A/N: Holy hell, thank you for all the interest~

Sadly, not much Hermione interaction in this chapter, but I /am/ building on the mystery aspect of the plot, at least. :3

Enjoy! 3

[As like from the last chapter, reposted from AO3]

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The Headmaster shifted a little bit in his seat, as he now worked on yet another dish. Why not, he was old; he could do whatever he wanted! "We could have you resorted back into Slytherin, though, dare I say, you come off as a Ravenclaw as well…"

This finally made the teen spin around with narrowed eyes. "…I'll have to take classes again?"

It didn't deter the older wizard, and he nodded as he popped another sweet into his mouth. He slowly chewed, enjoying its flavor once more. He swallowed. "Yes. As you're aware, before Ms. Granger found you last evening—"

Lucius cut him off, "Wait," he hissed suddenly. "Was I out in the open?" If I was, then… There… really was a month missing… What happened?…

Something… didn't quite add up right, especially with how bouncy and ready to fight he had been when he had dealt with the mudblood.

Dumbldore nodded, looking intrigued. "Yes, were you not when you went searching for the artifact?"

"I do recall telling you I do not remember."

"Ah, yes, you would have to excuse me due to me being old and such, my memory isn't what it used to be," he said coyly.

Lucius tch'ed at that. "Yet again, hilarious."

The old man chuckled, as he drew out his Elder wand and flicked it in the air. "Let's get you sorted, as per tradition," he stated, letting the Sorting Hat floating out of nowhere onto the platinum blonde's head. "This way— at least you don't have to deal with the Azkaban situation."

He tutted. "Of course—"

The hat sprung to life, deeply humming, as its voice suddenly entered the Malfoy's mind.

You again, hmmm?

He hesitated a bit. Yes, you blasted Hat.

De ja vu, I see… how interesting circumstances. Perhaps a second chance for you?

Something about that sounded familiar… Where had he heard that? A second chance? …you could say that, I suppose.

Seems you have had evolved quite a bit since our last meeting, Mr. Malfoy. Do you still want Slytherin?

I do. Always.

Very well then, though I dare say, you would have been good in Ravenclaw.

Tch.

"Slytherin!" The Hat announced, even if it had only been the two of them. Before Lucius could do anything to the Hat, the Professor levitated it off his head and let it go back to its original place.

"As suspected. The Malfoys had always been very proud about that House."

Lucius lifted an eyebrow, nodding a bit. "As we should be."

Dumbledore studied him for a bit, before getting up and got closer to him, making Lucius scowl.

"What the hell?" The boy questioned, glaring at the other, and about took a step back, and but Dumbledore spoke up, making him freeze—

"Your son will recognize you, no doubt. He's a sharp boy, I'm sure."

"…Your point?"

Dumbledore didn't immediately answer, waving his wand once again. Lucius blinked, as the old man stepped back finally. "Look in the mirror, Lucius," he told him.

"What did you do to me—"

The Slytherin froze, as a floating mirror presented itself in front of his face. He reached into his robes to draw out his wand, growling. "I swear, Dumbledore, you do something every single month to get underneath my skin—"

"Don't bother. It's permanent until I reverse the Charm," Dumbledore told the other.

"BLOODY. HELL."

Amusement still danced around the wizard, but his face grew serious suddenly. "Certainly you can see why…?"

Lucius gritted his teeth. "Yes, because you like to desecrate my face."

"…Potentially. But—" Dumbledore patiently shook his head. "No— but any information about this incident is largely unknown for the time being, is it not?"

"…Yes," Lucius growled out.

"The extreme circumstances indicate it to be potentially be very dangerous, we don't need any additional people to know about it."

Lucius opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and huffed. "How… Slytherin of you."

Dumbledore cracked a small smirk. "Oh, I just rather be careful about the situation, as I imagine you do as well."

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "We're not on the same team—"

"For this, we must be," he argued, as he chewed on another sweet. "You know I'm not wrong, Lucius."

Lucius's lip curled. "…this is why you're annoying."

Dumbledore chuckled. "What could be your cover story?"

Lucius sighed, as he forced himself to calm down. He sniffed, straightening up, as his eyes indicated thought. "I… did mention to that mudbl—"

"No slurs, please, Lucius. You're a student now." As if to indicate detention could be a possibility. Power over him.

"Granger then," he said hotly. Dumbledore did a nod of thanks, and the blonde ignored him. "I did mention to her I was a relative of Draco's."

"Thinking ahead of me," he commented, nodding a bit. "Okay, from where?"

Lucius gave it a bit of a pause. "I could do France. My great-grandfather's Father… did have rumors about doing… things in France."

"He was unfaithful?" Simply an inquiry.

Lucius nodded. "Yes, quite briefly." It tore him up emotionally apparently.. A pause. Perhaps it's true afterall…

"I see. Alrighty then," he said, pausing. "We can say you were a transfer from the boy's school in France," Dumbledore chimed up, before moving to get Hermione now. There was slight mumbling, as he talked to her, and they came back into the room. "Ms. Granger will show you to the Dungeons, Mr. Malfoy."

At least, I don't have to deal with this buffoon, Lucius thought nastily, sighing. Just have to deal with the Mudblood now… Ugh.

Careful hatred was within the boy's eyes, as his now green eyes fell onto the girl, who stood strong, despite feeling uncomfortable with the gaze.

"Right. Let's get going then," she said, not letting her voice crack whatsoever.

Lucius followed along, breathing out a sigh of relief as they finally exited out of the Headmaster's office.

It was a silent walk, until—

"At least you have your normal paleness, I suppose," Hermione commented, not looking at him, shaking her head.

"….now that you mention that certain characteristic, did you suspect me to be a Malfoy as you found me?"

"I… still wanted to help you regardless of who you were."

"What motivated you, did I look like I was dying or something, by how pale I was?" Perhaps I can find out more about the situation through her…as disgusting as she is, she's… not stupid.

Hermione considered not even answering, but— "You were… also bleeding."

Lucius furrowed his brows. "How badly?" He questioned.

She huffed. "What does it matter? You're okay now, Malfoy," she retorted, as she turned a corner.

"Just answer the blasted question, Granger," he snapped.

She sighed. "Bleeding off on the side of the head. It looked quite… serious."

He lifted an eyebrow. "So it goes beyond… heroics, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Just because I was selfless—"

"True selflessness doesn't exist," Lucius immediately retorted.

Hermione frowned, finally stopping as she stopped in front of the Dungeons' door. "I believe you can find rest of your way, no doubt," she quipped softly.

"What? I'm being realistic," he shot back, as she now hesitated, finally deciding to lead the way into the Dungeons.

"Some magickal folk like to look past that and be optimistic, instead," she pointed out. "Part of helping others is to see the good in them."

"Why am I not surprised how daft you are?"

"This isn't how you repay back kindness."

Lucius scoffed. "So you do expect something in return," he said, as he now stopped as she slowed her pace when they got to Snape's office door.

"I shouldn't."

He snorted, as she knocked on the door. There wasn't any noise at first, until a low tone finally answered, "…Enter," it came out as a growl. The two entered. Snape looked up but did a doubletake as he saw the blonde.

"Ms. Granger, what is the meaning of this?" He asked slowly. No, it couldn't be.

Lucius looked a bit amused. "I recently transferred from France's Wizard School," he offered. All except for the green eyes, really, Severus.

"…Right. What's your name then?"

"Cadmus Malfoy," Lucius said after a beat. That should be good enough, seeing as the dunderhead wants me to be undercover.

A slight awkwardness hung in the air. "Ah, but of course a… Malfoy. Your relative, while it may appear I show favoritism towards him, you should not necessarily expect the same. Is that understood?" He asked of Lucius, who nearly snorted at the other.

"Understood. I assure you however, I can be quite good at Potions."

"…We shall see about that," he snipped a bit. He finally looked at Hermione, "Thank you, Ms. Granger. You can leave now, allow me to deal with Mr. Malfoy here."

Hermione nodded knitting her brows together. Strange. "Of course, Professor," she said, as she now turned around to leave. Once she did, he snapped his eyes back to… 'Cadmus'. This was… beyond bizarre. He rubbed at his eyes, scowling immediately, as he blinked looking over the other again.

"…Is this a hallucination? Have I accidentally ingested the herb Belladonna?" Good, old Snape sarcasm.

Lucius rolled his eyes. "The oaf that is the Headmaster told me to be semi undercover. It is me, Severus." Figures his friend figured it out.

"I— How?" He asked a bit dumbly, trying to study Lucius a bit more closely.

Lucius shrugged. "Artifact hunting, but technically no one's supposed to know that."

"How— Are you going to tell Draco?"

Lucius pulled a face. "No doubt he'll find out. But I'll play the game a bit with him, I suppose,"' he said, annoyed. "It would be… rather difficult to explain the situation. He… doesn't have the range of magickal knowledge as you do."

"…Plus, he'd call you a liar," Snape pointed out.

"…You don't say?" He quipped, scoffing. "Draco tends to take his confidence a little too far at times."

"At times?" He smirked.

A glare sent his way. "Don't make me hex you, Severus."

"That could literally land you in detention."

Lucius blinked rapidly, and he went to pinch the bridge of his nose. "…Oh, I hate this already," he murmured, scowling.

"I'll lead you to the Common Room. There might be a spare bed."

"Lovely," the other said sarcastically, as they now left the room. At least… this all felt familiar, almost comfortable. He attempted to smile a touch. Perhaps… it wouldn't be too horrible?

…not counting on dealing with the Mudblood right off the bat.

He shook his head.

I'll avoid her all I can…

He was brought out of his thoughts as they entered the Common Room soon enough, and the boy felt right at home. It was quiet, but beautiful as well, the lake's water shimmering above, giving the cobblestone a little bit of a wiggly look to them. Lucius's eyes watched the window, as he smirked a little. He always did like it.

"Come," Snape called, as he now led the boy to the Dorms. Soon enough, they did find a spare bed luckily, and there was an envelope sitting on top of the covers with Lucius's last name on it. He furrowed his brows, moving towards it and now ripped it open—

Mr. Malfoy,

I truly do hope you are comfortable. Here beside the bed is at least some spare supplies, I will deliver what books you need for this school year tomorrow.

Please do take the time to relax today, be free to join us in the Great Hall for Lunch.

-Professor Dumbledore

He huffed, crumbling it up and aimed it for the window. Within a mere couple of seconds, he tossed it out. He looked at Snape, "I don't suppose we could have some tea later, could we?"

Snape lifted an eyebrow, and in a trademark move, simply left.

"Bloody hell, answer me!" He called out after the man, but he already had left. Ugh, how annoying is he…I hate when he does that.

He forced his eyes away from the doorway, now observing the room. He half wondered if the other students would be annoying or… actually decent…

He rubbed a hand down his face, now collapsing onto the bed, face first.

I can't wait until everything's back to normal…

At that thought, a pit formed in his stomach, as his thoughts drifted once more, just like before—

If I've been gone this long, then…How did Draco and Narcissa cope?

A whole month…

What the hell happened…

It scared him; he was so in control of what happened in his life, at all times.

That puddle.

Did he end up touching it afterall? So many unknowns.

He growled into his pillow. Usually he was so careful when collecting ANY Dark Artifact, why had this been so different?

Now he thought about it, the room with the puddle DID feel odd.

Hogsmeade… That meant the artifact was hidden in plain sight. Plain sight… Yet its darkness was obvious.

That's right, the blonde thought. It had several rooms surrounding it… the puddle. Progressively weirder feeling…

It made his brain hurt trying to think how he had even gotten into each… Several puzzles lined themselves up, leading up to that one specific room. Wait.

His eyes widened in realization as he turned his head, as he looked off to the side, staring into space.

I did… Mind spells.

His stomach flopped. What did that possibly mean? Could he find books on the subject in the Hogwarts library?

It… had been difficult to find information on how to even reach the Artifact, afterall. It was pretty obscure, if he remembered correctly, another piece of memory trying to show itself to him.

A sigh. Lucius shoved himself out of the bed, pausing to glance at the supplies the Headmaster had left him. It looked to be standard stuff, at the very least. Potion and writing supplies, along with a… sketchbook? Really?

The teenager reached down and flipped it open. His eyebrows lifted high; there was even a compartment in it for painting or drawing utensils and paints and whatnot.

At least the bastard got SOMETHING right.

He paused, and did a doubletake, now scooping up the sketchbook. Some normalcy could be pleasant, afterall.

He soon left, now making his way towards the Library, feeling apprehension creeping up his spine.