A/N: Hello beauties! This was written for SilverLioness who wanted a Kingsley/Hermione/Lucius non-slash triad with espionage and set in the Deathly Hallows era. There are 3 chapters, and since the story is complete, I will be posting them over the next 3 days.

Fair warning: After this chapter, this story is just this side of PWP. It is M/M/F, so if anything fun that happens when 3 adults have sexy times together, this may not be for you. All characters are over the age of consent in the country the story takes place and where it was written.

Canon compliant with the exception of the epilogue.

17 May 1998

"Miss Granger, can you tell the Wizenagmot how you know Lucius Malfoy is innocent and should not be sent to Azkaban?"

It was two weeks after the Final Battle and Hermione was giving testimony in Lucius' trial. It wasn't enough that Kingsley Shaklebolt, acting Minister for Magic had already given his statement that he was innocent, citing the many times Lucius had passed information to the Order in the last year. No, they wanted to hear from her. Kingsley, was not allowed to attend the trial as a member of the Wizenagmot due to a conflict of interest and was currently waiting for her to bring the outcome of the trial to him in his office.

"Because I, along with Minister Shaklebolt, were the ones Lucius passed the information to."

Hermione felt compelled to answer due to the Veritaserum coursing through her veins. They had only given her a small dose and she could easily block the compulsion by putting her Occlumency shields up, but as long as they didn't ask too personal of questions, she was willing to answer them.

"And how exactly did he find you when you were on the run with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley?" the bitch whose name Hermione had already forgotten asked. "The entire Ministry was looking for you three."

"It was pretty easy for him to find me because I met him at different locations whenever he had information to pass on. He never knew where I was staying."

"How did he contact you? We know owls could not find you."

"Lucius, Kingsley, and I had Galleons that had been charmed to communicate with each other. One of us would send the time and location through the Galleon and we would all meet."

"And your companions never questioned where you were going?"

"We only met at night. I would give the boys Dreamless Sleep, set extra protection and alerting wards on our campsite before leaving." Hermione knew the boys were going to be mad when they found out, but her actions had saved lives, so they could deal with it. "I always made sure to be back before the potion wore off."

"And what was the nature of your relationship with Mr Malfoy?"

"That," Hermione said, instantly erecting her shields "is between myself and Mr Malfoy. All the court needs to know is that he gave the Minister and I information that allowed us to save lives and win the war."

"Can you give specifics?"

"He told us of the plan to ambush the Order of the Phoenix the night we moved Harry Potter from his aunt and uncle's house. He warned us that Miss Weasley and Mr Longbottom were in danger. He informed us of raids and attacks on Muggleborns that Kingsley and other Order members were able to thwart."

Mid-July 1997

The first time Hermione had run into Lucius Malfoy, it had been an accident. She had just left her parent's house after obliviating them and had gone into a small bookstore in Oxford that she loved. She had gone here every Saturday with her parents until she left for Hogwarts. She turned the corner and literally ran into Lucius.

At first she was terrified and turned to run, but he grabbed her arm and pushed her into the bookshelf, using his body to trap her in place.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered into her ear. "I will make a vow if you require it."

"I do require it," she sneered.

The last time she had seen him was when he led a party of Death Eaters into the Department of Mysteries to kill her and her friends. Lucius pulled out his wand, first casting a privacy shield before speaking.

"I, Lucius Malfoy, do solemnly swear on my magic that I will not knowingly cause physical or mental harm towards Hermione Granger."

Hermione kept her wand in her hand, but relaxed as Lucius moved away from her.

"What do you want, Mr Malfoy?"

"Lucius, please. And I want to help you. Help the Order."

"And why should I believe you? You have been Voldemort's biggest supporter for years. Last time I saw you, you tried to kill me. And aren't you supposed to be in prison?"

"Now, that's just not true is it? I admit to trying to get the prophecy, but I never attacked you or your friends. Dueling with children is below me." He paused before seeming to gather himself. "The Dark Lord has followers in the Ministry and they seemed fit to release me, illegally. And I was one of his top supporters until he used my son as a pawn in his game and almost killed him. Then he made me watch as he tortured him."

"Is Draco okay?" Hermione asked, horrified that anyone she knew, prat or not, had to go through that.

"My son lives. I would like him to be allowed to live in a world free of that man."

"Did you follow me here?"

"No. I like to come to this shop when I need to get away. I was just lucky to find you. I have wanted to find someone in the Order."

"I'm not in the Order. They said I'm too young to join."

"That isn't going to stop you though, is it?"

"Of course not."

"Can you take my request to someone in the Order? Or arrange a meeting?"

"I'll see what I can do." Hermione dug around in her purse before looking at Lucius. "Do you have a Galleon?"

"That hard up for money?"

"Ha ha," she said tartly. "We'll need a way to communicate. I have found using a Galleon works best, but I don't have any on me. And I'm sure there'd be questions if someone found Muggle money on you."

Lucius pulled a Galleon from one of his pockets, handing it to her. Hermione took it and placed the spells needed to duplicate and turn it into a communication device. She explained how it worked and how they could each manipulate the serial numbers to set a time and location for their meeting.

"You must know that if I can get anyone to believe me, you'll be subjected to Veritaserum." Hermione watched him closely to see if he would give anything away with his facial features but he didn't.

"I expected as much," Lucius replied. "Thank you for listening to me Miss Granger."

"I'll contact you soon."

"Kingsley, what's the harm in meeting with him?" Hermione asked.

She had gone to the Burrow and had thought about talking to Arthur or Molly but in the end settled on Kingsley. There was too much animosity between the Weasleys and Malfoys for her to trust that one of them wouldn't attack Lucius. She didn't know Kingsley well, but they had talked frequently last summer when Hermione was living at Grimmauld Place and she found him to be fair and open minded. Plus, as a senior Auror, he would be quick with a wand in case it was a trap.

"It could be a trap. You arrive and he kills you. Or me." Kingsley told her, his face showing his thoughts that she was being naive.

"He made a vow not to hurt me."

"Yes, but that vow doesn't apply to other people. And it doesn't protect me."

"You could come with me but be disillusioned. And we'll carry an emergency Portkey so we can get out of there anytime we need to."

"You really trust him?" Kingsley asked.

"Normally, no." Hermione admitted. "But I do trust that he would do anything for his son."

"We'll go tomorrow. I'll tell Molly and Arthur I need your help with something at my home."

"Hermione, dear," Mrs Weasley said to her the next morning over breakfast. "Kingsley asked if you'd be willing to help him with a few things at his house today."

"Really?" Hermione asked, hoping she seemed surprised.

"He has some research and potions he is working on for the Order, and thought you'd like to help him. We all know how good you are at it."

"Can I come, too?" Ron asked, mouth full of food.

"Sure," Hermione said. "If you want to spend all day reading and summarising what you found. Or trust that your potion skills are good enough in a life saving situation"

"Oh… Umm…" Ron hesitated, clearly trying to come up with an excuse. "I'm pants at Potions. I think I'll stay here."

"I'm sure you'll have more fun here." She turned to Mrs Weasley. "What time?"

"He should be here in about an hour."

"Thanks for letting me borrow Hermione, Molly," Kingsley said. "I'll have her back before dinner."

"Be safe you two," Molly replied.

Kingsley and Hermione made their way to the edge of the garden until they passed the edge of the anti-Apparition wards. When they stopped, Kingsley turned to her.

"You passed your Apparition test?"

"I did," Hermione told him

"Since you don't know when you're going, I'll lead this time," Kingsley said.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and Hermione slipped hers around his waist, holding on tightly. She wanted to moan as she pressed against him. His body was warm and hard against hers. Hermione had noticed he was tall and handsome, but had never realised how fit he was. She couldn't feel an ounce of fat on his body. She shuddered as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt's house may be found at Jacobson Cottage, Old Castle Street, London."

They landed in front of a brick house on a narrow road. Kingsley's house sat between two flat blocks and across from two office buildings. The road was empty, but the sound of traffic from nearby streets was loud compared to the country setting they had just left.

"What part of London are we in?" she asked.

"Whitechapel," he said, unwrapping his arms from around her. "Bought this house from my old partner before he retired."

"How do you keep the Muggles from seeing you Apparate?"

"There are a lot of wards surrounding the house. We Apparated inside the Notice-Me-Not charm, but outside of the Fidelius charm. When the neighbours look out, they see an empty grassy lot."

"Do I need to worry about Jack the Ripper?" she teased as they made their way towards his house.

"Actually, the last of the murders happened on this street, when it was just an alley. But there are disputes that it was a copy-cat murderer."

"Seriously? I was only teasing."

"I didn't know when I first moved in. I saw a book about the murders and was very surprised when I read about it. But so far I haven't been attacked or seen any ghosts." Kingsley smiled at her.

Walking into the house, she was astonished to see that it was equipped with Muggle lights. It was nicely decorated and didn't look like the bachelor pad she had been expecting. He pointed things out, like the downstairs toilet, as they made their way to the kitchen at the back of the house.

"I thought you were pure-blood?" she asked, pointing to the fridge.

"I am. I dated a Muggleborn girl for a long time. When I bought this place, she moved in with me. Her dad was an electrician and wired the place for us. After she moved out, I realised I liked it more than having to remember to re-apply a cooling charm to a cupboard every month so I kept it."

"You won't hear complaints from me. When and where are we going to meet Lucius?"

"I was thinking we could meet him at the bookshop again around two. But until then, I actually could use your help with making potions. Now that Snape has shown his true colours, the Order doesn't have a potion supplier and I heard you're not bad."

"Depends on your definition of 'not bad'," Hermione teased him. "I brewed Polyjuice when I was thirteen."

"You brewed Polyjuice in your third year?" Kingsley asked, shock on his face. "I am impressed."

"Second year, actually. My birthday is at the start of the school year."

"So if I told you we needed a large batch for the Order...?"

"I can make it," Hermione confirmed. "But it takes a month."

"I already started the first part. The lacewing flies have been stewing for two weeks already. But we'll probably need more."

"So they have another week to go and then we can continue with it. Plus we can start another batch today."

"It also gives us a perfect excuse for you coming over here," Kingsley said. "I was worried they wouldn't buy the 'researching' excuse for long."

"Sounds like I'll be here so much you'll be sick of me."

"Doubtful."

They worked in tandem with each other, only breaking when Kingsley made sandwiches for lunch, until it was time to go. Hermione had sent Lucius the information about an hour ago. They needed to give him some time to come up with an excuse and leave his house, but they didn't want to give him too much time in case it was a trap.

Hermione's stomach filled with butterflies as Kingsley took her in his arms again before placing a Disillusionment charm on himself. This time she led the Apparition to the alley near the bookshop. When they landed, she took a moment to hold onto him and discreetly inhale his cologne before stepping back.

Making her way into the bookstore, she couldn't hear Kingsley, but could tell he was next to her. Hermione led them to the same section in the back of the shop that she had run into Lucius before. There were two chairs and a small table by the back wall and she sat in one of them. As soon as she was settled, she felt Kingsley's strong, warm hand lightly grip her shoulder. She felt his magic wash over her as he cast a privacy spell around them. If someone wasn't looking for her, they wouldn't see her, but Lucius would have no problem.

Hermione stiffened as Lucius Malfoy rounded the corner and walked towards the empty chair beside her. He looked changed from the last time she had seen him just two days before. It was obvious something had happened because he wasn't as put together as normal. She couldn't put her finger on it at first, but when he sat down she noticed he hadn't shaved for a few days, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was missing his walking stick.

"Hermione," Lucius said as he sat. "Thank you for meeting with me. I assume you have convinced the Order of my desire to help?"

"I convinced someone to come and hear you out," Hermione answered. "You'll need to vow that you're here alone and this isn't' a trap."

Lucius pulled a wand from his shirtsleeve before making the vow she had requested. Hermione noticed this wand was different than his last one. Before his wand was attached to the ugly snake head that topped his walking stick and was black. This wand was a light wood and was shorter than his had been. As he finished his vow, Kingsley removed his Disillusionment charm, transfigured the seat Hermione was sitting on into a small sofa and sat behind her.

"Lucius," Kingsley greeted him. "I was surprised when Hermione approached me about your request."

"Kingsley, I had no idea you were in the Order."

"You two know each other?" Hermione asked.

"We went to Hogwarts at the same time," Kingsley explained. "Lucius was a seventh year when I was a first year. We were in Slytherin together."

"Slytherin House assigns each seventh year to a first year to mentor," Lucius said. "We have found it helps with house unity. Kingsley was assigned to me."

"When I graduated, Lucius helped me get into the Auror Academy."

"So you think he can be trusted?" Hermione inquired.

"No. Lucius is a slippery man, and we must be careful." Lucius nodded at Kingsley's description of him. "Lucius, you are willing to take Veritaserum?"

"Yes," Lucius confirmed.

Kingsley pulled out the bottle of truth serum and poured three drops under Lucius' tongue before he started to question him. He went through a series of questions that he already knew the answer to make sure Lucius was not resisting before giving him three more drops and asking questions about Voldemort.

"Where is You-Know-Who hiding?" Kingsley asked.

"He has taken over Malfoy Manor as his headquarters for meetings, but he is not always there. I think he spends the rest of his time at the Lestrange Estate, but I cannot be sure."

"Whose wand are you using?"

"This is my father's wand. The Dark Lord said he needed my wand and I no longer deserved one. No one is aware I have this one."

"How do we know our meetings with you won't be compromised?"

"I'm a master Occlumens, as you should know since I taught you. Which is why you gave me a double dose of the truth serum so I couldn't occlude against it. I'm able to keep others from seeing our meetings."

"What news do you bring us today, Lucius?"

"The Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage is not missing. She was killed by the Dark Lord at my house last night before being fed to his pet snake to dispose of the body. The Dark Lord is planning on attacking Harry Potter when he is moved from his home into Order protection. He knows the boy will have to be moved in the open and plans on having Death Eaters patrol the ground and sky every night to be prepared."

Hermione had kept quiet during the questioning but was having a hard time with this information. She had taken Muggle Studies in her third year and respected Professor Burbage. To find out she was killed in such a way was horrible. And how were they supposed to move Harry? They couldn't use any form of magical travel thanks to the Ministry interfering, and now any way they tried to move him, Death Eaters would be waiting for them.

"Thank you for the warning, Lucius," Kingsley said, interrupting her thoughts. "Anything else?"

"Pius Thicknesse is under Yaxley's Imperius Curse"

"Fuck," Kinglsey muttered. He gave Lucius a vial of the antidote for Veritaserum.

"I will be missed if I'm gone much longer," Lucius said, standing to leave. "I'm not sure if I will be taking part in the attack on Potter, but if you two are there, keep Hermione with you. I will have to play my part and you beating me will be believable."

"I remember the rules from our dueling lesson's, Lucius," Kingsley said with a smirk. "No hexes to the face or crotch."

"That rule applies to you as well, Hermione." Lucius winked at her. "I promise to leave your pretty face alone if you promise the same."

"I guess you heard about Marietta Edgecomb?" Hermione asked.

"And what you did to Delores Umbridge," Lucius confirmed before walking away.

"Hermione," Kingsley started. "Wanna tell me what you did to those two ladies?"

Hermione filled Kingsley in on the events of her fifth year as they canceled the charms around them and made their way back to the Alley to return to the Burrow. Kingsley's deep laugh sent shocks of arousal through her body.

That night at the Burrow, Kingsley sat next to Hermione at dinner and everytime their legs bumped against each other she couldn't stop thinking about the way she had felt wrapped in his arms earlier today. She knew he was probably too old for her with the eighteen years between them, but it didn't stop the fantasies she had running through her head.