain sitting.
A brief look at the balcony door assured him it was still closed. The sound had been more far and must have come from outside the living-room, so he headed with well-trained, cautious steps to the door that led outside.
For another instant, he was listening attentively, but no further sound was to be heard. With a short flick of his wand, the door opened slowly and he glided outside, pressing himself against the wall. The corridor was empty. The light from the living-room was bright enough to shine outside, so that even the corridor seemed to be dimly lit. Without any option to hide for an intruder.
Malfoy blinked in mild confusion and looked left and right. His steps were hardly audible when he moved towards the door opposite, which seemed to lead to the bathroom. His face was a blank mask when he took a few determined steps towards the door, grabbed the handle firmly and pulled it open with one forceful movement, as the same time aiming his wand in the room, focussing on a silent Stunning Spell. The beam shot into the small room, but found no target. Again, Malfoy found the room empty.
As was the broom-cupboard which he searched next. A few further steps took him in front of another door, which was bound to lead to the sleeping-room.
Malfoy took a deep breath. He knew that, if there was indeed an intruder, they had to be here. His hand closed around the handle and enclosed it in a painfully strong grip. He had no clue what he would face behind that door, or how many people would be hiding in there. If there was somebody, but he could not rely on that option, just because it was more probable. He had been to long in the Dark Lord's service to dare ignore even the slightest aberration. The slightest sound could be a hint to the presence of enemies who would try to kill him, and he not run any risks.
Focused on the spells and curses he would use against the intruder, or them, he held his wand at the ready, but froze in shock when he heard a voice in his back:
"No point, Lucius."
Malfoy was just going to swirl around and defend himself when he realised to whom that voice belonged. He rolled his eyes and turned around to his host.
"Rita." He mouthed angrily and tried to gesture her to retreat to the living-room. "And be quiet, for God's sake!"
"No, honestly, Lucius," she repeated, unabashed and in a completely normal voice, "nobody could get in there, I sealed it with a spell. – Calm down, hon, there's no-one there. Was probably just the old wooden furniture that was making that sound."
He wasn't satisfied yet. "And why, Rita, would you seal your sleeping-room, if I may ask?"
"Because," she said importantly, "there have been break-ins in the neighbourhood, and I have all my import..."
"Your important what?"
"Nothing, Lucius, never mind. – Come back with me."
Back in the living-room, he relaxed. Of course, it could have been the furniture, and – as he had searched everything thoroughly, there was indeed no chance there was an intruder in here.
Indeed, Malfoy reckoned that ever since that freaking article he had grown considerably more nervous.
With a soft sigh, he sat back on the sofa next to the person who had written it.
---------------------
They made themselves comfortable again.
"Just imagine, Lucius," Rita said with a cheeky smile, "what Potter would have made of that little incident...and what horrible monsters he would have invented to add to the suspense."
"That Potter brat..." Malfoy muttered, sighing, and leaned back against the sofa. "you cannot possibly imagine how much nerves that stupid schoolkid has cost me already..."
Rita lied herself in his inviting arm and looked at him in an understanding, slightly inquisitive manner. "Really, Lucius?" she asked "I'm dying to hear. What else has that boy done to you? Tell your Rita everything."
Malfoy gave a soft chuckle and stroked her over the cheek, which she obviously found very pleasant. "Dying to hear..." he repeated her words, and it sounded strangely sickening out of his mouth, "You should make sure that none of your spells backfires one of these days, Rita."
For a single moment, Rita raised her head a little and threw him a bewildered look, which grew even more puzzled when she saw no sign of humour on his face. But she was too curious to let anything slip what he would tell, so she mentally waved off that little voice in her mind, that was screaming to her one warning after the other. Surely, he had just exaggerated or used an idiom that wasn't known to her. So she leaned into his embrace again and let him continue.
"But I can assure you, I'd be more than pleased not to meet that scumbag ever again. – Except for hearing his apologies of course, for this libel campaign y...- uh – he and his friends started."
Sporting her usual fake mask of guilty embarrassment in situation when she was reminded of her articles' affects on someone's life, she inclined her head and asked in a soft voice: "Yes, err, I understand that this whole affair must have been most unpleasant for you. Those kids really have no idea of the consequences of their false statements. No awareness of wrongdoing whatsoever. – And that editor just printed it without a final glance through it. This is most unfortunate."
Despite all regret, she managed to make it sound like she was talking about something other people had caused, and she had nothing to do with it. She even managed to look like she honestly believed that. However, if Malfoy was annoyed by that fact, he didn't show it.
Instead, he elaborated: "Yes, well, I had a lot to explain to my friends at the Ministry, and, which is even worse, Narcissa and Draco of course, had been involved and were the subject of public attention. 'Unpleasant' only describes it inadequately, I'm afraid. And the fact that it had only been the Quibbler, well, that was not necessarily an advantage, you know? Made me even more the victim of ridicule. And my family, obviously. – I mean, after all, you managed to put it on the front page, to be continued on 5 pages in the magazine. Alongside other, well-meant ... tales."
"Yes..." Rita went, thoughtfully, "it was between the stories of that dragon herd hidden in Rosmerta's cellar and that one about Jake, the Dementor, who wanted to get paid and founded a trade union."
"Exactly." Malfoy said dryly. "That didn't help."
"But I should have known there's something fishy going on, " Rita continued, "Potter and his friends, especially that little girl with the curly hair..."
"Oh, Granger, you mean? – That M...Muggle-born?"
"Yes," Rita nodded eagerly. " Exactly that one. Very nosy, self-righteous, conceited little schoolgirl, looks like a potato bag on two legs, really, no wonder she tries to compensate for it."
"I've seen her once." Malfoy pointed out. "Indeed an obnoxious know-it-all. And her appearance - you couldn't put it in gentle words – was indeed extremely abhorrent. Moreover, she talked back to me with her cheeky tongue. Doesn't know her place, and no manners whatsoever."
"Yes, she does give that impression, Lucius. – I've really tried to get along with her, but Granger's head is just so swollen that she's unable of leading a civil conversation. – Anyway, alongside with the Potter-boy, she begged me on bended knee to write that article, and I was almost afraid that if I hadn't done it, Potter would have ... I don't know, he was so depressed, maybe he would have hurt himself. Now I may not like him very much, but I didn't want anything to happen to him, you know?"
"Nooo," Malfoy stated dryly, "we wouldn't want that."
"And so I kind of showed them mercy and did them the favour they were so heartbreakingly begging for. – Ignoring my own interests an the negative effects it might have on my career in a nearly – if it's not too immodest to put it that way- self-denying manner. I was only thinking of the children's sake."
" I see. – So, actually, you were a victim of their mischief, just like me?"
"Oh yes." She said regretfully.
------------------
Suddenly, Rita stretched and leaned against his shoulder again. "Actually, Lucius, when I have lured you to my place, what I had in mind was not exactly an endless discussion. – It was rather your body than your mind that attracted me. Your brain is not that special, you know?" She added cheekily, and faked an attempt to flee from the sofa, in case of retaliation.
She heard his soft chuckle before she felt his arms around her waist which pulled her back next to him.
Giggling, she let herself fall against him and faked a struggle against his grip.
"Come again?" he snarled indignantly.
"Sorry, didn't mean that – I've drunk too much as well, I think."
"It seems so, woman."
"Let go!"
Laughing shrilly, she staged an impressive fight against his grip, which he finally loosened, only to have her administer him a soft blow against his chest and give him a peck on the cheek to settle the fight.
Rita was half sitting on his lap, while his hand stroked softly the tissue of the back of the dress.
He grabbed for his glass again, but she laid his hand on his and pulled the glass away. "Don't think so, Lucius." she informed him and stood, walking over to the cabinet, this time retrieving a large bottle with a transparent liquid.
"You can get some water instead. – I'm not going to listen to any insult again."
He laughed and stood up, too, walking over to the cabinet and embracing her from behind. "You're right, that was very rude of me.- Sorry."
She didn't answer, but poured some of the water in two glasses, his arms still gently closed around her waist. "And I didn't mean to threaten you either," he continued, now that the potion had truly worn off, "it's just that...that stupid kid annoys me to no end."
Rita patted his hand to indicate he should release her, and turned around, giving him his glass. "He annoys you that much that you say such things to me?"
He shrugged and took the glass.
"Honestly, you wouldn't believe how incredibly dumb and interfering that stinking Potter brat is, did you know that, by his intervention, my house-elf lost his home in my family and had to leave to meet his own doom out there? Out of sheer lust to annoy people, Potter gave him a sock without my or the elf's knowledge – it was hidden in a book, you know – and the poor creature couldn't but take it, as Potter threw it at the elf's head."
Rita gasped. "He did not!"
"Oh yes," Malfoy continued, "and laughed in my face afterwards."
Rita shook her head, clearly appalled. "Didn't seem the type, the Potter boy...but then, he treated me too very disparagingly, although I only meant well. He can be such a stupid, thick-headed kid, right?"
Malfoy nodded. "I'm not sure if that's his fault, though. Maybe he's only mentally challenged. – And maybe not and he's just an interfering little scumbag who needs to learn some manners."
"Yeah," Rita sighed, "I suppose life will teach him that some day."
The slightest touch of a grin flushed through Malfoy's face. "Well, sooner or later he'll have to face what the future beholds for him, and then he'll learn his lesson."
The both grinned and held up their glasses again for another toast. "To the Potter brat." Malfoy prompted. Rita chuckled and nodded graciously. "Yes, to the stupid, stinking Potter brat. Hehe."
Malfoy joined in chuckling and gave Rita a friendly, fake blow with his fist, which slowed down an inch in front of her chin, merely touching it gently. "My compliments, woman. You've got style!"
----------------
Only now he realised the soft music. Obviously, Rita had switched on some tune that didn't seem unfamiliar to him, not quite his taste, but not too bad either.
"I see we share the same taste for music, too, Rita. – I didn't know the Weird Sisters were playing that sort of music, too, though."
Indeed, the music, which came from an enchanted disc circling through the room, wasn't typical for that band, however it very much added to the atmosphere right now. A single female voice sang in a jazz-like tune, accompanied by a piano and violins.
"Oh, yes," Rita explained. "It's called Under the Moonlight, they composed a few of those songs for the "Magical Dance Competition" last year."
"Very interesting." Malfoy said, "What do you think, Rita," he suddenly gave a slight bow in front of her. "May I ask you for a dance?"
"Oh, of course." Rita beamed at him and took his hand. In a rather close dancing position, they started to move to the tunes of the music, and Rita noticed with pleasure his hand softly touching her back, but still holding her close to him, quite apart from the fact that he was an excellent dancer. Rita sighed comfortably. They way he was holding and leading her, and his whole composure, paired with his consideration for her...he was the perfect gentleman. Relishing in his warm touch, she moved to the music and listened to the lyrics. She loved that song.
"I remember the night, when we were dancing the very first time,
under the moonlight, under the stars,
I remember your eyes, flirting so brightly with mine,
above us the perseids, Saturn and Mars,
----
Your embrace was so sweet, so very inviting to me,
much more than the moonlight, much more than the stars,
I sank in your arms, like those sunken ships in the sea,
hopelessly lost but yet free, we saw the waves pass.
----
And you whispered those words, those enchanting words in my ears,
under the ocean, under the sea,
I absorbed every letter, every kiss there relinquished my fears,
'cause I was your guardian down there, and you guarded me.
----
Rita gave a soft moan and threw Lucius her brightest smile, when he released her out of his grip to perform a perfectly accomplished change of steps and let her make a pirouette under his arm, before she glided back to her former position, thoroughly enjoying herself.
----
Nothing and no-one - would've been able to move us apart,
under the ocean, under the sea,
We were happy together, one soul and one mind and one heart,
No-one could hurt us, we were just free.
----
But it was only one night, one glamorous night that we shared,
under the moonlight, under the stars,
Only a little affair - insignificant, nobody cared,
and then we parted, like by invisible bars.
----
Yet it won't leave my mind, that night was the best that I had,
together with you, so thrilling and new,
So special, true and unique, that it left me both grateful and sad,
under the moonlight, together with you. -
Under the moonlight, together with you."
-----------------------
"Awww," Rita went as the last tones of the song were fading, and, with a soft sigh, laid her head on Lucius's shoulder. "Isn't that beeeeautiful? – Hm-m-hm-m-mhmm, so romantic, isn't it... Lucius?"
Without her noticing, Malfoy raised his eyebrows, considering for a moment what to say. "Ahh, yes, indeed, Rita. – Very... unique."
"Na-na-na-nanahaa-aa." She continued humming the tune of the song that had long before finished. For a moment, they remained in their dancing position, although not moving anymore. Finally, Rita looked up at him, smiling seductively. "You know Lucius, that music – always brings me in the right mood. – Surely I'm not the only one."
Being the gentleman that he was, he knew it would have been very impolite to deny that, so he shrugged and assured her, not quite convinced himself: "Oh yes very much so, Rita. – I feel ...", he cocked his eyebrow, searching for the right words, "Yes, I feel...very much ... in the mood,... too."
In fact, he didn't. First, that kind of music was not exactly what he had in mind when he thought of erotic adventures, respectively his marital duties, and secondly, and much more importantly, (even though Rita was undeniably pretty – not a spring chicken anymore of course – but still, not thoroughly unattractive, and it would certainly not be an unpleasant experience), he needed something else to turn himself on. Something that Rita could not give him.
---------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
First, thanks for your review, Puddlemere, and for encouraging me! I really appreciate that!
Thanks again HP maniac, too!
And, dear readers, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, and I think I can promise that it won't take me too long to post the next. I'll be happy about every review, and even if you didn't like my story or some aspects of it, please feel free to criticise and tell me what I could improve, I won't be offended.