"Keep your hands
at the level of your eyes!"
It didn't take Hermione more than couple of days to finish the fat book Lucius had lent her. Thinking that she had plenty of time before he returned from whatever he did during the day, she made the decision to return it.
Though she knew she was allowed into Lucius' study, she still felt like she was trespassing. Her feeling was magnified when she discovered she'd miscalculated the amount of time she had and Lucius had found her there. She was so startled, she dropped the book which landed with a resounding thud.
"Oh, I was just…" Hermione thrust the book into Lucius' hands. "I finished," she said, twitching a bit. It was amazing how nervous he made her.
He nodded. "That was fast." Reaching to a shelf that Hermione never could, he took another book down. As he brought it down, he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, exposing a patch of his pale white neck. Hermione caught herself thinking it strangely erotic but was brought back to reality when he handed it to her. She couldn't help but notice how smooth and soft his hands were. She wondered his skin was the same texture.
Ugh, snap out of it, Hermione ordered herself. She realised how dangerous her thoughts were. Why was she thinking about one of her primal adversaries as if her were a school boy she had a crush on? Was what Severus' had said true? Was she getting too comfortable in her position?
Lucius' hands were still in hers when she'd at last recovered her senses. "Thank you," she broke contact with him.
"You're very welcome Miss Granger," he said, as if it were a promise…or a curse.
LHSLHSLHS
Severus had been trying his best to visit Hermione whenever he could. But as the days passed on, he found it harder and harder to bring himself to knock on her door. Everyday he was frightened he'd open it and find that Hermione had been completely lost.
He always knew that it was a possibility. Most of Voldemort's Horcruxes were inanimate objects, but there had been studies of others who'd used humans as Horcruxes. And in certain cases, the Horcrux lost his or her own soul and was completely taken over by the invading one. While Snape didn't think that Hermione's soul was in danger yet, there was no denying that in the space of a week she'd changed.
There was nothing big, just little things. Little odd coincidences that, had Hermione been anyone else would've gone unnoticed. But to Snape, they mattered. They mattered a lot.
Had he been wrong in thinking that Hermione would be able to reject the Dark Lord's soul? Had Voldemort chosen his receptacle so well that Hermione wouldn't want to reject his soul? Power had come with the infusion, and Hermione had never been short of it in the first place. But in time, in this new environment, one of three things would happen to her. Either her soul and Voldemort's would battle to the death, Hermione would acquiesce and willingly give up her soul or she would reject his soul and most likely, die trying.
But what puzzled Snape even more was trying to figure out what had brought about this speedy transformation. She'd lived six months without Voldemort's soul manifestation. Snape had assumed that she was one of the lucky few who would go on blissfully unaware of the fact that she was one of Voldemort's vessels. But now he wasn't so sure.
Letting out a sigh of resignation, Severus pushed through the door and right into Lucius Malfoy.
LHSLHSLHS
"Well," Lucius drawled. "What an unexpected surprise. What brings you to this side of the hallway?" He raised an eyebrow.
A look of shock flitted across Snape's features so quickly that Lucius was left to imagine whether or not he'd actually seen it.
"I trust it was I whom you were expecting?"
"No, I was just looking for the Queen of England. We were supposed to have tea," Severus deadpanned.
Lucius heard a suppressed chuckle from behind him. He supposed Hermione had followed him into the sitting room. "Well, if you weren't here to see me, you were here to see Hermione," the name felt foreign on his tongue. But the challenge hung in the air that was what mattered. Lucius' steel eyes bored into Snape's. But Snape returned the glare, and they were left at an impasse.
"Actually, it was you I was looking for-"
Lucius grabbed his arm as the familiar pain began to tear at him. Glancing up at Snape, he only received an 'I told you so' look.
"Shall we go down together?" Snape sneered.
LHSLHSLHS
As always, Hermione had been thinking. It occurred to her how easily Lucius' charms could turn on and off. Case and point being the incident in the library. Though he hadn't meant to, she suspected he'd revealed a little of the real, undiluted Lucius. More than likely he had an ulterior motive for the serenity in their flat.
But that likelihood did not disturb her. In a way, she mused, it made things easier, and much more interesting. She needed answers, answers that would not come with being the recluse she was sure to become in the Headquarters. She did not want to become a Mrs. Rochester. If Lucius wanted a fight, he was sure to get one.
LHSLHSLHS
It had been pure luck that the Dark Lord had called when he did. Severus had no clue what he'd have done if he'd been forced to come up with a lie. It seemed as if his talent for lying had faded with these 9 months of disuse.
"Hello Lucius, Severus," the Dark Lord nodded to each man in turn. "Just wanted an update. At least that's what I want from you, Lucius."
Severus had to bite back the urge to roll his eyes. It had been less than a week for Merlin's sake. Did he really expect a 180 so soon? Then he sombrely remembered the observation he'd made not too long ago. Perhaps the Dark Lord wasn't being irrational at all.
"It is going well, my lord. She is coming around."
"Now that's what I like to hear. But there is something else I need you to do for her. A joint effort on you and Severus' parts. I want you to educate her." Voldemort saw the surprised expression on Lucius' face and clarified. "Not in the scholastic sense of the word. I want you to teach her proper etiquette fitting her class. In the not so far off future, she will be expected to attend banquets, meetings. She'll need a lot of preparation. Especially in the art of shutting up, as I'm told she can be quite the candid one." Instead of saying that fact as if it was a detraction, it seemed like Voldemort was boasting about a much loved child. "But there is a time and place for openness and I expect her to learn both. I do not need her to embarrass me at an important function."
Severus groaned inwardly. Just what he needed. Another reason to have to see Lucius. It struck him that the opportunity would be useful when needing to see Hermione. But Severus knew that somehow Lucius would use this new development to no one's advantage but his own.
"Are your orders understood?"
"Yes my lord," the two men murmured before returning to less important subject matter.
LHSLHSLHS
It was late when Lucius returned to his rooms. He was tired. He supposed he should be happy that the Dark Lord was trusting him with Hermione's education but he was beginning to wonder why the Dark Lord was bogging him down with such mundane tasks. He opened his door and slid in.
Hermione was on the couch, reading as always. Not wanting to disturb her, Lucius didn't attempt to speak to her on his way to his room.
"Can you do all of this?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book.
Lucius smiled, his lethargy wearing off quickly. It was one of his favourites, a book of dark spells. "Not all of it, but quite a bit."
"Can you teach me?" Her soft voice was innocent, yet at the same time, beguiling.
Lucius hid his shock well. It had taken less time than he'd anticipated. He flashed her a malevolent grin, one that bared his teeth. "Not tonight I can't."
"But someday, can you teach me?"
"I think I can."
LHSLHSLHS
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