Disclaimer: (sobs into laptop) He'll never be mine, he'll always be Rowling's!

A/N: This is a short one-shot I wrote a couple of months ago and found it again. I wrote it as though HBP doesn't exist...I think I was still recovering and in denial. Anyhoo, enjoy.

A Surprise Rescue

It was a quaint little street Lucius Malfoy had appeared on. No more than twelve houses, six on each side of the street, and all exactly the same as the next. Each one had its own piece of fenced off garden with a garage and car to the side. Of course, Lucius was bewildered at how people could live in such little buildings.

He frowned in distaste, just standing there was almost as sitting down to dinner with a Muggle. He silently praised the night sky that no one knew he was here except one person. Wrapping his cloak around himself, causing him to look like nothing more than a shadow, Lucius proceeded down the street.

He scowled as he came to a stop outside the house numbered six. The gate swung open before Lucius reluctantly made his way down the garden path to the front door that was pretending to be made of oak. Did these people have no class at all?

'Alohomora,' he muttered under his breath. The door slowly swung open allowing him access to a narrow hallway with the stairs on the left. Quickly and quietly Lucius walked up the stairs and came to four doors once he reached the top. He cursed inwardly at having to guess the door, time was of the essence.

Speedily scanning each door Lucius found his clue to the right door in the form of a nameplate. Without hesitation he walked into the bedroom of Hermione Granger. Within the blink of an eye he was at her bedside and firmly pulling her out of it with an expensively gloved hand covering her mouth. He suddenly paused while Hermione continued to fight against him; he could hear low conversation coming from downstairs from people entering the house. It was time to leave.

'Miss Granger, if you would kindly not scream while I get my wand then you may just live,' Lucius whispered into her ear. She could hear the smirk in his voice. Fearing for her parents' lives she obediently complied.

Hermione closed her eyes tightly as she felt the familiar sensation of Apparating. 'Why her?' was all that kept going round in her mind. The sensation stopped and her kidnapper let go of her, seizing the opportunity she spun round to punch him, but a firm grip caught her wrist.

'Open you eyes, Miss Granger,' Lucius spoke smugly; he was pleased at a job well done. Hermione gingerly opened her eyes and found a smirking Lucius Malfoy towering over her.

'I should have known it was you,' she pouted. She was desperate to hurt him, but he had his wand, she didn't. Plus he still had a firm grip on her wrist.

'Yes, well anything for my freedom,' he spoke with disdain.

'What do y-….freedom?'

'Yes, freedom,' he told with a hint of annoyance, 'now run along, your friends are waiting for you downstairs.' He pulled off the hood to his cloak to reveal his long white hair tied back in a black bow.

'I'm confused,' she frowned as she looked around at her surroundings, they were familiar to her, 'what exactly is happening?'

Lucius sighed in frustration as he threw his cloak onto a bed Hermione recognised. He looked around the room as though looking for inspiration to continue with the conversation.

'What is happening, Miss Granger, is that Death Eaters are roaming through your house looking to kill you and your parents. They shall find neither as you are here irritating me and your parents are tucked away in a safe little place that only Dumbledore knows about.' His eyes had narrowed at Hermione as though it was to challenge her to ask more questions. Hermione opened her mouth to speak but he beat her to it. 'Do not think for one moment that I did this for you. You were merely a means to an end.'

'Grimmauld Place!' she blurted out in response as she finally realised that she was in Ron and Harry's bedroom.

'Well spotted, I now see why they speak so highly of your intelligence,' Lucius spoke sarcastically while sitting down in a chair at the end of Ron's bed. 'Now, leave me be, you're polluting my air.' Hermione huffed in outrage to the door but froze as her hand touched the handle. Slowly she forced herself to turn back round and face Lucius, damn her parents for forcing manners on her.

'I know you saved me for your own selfish reasons, but…' she paused before dashing over to him and kissed himsoftly and quickly on the cheek before he could stop her. 'Thank you.' Then she left him in stunned silence.

After a few moments a sly smile spread across his face, those were definitely great perks to earning his freedom.