I'm still sorting out the mess that is this story. It's a good thing that this story has quite a bit written in advance, because with school starting out again, I haven't been able to write as much. Ninth grade absolutely sucks. But to help me get over the depressing days of being a high school freshman I think some reviews are in order.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lucius or Draco Malfoy, nor do I own their portrayers. I don't own Johnny Depp, John Cusack, Sean Bean, Hannibal Lecter or Gerard Butler either. Just thought you'd want to know.

Chapter 4: Not Another Dumb Blonde

"We have all been blind
And yet the answer is staring us
in the face...
This couldbethe
chance to ensnare our
clever friend..."

-NotesIIfrom The Phantom of Opera

It had hit Lucius like a ton of bricks. He'd always prided himself on being a smart, cunning man, but he was rethinking that assessment now. Why had it taken this long for Lucius to realize that the Granger girl was his key to more power than he'd ever dreamed possible? Of course,he wasn't foolish enough to think that he could blackmail the Dark Lord with the possession of a fraction of his soul. His plan was much more insidious than that.

He would seduce Granger. Lure her into the Dark Arts. And when Voldemort exterminated that little gnat Potter, Granger would be his right hand, providing she proved useful. Lucius knew that no matter what, Voldemort would never kill one of his Horcruxes, even if they proved useless after Potter's defeat. She'd always be around, and Lucius would use it to his advantage.

If Hermione became entwined with Lucius in a tutorial and romantic relationship, he'd be linked to the most powerful witch in the post war world. Lucius could then use her as a conduit to gain even more political power.

His plan was brilliance. It did irk him though, that Snape's reaction to Lucius' news the night before could probably be attributed to Snape having the same exact plan, Merlin knows how long before the same inspiration had struck him. But did it matter now? Lucius had the girl in his rooms right now, just waiting to be taken advantage of.

Of course, the seduction would have to be slow, and carried of with inexplicable finesse. But Lucius was confident in his abilities. Granger would be putty in his hands.

But there was still Severus to deal with. Lucius decided that he'd be willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals. If Snape got in the way, he'd be dealt with accordingly. It was like the muggle saying, all's fair in love and war. And this, Lucius mused, is war.

LHSLHSLHS

Hermione thought about what Snape had said to her. It hadn't even struck her until then that she might've fought. She was so frustrated with herself, with her placidity, her calm acceptance of everything that was going on. She was loose in Voldemort's headquarters, and what did she do? Rage at Malfoy? Kick and scream for her freedom? For no matter what she'd thought at first, being released from the dungeons didn't mean she was free. She was still being held captive, just in a penthouse.

Hermione blew out a puff of breath. She was handling this situation all wrong. She was slipping into a familiarity that hadn't been granted to her. She'd assumed that everything would be peachy keen now that she was out of the dungeons. But now that reality was catching up with her, she realized how stupid that was.

It may just be that Malfoy has been assigned to make my life a living hell, she mused. She had to admit that nothing was making sense. For the first time she started questioning her good fortune.

But Hermione had to put her doubts on hold. She looked around for the bathroom; she was in sore need of a shower. Stepping into the bathroom, she was swept up. Like the rest of the apartment, it was beautiful. All the fixtures were silver and the counter tops were granite. The curtain was green with the inner curtain of black.

The only thing that the bathroom seemed to be missing was towels. Looking around she found soap, lotions, a thousand different types of shampoo and conditioner, but the towels seemed to have gone AWOL. Hermione trudged into the room that was connected to the bathroom, hoping that she'd have more luck there.

The moment she stepped into the room, Hermione knew what she was looking for wouldn't be found. It was a study, a medium sized room filled with book cases. For Hermione, it was heaven.

She eagerly scanned the shelves. Snape had been able to smuggle a few titles down to the dungeon, but Hermione had been woefully bereft of books for a good part of her stay in the dungeons. She knew she couldn't complain, she'd escaped the dungeons with her life, what more could she expect. But she was pleasantly surprised that she had all of these books at her fingertips. Or rather, she thought, Malfoy has these books at his fingertips. But that didn't mean she couldn't read them, did it?

She closed her eyes and picked a random book. She ran her fingers across the black leather cover. A History of the Dark Arts was embossed in gold lettering. Her stomach gave a little jump. She found herself wanting to read the book cover to cover, despite the subject. Turning page after page, she didn't stop reading until the door opened, breaking her concentration.

LHSLHSLHS

"Please madam, I really have to catch this train," the blonde tried to push his last galleons to the middle aged witch.

"I'm sorry sir," she said in a tone which made it clear she wasn't sorry in the least. "That's not enough. Surely you have some other means of transportation?"

"No, I don't! Please," he looked at her imploringly. "This is all I have!"

The woman looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. She studied his face, taking in his blond hair, which was mostly covered by the hood of a cloak save for a few locks; his steel gray eyes and his features. Comprehension dawned on her face.

"You're the Malfoy boy, aren't you?" The woman lowered her voice to a whisper, but Draco looked around urgently, just in case anyone else had heard her. "No, never mind, I don't want to know." She continued to look at him; then took his money, replacing it with a ticket. She inclined her head slightly. "I hope you get to where you're going safely."

Draco left the ticket booth victorious, but more than a little disconcerted. It wasn't a surprise that the woman recognized him. The Daily Prophet had published his picture next to Potter's months ago, when he'd first disappeared. The photo appeared in all the major wizarding papers in Europe. But the fact that people still recognized him from his picture did make things harder. He hadn't had time enough to change his appearance after his appointment with the bank earlier that day. Those were the only accounts that were in his name, and not his fathers. But of course, his father had come earlier and cleared out the accounts, donning some sort of disguise to fool the bankers. It was only this time they'd insisted that dozens of spells to ensure that they were talking to the real Draco. He had even had to wait a full hour before being seen, to make sure he hadn't taken the Polyjuice potion. Where had all that security been months ago?

They'd assured Draco that his money would be recovered, but it would take some time. Time that Draco wasn't sure he had. He'd arranged for the money to be wired into an account at Gringotts that he'd taken out using an assumed name. He wasn't taking any chances. He'd made it these past four months without getting killed, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep up this cat and mouse game. His only hope was to reach the Headquarters of the Phoenix. He was supposed to have arrived days ago, but a hit man in had made sure Draco had missed that deadline.

And to put the icing on the screwed up cake, Snape hadn't contacted him in weeks. Draco put a hand on his brow. Thinking about Severus always made his head hurt. It was just so screwed up, the whole situation. And Draco didn't want to think about anything right now. He just wanted to pretend like the last few months, everything that had happened since the Headmaster died was a bad dream from which he'd soon wake. Draco pulled his hood farther down and curled up on the seat. Within moments he was fast asleep.

LHSLHSLHS

Okay, I just realized I have no chapter 2! I've got some fixin' to do! But everyone's homework is to send cordyangel a review on each of her lovely stories if you haven't already done so. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!