Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hello? Is anyone out there? Well, if there is sorry about this chapter…its more of an introduction to this next stage of the Lucius/Hermione relationship. More…much more stuff in the next chapter. So please review and let me know you are at least reading it. It keeps the inspiration going!

Chapter 10

The Girl

You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run
Tried to hide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side, yeah

--The Doors

Lucius was the last one left in the Slytherin common room. Darkness had long since fallen over the grounds of Hogwarts, but then in the common room under the lake it always appeared dark. Glancing into the dying fire, he tossed his DADA book back into his school bag. Throwing his bag on his shoulder, he headed up to his Head Boy room. Closing the door, he warded it behind him. He was headed to the Victorian desk sitting across his room when she arrived.

It was as if she came out of nowhere. She just appeared—a vision in a beautiful midnight blue ball gown…on his bed. He stopped and turned just looking at her in astonishment. It was every teenage boy's fantasy—a girl appearing in his bed. This left him dumbstruck though. Hermione knew immediately what had happened. Her time-turner broke and now…now she appeared to be in a young Lucius Malfoy's Head Boy room. The younger version of the man that was attacking her when it broke. Fear still coursed through her as he took a step toward her and she scurried backward off the bed.

Lucius took a step forward curious how she got there. He sat his bag on the floor and took a step. She was a beautiful mess. There was a dark bruise forming just above her eye to the right and a large hand print size bruise on her right upper arm. He could feel the fear pouring from her, as she shook her head no and scurried back off the bed. The moment her left foot touched the ground, she collapsed.

His brow furrowed as the petite girl disappeared on the ground on the other side of the bed. He rushed over and saw her holding her ankle in tears. It was swollen. Lucius wondered what happened to the girl…who did this to her…who was she?

Hermione couldn't believe this was happening to her. Of all the places to land, it had to be Lucius Malfoy's room and she had to be in such a condition that she could not run. She looked up with teary eyes as Lucius appeared slowly from around the bed. There wasn't much difference between this Lucius and the older one. The main difference being he looked younger and less strained; size-wise he wasn't much smaller.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

He bent down and scooped her up in his arms effortlessly. She gasped in shock.

"I'm just taking you to Madam Pomfrey. She'll be able to fix you up."

Hermione nodded fearing what her voice would sound like if she spoke. Why couldn't she have ended up in the Gryffindor common room? No, instead she ends up in enemy territory. She briefly took in her surroundings as Lucius moved through the castle. It looked the same…exactly the same no matter what year it was.

Lucius stepped into the hospital wing and looked around regally.

"Madam Pomfrey?"

The medi-witch that Hermione knew from her time stepped out of her office. Upon seeing Hermione in Lucius' arms, she rushed over and ushered Lucius to one of the beds. Hermione had not said a word and did not appear as if she was going to any time soon. Madam Pomfrey noticed this and after taking in Hermione's appearance, she turned to Lucius.

"Who is this young lady, Mister Malfoy?"

"I do not know. I found her in my bed."

Madam Pomfrey turned and glared disapprovingly at Lucius who returned the look with a "you-know-what-I-mean" look. Shaking her head, she looked the girl over and then walked over to the fireplace. Tossing in a pinch of floo powder, she crouched down on her hands and knees.

"Headmaster, you are needed in the hospital wing."

Standing up and brushing any floo powder off her clothes, the medi-witch turned back to the girl. She pointed at a chair next to the bed.

"Mister Malfoy, sit there. The Headmaster will be here momentarily."

With a curt nod, he sat and waited. He watched the medi-witch as she shook her head. Everything she tried to heal the girl's bruises didn't work. The doors opened and Lucius turned to see the Headmaster entering with a small smile on his face. Lucius quickly stood.

"Nothing I do is healing her bruises or that ankle."

Hermione stared in shock at Dumbledore, alive and well, standing before her observing her. He smiled warmly at her. He nodded slightly.

"Ah, I think I may know why. Just do what you can for now, Madam Pomfrey." He then turned to look at the Head Boy. "When she is done, Mister Malfoy, please escort our guest to my office."

Lucius nodded. In no more than a few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey was handing Hermione a set of crutches.

"Being as I cannot heal it properly, you will have to let it heal the muggle way."

Hermione simply smiled her thanks and began to stand, using the crutches. From there, Hermione followed Lucius out of the hospital wing and toward the Headmaster's office. Halfway there she realized Lucius was not speeding ahead of her, but had actually slowed his gate as if he were allowing her to walk with him, not behind him. Still thinking about how odd that was, her mind wondered to the Headmaster. She was shocked to see him standing there, even though she knew he would be the Headmaster. It was like seeing him rise from the grave.

Lucius kept looking at her sideways on the way to the Headmaster's office. Lucius was not slow and had a feeling as to why her wounds could not be healed and why she just suddenly appeared…after all, around her neck was a broken looking time-turner. There was something different about her…he could just feel it. Once they reached the gargoyle entrance, he stopped.

"Blood-pops."

The gargoyle stepped aside revealing the staircase. He reached out to take her arm in order to help her on the stairs. His hand wrapped around her upper arm and that is how he noticed. The bruises around her upper arm where obviously from someone grabbing her and that someone had hands the exact same size as Lucius' hands. He stared in awe at the perfect fit his hand made over those bruises. A panic rose in her eyes. Not wanting to question her then, he moved his hand down and gently helped her onto the stairs.

Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes at the site of Dumbledore. Silently, she made her way across the room to one of the chairs that sat before his desk. Lucius sat in the other. Nothing was said at first. Dumbledore just looked at her and Hermione knew that he knew. He always seemed to know.

"Your wounds cannot be healed because they did not occur in this time."

She nodded her head in understanding. Her eyes darted over the room taking in every detail she could.

"How did you end up here?"

Now her eyes darted around nervously and Dumbledore noticed them linger for a fearful moment on the Head Boy. When she spoke, it was low and hoarse as if she had not used it in a while or had been yelling at the top of her lungs only moments ago.

"I went to my cabin just off Hogwart's grounds."

Dumbledore looked at her curiously.

"A cabin? How did you, as a student, acquire a cabin off grounds?"

She looked at him with a stab of pain and the truth of how she acquired such a cabin. She looked down at the hands she was playing with in her lap. Her voice dropped to a saddened whisper.

"You left it to me, sir."

When she looked up, the Headmaster was smiling and nodding his head understandingly. He indicated for her to continue.

"I was attacked when I entered. When I fell back my time-turner broke against the stone of the fireplace."

Dumbledore sat up in concern.

"You were attacked? By who?"

He watched her eyes shift sideways to Lucius and then nervously around the room again.

"Death Eaters, sir."

Dumbledore nodded his head.

"We will be able to send you to your own time…but right now I need your name so you can attend classes in your time here."

Hermione nodded and once again, her eyes shifted to Lucius. She could not say her real name…not in its entirety. The day Draco went home complaining about her, Lucius would remember. Then Slughorn's continued questions of her relation to a certain potioneer rose in her memory.

"Hermione…Dagworth-Granger."

Dumbledore nodded with an odd knowing smile and twinkle in his eyes.

"You will be sorted tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Sorted!" Hermione seemed to come to life at the mention of being sorted causing Lucius to jump slightly at her outburst. "Surely I can just remain in the house I was in in my own time."

Dumbledore shook his head no.

"I am sorry, but experience changes people and this would be best."

Hermione sat in the chair across from her missed Headmaster, next to one of her attackers feeling utterly defeated.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Hermione woke the next morning to find a school bag full of books. She was not looking forward to being sorted. It left her with a strange foreboding that she could not explain. She was a Gryffindor; why not just place her in Gryffindor? With her books over her shoulder, she struggled down the corridor on crutches.

The early morning sun shone through windows of the castle casting beams of light along her way. It seemed so surreal to her. She struggled on down the corridor. When her bag slipped from her shoulder, she moved her hand to place it back up, but dropped one of her crutches in the process. She wanted to cry.

Lucius was in the corridor heading toward her guest room when he saw her struggling now with only one crutch. Her face appeared sunken and she was so pale. She looked like someone who had been through more than most in their lifetime. The bruise above her eye served to make her face appear paler and the one around her arms made her look thinner than she was. As he headed toward her he couldn't help but feel a slight rage boiling that someone had done this to her.

He reached over, took her bag off her shoulder, and picked up her crutch, handing it to her. She smiled warily at him as if she was unsure if his kind gesture was sincere or not. As they headed down the corridor in silence, Hermione began to wonder about this young Malfoy. He carried himself as he would when he is older—with an air of superiority, which he felt is rightfully his. It was amazing, even at seventeen years old he possessed a powerful intimidating presence.

The stool and sorting hat awaited Hermione in the Great Hall. Dumbledore stood when he saw her enter with Lucius.

"Students! We have a new arrival to be sorted!" Everyone turned toward the entrance of the Great Hall and Hermione squirmed slightly under their scrutiny. Her eyes drifted to the Gryffindor table. At the end of the table was a small red head girl of about eleven years old. She seemed shy, yet comfortable with the girls sitting with her. Next to the girls sat a lone boy with sandy hair who looked pale as if the full moon was approaching. In the middle of the table sat three very familiar, but much much younger boys with their heads together whispering. Hermione smiled slightly…they were so cute that young.

Lucius helped the girl up to the stool as Dumbledore announced her name and the school politely clapped. She sat delicately on the stool feeling waves of nausea wash over her reminding her of her first year when she was sorted. Professor McGonagall sat the hat slowly on her head and everyone waited.

"Hmm…I see you've been sorted before…yes, I see…it's all here in your head. Yes, but the house you were in and where you now belong are no longer the same…no, I see…"

Hermione felt panicked as the hat whispered into her ear so only she could hear. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she waited.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Professor McGonagall removed the hat as a tumultuous of applause came from the Slytherin table. Hermione felt frozen to her seat.

No! This cannot be happening! I am Muggleborn for Merlin's sake!

A shock settled in her body as Lucius led her to the table and to a seat next to him. Slytherins all around greeted her as one of their own. She wondered if they would be so congenial if they knew she was not a pureblood, not even a half? Looking at the faces around her, she contemplated her choices here. Her eyes fell on a rather small eleven-year-old sitting alone at the end of the table. His black hair hung like a curtain around his small face. It was her other attacker, Severus Snape. No, she would keep her Muggle-born status to herself.

Lucius watched her eye everyone at the table with a mingled expression of curiosity and fear, of all things. He couldn't understand why. She didn't talk, didn't say much at all, and the sadness that draped over her like a curtain of silk pulled him further into her mystery. It wasn't until he introduced her to some of the other Slytherins that Lucius saw a spark of something in her eyes.

Hermione stared into her face…she could feel the hate flashing in her eyes. The girl's black hair draped over her shoulder as her dark eyes narrowed on Hermione. Lucius could feel it around them—tension that screamed out an absurd amount of dislike between these two when they just met. Hermione stared at her contemplating all the ways to destroy her before she could do any real damage to those around her. Next to this dark haired girl sat a sixth year Slytherin—the girl's sister though she looked to be the exact opposite of the elder girl. Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. Together they possessed such sharp angular features that Hermione was reminded of a Picasso painting.

The uncomfortable silence that followed traveled down the Slytherin table. Lucius stood up bidding both Narcissa and Bellatrix a goodbye and slung both his bag and Hermione's over his shoulder. Holding out a hand, he helped the mysterious girl up and onto her crutches.

"Our classes are the same," he said in response to the questioning look on her face. The two "strangers" walked through the corridors, Lucius a step or two ahead of her. Lucius was curious about this girl and decided to at least try a conversation.

He pointed toward the bruise on her eye.

"So, who did that one?"

She looked up at him and in a very serious voice, she answered.

"I ran into a door."

She watched one corner of Lucius' mouth turn up into a sneer of amusement. Apparently, he did not believe her and she couldn't blame him. It did sound like a lie. She didn't argue with him about it though.

One day you will know I was telling the truth.