Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: Please keep reviewing. And for the answer to my question about the Shadow: it comes from Cornelia Funke's "Inkheart."

Chapter 4

Good Morning

The days passed without incident. Every night Lucius and Hermione sat on opposite ends of the sofa and read. Every night Lucius noticed Hermione smiling less and less. Every night Lucius noticed, the spark of life in her eyes seem to dim and hide behind the melancholic face she now wore. The dim spark would glitter awake when Remus Lupin paid his weekly visit to make sure everything was okay and to take Hermione's schoolwork back to school and deliver her new ones. He would even bring letters from her friends and occasionally a letter from Draco to Lucius. In those evenings when Remus would leave and Hermione sat reading the letters from her dearest friends, Lucius would notice the spark in her eyes glittering with hope. By morning, it would be gone.

Hermione felt alone and isolated. True, Lucius was trapped with her, but that was hardly like having a friend with you. Lucius was…well, Lucius…to a degree. The only change in him at this point being that he did not sneer at her like she were filth quite as much as before. Still…he was Lucius. There were moments when she would look up from her work at him and suddenly there he was in her mind in his Death Eater garb in her mind's memory. A shiver of fear ran through her at those moments. It served to remind her Lucius was not in the house with her as a protector, but as Lucius wanting to save his own hide. But if she really thought about that, she had to admit he had a twinge of protector in him. At night, he would ward Hermione's door for her to prevent her sleepwalking out of the room. As she thought about it, she had to smirk to herself—he probably just loved basically locking her up at night like a prisoner.

Lucius sat in his usual spot on the sofa. The fire in the fireplace danced light across his features. This whole situation was getting to her. She knew this. What else would explain her urge to sit next to him, lean her head on his shoulder, and just talk? She convinced herself she was just longing for some sort of human contact. Sighing, she looked down at the sealed parchment in her hand—a letter from Harry and maybe Ron. With a slight smile and the tiniest bit of hope building in her chest, she walked over and sat in front of the sofa…closer to the fire. The firelight danced over the parchment as she read.

Hermione,

How are you doing? I bet you have been surrounding yourself in schoolwork. I really am sorry about this situation. We all miss you very much, if that helps any. I know how it feels to be trapped in a house. Hermione, you are one of the strongest people I know and you will make it through this.

Draco wants to know if you have hexed his father yet? And before you ask, yes he is sitting with me, Ron, and Ginny as we write this. A bit has happened since last I wrote. I asked Remus not to mention anything because I know you. You would have left the safe house and thus you would have been in danger also. Voldemort sent dementors after Draco. He went missing for a bit. I gathered the DA and we searched for him. We were lucky we found him when we did though. He was on the quidditch field out cold. It was like third year all over with the dementors. We circled Draco and all of us did the patronus charm at the same time. You should have seen it Hermione! Anyway, to make a long story short, the git has taken a liking to us now. I am now getting the Evil Malfoy Glare. Anyway, you weren't there and Draco being the smart git he is knew you would have been if you had known. Basically he wants to make an effort at making amends with you. Well, your birthday is coming up and some of us have been given permission for Remus to bring us to you that evening to celebrate. Would you mind Draco attending this gathering?

We will see you soon.

Love,

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and yes, Draco.

P.S. There are two invintations from Slughorn with this.

Lucius was watching her read the letter. He already knew some of what it contained due to the letter his son sent him. He watched her smile sweetly as she began to read the letter. Then a shadow seemed to pass over her face and she clapped her hand to her mouth—she must have been reading about the dementors. Then he saw her blink once, blink twice, and then blink the third time before her eyes rose from the parchment and looked directly at Lucius.

Hermione looked back down at the parchment and turned it over looking for more information, but there was none. She looked back up to Lucius.

"Well…Harry didn't even tell me! Is Malf…Draco okay?"

He looked at her in silence for a moment.

"Thanks to your friends he will be just fine."

He went back to reading his book in an attempt to ignore the girl on the floor in front of him. He took a deep steadying breath. Then he noticed Hermione standing before him reading something and handing him something with her other hand. He took it and glanced at it, recognizing it immediately.

"Slughorn?"

"Yes," Hermione looked up from reading hers. "Apparantly, now that the Malfoys are in hiding from Voldemort that makes you an ex-Death Eater in his eyes. He is holding a costume party Halloween and we are invited."

He rose from his seat when he saw Hermione head off to bed. Lucius followed her up the stairs; both were silent on the way. At her door, Hermione turned around facing Lucius on the other side of the door. She knew he was following her in order to ward the door shut. A small forced smile was her goodnight to Lucius. He just stared at her with his usual cold glare, as if he would rather be anywhere but there.

Lucius watched that hopeless, bittersweet smile splay across her lips. She looked down at her feet as she slowly shut the door as if she were ashamed and saddened of something at the same time. As soon as she shut the door, Lucius warded the door and went next door to his room. Lying in his bed, he could hear the soft stifled whimpering of the miserable girl.

Thinking of the following day being Hermione's birthday, Lucius tried to convince himself that it was out of pure decorum that he should present her with a gift. Walking to his wardrobe he pulled out an ancient looking chest encrusted with runes and the Malfoy family crest.

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Hermione's dreams continued to engulf her in darkness and bring about a foreboding fear beyond anything she has ever felt. The Shadow rose up at her feet as if she beckoned the creature to her aid. The Death Eaters continued to circle and trap her with this dark creature. Desperately she would search the circle for what she could only assume were familiar eyes, though unfriendly. She found none. Only eyes that screamed pure hate, though when she thought about it so did the eyes she searched for. And why was she searching for those cold grey eyes that obviously hated her so? As the Shadow closed in on her, she felt herself surrounded by death: Sirius, Dumbledore, Remus, Ginny, Ron, Harry. The Death Eaters separated to allow her to run through the sea of dead bodies. Bellatrix's laughter rang through the night air taunting her so cruelly. She felt they were after her with the Shadow so close she could feel its cold fearful air. Glancing back to look she tripped over a body and found herself sprawled on the dirty ground. Looking at whom she tripped over she felt herself go numb as ice seemed to fill her veins. Lying on the cold dark ground was a man in the uniform of the Death Eater, mask in his hand, and cold unmoving grey eyes staring blankly ahead…

Lucius lay awake in his bed wishing all thoughts of this little girl out of his head.

Little girl?

He rolled his eyes. He continued to tell himself she were a little girl, but such a part of him laughed at him and taunted him with the fact that she were anything but.

"Stupid little Mudblood," he whispered into the silence of his room.

Then the sound of a heart-wrenching scream filled the silent night air. Lucius sat up quickly and without a second thought, he ran from his room. He began removing the wards as he closed in on Hermione's door so that he could open it the moment he reached it.

Lucius stepped into the room and suddenly found himself unsure of what to do. The Hermione his son complained about, the Hermione he continuously tried to intimidate, the Hermione that stood her ground before him with the famous Harry Potter and fought amongst full grown Death Eaters at the ministry was not what he found in that room. The Hermione he found lay curled up in a fetal position of her bed, rocking herself back and forth, chanting "no…no…no…" over and over is such anguish. Despite her sleeping state tears streamed down her cheeks—a physical manifestation of the misery and pain she were experiencing in a nightmare beyond her control.

Kneeling down next to her bed, he gently nudged her to try to wake her from her miserable state.

"Miss Granger?"

Nothing.

He nudged a little rougher this time feeling frustration at her lack of response. Suddenly without warning her eyes shot open wide and seemingly over alert as she realized who knelt before her versus what she was dreaming. Her mouth opened forming an "o" as she did something most unexpected on both their parts.

Hermione was so relived it was a dream. In her dream, everyone was dead. It was overwhelming. When she awoke to find someone from her dream actually alive she reacted purely on relief of the fact that it was a dream and not real. Her arms reached out rather desperately and wrapped around his neck as if begging to know he truly was there.

"Oh! Thank Merlin!"

The tears were steadily streaming.

"Everyone was dead…everyone…they surrounded me…so much death…"

Lucius allowed the girl to cling to him so desperately. Slowly he slid up on the bed next to her to allow some comfort for himself as well as her strange position. Hermione felt his arms wrap around her soothingly and she felt a shock of thankfulness that he was not shoving her away and calling her nasty names. Instead, Lucius said nothing and when he did later, he would wish he had kept his mouth shut. The way she looked up at him would haunt him for so long after; it would taunt him in his dreams, tease him in his waking hour, and laugh at his frustration and denial.

"Who was dead?"

She started mumbling names into his chest.

"Remus…Ginny…Ron…Harry…everyone…"

She lifted her teary face and looked up at his strong pointed aristocratic features. Something shone in her teary eyes as she seemed to search his for something, like a light had been lit deep in them waiting to turn into a roaring fire.

"…and I saw you."

The tears still streamed down her cheeks. Lucius said nothing as he stared at her. He felt the sudden urge to wipe all her tears away, to kiss away her fears, but how un-Malfoy is that? One hand reached up as if obeying his thoughts and gently smoothed away a tear. His fingertips drifted to her jaw line and slowly moved its way down to her lips. Hermione watched Lucius leaning in toward her and to her surprise, she didn't try to move away. Lucius wondered as his fingertips wandered over her lips why his son never voiced any desires for this young woman.

Because she is a Mudblood.

As if a switch had been turned on, Lucius realized what he was about to do. To try to cover up his actions, Lucius did not move. Instead he turned cold grey eyes from her lips to her eyes reminding himself over and over what she was and spoke in his usually cold Malfoy demeanor.

"Miss Granger, it was a dream only as I am sure you are brilliant enough to be aware of." He sat himself up straight. "Lie down and get rest." Lucius removed himself from the bed and looked down at her as if she were beneath him. He was not blind. He could see the hurt, confusion, and fear swimming around in her teary eyes.

"I'll stay until you are asleep."

With a slight nod of her head, Hermione lay back down on the bed. She wiped tears away desperately wishing them gone and to forget any of this happened.

"You can lie down over here, you know."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow wondering what exactly the girl was suggesting. With an exasperated sigh she continued.

"You look uncomfortable and who knows how long it will take me to go to sleep. Besides…I promise you my Mudblood filth won't soil you in any way."

His eyes narrowed at the girl. Anger flared through him and shock at her own use of the derogatory name he used on her on numerous times. He could see the hatred for that name and the hurt at her use of it and her knowledge of how he truly felt about her dancing across her face when she said it. He stood up, not really understanding why this angered him.

"Fine, Miss Granger. If it will shut you up and get you to sleep faster."

Hermione watched him lay atop the covers. With a slight smile, she closed her eyes. Lucius watched her fall asleep. Her tear stained face suddenly became relaxed as if without trouble at all. Her breathing became deep and rhythmic. His last view of the waking world was of her sleeping peacefully next to him.

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Hermione woke up to extreme warmth next to her. Her head lay on something warm and it definitely was not a pillow. The previous night's events rushed into her memory making her very aware that at that moment she was using Lucius Malfoy as a pillow. She felt the urge to crawl as far under the covers as she possibly could in hopes of suffocating and dying instead of having to face his wrath if he woke up with them in this position. But a thought occurred to her. It was her birthday and laying at the foot of her bed on a bench were gifts from her family.

Lucius slept in nothing but pajama bottoms. The result was that he felt Hermione's eyelashes flutter open when she woke. He feigned sleep in hopes she would just stay put and go back to sleep. He couldn't explain it and it was just too early to try to. Hermione had been dreaming again and one point the previous night. Lucius had fallen asleep next to her which meant she was in his reach when she cried out his name in her sleep. It was not how he ever imagined her calling out his name. In the past it could have been imagined, but she would have been begging him for mercy. Instead, his name escaped her lips in such desperation and pain? When he felt her thrash a bit and start rocking herself, he pried her from her fetal position the best he could. Her head ended up resting between his chest and stomach as her soothed her by running his fingers through her hair. She never woke up and slept without incident the remainder of the night. Now, in the morning light, he wanted her to stay right where she was.

Hermione had slowly moved herself to a sitting position at the end of the bed. Lucius watched her feeling frustrated and confused by his own emotions. He told himself he really needed some adult contact to rid himself of this apparent cabin fever he was experiencing. He remained silent as she unwrapped her gifts. She unwrapped a magical book, a muggle book, and rather short revealing nightgown from an apparently racy aunt before she saw the small gift bag.

It sat nearly under all the other gifts as if someone had tried to hide it. It wasn't your typical gift bag made of paper. This gift bag was velvety and such a deep shade of blue it evoked pure tranquility just looking at it. It was held closed by the golden drawstring. Nothing on it indicated whom it was from. Feeling a little nervous about this unknown gift, Hermione went against all her reason and opened the bag. She dumped the contents in her hand and felt a gasp escape her throat. Glittering in her hand, attached to a beautiful silver chain was a gorgeous snowflake pendent made out of small diamonds. In the dead center of the snowflake was no diamond though, but something else she recognized: a crystallized phoenix tear. These necklaces were rare, that much she knew. What she didn't know was who sent it. It was in with her family gifts and she knew none of them could have sent her something like this. They were not something you find in a muggle jewelry store.

Lucius couldn't take it anymore. He watched her unwrap these gifts and her reaction to all of them. The over whelming desire to reach out and do what he didn't do last night drove him mad. Anger flared in him at himself and the little Mudblood. Abruptly he stood out of bed and was standing next to the bench when he heard her small voice.

"Good morning, Mister Malfoy," Hermione said rather shyly, hoping he didn't know how she woke up that morning.

Lucius turned his head to her and Hermione was met with such cold hate that she instinctively backed away up to the head of the bed. She felt his eyes travel over her body as he snarled at her with an intensified loathing compared to what he had been like the past week. Without a word, he stormed from her room and slammed the door on his way out.