Disclaimer: Not mine, not even Lucius (sniff sniff).
A/N: Sorry about the links. If you let me know I will e-mail them to anyone who wants them. Also, please oh please review!
Chapter 8
Lessons
Hermione felt frozen as Lucius' eyes pierced into hers as if reading her very soul.
"When will you stop being so frightened of me Miss Granger and stop this incessant necessity to believe I will hand you over to the Dark Lord?"
His words cut to the core of the truth. She could feel the cold silver of the serpent end under her chin still. Lucius still looked down his nose at her and the words came from her mouth without censoring them at all.
"When will you stop looking down your nose at me like something so subhuman you do not want to sully your hands on?" She lowered her eyes to look down at her feet the best she could in such close proximity to each other. Then she whispered, "When will you stop seeing me as a filthy Mudblood?"
Lucius eyed her warily as she spoke. They were both soaked from the rain. Hermione's dress clung to her in a whole new way. She felt it when he removed the silver serpent from under her chin and tucked it into his robes even though they were wet. Hermione was not expecting what would come next. Lucius reached down and lifted her up off the ground, pinning her to the wall. She was now eye level with Lucius who looked angry in a whole new way Hermione had never witnessed.
He heard her gasp when he lifted her abruptly and roughly. He could feel her chest rise and fall in fast succession as she began breathing heavier than before. He was inches from her face.
"How is that Miss Granger? Now we are on level ground."
Hermione felt shock run through her body and senses.
"What? Level ground? Are you daft?"
Lucius narrowed his eyes at the girl.
"I assure you, Miss Granger, that I am not daft." Hermione saw him move closer and despite the voice in her head yelling 'no' so did she. "As I told you before, I will not sully my knees for anyone…" She felt his breathing becoming more rapid, but in a restricted way as if trying to control it somewhat. His lips were a mere inch from her own so that when he spoke she could feel his breath caress her skin and feel the vibration of his voice. "and that includes you."
The electricity in that small broom closet seemed to crackle around Hermione when Lucius finally allowed his lips to brush against Hermione's. However, it was very short-lived. As soon as Lucius' lips met Hermione's the broom door burst open and Lucius immediately dropped her to the ground. Remus stood in the doorway eyeing them both quizzically. He held out his hand to steady Hermione as she stumbled when Lucius dropped her and to guide her out of the closet. Keeping his eye on Lucius he asked Hermione, "You okay?"
She nodded silently. Remus looked at her and for the first time seemed to notice she was soaked to the bone so that the dress was a wet mess clinging to her.
"Uh…Hermione…here."
Remus removed his cloak and draped it over Hermione. He didn't miss the scowl Lucius gave him while he helped her on with the cloak.
"Okay, we can apparate just outside the gates of the safe house. Once there we have things to discuss."
Hermione nodded and with Remus and Lucius she dissaparted from the manor.
She followed the men silently through the gates of the safe house. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. Lucius Malfoy had kissed her—sort of. He had started to at least. Then his voice filled her memory.
"As I told you before, I will not sully my knees for anyone and that includes you."
As she walked along the path to the front door, her eyes narrowed on the man walking in front of her. How dare he! So what was his point?
That arrogant aristocratic arse!
He actually had the gall to infer that she was indeed something lower than he himself was and then to try to kiss her. Her arms crossed over her chest, holding the cloak closed around her as they entered the house and into the drawing room.
Remus turned and looked at both Lucius and Hermione. He noticed that Lucius kept his head held high as he looked down his nose waiting for whatever Remus needed to discuss. Glancing to Lucius' right, just inside the door, stood Hermione. Arms crossed over her chest, refusing to look at Lucius with her chin jutting out and her nose slightly turned up. Remus couldn't help but chuckle at how alike their stances could be, but at the same time something bothered him. Something obviously happened between the two of them, what he wasn't sure. Remus cleared his throat before he began.
"Hermione, the Order is quite worried about you." That got her attention. "With the Death Eaters searching for you there is concern about you ability to protect yourself."
Remus knew immediately he had said the wrong thing. Lucius smirked as the werewolf took to steps back.
"What! I am perfectly capable of defending myself! I was at the Department of Mysteries too you know! I could hex you before…"
Remus held his hands up in defense.
"Hermione, please. That is not what I meant by that. We all know how capable you are…I believe the cursed membership of yours proved that when that girl had snitch written across her face in blemishes."
Lucius quirked an eyebrow at her.
"That young girl that went to Professor Umbridge was your doing?"
Hermione only nodded her head. Lucius looked her up and down.
"It seems I underestimate your Slytherin qualities Miss Granger."
Her mouth fell open in indignation. Before she could say a word, Remus continued.
"The point is, Hermione, that you have not had much dueling experience…" She opened her mouth to speak but Remus interrupted her to continue. "I am aware that you know how. It is the subtleties we are concerned with. It can be an art, Hermione. That is where Lucius comes in. The Order believes he is one of the best to teach you this art and the fact that he could probably teach you quite a few spells you wouldn't learn in a Hogwarts classroom."
Hermione stepped into the room up to Lupin.
"You want me to learn the Dark Arts?"
Remus smiled.
"Not exactly. Schools are limited in what they are allowed to teach. You will not learn some things in a classroom. Spells that those coming from wizarding families know, know because they have been immersed in this world since birth. We find Lucius the best one to accomplish this task."
The memory of what had happened in that broom closet crashed on top of Hermione along with what Remus just told her. So he was to teach her the finer points of dueling. Taking a deep breath, she looked up to see Lucius watching her. She wanted to smack the smirk right off his face. She turned back to Lupin though.
"Well then, I guess there is nothing for me to say. It obviously is not up to me as the Order has already made up its mind."
Quickly she removed Remus' cloak from around her and Lucius' eyes narrowed at the wide-eyed look the man had when he saw Hermione. She really needed to get into some dry clothes. Jutting out her chin once again she handed the cloak to Remus.
"I'm turning in for the night then."
She turned and left the room. There was a few moments of silence. Lucius wanted to follow the girl and finish what he tried to start but mentally reminded himself of what a stupid idea that had been. Finally, Remus broke the silence.
"Lucius, what is going on with Hermione?"
Lucius looked at him quizzically.
"I'm sure I do not know what you mean."
"The other day I find you leaving this very room while she is in hysterical tears, which I might add is not a usual thing for Hermione. Then in the broom closet, I am not sure what I found exactly, but you both looked as if you were each caught with your hand in the cookie jar. And just now…the tension was undeniable."
Remus waited for a response.
"As I said, I am sure I do not know what you mean. She is simply a silly chit of a girl who tends to get rather over emotional and is quite over sensitive as of late."
Remus simply nodded his head remembering how the girl was the first year he met her.
"Well, then I guess I'll see you when I stop by for Hermione's schoolwork."
Hermione stood at the top of the stairs still soaking wet listening as their voices drifted up to her.
"…She is simply a silly chit of a girl…"
It only added to the anger she felt about his earlier comment, but something else tugged at her. She heard Lucius walking Remus to the front door. With a deep sigh, she slowly and quietly walked to her room. She never noticed the figure standing in the shadows of the hallway listening and watching.
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Hermione spent all day on her schoolwork. That night was her first lesson with Lucius and something told her she would be exhausted after. In addition, she was nervous. He had not mentioned their incident in the broom closet any more than she had. Why would he say something like that and then do what he did? Finally, after the sun set Lucius waked into the room.
"Miss Granger, I believe it is time for us to begin."
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself before rising from the chair and following Lucius out into the main hall. Lucius stopped in the center of the hall and turned around to face Hermione. She noticed him stop and immediately stopped herself in order to maintain a good distance from him.
Lucius looked the girl up and down. Then he started to circle around her as he spoke.
"Miss Granger, I have been put in charge of your training. You will be trained in several areas. I have already been informed of your ability at nonverbal spells so we will focus on Occlumency. Do you know why, Miss Granger?"
He stopped in front of her and waited for her to answer. She was looking down at the ground. Suddenly, with his question, the room seemed more like a classroom to her. He chin jutted forward, her nose slightly tilted up as she answered him.
"If an opponent is a skilled legilimens he will know what curse I am about to throw his way. To master Occlumency would master the art of surprise in a duel."
Lucius nodded is head slightly in acknowledgment of a correct answer. Then he started circling her again.
"After Occlumency, you will learn a few hexes that are not taught in school. These hexes fall in a grey area between what is acceptable according to law and what is considered a part of the Dark Arts. Then, Miss Granger, you will learn to throw off an Imperious curse." He stopped right behind her and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Do you think you can handle that?"
Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded her head. Lucius walked around to face her again.
"Alright, Miss Granger, clear your mind. Empty it. It is like meditation. Let any thoughts glide right past do not grab any of them to evaluate or ponder."
Hermione prepared herself. Lucius felt him being pushed out of her mind, but he did break through and when he did, he saw her nightmares. He saw himself dead. He saw himself handing her over to the Dark Lord. He saw the Shadow chasing her. He saw the Death Eaters surrounding her.
She found herself on the floor. Harry had mentioned collapsing on various occasions, but she never could figure out why. Now she understood. To have someone force themselves in your mind this way was horrible. She didn't want Lucius to see any of that. Standing up, she looked at Lucius.
"Again," she said.
The same thing happened. Once again, Hermione picked herself up off the ground and said, "Again."
It went on.
"Again."
And on.
"Again."
Lucius invaded her memories. He watched her fall to the ground each time and each time pick herself up and demand another go. She definitely wasn't one to give up so easily. He found himself smiling inwardly at this.
"Miss Granger, I believe that will do tonight."
She looked at him with tear-stained cheeks.
"What? No. One more time. I will get this."
"Miss Granger, you are exhausted. You will never get it in such a state. Now go."
He watched her run up to her room.
In her room, she changed into her pajamas and then left the room for the bathroom. Her mind was clouded and running over with thoughts from the events of that day and those of Halloween. She heard a strange bump in the room with Snape's name on the door. Her eyes widened. She and Lucius were the only ones there and she heard Lucius go into his room. Why would anyone or anything be in those rooms? She heard it again and nearly jumped out of her skin. All she could think of was getting away. Turning, she ran straight into Lucius' room.