"Lucius?" Hermione's gentle voice echoed across the library one night as she sat cross-legged with a book in one hand, a mountains stack teetering precariously on the seat beside her.
"Yes, dear?" He asked just as quietly, looking up over the top of the book she was perusing at the current time.
"There is something I haven't been truthful with you about," she forced herself to say. Heart beating like a drum against her chest and palms sweating, she waited for his reply.
"Oh. Is that so?" He asked levelly, not even a hint of anger crept into his tone.
It surprised Hermione at how well this conversation was going. If she had been having this conversation with Ron, he would already be yelling and pacing the room whilst grinding his teeth and that was before she would have told him what she needed to.
"I've been keeping this quiet because I didn't want to upset you." She inhaled sharply. "I went to a muggle doctor for a test to see who the babies' father was." She sat and watched him intently. His jaw tightened and clenched before swallowing hard.
"Go on," his voice strained as he talked.
"Well, the good news is they are yours…" she trailed off.
"Mmm." He shifted awkwardly in his seat. Shutting his book with a resounding thud and placing it on the arm of the chair in which he was sitting, he stood and walked over to Hermione. Sitting on the arm of her sofa, he gently took her hand in his own, stroking his thumb over her smooth skin.
"I'm sorry," she choked out. "I should have told you and I know you have every right to be angry."
"I'm not angry, love. I'm just disappointed you didn't think you could include me in affairs such as that. I'm beyond elated that they are mine, but I have a slightly bitter taste in my mouth that you have been sitting on this information and obviously didn't tell me for fear of retribution. I am not your ex-husband, Hermione, therefore I am a rational thinking and fair man. It takes a lot to anger me and even more to push me away."
She exhaled loudly, the pent-up stress and worry vanishing away like the melted snow in spring, and she could breathe easy again.
o-o-o-o-o
Hand raised and landed on the red hue of the equines neck, stroking the silky coat repeatedly, Hermione smiled. The chestnut mare nickered to her in appreciation of the affection, nuzzling her shoulder softly in response.
"That mare is a descent of Lisette, a tempestuous mare from years gone by owned by one of Napoleon's soldiers. The little mare wasn't shy about showing her hatred towards people. One Russian soldier speared her in the thigh during battle, so she tore his face clean off his skull by his nose, leaving him standing faceless, dripping with blood as he died an agonizing and slow death. Another soldier grabbed her bridle, and she tore his entrails out and mashed him beneath her hooves, leaving entrails strewn in the snow."
Hermione smiled slightly. "I know this story. My favourite and the most ironic part were that after they retired her from battle, they used her as a cart-horse for children and she never displayed another ounce of aggression in her life."
"As women, mares to are also very temperamental," Lucius joked, only to receive the narrowing of eyes from Hermione, and ears flat back from the mare.
Hermione wrapped her arms around the mare's neck and inhaled her scent. "I used to get lessons when I was younger. Before I went to Hogwarts. I always had a dream I would own a cob and would hack out every day and show on the weekends."
"A cob?" Lucius scoffed. "The most common horse in Britain. Aim higher. Why not a Friesian, or an Andalusian. Don't stop there, Lusitanos are a pleasant ride."
"Well, Mister I am so fancy and can afford all of those breeds. My parents weren't exactly made of money so I would have had to have taken what I was given and been happy with whatever horse they bought me."
Lucius watched her in mild thought. He was going to buy her a horse worthy of such a woman.
o-o-o-o-o
Hermione sat at her desk, quill hovering over the parchment, and her mind was running a million miles an hour. She was tired, fat, and her ankles were swelling. She felt utterly miserable and wanted to be back at Malfoy Manor, curled up in their bed with an excellent book and an even better cup of tea.
She no longer wanted to have to deal with the day-to-day issues within their world and being the soundboard for everyone's issues. She had her own issues she had to deal with, let alone the rest of the world's issues on top of her own.
Sighing in frustration, she placed the quill down and rested her head on the desk. She really needed to re-evaluate her life, and she had to do it soon.
Was being the Minister her number one goal in life anymore? No.
Did she like being the Minister of Magic anymore? Also no.
So why the hell wouldn't her own stubbornness let her step down from her job? She put it down to the fact she liked to be in control of everything, and this job gave her the outlet for just that.
o-o-o-o-o
Snow fell silently from the sky, blanketing everything it could within its clutches. The gentle glow of the dipping sun cast a calming glow across the grounds of the Manor. Hermione shivered against her cloak. Lucius had told her to wait for him by the foot of the stairs and he would be back soon. Unsure what he was playing at, she was seconds away from turning around and taking herself back inside because she was about to freeze to death. The frigid chill nipped at her nose with ferocity.
Turning her head to the left, she could hear a faint sound of horse hooves striking pavement and the jingling of bells coming from the direction of his stables, and she deduced a horse must've gotten loose. Moments later, two high-stepping black Friesian horses came into sight, pulling an exquisite two-wheeled open-top carriage. The horses' coats gleamed in the setting sun, their muscles quivering beneath their polished leather harnesses and at the end of the reins was Lucius.
Gently pulling back on the reins, the two horses obediently stopped and stood square. Lucius dropped the reins and slid out of the seat of the two-wheeled carriage. "Your chariot awaits, my dear." He spoke softly, extending his hand to her. She grasped it gently and allowed herself to be guided to the carriage and held onto him as she clambered aboard.
Lucius climbed back in beside her. Leaning down and plucking a blanket off the floor, he spread it out over both their laps before gathering the leather reins in his glove-clad hands and clucked gently to the horses, who moved off at a brisk walk.
"I know you can't ride a horse at the moment, but there is no reason I can't take you for a carriage drive on twilight." Flicking the horses softly with the reins, they picked up a sedate trot down a path that circled the manor grounds. Lamps hanging from the carriage illuminating the way as swung gently with the rhythm of the horse's pace.
Metal-clad hooves striking the ground in sync with the bells. Hermione sat back and enjoyed the scenery. She never realised the Manor was set upon such vast grounds, none of which she had seen until now. The sun dipped lower behind the horizon, the faint orange glow the only telltale the sun was just out of sight.
The snow became heavier and deposited itself over the horses' backs and loins, almost giving them the appearance of a blanket appaloosa and not the Friesians they really were. The horses' ears pricked forward as they continued to trot in unison as they stepped in the perfect coordination of highly trained harness horses.
A faint glow omitted through a far tree line piqued Hermione's interest as Lucius navigated the horses toward it. As she got closer, she saw a small white tent through the tree line with strings of fairy lights running in lines from the tent to the nearest tree's and back again.
Lucius pulled the horses up short of the tent at a hitching post. Sliding out of the carriage he offered Hermione his hand, and she took it gracefully, descending from the carriage, she watched as he removed their bridles before tying them both with hay to eat and threw a woollen quarter sheet over the both of them so they wouldn't catch a chill in their kidneys from the snow falling on them whilst they were warm from working.
Hermione found it oddly satisfying watching Lucius care for the two horses. It seemed so out of character for him, and it was a side of him she had never seen before.
Offering his arm, Hermione took it and he led her towards the small boho-style tent. Fairy lights strung in a zigzag pattern above their heads in the tent with a small table placed in the middle, food on the table ready and waiting. She noticed that the moment she stepped through the door of the tent that she warmed considerably and felt more at ease.
Leading her to the table, he pulled her chair out for her. Waiting for her to sit down, he helped her push it back in before taking his own seat.
"What's all this?" Hermione asked, curiously. "I've had no one go to this much trouble for me," she confessed.
"Ah, dear, that is because you've never had the right people in your life until now. A woman of such class and intelligence deserves nothing but the best from the most important people in her life. You have given up your body to carry two children for me and have bestowed upon not only kindness but the company I was severely lacking. A person such as yourself only comes along once in a lifetime and they need to be shown how appreciated they are."
"Thank you," she beamed. "I can't even think of a time when Ron bought me home a single gift or gave me words of encouragement."
"That's because he is an uncouth swine," he exhaled sharply out of his nose in disdain.
"This looks amazing," she said, picking up a knife and fork and cutting into the food on her plate and taking a bite. "Delicious."
"I figured after the hard week you've had a work you could do with a distraction. We always eat dinner in the Manor, and I thought it might be nice to eat out here."
"It's a lovely gesture, and thank you. My ankles are swollen, I can hardly move around anymore, and the constant heartburn almost drives me to my knee's and add in everyone's problems they come to me with, and I am at the end of my tether. I knew the job was full-on and very stressful when I first took it on, but I wasn't pregnant and never factored that into the equation." She sighed heavily, taking another mouthful.
Lucius raised a brow and bit his tongue. He'd asked her to quit or take a break for months on end and she had always refused or been too pig-headed to admit that it was getting too much for her. He had given up trying to change her mind because her stubbornness could rival only that of a mule and things had to be her idea or she shot them down in flames. So, now, he would sit and bide his time until she decided she had enough.
"Don't breathe a word about it," she warned.
"Wasn't planning to, dear. I gave up trying to tell, hint or suggest anything at all when it comes to your work life."
"Those two horses," she changed the subject quickly, "They have worked together for a long while, it would seem by the way they work so well together."
"They are brothers, almost carbon copies of one another, and they get on well. We used to take to their sire and dam to Windsor Horse Show and compete and drive around the grounds. They always came away with best in the show so they were bred to be good at what they do." He stopped and looked off into the distance, his face falling.
She watched him intently as she chewed her food and wondered what he was thinking about right at this second. She noticed his eyes misted up just so, and she averted her gaze now because she didn't feel she should intrude when he was obviously having an emotional moment.
"Anyway," his voice cracked, and he coughed outwardly, "that was years ago. I have done nothing like that since… well, you know."
She nodded sympathetically and didn't push the issue. Silence shrouded them in its harsh clutches and the only sound was the cutlery against fine-China as they both ate.
"We should do that one day," Hermione finally interjected, breaking the awkwardness between them.
He smiled softly. "I'd like that. But for now, if you are finished, there is something outside I would like you to see."
Getting to his feet, he walked around and helped Hermione from her chair. Slowly, she rose, clutching his arm for support. The weight of two growing babies was harsh on her body and he led her outside back into the cold.
"Chinese lanterns," she gasped in awe. There must be hundreds here.
"One for every year I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"That so sw-" She turned to look at him and noticed he was no longer standing beside her, instead, he was down on the ground in the freezing snow on one knee with a silver ring in a velvet box adorned by a large diamond. "Lucius," she warned half-heartedly, unsure how she should respond to the situation. When she said she would have his child, it was meant to be a child only, and that was it. Now it turned into twins and her moving in with him, and now, he wanted to marry her. This was never the plan, and she felt as if control of her life was slowly slipping through her grip, and she was unsure how she felt. The stark reality was she loved Lucius and with love came progress and change, and this was the change that was bearing down on her like a runaway freight train.
"Hermione. I love you, and I would like you to become my wife. Once upon a time, I wished for a life without you in it, and now, I couldn't imagine my life without you."
"L-Lucius," she choked up, staring down at him.
She knew logically that a yes would be the right answer. He had shown her love and kindness that Ron never had done, and to add this was the most romantic way she had ever been proposed to, how could she say no? Ron took her to the local pub, downed a few beers and then pulled the ring out, watched as it left his grasp and flew across the pub before skittering to a stop beside a burly-looking biker. This proposal outshone that one by ten thousand lumens.
"I. yes!" she said, with excitement tangled in her tone. Beaming broadly, Lucius slipped the ring on her finger and stood up.
"Let's get you back to the Manor before you freeze to death out here."
A/N: The entire story about the horse killing people is 100% factually correct and really happened.
-Aliasmel1
