Allo, cordyangel here with another post. Just finished watching Crash, which was so depressing! Cried until I couldn't cry anymore. But read, review and enjoy.

Chapter 5: Caught in the Act

"Damn you!
You little prying Pandora!"

-Stranger Than You Dreamt It, The Phantom of the Opera

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Lucius' velvet voice broke Hermione's concentration.

The brunette tried to keep her cool. She was a Gryffindor, she had courage! Even if it had been subdued a bit after half a year in a cold prison. "Reading," she said with confidence she didn't feel.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her response. "Did I not tell you explicitly not to touch anything?"

She cleared her throat and drew herself up to her full height. "I was looking for towels and…" for a moment, Hermione felt her cool façade slip away.

"And the study looked like the linen closet?" Hermione was shocked to see a smile playing at Lucius' lips. He glided closer to her. "What is it that has captured your interest?"

She was almost ashamed to show him. Here she was, the best friend to Malfoy's sworn enemy and what was she reading? A book about the Dark Arts. But reluctantly, she flashed the cover at him.

Malfoy let out a chuckle, one that sounded both surprised and pleased. Hermione longed to wipe the smirk off his face, a sign that the old Hermione was returning, or at least waiting in the wings.

"I suppose this is purely for educational purposes?" He asked, turning the book over and reading the title. He jerked a thumb towards the bathroom. "Towels are in the second drawer." He turned to go.

Hermione slipped the book back into the bookshelf but Lucius stopped her.

"Take it with you. And when you're done, feel free to pick another." He floated out of the way.

Nevertheless, she still stuck the book back where she'd found it. Back where it belongs.

LHSLHSLHS

Malfoy had finally decided to tell Hermione where she was sleeping. There was a small bedroom connected to his that was to be hers. She was grateful to have a bed from so long of just sleeping on the cold floor. She thanked him and excused herself to take, at last a long shower.

She stepped in and breathed a long sigh of rapture. As the hot water sloshed over her tired and dirty limbs Hermione began scrubbing herself. She watched as six months of dirt and grime washed down the drain. But despite this being her first shower in a long time, it didn't undermine the years she'd spent trying to downsize a water bill. After less than five minutes washing, shampooing and conditioning, she wrapped herself in the fluffy towel she'd found.

Now there was the matter of clothes. She didn't have any. Perhaps she should put on her old ones? Looking at the pile of rags that had once been shorts and a t-shirt, Hermione shook her head. There was no way that those would do. Hoping that Malfoy had left the apartment, Hermione emerged from the bathroom in the towel. Sadly, Hermione's hopes had been in vain. Lucius was reading in the sitting room when she passed. But she'd be damned if she let him know that his presence unnerved her.

LHSLHSLHS

The little chit was going to her room; he could've heard her from a mile away. The way she walked with her bare feet brushing against the carpeted floor was extremely audible. Looking up from his book, he caught her gaze.

She was clearly surprised to see him but her look of shock was replaced at once with a determination worthy of a Gryffindor. "I was just looking for something to wear," she said.

Lucius' eyes traveled down her towel clad body. She was very thin, one meal every three days wasn't bound to give one much nourishment. And he remembered that for a time she'd starved herself, so that too might've contributed to her emaciated body. Her eyes had dark rings below them, but Lucius remembered seeing her when she'd first arrived. With some food, she would regain the soft, womanly figure she'd had then.

His eyes returned to hers and for a moment he realized how much untapped power she had. The recognition of it left him a little dizzy. He knew now that no matter what, his son would never have had the power Granger had. He cleared his throat.

"There'll be clothes arriving tomorrow, but there might be something in the drawers of your room," he said softly. "If you're hungry, you can get something from the kitchen."

Hermione nodded and went into her room with Lucius' gaze on her the whole way.

LHSLHSLHS

It wasn't until Hermione opened up the first drawer in the bureau that she realized that at one time her room had been Draco's. She picked up a white cotton t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Draco wasn't a big man, he was probably 6'2 and he was lithe, but his clothes were swimming on her. Gazing down at her body, she realized just how much weight she'd lost recently.

She heard footsteps from outside her door and Lucius' voice. "The Dark Lord is calling. I'll be back before long." She heard the door open and close and let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Something about Lucius, aside from him being a murderous, despicable Death Eater, had Hermione on edge. The way he'd looked at Hermione as she went to her room had made her skin crawl. It was as if he had an ulterior motive, though she couldn't imagine for the life of her what it might be. What would one of the highest ranking Death Eaters want of the 'impure' best friend of the Boy Who Lived?

She didn't know, but Hermione resolved to be on guard.

LHSLHSLHS

To the victims of 9/11, Rest in Peace