A/N: Look my smutty one-shot found some plot! If you liked this, let me know about it in a review! Also, find me on Tumblr at crochetawayhpff.
'GRANGER GOOD FOR THE MALFOY BRAND' read the above-the-fold headline of the Daily Prophet that was sitting on top of the pile on Hermione's kitchen table when she returned home from Paris. She was surprised at the headline and quickly scanned the article. It said all good things. About both her and Lucius. It didn't even comment on the age difference. Or Hermione's blood status. Frankly, it was confusing compared to the other sort of press Hermione was used to. Frowning, she flipping through the months worth of papers to see what else she missed, but other than scandalous photos of Draco and his various conquests, nothing of note had happened that wasn't in the French wizarding press. With a flick of her wand, she vanished the entire pile and moved on to the Quibbler. Luckily the Quibbler was only printed once a month, so there was just the one.
The headline of the Quibbler was about some sort of frog-like creature that had been spotted in South America. Hermione thumbed through it but didn't find anything particularly interesting in it either. The last pile was Witch Weekly, which Hermione felt completely ridiculous even subscribing to it, but it was one of the few publications in the wizarding world, and Hermione preferred to be informed. Rather than find out about it after the fact. This stack had four magazines in it and she flipped through them briefly. No articles on her and Lucius, but each issue had at least two on Draco and a fair few on Harry as well. Hermione read through Harry's articles with a small grin on her lips. Harry hated the press he received almost as much as Hermione did, but the press was generally much kinder to Harry than they were to her. Hermione had always chalked it up to being a woman and a Muggleborn. Two things that were bound to work against her in the traditional wizarding world.
She sighed and vanished both the Quibbler and Witch Weekly's. Feeling at a bit of a loss, alone for the first time in weeks, Hermione went to the kitchen to make tea. When she, Lucius, and Severus had portkeyed back to Britain. She'd said goodbye to them both at the Manor and had Apparated home, but now she wondered if that was a bad idea. When would she see them again?
Shaking her head, Hermione finished with her tea and sat back at her kitchen table. Did she think she would move into Malfoy Manor? It wasn't as insane as it would have been a month ago, but clearly, Lucius had some things he needed to work out with Draco. He was probably relieved not to have Hermione underfoot. Hermione sighed. She was bored and was trying desperately not to be lonely, but she felt more alone now than she had in weeks.
Maybe Harry was around? They could get caught up. Witch Weekly hadn't been that informative of Harry's doings in the last month. Decided she scribbled a quick note and owled it off. She hadn't lived in her parent's house for longer than a week before realizing she needed some way of communicating with the rest of the wizarding world. So she'd bought Bernard the barn owl that was now winging away with her missive to Harry.
Well, with nothing else to do, she could at least clean the house. Dust had piled up in the weeks since she had been absent. Decided, she rinsed her tea things and got to work.
Hermione had just pulled a casserole from the oven when there was a knock on her door. She hadn't heard from Lucius or Severus since they had parted that morning and she was rather irrationally hoping that the knock was one of them. When she opened the door and spotted Harry, she wasn't disappointed, but she would have been quite a bit happier had it been one of her lovers. Lovers. That was such a weird word, and Hermione felt a bit like a fraud using it, but it's not like she could call Lucius Malfoy or Severus Snape her boyfriend. Lover was much preferred to boyfriend. Shaking her head, she invited Harry in for dinner.
Halfway through dinner, Hermia, her owl, came through the window, dropping off the evening edition of the Daily Prophet. Draco Malfoy was plastered across it again.
"That's why we came home," Hermione sighed. She wasn't quite pouting, but she was suddenly feeling much more insecure about whatever her relationship with Lucius was. And that didn't even touch on Severus.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded, "We got word that he's clearly having a bit of a meltdown. So Lucius decided to come back to Britain and help him fix his life." She didn't think it worth mentioning Severus to Harry. Maybe not ever, if she could get away with it. What would she tell him anyway? Not only was she shagging their schoolyard bully's father, but also their most hated professor? Ridiculous. Hermione's life felt ridiculous these days.
Harry frowned as he studied the picture and Hermione found herself wondering if Harry was jealous. The way his jaw tightened when he watched the loop of Draco pulling some wizard, whose face was obscured, to him, made her think that there was more going on here.
"Harry?"
"Hmm," Harry didn't bother looking up.
"Have you seen Draco recently?" Hermione asked.
"Not since summer," Harry said quietly.
Hermione's eyebrows rose. When would Harry have seen him over the summer?
"Care to elaborate?" Hermione asked carefully. She was dying of curiosity, but Harry looked so tortured in that moment that Hermione didn't want to upset him needlessly. Harry had such a difficult life, she'd do anything she could to spare him further. Hermione shook her head, it was a silly thought. Of course, Harry was going to go through things in life like most people, she couldn't spare him all of the pain, even if she wanted to.
"I ran into him at the Ministry," Harry began. "He looked so… defeated. I think he was near tears, so I pulled him aside. We found an empty tearoom and…" Harry trailed off. Hermione wasn't sure if he couldn't go on or if he was implying something. But then Harry looked at her and she could see the depth of emotion swirling in his bright green eyes. Something had happened between Harry and Draco and Hermione wasn't entirely surprised Harry had kept it to himself. He despised the spotlight.
"He really opened up to me," Harry said, looking back down at the table. "We talked for over an hour. And then, I invited him back to Grimmauld Place to talk more and we talked all night. About the war, and Hogwarts, and life. I felt like we had really connected."
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
"He kissed me," Harry shrugged. "It's not that I didn't feel the same way, I was just surprised. And I'd been grappling with suddenly realizing how attracted I am to another man. I pushed him away."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione reached across the table and grabbed his hand.
"I haven't seen him since." Harry pushed the paper away and looked over Hermione's shoulder, refusing to meet her eyes.
"Would you want to?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged, "Yeah, but he obviously doesn't want anything to do with me," he indicated the paper on the table between them.
"Maybe," Hermione hedged an idea beginning to form in her mind.
"What is this?" Lucius asked Draco once he'd finally managed to corner his son. He was holding up the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. The one in which he was clearly pulling another man in for a kiss.
"Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Father," Draco said in a bored tone as he lounged on a sofa in the sitting room. A glass of Firewhisky was near his hand on a side table. Lucius narrowed his eyes at his son, he was obviously drunk.
"Is this because of Hermione?" Lucius asked.
"Hermione, is it?" Draco chuckled. "Not everything in my life has to do with you, old man."
"Watch yourself, Draco," Lucius warned. "You don't have control of your full inheritance yet."
"Oh, cutting me off are you?" Draco asked lightly. "Hoping you get the swot pregnant? You'd love that, wouldn't you? Not having to deal with your failure of a son, you could just have a brand new fucking family."
Lucius sighed, so this did have something to do with Hermione. Draco was wrong though, Lucius would never cut Draco off, he would always be his son. Lucius was worried about him though and he didn't know of a better way to help him. He left Draco to his drink and stormed back to his study. Angry and frustrated.
"I take it your conversation with Draco did not go well?" Severus asked, startling Lucius from the perusal of his quarterly financial documents. He looked up to find Severus leaning against the doorframe of his study.
"How can you tell?" Lucius asked, leaning back in his chair as he studied his oldest friend.
"Draco's three sheets to the wind, ranting about being cut out of his inheritance in the south dining room."
Lucius closed his eyes, his jaw clenched. "Tippy!"
A small house-elf dressed impeccably in a butler's uniform Apparated into the room. "Yes, Master Lucius?"
"Ensure that Draco does not leave Malfoy property tonight. Knock him out or drug him if you have to."
"Of course, Master Lucius," Tippy bowed and popped away.
Lucius looked up to find Severus looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You think that's going to endear Draco to you?"
"Of course not," Lucius spat. "But I won't have him leaving the house ranting about Hermione and losing his inheritance. That is not going to happen, regardless of whatever temper tantrum he's throwing right now."
"He's been spurned," Severus drawled.
"Spurned? By whom?"
Severus shrugged, "I do not know the details, nor care to. But his behavior points that way."
Lucius nodded, "Thank you for telling me. Perhaps I can speak with Draco tomorrow before he begins drinking."
"Perhaps," Severus said lightly then turned from the door, disappearing to his own suite of rooms.
Lucius sighed, leaning further back into his chair and wishing Hermione was there with him.
It didn't take long for Lucius to realize that he was getting no more work accomplished that night. He was frustrated with Draco and knew that the only way to relieve his pent-up frustrations would be physically. During the war, that had been most often with Severus. But now, he had another option and he decided he would take it.
Lucius found himself standing in Hermione's bedroom. She was sleeping quietly in a small double bed, and Lucius wished he'd insisted she stay at the Manor. He imagined all he could do if she slept in his bed each night and his cock hardened. Merlin, but he wanted this witch. More than he'd ever wanted Narcissa, though it felt disloyal to admit that to himself, even if it was in his own head. He'd had an arranged marriage with Narcissa, and he had loved her. She'd given him Draco after all, and despite the current issues he was having with his son, he loved him more than anything else.
But Hermione stirred a passion, a desire in him that he hadn't thought he possessed. And now that he'd found it? He didn't want to let it go. He would make her his, no matter what it took because Lucius Malfoy took care of his things. He only hoped she'd be amenable. So far she had been. The idea of waking her from her slumber to fuck her, made Lucius' cock harder, and he quickly stripped from his clothes, so he could squeeze into bed next to her.
Hermione grumbled in her sleep, and rolled over, facing Lucius, as he settled himself under the covers. He kissed her forehead, and nose, drifting his hands down her body. She was wearing some sort of long shirt, and her knickers and nothing else. Lucius began raising the shirt so he could touch the soft skin beneath. She had the softest skin he had ever felt and he wanted to touch it for the rest of his life.
"Lucius," Hermione blinked up at him and he smirked.
"Hello, pet," Lucius purred, leaning in to kiss her lips.
She responded to the kiss by winding her hands around his neck and pulling him on top of her. Lucius happily obliged. Feeling her small body beneath his always set him off. She was curvy and attentive, and Lucius couldn't get enough of her. His cock ached for her. She spread her legs and his hips slotted into the cradle of her hips. Lucius groaned into the kiss at the feel of her damp heat on his hard length.
A whispered word and her clothing vanished and finally, he sank into her tight sheath.
"Lucius," she keened, arching her back as he began to take his pleasure.
The first time he had kissed her had been a fluke. He'd just been trying to keep her from screaming. The second time he had kissed her, his blood had been up and he would have gladly fucked her then if Severus hadn't walked in. The third time had been quite deliberate once he watched her walk into the kitchen in the middle of the night. And Lucius had enjoyed himself so much, that he'd vowed then and there to seek her out once the war was over. Now that he'd found her, he never wanted to give her up.
"Come back to me," Hermione said softly, cupping his face with her hands.
Lucius smiled softly and leaned in to kiss her, still giving her languid strokes with his cock. This was much closer to making love than anything they'd done in the past. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as he kept his pace slow and smooth. She wrapped her legs around his hips, and peppered his neck, cheek, and shoulder with kisses, as Lucius buried his face into the crook of her neck. Merlin, but she was glorious.
His pace began to pay off as her breathing increased and she began to cry out with each thrust. Her cunt tightened beautifully around him and he began to pant as they rocked together.
"Come, my love," Lucius murmured into Hermione's ear. And with one last sharp cry, she did, falling apart in his arms as her body shuddered and shook beneath him. Lucius stilled as she gripped him tightly, her head tossed back into the pillows, waiting for her to come down from her high before he chased his own. When she finally opened her eyes once more, Lucius found himself drowning in their depths as he began to move once more. She was impossibly tight after her orgasm and it didn't take Lucius long to find his own end.
Several moments later, they each lay on their sides, Lucius had his arm slung around her waist, pulling her body towards his, unwilling to give up his hold on her.
"Not that I mind," she grinned at him, "But what was that about?"
"Move in with me," Lucius said in reply.
Her eyes widened in shock, "I… I don't…"
"Just think about it," Lucius said, stealing his heart for her inevitable rejection. If he had his way, he wouldn't give her the opportunity to reject him. He leaned in and kissed her, her lips opening to his immediately.
When Hermione woke again, it was morning. A very naked Lucius was standing at the window of her small childhood bedroom, looking impossibly large and impossibly out of place.
"Morning," she murmured and stretched her arms above her head. She was ridiculously pleased that he had sought out her company after feeling so insecure about it the day before.
"Morning," Lucius replied, not turning to face her. Which was fine, it gave Hermione the opportunity to study his profile. His patrician nose haughty even as he gazed out onto her boring Muggle street.
Lucius turned to face her and his face softened, drawing a smile from Hermione.
"Can I ask about Severus?" Hermione said suddenly. Her eyes widened, she hadn't meant to be so blunt about it, but the thought had popped into her head and out of her mouth before she could control herself.
Lucius looked very much like he was trying to hide a smirk. "How long have you been holding that one in?"
"A while," Hermione admitted with a soft laugh.
Crossing the room, Lucius stretched out next to her on the bed, trailing his fingers along her skin, pushing the sheet she'd drawn up out of modesty aside so he could follow his fingers with his gaze.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything," Hermione breathed as one of his fingers plucked at her nipple.
Lucius' lips quirked, "I'm not sure we have time for everything. However, I will tell you what he would feel comfortable with you knowing."
Hermione nodded, arching her back into his ministrations. She felt heat pool in her belly as he leaned down and gave one of her nipples a long lick.
"Talk fast," Hermione muttered. Lucius chuckled in return.
"Severus has never gotten over Lily Evans. He's a damaged man and would prefer to stay damaged. He does have...needs, however. Narcissa and I used to indulge him. Me more than Narcissa," Lucius stopped talking. Hermione opened her eyes to see him staring straight at her. "Does that bother you?"
"That you and Severus have been intimate?"
Lucius nodded and Hermione thought maybe she detected a smidge of uncertainty in his eyes.
Hermione shook her head, "No, it doesn't bother me. Although, I have a request?"
Lucius grinned and rewarded her with a suck on one of her nipples. Hermione arched herself into him further, tossing her head side-to-side. She'd never come from nipple play alone, but she was so incredibly aroused at the moment that she thought it might be possible.
"Your request?" Lucius purred, pulling away from her breast.
Hermione mewled at the loss of sensation and panted, catching her breath. "Include me," she whispered. She didn't even feel quite right asking it, but she didn't want to feel left out between Severus and Lucius. She wanted to be included in whatever relationship they had. She hadn't opened her eyes, refusing to see his laughter or denial or scorn.
"Open your eyes, pet," Lucius murmured, kissing her jaw.
When she did, she saw sincerity and something else, trust? Surely not love. It was too soon for such things.
"You will always be welcome," Lucius said. "Severus is a friend, but he's too damaged to have a truly emotional relationship with someone else. He knows it and I know it. I will never exclude you if Severus comes to play. Severus won't either. He's quite… taken with you."
Hermione grinned at Lucius and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him hard on the mouth. She wrapped a leg around his waist and flipped him onto his back. He'd just given her the best news she could have asked for. As she kissed her way down to Lucius' cock, Hermione promised to herself she would do everything in her power to bring Severus out of his shell. Not to fix him, but to get him to want to fix himself. Nobody deserved to live like that.
